There’s a reason why Gerard Butler won, the year's "Most Shredded” award for his role as Leonidas in the film 300. You guessed it – Kettlebells.  It doesn’t get much better than cutting through the tension of gravity with nothing but your own momentum and 35lbs of pure iron. Simple, yet extremely versatile, kettlebells create constant tension, while performing compound and functional movements, working multiple muscle groups, stabilizing muscles, and joints all in one fluid motion. With this 5-week full body kettlebell workout program, you will perform a variety of functional strength and conditioning exercises to exponentially burn more body fat and increase your strength, all while improving functional body movement and mobility. 

Kettlebell Workout Benefits

Training under tension and constant resistance provides numerous health and athletic performance benefits. Kettlebells can help with functional components of dynamic movement, improve strength, optimize body composition, and enhance muscular endurance. 

Additionally, kettlebell training and workouts can benefit your mobility, balance, improve core strength/stability and improve peak power output.

Research has shown that full body kettlebell workouts, 3x per week can improve pain scores, reducing pain intensity in participants neck, shoulders, and lower back. Study results also showed improvements in muscular strength of the low back and trunk [R].

In summary, Kettlebell training can benefit

• Weight Loss
• Increased Muscular Strength
• Increased Muscle Mass
• Improved Mobility
• Reduce Pain Intensity
• Enhance Muscular Endurance
• Improve Peak Power Output
• Enhance Aerobic/Anaerobic Capacity

Kettlebell Workouts And Weight loss

Kettlebells have shown to improve both aerobic and anaerobic power and capacity. In any training modality, increasing your heart rate for an extended period of time will inevitably burn more calories and enhance your weight loss results.

A typical kettlebell workout normally involves 30-60 seconds of uninterrupted compound and dynamic multi-jointed movements. Therefore, as a consequence kettlebell workout promote muscular strength, maximum oxygen capacity, and total body fat loss [R].

A study conducted at the University of Wisconsin, examined the effects of traditional kettlebell training on weight loss. After only a 20-minute kettlebell workout, research subjects burned an average of 272 calories. anaerobically study participants were burning another 6.6 calories per minute, which is off the charts. That’s the equivalent to running a 6-minute mile pace.

Kettlebell workouts burn more calories than traditional cardio, due to training under tension and the fact that it’s a total body movement done in interval format. If you want to get more bang for your buck, and burn body fat at a faster rate, full body kettlebell workouts are the way to go [R].

Kettlebell Full Body Workout

Dependent upon what you’re training for, you can utilize this program in a variety of ways. If you find yourself in the gym lifting five days per week, can add easily any of these kettlebell workouts to your already scheduled programming to jack up your heart rate, burn more body fat, and break up the monotony of steady-state cardio. You can also perform the entire workout as prescribed. Training under tension will create additional resistance, which will build a solid foundation of strength, endurance and mobility. Kettlebell workouts are a perfect complementary training program for active recovery days and getting a quick full body workout.

Alternating between resistance training and kettlebell training is yet another way to add some variability and improve strength and conditioning. Instead of lifting five days per week, try adding a couple kettlebell workouts to your weekly programming.

Frequency and duration of your workouts can also be adjusted. You can perform any of the following kettlebell workouts as an EMOM (every minute on the minute), an AMRAP (as many rounds/reps as possible) or set a certain number of rounds for time.

Traditional kettlebells workouts are built around volume. However, like any other program, you can adjust the prescribed load and reps, for the intended result. For strength, use heavier loads and perform fewer reps. For muscular endurance and conditioning, reduce the load and increase the number of reps. If you’re a beginner, start with lighter loads until you master proper technique and form. Compromising your form can lead to injury, unintentionally using non-targeted muscle groups, therefore causing muscular imbalances and putting yourself at greater risk for injury. 

EQUIPMENT: WHAT YOU NEED

As far as exercise equipment goes, kettlebells are as simple as it gets. It’s basically a cannon ball with a handle. You can perform this entire kettlebell with just one kettlebell and still get the full functional benefits of each dynamic movement.

 5-Week Full Body Kettlebell Workout

Kettlebell Full Body Workout: Takeway

If you want to train like a Spartan, add this full body kettlebell workout program to your training, it can quickly help you burn body fat and improve total body composition. In addition to physique goals, kettlebells are a remarkable training implement to improve strength and conditioning measures, which can dramatically improve functional movement and mobility. 

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References

Effects of Kettlebell Training on Aerobic Capacity.Falatic JA, Plato PA, Holder C, Finch D, Han K, Cisar CJ J Strength Cond Res. 2015 Jul; 29(7):1943-7.

Rufo-Tavares W, Lira CAB, Zimerer C, Andrade MS, Leopoldo AS, Perez AJ, Vancini RL. Short-term detraining is not enough to reduce positive adaptations of kettlebell training on power and strength variables in physically active women. Gazz Med Ital - Archivio per le Scienze Mediche. 2019;178:56–65.

Vancini, Rodrigo Luiz et al. “Kettlebell Exercise as an Alternative to Improve Aerobic Power and Muscle Strength.” Journal of human kinetics vol. 66 5-6. 27 Mar. 2019, doi:10.2478/hukin-2018-0062

Jay K, Frisch D, Hansen K, Zebis MK, Andersen CH, Mortensen OS, Andersen LL. Kettlebell training for musculoskeletal and cardiovascular health: a randomized controlled trial. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2011 May;37(3):196-203. doi: 10.5271/sjweh.3136. Epub 2010 Nov 25. PMID: 21107513.