Many people enjoy their kettlebell workouts, recognizing them as one of the best at-home exercise routines available. Since a great many people were obliged to forego regular visits to the gym during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, as a result, some have simply developed a routine featuring workouts at home rather than at any exterior facility. After all, who wouldn’t want a great looking body? Some people even opt to try products from sarmsaustralia.com to help with their body-building journey.
It might call for a little more creativity conducting your exercise routine at home, and you may not have the available facilities that a gym would, but a kettlebell workout will still allow you to get a great exercise routine in every day.
Benefits of a Kettlebell Workout
If you have ever wondered about using kettlebells in the past but never followed through on it, now may be the perfect time to try it out. In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of a good 20-minute kettlebell workout, and what some of the specific exercises are that might be included in your workout.
1. Provides a full body workout due to the swinging movement
Kettlebells are extremely useful and can provide a swinging motion that ordinary dumbbells simply cannot match. Whenever you hold a kettlebell with the ball positioned upward, the ball will try to lean in one direction or the other, and that will cause the body to work harder in order to resist that tendency.
This alone provides a workout for your core, because you have to resist the tendency of the kettlebell ball to move in a given direction. Kettlebells tax the entire body during movements and they provide a great deal of strengthening for the shoulders, arms, and core, just by holding a heavy bell at your chest.
2. Gives great result from a relatively short workout
You can get full advantage from a kettlebell workout in 20 minutes by using the workout we have described below. When you do start your kettlebell workout routine, it’s best if you begin slowly, while focusing on the correct form, so that it will become a built-in part of your routine. The 20 -minute workout below features total body movements that make use of patterns used by humans in many of their daily activities.
There are short intervals with movements that will increase your heart rate, and balance upper and lower body work, all while keeping your body in motion. Moving with a kettlebell constantly for several minutes at a time requires considerable strength and cardio endurance. When you string kettlebell moves in succession during a workout, it will maintain a high heart rate and allow you to get the most out of even a short workout.
There are also some bodyweight-only exercises included in the workout, and this is a great way to get a break for your forearms, shoulders, and your grip, which would otherwise be holding the weights. You’ll probably notice very quickly that you need this kind of a break from holding the weights because the strain of holding the kettlebell begins to tax your abilities.
3. Burns a lot of calories
According to one study conducted by the ACE (American Council on Exercise), an average person will burn 20 calories in just a single minute while doing a regular kettlebell workout. This means that just one 20-minute kettlebell workout will burn 400 calories—the equivalent of walking 7.000 steps!
4. Easy storage and handling
One of the most common obstacles to getting in a workout at home is the lack of space for storing necessary equipment. Even if you do have some extra room, it’s not always easy to put equipment in an easily accessible place. This issue can hamper your workout and cause a loss of motivation quite often. Fortunately, a kettlebell is much easier to stow away in any corner.
What’s more, a kettlebell will be much cheaper than most exercise machines. They don’t require any electricity to function, but can still pack the same punch when it comes to burning fat and calories.
5. Makes daily tasks easier
Those who stay regular in their kettlebell workouts often find that their daily activities and tasks seem easier over time. This is because kettlebell training works out those everyday muscles along with leading to an improvement in posture.
At the same time, kettlebell workouts are not as grueling on the joints as some other equipment can be. In fact, the swinging movements can be a lot of fun; you may start looking forward to that part of your day eventually.
6. Also a mental workout
It may seem surprising, but kettlebell workouts may also be good for enhancing brain function. You have to think about the transference of weight on each side of the body, swapping the weight between your hands, and so on. All of this sharpens your concentration potential and focus, making the workout a mentally simulating exercise too!
Keep in mind that the workout we have described below is focused on passing time rather than on rep counts. This is an intentional feature that will allow you to focus more on the quality of your exercises rather than on the number of repetitions.
How to do the 20-minute workout
The workout is broken down into four distinct circuits, and you are allowed to take a brief break in between circuits, with the break lasting no more than two minutes at a time. Here are the four circuits of movements comprising the workout:
- Circuit 1 – do the Kettlebell Swing for 30 seconds, the Forearm Plank for 30 seconds, and the Jump Squat to Reverse Lunge for 30 seconds. Repeat this two more times.
- Circuit 2 – do the Squat with 3-second hold for 30 seconds, the Push Press for 30 seconds, and the Thruster for 30 seconds. Repeat this two more times.
- Circuit 3 – do the Dead Clean for 30 seconds, the Lateral Lunge for 30 seconds, the Bent-over Row for 30 seconds, the Dead Clean for 30 seconds, the Lateral Lunge for 30 seconds, and the Bent-over Row for 30 seconds. Repeat once more.
- Circuit 4 – do the Kneeling Halo with Twist for 30 seconds, the Around the World Lunge for 30 seconds, and the Walking Push-up for 30 seconds. Repeat this two more times.
Doing the movements
Here’s how each of the movements above must be performed:
- Kettlebell Swing – stand with feet shoulder-width apart, grip the kettlebell handle, bend your knees and swing the kettlebell between your knees, before swinging it back up as you stand erect.
- Forearm Plank – get down on the floor, so your toes are touching the floor and your forearms are flat on the ground. Keeping your body in a straight line, squeeze your butt and thighs together, holding this position for 30 seconds.
- Jump Squat to Reverse Lunge – jump up into the air and as you come down, bend your legs into a lunging position, then jump again and come down into a squatting position, alternating these movements for 30 seconds.
- Squat with 3-second hold – grip the sides of the kettlebell while holding it close to your chest. Then squat down and hold this position for 3 seconds before standing up again to repeat the process.
- Push Press – holding your kettlebell by the bell itself, bend your knees and as you come back erect, thrust the bell up over your head.
- Thruster – this is similar to the Push Press, except you will stay down in a deep squat before returning to the erect position and thrusting the bell overhead.
- Dead Clean – bend your knees and grab the kettlebell by the horns, before squatting down and lowering the bell. Then stand up again, pull the kettlebell up to your shoulder, and turn the palm of your hand so it’s facing inward. Repeat for 30 seconds.
- Lateral Lunge – hold the kettlebell in your left hand and balance it with your right. Now take a long step to the right, hesitate, and come back to an erect position.
- Bent-over Row – hold the kettlebell in one hand and shift the opposite leg forward. Then hoist the kettlebell up to chest height before lowering it again.
- Kneeling Halo with Twist – from a kneeling position, rotate the kettlebell over your head and around your entire body.
- Around the World Lunge – holding the kettlebell with both hands close to your chest, stand up and then go back down to a kneeling position.
- Walking Push-up – this calls for simple push-ups, with you alternating your supporting hands between a close-together position and one where they are wider apart.