---
title: "Kettlebell exercises"
description: "Swings, goblet squats, deadlifts and kettlebell presses. Technique on video, plus what a bell with a handle does that a dumbbell cannot."
locale: en
url: "https://hi.fitness/exercises/equipment/kettlebell"
count: 37
type: equipment
code: KETTLEBELL
---

# Kettlebell exercises

A kettlebell is a weight with the handle offset from its center of mass, and practically everything
follows from that one difference. The bell hangs below your hand, rests on your forearm in the rack
position, and in a swing it travels on an arc and pulls backward. So the same movements you would
do with a dumbbell load your wrist, your grip and your torso differently.

The set here is small and clusters around four things: squats held in front, overhead presses,
deadlifts and swings. If you want to learn the hip hinge, or an easy way to squat heavy at home,
this is a good place to look. There is next to no isolation work here, and that is not what this
equipment is for.

## What does a kettlebell do that a dumbbell does not?

The center of mass sits a dozen or so centimeters away from your hand and that is the entire
difference. In a swing the weight hangs far from your grip, so once the bell has speed it pulls you
into the hip hinge at the end of every rep. A dumbbell held vertically does not do that, because its
mass sits too close to your hand to build a comparable arc.

In the rack position the same trait works in your favor: the bell rests against your forearm and you
do not have to balance it with anything. The condition is a straight wrist. Overhead, the mass stays
behind your hand, so the shoulder works in a different position than it does pressing a dumbbell,
and a shaky grip shows up immediately.

In the goblet squat, holding the bell by the horns at chest height puts the weight in front of your
torso, where it acts as a counterweight. For plenty of people that means going lower with a flat back
than they can in a bodyweight squat, and that is usually the strongest argument for keeping one bell
at home.

## Which of these exercises really need a kettlebell?

Honestly: a minority. Squats, lunges, step-ups, deadlifts and most of the presses on this list you
can do with a dumbbell almost identically. The kettlebell is more comfortable there, but it is not a
requirement. If you own a set of dumbbells, what you lose without a bell is smaller than a separate
category in the atlas suggests.

Four things are genuinely specific: the swing, the clean, the bottoms-up press and the seesaw press.
Each one uses the fact that the mass sits outside your hand, and none of them reproduces sensibly
with a dumbbell. If you are buying a single bell, those four plus the goblet squat decide whether it
gets used.

And one bell covers more than you would think, because the same one can be held with both hands,
with one hand, and bottoms up. Three completely different difficulty levels without buying more
equipment is a more sensible first step than a set of three sizes.

## Common mistakes

- **Swinging with the arms** - In the swing the bell is thrown forward by hip extension and your arms only guide it. If the front of your shoulders is what you feel after a set, the movement is starting in the wrong place.
- **The bell crashing onto your forearm** - In the clean the kettlebell is not tossed up and caught. Your wrist rotates around the handle, the bell travels around your forearm and settles on it. When it flips over the top instead, you feel the hit in the bone.
- **Wrist bent under the load** - In the rack position and overhead the mass sits behind your hand and wants to bend it back. The wrist stays in line with the forearm, or the weight hangs on the joint instead of on the shoulder.

## Progress the movement

1. **From two hands to one** - A kettlebell has one handle you can hold with both hands or with one, and a dumbbell gives you no such option. The same bell in one hand is close to twice the load per side, plus the work your torso does to stop the tilt.
2. **Same weight, harder grip** - A bottoms-up press is clearly harder than a regular one, even though nothing changes on the scale. The whole difference sits in the grip and in stabilizing, so start lighter than you normally press.
3. **A second bell instead of a heavier one** - The gaps between kettlebell sizes can be large. Two matching bells in a thruster or a sumo deadlift add load in a smaller step, though they take away the anti-rotation work.

## By equipment

- [Quads](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/quads) - 14 exercises
- [Front delts](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/front-delts) - 7 exercises
- [Glutes](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/glutes) - 6 exercises
- [Core](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/core) - 3 exercises
- [Hamstrings](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/hamstrings) - 2 exercises
- [Biceps](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/biceps) - 1 exercises
- [Lower Back](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/lower-back) - 1 exercises
- [Mid chest](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/chest) - 1 exercises
- [Triceps](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/triceps) - 1 exercises
- [Upper back](https://hi.fitness/exercises/muscles/upper-back) - 1 exercises

## All Kettlebell exercises

- [Kettlebell Swing](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-swing) - Glutes · Kettlebell
- [Good Mornings Kettlebell](https://hi.fitness/exercises/good-mornings-kettlebell) - Lower Back · Kettlebell
- [Single Kettlebell Deadlift](https://hi.fitness/exercises/single-kettlebell-deadlift) - Glutes · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-single-leg-romanian-deadlift) - Hamstrings · Kettlebell
- [Goblet Kettlebell Squats](https://hi.fitness/exercises/goblet-kettlebell-squats) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Lying Hamstring Curl](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-lying-hamstring-curl) - Hamstrings · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Squats](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-squats) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Goblet Reverse Lunge](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-goblet-reverse-lunge) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Single-Arm Row](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-single-arm-row) - Upper back · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Overhead Triceps Extension](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-overhead-triceps-extension) - Triceps · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Single-Arm Floor Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-single-arm-floor-press) - Mid chest · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Biceps Curl](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-biceps-curl) - Biceps · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Russian Twist](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-russian-twist) - Core · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Split Squat](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-split-squat) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Sumo Squat](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-sumo-squat) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Situp Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-situp-press) - Core · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Step Up](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-step-up) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Strict Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-strict-press) - Front delts · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Thruster](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-thruster) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Single Arm Clean and Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-single-arm-clean-and-press) - Front delts · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Half Kneeling Shoulder Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-half-kneeling-shoulder-press) - Front delts · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Kneeling One Arm Shoulder Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-kneeling-one-arm-shoulder-press) - Front delts · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Seesaw Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-seesaw-press) - Front delts · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Halo](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-halo) - Front delts · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-sumo-deadlift) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Single Leg Glute Bridge Pullover](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-single-leg-glute-bridge-pullover) - Glutes · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Single-Arm Swing](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-single-arm-swing) - Glutes · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Single-Arm Clean](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-single-arm-clean) - Glutes · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Single-Arm Snatch](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-single-arm-snatch) - Glutes · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Bulgarian Split Squat Right](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-bulgarian-split-squat-right) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Suitcase Squat](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-suitcase-squat) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Sumo Squat (Version 2)](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-sumo-squat-version-2) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Sumo Squat Off Stepbox](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-sumo-squat-off-stepbox) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift with High Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-sumo-deadlift-with-high-pull) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebells Sumo Deadlift with High Pull](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebells-sumo-deadlift-with-high-pull) - Quads · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Standing Bottoms-up One Arm Shoulder Press](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-standing-bottoms-up-one-arm-shoulder-press) - Front delts · Kettlebell
- [Kettlebell Windmill](https://hi.fitness/exercises/kettlebell-windmill) - Core · Kettlebell