Kettlebells have been used as an old school conditioning tool for decades. They are fantastic for the modern man who struggles with time. In an ideal world we would all have a couple of hours a day to train but there is so much to cover and so little time. When balancing work and family it can be hard to find a workout that allows you to train functional strength, create hypertrophy, train your cardio and endurance. This is where the kettlebell steps in.
The kettlebell delivers a hard core workout that can be done in a short amount of time, leaving you with more time to do important things in life like having endless conversations about Fortnite with your 9 year old or playing Barbie with your daughter.
Kettlebells were famously used by old time strongmen to develop their strength and physicality. Wrestlers, strongmen, physical culturalists and wrestlers all used kettlebells as did weightlifters like Klein, Poddubny, Krylov and Alexeyev. All of whom were leaders in their fields as well as being exceptionally strong.
Kettlebells are a solid old school conditioning tool that allow you to:
- Build a solid strength foundation
- Better flexibility
- Faster recovery
- Increased grip strength
- Reduces muscular imbalances
- Awesome conditioning
- Improved muscle mass
- Speed and explosiveness
- Improved power generation
The kettlebell can be used to create some fantastic workouts that get your stronger, improve your cardio and burn a hefty amount of calories at the same time.
From a functional point of view the carry over is great, I often have to haul heavy kit around at work, I know that when I’m training hard with the kettlebells, if I can swing, press and clean a 28kg kettlebell with ease for hundreds of reps this has an excellent carry over into work. Loading kit in and out of vehicles is easy when your conditioning is good and you are strong. Although a 3x bodyweight deadlift is impressive, being able to outwork everyone for hours on end at work or on the mats is much more relevant for me. I’ve trained some exceptionally strong lads in the gym but those same guys have got their asses kicked by someone half their size because they gas out after a minute or two. Strength without conditioning can be very dissapointing.
5 Kettlebell Workouts for Strength and Conditioning
KB Strength WOD 1
213 Armor Building Complex
Amrap 20 minutes
KB Strength WOD 2
4 station circuit
- Overhead presses
- Front squats
- Rows
- Pressups
60 seconds per station. 4 to 6 rounds
KB Strength WOD 3
Clean and Press Double KBs x 5 to 8 reps
Superset with
Lunges Double KBs 5 to 8 reps/side
Rest 2 – 3 minutes
3 to 5 rounds
KB Strength WOD 4
Single KB
15 swings
10 goblet squats
5 shoulder presses/side
AMRAP 20 mins
KB Strength WOD 5
KB Front Squat x 10 sets. 60 seconds rest between sets
then …
Pushups to depth using kettlebell handles for 15 sets emom
For more old school conditioning workouts click here
Old School Conditioning 