The deadlift is a foundational movement pattern that builds your glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and all-around hip extension strength. Deadlifting is beneficial to anyone who plays sports, or who just wants to be strong and slow down the aging process. Though most famously done with a barbell, deadlifting with one or more kettlebells is a more than adequate substitute that offers several other benefits as well. Here, we present some of the most common and effective kettlebell deadlift variations. What Is The Kettlebell Deadlift and What Are The Benefits of Doing Them? (See 00:31 in the video ..read more

In one of life’s funny ironic twists, you’ve got two legs, but you spend most of your time using one or the other. When you think about it, running is done with one leg at a time. So is most jumping and bounding, as well as turning and cutting. Even walking to your mailbox requires alternating legs to stabilize the body and exert force. For these reasons, you absolutely MUST train unilaterally—one leg at a time. And one of the best exercises to choose is the single-leg deadlift done with a kettlebell. Benefits Of Using Kettlebells To Work Out Your Legs (See 00:44 in the video above) “Kettlebe ..read more

If you’re new to kettlebell training, or just want to learn more about how to use this timeless tool to get stronger and more powerful, check out the video below. It covers some of the most Frequently Asked Questions about kettlebell use, answered by Jarrod Cardona, a kettlebell coach and movement maverick (follow @thecrazytrainer on Instagram). What Is The Advantage of Using Kettlebells Over Dumbbells? – 00:19 The two implements are similar but different. See why kettlebells are the athletes’ choice. How Do You Hold A Kettlebell Properly? – 01:18 Tips on getting the most control of your move ..read more

What Is The One-Arm Kettlebell Clean? The one-arm kettlebell clean delivers many of the same benefits of the Olympic weightlifting clean, but is less technically demanding. It builds full-body explosiveness and power by training simultaneous extension of the hips and knees, which is a movement required in every power sport. As a result, the one-arm kettlebell clean can enhance vertical jumping ability and general speed. Because you work one side at a time, the one-arm kettlebell clean trains you to resist rotation at the torso, which makes it an excellent core strength exercise. As with all ke ..read more

Google old-time strongmen and you’ll see one image come up again and again: A man in his underwear (or sometimes just a fig leaf) with a handlebar mustache hoisting a massive kettlebell (or barbell) overhead with one hand while his torso is bent almost 90 degrees to the side. It looks like the weight is so heavy it’s practically folding him in half, but the man clearly has control over it. That exercise is called the kettlebell windmill, and it’s not only a great show of strength and athleticism, it’s an awesome way to improve shoulder function and rehab your lower back—with or without a fig l ..read more

If you want to build a thick, strong back, you have to train like an animal—and what better way to do that than with an exercise that actually makes you look like a silverback gorilla when you’re performing it? Let’s look at the gorilla row kettlebell exercise and how you can use it to build strength and size. What Is The Gorilla Row? (See 00:27 in the video above.) The gorilla row is a variation on the bent-over row you’re probably already aware of and usually see done with a barbell. You hinge at the hips and row the weight from the floor until your elbows are at your sides. The key differe ..read more

Any respectable garage gym ought to have some kettlebells or bands—two types of equipment that, on their own, can cover pretty much any training goal and any kind of workout you choose to try. But combine bells and bands into one routine? You must be mad… The following workout is brought to you by one of our favorite mad scientists—the Onnit-certified Eric Leija (@primal.swoledier)—who came up with it while experimenting in his own garage gym. The routine requires only a pair of moderate-weight kettlebells (16kg are good for most guys; 8kg for ladies), and a light resistance band (we like the ..read more

The kettlebell is renowned for its ability to work the whole body. When you lift a kettlebell, you can’t help but train your grip, core, and dozens of other muscles with virtually any move you perform. Want big arms? You’re better off using dumbbells, isolation exercises, and machines… right? Not so fast. While training with kettlebells won’t target the arm muscles as directly as those other methods, they offer some pretty cool benefits that you can’t replicate without them. Let us show you how to use kettlebells to get bigger biceps, triceps, and forearms while you build total-body strength a ..read more

Kettlebells are renowned for their ability to strengthen the entire body with numerous functional exercises, but many people don’t think of them for ab training to build a summer-ready body. Sure, bodyweight exercises like situps and crunches can help get you there, but kettlebells can carve up your core just as quickly, and they offer a lot of other benefits at the same time that you can’t get with direct ab work alone. If you’ve got only one moderate-weight kettlebell at home, you have more than enough to get an outstanding six pack. Allow us to present some of our favorite kettlebell ab exe ..read more

We wanted big legs, but as luck would have it, all the squat racks at Onnit Gym were taken. We don’t have a leg press machine in the gym, so we were about to grab a smoothie, hit the sauna, and call it a day when we ran into Onnit-certified coach Juan Leija (@juannit_247 on Instagram). “What are you guys training today?” he asked. “Well, we were going to hit legs, but we can’t get a squat rack and we don’t have machines. Oh well, see you next week!” “Not so fast,” said Leija. “I can take you through a leg workout using only some kettlebells and your bodyweight. It’ll turn those twigs into tree ..read more