IOL Strength and Conditioning

In Will You Keep it Up? we saw how easy it is to test our home gym sticktoitiveness with a single kettlebell. Okay, let’s say you’re game. Now all you need is an example of a simple kettlebell workout.

Swings.

Wow, that’s pretty simple, alright.

Will it get boring? Maybe. Especially at first when your head tells you to do more, as the swing workout’s got your heart ramming through your chest and your lungs can’t gain any traction.

There’s not much to a swing workout if you’re putting in the time physically, but your head’s still wrapped around your work project — a common enough symptom with first-time home gym trainees. Kettlebell swings can be very taxing, each single rep at a time; the movement also lends itself to mindlessness, and it may take purposeful attention to excel rep by rep.

That’s what makes it such a good testing ground for a beginning home gym workout program. After all, we’re trying to find out if you’ll last at home training before you invest the money and space in a home gym.

So, we’re going to start off with swings. If you’re in shape, you’ll move very quickly to sets of 20 reps, five sets and then ten x20. Next, we’ll step up the effort to high swings, where the kettlebell is brought about 30% higher, from the standard shoulder-level swing to directly overhead. Here you’ll have the slightest stall at the top, then bring the ‘bell down between your legs. The stall brings your focus back to 100%, and the extra height multiplies the oomph on the downward cycle and ultimately at the catch as you change directions to bring the globe back up. Much more challenging, the high swing is a heart breaker.

To this workout, I recently added Dan John’s warm-up cycle posted over on T-Nation. Danny uses a barbell; I use a stick. That’s probably not the only difference between our styles, but it’s the biggest.

Snipping the warm-up bit out of the article, here’s what you’ll find:

Writes Coach John:

“Do these all in a row without letting go of the bar. Rest a minute, a minute and a half or two minutes, and do it again. Try three to five sets of this little complex. This particular one is ideal for a day dedicated to vertical or horizontal pushing.”

It’s also an outstanding way to warm up the hips, back and legs for a tough kettlebell workout, and on the way to that adds the variety that you may find limited in a single kettlebell swing workout.

To include his warm-up in your routine, you’ll have to add a barbell to your new home gym equipment list (or a stick, if you’re a lightweight like me), and by then, heck, you’re practically committed.

Another thing you can do to keep your swing workout interesting: Do another kettlebell exercise between swing sets. Swingsets, haha… actually kettlebell workouts *are* fun, but they sure aren’t childish.

I like pressing between swings. By this point in the workout, I’m needing one more thing — triceps work to keep old-lady arms at bay. 15 reps of kettlebell overhead extensions, supersetted with 15 of prone close-grip pressing while resting up for the next lung-straining go-round of swings ought to do it.

Ya gotta try this, no kidding. It’s an excellent workout, takes almost no equipment, not much space, about 45 minutes and absolutely no commute. It’s a winner all around.