5 Week Full Body Kettlebell Workout

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, 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. 

Benefits of Training with Kettlebells

Depending on what you’re training for, you can utilize this program in a variety of ways.

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 of kettlebell workouts to your weekly programming. This will help you build more functional strength, burn more fat, improve mobility, and add in some active recovery to help bigger strength gains.

If you find yourself in the gym lifting five days per week, you can add easily any of these kettlebell workouts as written to your already scheduled programming to jack up your heart rate, burn more body fat, and break up the monotony of steady-state cardio. 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.

How To Incorporate Kettlebells into Your Routine

The 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.

For example, you can perform each kettlebell day and workout, at 5 rounds for time. You could also perform a 15-20 minute AMRAP, completing as many rounds as possible.

For an EMOM, you can perform as many reps of each exercise for a minute and include a one-minute rest interval.

Traditional kettlebell 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.

Related: Unilateral Training: Building Muscle & Strength Without A Barbell

Required Equipment

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 Workouts

These workouts will be performed at 5 rounds, FOR TIME. As the weeks progress, you should be able to increase workout endurance and improve workout times for completion.

To further challenge yourself, you can also perform this workout as an AMRAP and set a designated time. For example, you can set a 15 or 20 min AMRAP, and see how many rounds you can go in that designated time.

Day 1

Complete the following exercises back-to-back with no rest between exercises. This counts as one round. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds.

Day 2

Complete the following exercises back-to-back with no rest between exercises. This counts as one round. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds.

Day 3

Complete the following exercises back-to-back with no rest between exercises. This counts as one round. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds.

Day 4

Complete the following exercises back-to-back with no rest between exercises. This counts as one round. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds.

Day 5

Complete the following exercises back-to-back with no rest between exercises. This counts as one round. Repeat for a total of 5 rounds.

Kettlebell Exercise Instructions

Kettlebell Single-Arm Front Rack Alternating Lunges - This movement is similar to the dumbbell lunge. Hold the kettlebell in a front rack position. Step forward with your left leg while maintaining your balance and squat down through your hips. Focus on engaging your core to avoid roation. Push yourself back to the starting position by using your left heal to drive you. Repeat this movement with your right leg. For each set, you can alternate the arm with which you hold the kettlebell.

Kettlebell Reverse Lunge to Shoulder Press - This movement is a combination of a kettlebell reverse lunge and a single arm kettlebell shoulder press. Hold both kettlebells in a front rack position. Step back with your left leg, allowing both knees to bend simultaneously until the back knee touches the floor. Drive through your front (right) foot and extend the knee as you stand up fully and return to the starting position. Perform a single arm kettlebell shoulder press with your left arm. This is one rep. Repeat on your right side. If you step back with your left leg, you'll do the shoulder press with your left arm. If you step back with your right leg, you'll do the shoulder press with your right arm.

Kettlebell Hollow Body Hold - This movement is set up and performed in the same way as a regular hollow body hold. In this version, hold a single kettlebell in your hands. Make sure to keep your lower back pressed into the floor. Hold for the desired length of time. If the kettlebell is too challenging and doesn't allow you to keep your lower back pressed into the floor, you can perform this movement as a bodyweight movement.