I’ve recently entered a phase in my training which is exclusively dedicated to kettlebells, which I absolutely and thoroughly enjoy (no surprise there!)
What I equally enjoy is hearing my students groan when I refer to our kettlebell classes as “kettlebell parties” — although I don’t know what they’re complaining about: aren’t having fun and getting sweaty integral components of ANY party?
Kidding aside, one of my favourite ways of organizing workouts is descending ladders, in which the reps go down, either from one exercise to the next or with each round. There’s something that’s just wholeheartedly encouraging about a descending ladder, as you know that work gets progressively shorter as you go on and get more fatigued. They allow us to keep a good focus on form, and have fun too! It is a party after all!
Here are three creative kettlebell workouts that use variations of the descending ladder format, just for you!
Grab a light-to-medium-weight kettlebell and complete as many rounds as possible of the following circuit in 25 minutes:
Figure 8 with Hold (12 total)
High Pull (5 each side)
Snatch (4 each side)
Goblet Down Up (3 each side)
KB Jump Squat (4 reps)
Windmill (1 each side)Rest as needed to keep the highest possible quality of movement!
Set a timer for 20 minutes, and perform as many rounds as possible of the following circuit with a medium-weight kettlebell:
Hand to Hand Swing (20 reps)
Goblet Clean (15 reps)
Goblet Squat (10 reps)
Half-Kneeling Press (5 each side)Rest as needed to keep the highest possible quality of movement!
(Yes, it bears mentioning again!)
In a descending ladder format, perform the following moves with a medium-to-heavy-weight kettlebell, starting at 10 reps and decreasing by 2 reps for each round. In the case of unilateral exercises, do the number of reps on each side:
Hand to Hand Swings (10-8-6-4-2 each side)
Goblet Clean (10-8-6-4-2 reps)
Alternating Lunges with Kettlebell Pass Through (10-8-6-4-2 each side)
Alternating One-Armed Row (10-8-6-4-2 each side)Rest as needed to keep the highest possible quality of movement!
(But you know that by now, right?)
