If you are short on time, equipment or just want to try something new then a good piece of kit to have a go with is the kettlebell. This workout will get your heart rate going, get you sweating and work your major muscle groups…all in just 20-25 minutes.
The exercises
Squat with pulse
Stand with your feet just over hip-width apart and hold the kettlebell at chest height by the horns (sides of the handle). Bend both the hips and the knees, draw the hips back as if going to sit on a little stool behind you while keeping the core engaged
(squat). Once at the bottom of your squat, start to come back up to standing, however, once you have come up a little of the way, return to the bottom of the squat- like a pulse at the bottom of the movement (low double contraction if your nerdy or technical) then you can come all the way back up to standing squeezing those glutes all the way up to start again.
Reverse lunge
For this you are going to either rack the kettlebell on the side you are reverse lunging on (see video) or just hold by then leg. Step one foot straight back, keeping your torso straight with your shoulders relaxed and core engaged. Lower your hips until your knees are roughly at 90 degree angles, not letting your back knee hit the floor. Then step it back to the centre and repeat- complete all the reps on one side, then switch sides with both kettlebell and leg.
Clean and press
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart with the kettlebell just in front of you. With soft knees, hinge at the hips and reach down with one hand grabbing the kettlebell. Pull the kettlebell up along your body driving through the legs, once it is at belly button height pull it back and move your hand under it so the bell rests against the back of your wrist into a rack position. From here drive the kettlebell up to above the head. Then reverse the movement. And repeat.
Bear Crawl Hold pull through
This is a bit like a plank but scrunched up. Start on all fours like a table top, then tuck your toes under your feet and place the kettlebell behind one of your hands. From here lift your knees off the floor about 2 cm. You need to focus on keeping that core stable and hips as still and level as possible. Then take the hand with no weight behind it, grab the weight from the other side and pull it across placing it just behind where your hand will go, then replace your hand. Then repeat on the other side (watch video to make sense of it).
Kettlebell Swing
Start in a wide foot position with the kettlebell on the floor slightly in front of you. Keep a slight bend in the knees throughout but we want to focus on hinging at the hips for this movement. So bend at the hips and grab the kettlebell. Using both hands ont he handle, pull the kettlebell through your legs, at the end of its swing thrust your hips forward so the kettlebell swings through. Keep the arms relaxed- it is your hips and your glutes doing the work. As the kettlebell swings back down- hinge at the hips and allow it to swing through your legs. Top tip- if you can swing the kettlebell higher than your shoulders, you can go heavier!
Be sure to start with a warm up!
Perform each exercise for 40 seconds with a 20 second rest between each exercise as a circuit. Try and do this for 4-5 rounds depending on your current fitness elvels.
Enjoy!
