A Little Bit of Everything Kettlebell Workout

Safe to say, it’s “been a week” for most of us. And while I have very little to complain about in the day to day, managing mental fatigue, staying upbeat, etc. is a but more challenging than before. In response, the workouts I’ve been doing (and leading) have become simpler. One thing that initially attracted me to kettlebell training was this powerful simplicity. I love the lack of choreographed movements, and real results coming from work in humble surroundings like backyards, parks, driveways, garages, basements, spare rooms, and barebones facilities. No more leotards, cheesy music, dancey light-weight arms. Some of us want to DO WORK and want results not platitudes. For the past several weeks I’ve been focusing on kettlebell swings (TONS of them) with many different weights, carries, pull-ups, and the surprisingly intense bodyweight only workouts I lead for a private corporate wellness program. Oh and exploring the trails near here and creeping through easements… yesterday I accidentally walked for 5 miles while exploring.

Sunday is normally the day for a challenging scorcher of a park workout with my most advanced local client – but we’ve had to move things to zoom instead of the park, and with simplicity in mind we’ve cut things back a tiny bit in terms of intensity. We both look forward to returning to our all-out feats of strength and endurance outdoors, however.

Here’s today’s “little bit of everything” workout. Neither of us was feeling particularly energetic so we only went for 2 rounds and kept the weights moderate. That aside, I’m pleased with both of our performances with it. Each round racks up 100 total swings along with a fair amount of other reps. If you’re honest and strict with your form, twice or even once through will be very meaningful work.

This one will work with a variety of kettlebells, or if you find yourself with just one moderately heavy (a relative term – moderately heavy FOR YOU) kettlebell, you can do the whole thing with it! If it’s a little on the light side, challenge yourself to do 3 rounds with as little rest as possible.

We began the session with a run through of the Cal Poly Hip Flow

(I learned the Cal Poly Hip Flow from Master RKC Chris Holder at that now-legendary RKC Workshop which was held in Los Gatos, CA in what seems like a whole different universe. I won’t detail it here, but I am glad that I made the absolute most of that trip, soaking up all the goodness of the area, the sights, the tastes, the friendship, networking, etc. as well as the actual materials presented at the workshop itself.)

Anyhow, here’s the workout – and if you need a kettlebell still, I am one of the few places in the US who will currently ship one to you immediately. I have a limited supply of genuine new-in-box Dragon Door Kettlebells in 12kg, and 16kg. The inventory is updated realtime, and I will ship and send you a UPS tracking number within 24 hours of your order or less.

Here’s the workout:

2-3 rounds of:

• 1/1 Kettlebell Get-up (1 get-up each side)
• 20 Kettlebell Swings (if you’ve got a heavy kettlebell, you can break this up into 2 sets of 10 if necessary)
• 10/10 Kettlebell Military Presses (again, feel free to break these up into 5/5 5/5 – we went for the 10/10 because I felt like having an excuse to make growling noises)
• 10 Kettlebell Goblet Squats (don’t even think about rushing through these…)
• 20 Kettlebell Swings (note above applies for all sets of the swings btw)
• 10 Standard Push-Ups or pushup variation of your choice
• 20 Kettlebell Swings
• 10/10 Kettlebell Rows (from supported lunge position)
• 20 Kettlebell Swings
• 10/10 Kettlebell Snatches (substitute one-arm swings or high pulls if you’re not quite to snatches yet)
• 20 Kettlebell Swings

If you’re doing the 10,000 swing challenge, each round will give you 100 swings towards your daily goal with some variety thrown in. Not bad!

We cooled down with some favorite joint mobility moves and proceeded to move on with our days. Frankly, I’m going to maybe go check on my new “distance friends” who have set up a very funny thing in their front yard.  If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen it 🙂

Hope you are staying well–physically and mentally. I’m planning to share more frequently now that the schedule is solidifying a little more. Courses and classes coming soon. Sign up here to be notified of when they go live! 🙂