Kettlebell Workout: Crushing the Week

In the advanced kettlebell workouts I lead each week, we have the joke that we crush the workout so that the week doesn’t crush us. This obviously isn’t the answer for everyone, but for certain… “type-A personalities”, knowing that we have a very concrete list of to-dos we can knock out in an hour that will also make us stronger – physically, mentally, etc. is a welcome challenge.

This full body workout covers a lot, and can definitely be scaled down (or up if you’re a real maniac). If you come up with your own variation of it, please add it in the comments below! As per usual, it’s a five-round circuit workout (you know I love to write those) with supporting circuits and combinations before and after. One of the combos is based on Dan John’s “Armor Building Complex” (clean, press, squat) but with a thruster added at the end. You’ll see why there’s only three of those per circuit. There’s even a bonus all-out mini-circuit to counteract the cold weather.

Choose Your Kettlebells Wisely…

As with all the kettlebell workouts on this site, the words “heavy, light, moderate” are meant to be relative to the ability of the exerciser. What might be heavy for me might be light for you, or vise-versa. This is why you will sometimes see me post the weights that I use and sometimes not. The internet is a weird place and I’m fairly unusual myself. While others have commented that it’s “motivating” when I post the weights that I use, I’m not convinced that this is the reality of the situation. For safety and effectiveness, the weight must make sense for you and your situation. Please choose wisely.

The Warm-Up:

We began with our standard joint-circling warmup* followed by a second much shorter joint mobility sequence partially derived from the Cal Poly Hip Flow with a few additions. I need to make a video with this short sequence for you soon, as I’ve also been testing versions of it with an online group. Actually, drop me an email if you’d be interested in mobility sequences for warmups – info@giryagirl.com!

Mini Warmup Circuit

For three rounds:

• 10 kettlebell swings
• 1x prying goblet squat

1-2 Get-Ups Per Side

(without weight, or with a light kettlebell, the focus here is getting everything moving, basically)

Pull-Ups Practice

We’re fine-tuning a pull-up program and will elaborate on it in the near future at great length. But for general use out of context of our program, perform 3-5 sets of submaximal pull-ups. If you’re still working towards your first pullup, use the time to practice lead-up drills like flex hangs, band pulls, shoulder mobility, and bodyweight rows.

Don’t Get Cold Circuit

While not a true “Tabata” circuit since at our level these exercises do not require an all-out effort, the 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off interval combo is a favorite. We can get pretty close to all-out though towards the end, that’s for sure.

For four rounds:

• 20 sec. Burpees (we did this with push-up and jump for maximum warmth!)
• 10 sec. rest/transition
• 20 sec. Kettlebell swings (moderate weight)
• 10 sec. rest/transition

Mean Main Circuit

If you’ve trained with me in the past 10 years, you know I love a good five round circuit, and the funny mental patterns it can sometimes have. For example, the first time through might seem like no big deal, the third time through you might lean on a positive use of the “sunk cost fallacy” (well, this is tough, but we’ve gone this far), etc. I’ve built up a bit of lore about each round, and most of it is pretty funny. We begin with the toughest stuff, metabolically speaking, and no, that’s not a typo, it’s more burpees. This time being the rather advanced (hence just three) “Navy Seal burpees” also sometimes called “prison burpees”. There’s only three because each one also has 3 pushups involved. (New video coming soon, but basically it’s start from standing, jump the feet back, do a pushup, pull the right knee in–as in mountain climbers–put it back, do a pushup, pull the left knee in–again like mountain climbers–put it back, do a pushup, stand.)

For five rounds:

• 3x Combo: without setting the kettlebells down do 1 double kettlebell clean, 1 double press, 1 double squat, 1 double thruster
• 3x “Navy Seal burpees”
• 20x Kettlebell swings (moderate weight, or for fun, mix it up and use a different weight each round to challenge your technique)
• 5x Heavy kettlebell goblet squats (form focus, don’t just chase the weight)
• 5/5 kettlebell rows (lunge position)

Abs Finisher

We’ve very recently rediscovered the Power Breathing Crunch as popularized by Andrea Du Cane’s Kettlebell Goddess workout DVD (sadly out of print, but I’m going to see what we can do…) This exercise, when performed correctly has cinched in our lower abs in just about a week (YMMV). Yes, there will be a video forthcoming. Other than being in the position of a traditional crunch, the Power Breathing Crunch bears very little resemblance to the old crunches of days past. Essentially you’re on the ground, pressing your lower back into the ground, feet are flat with knees bent. Lift the chest from the ground by exhaling under pressure while bringing the navel towards the spine (in your mind). Hold, compress, and be sure to keep breathing behind the contraction of at all. We hold for a count of about 5… or sometimes longer if I’m feeling mean. Rest and repeat. But yes, more on this later.

For three rounds:

• 20x Cross-Reach Sit-ups
• 5x Power Breathing Crunches (with hold of 5 at the top)
• 20x Knee-ins
• Hip bridges then full bridge

The End… More Mobility

Of course we ended with our joint circling sequence and putting everything away again!