How To Use Kettlebells for Beginners | Exercises To Get You Started

 

This post is about how to use kettlebells for beginners who are new to using this awesome piece of strength training equipment.

Kettlebells are something of an exercise phenomenon that pervade every gym and can be found in the homes of fitness enthusiasts around the world. And with good reason.

Exercising with kettlebells is suitable for beginners who want to get a full body workout, build strength and muscle, and lose body fat as part of a weight loss program.

Although you can’t carry them in your pocket like you can with resistance bands, they are convenient to keep at home, and it’s pretty easy for beginners to learn how to use kettlebells for working out.

 

Here are some kettlebells exercises for beginners to get you started:

 

 

How to use kettlebells – exercise tips for newbies:

 

Avoid injury with beginners kettlebells exercises

 

The first thing beginners need to consider when doing kettlebells exercises is avoiding injury.

Kettlebells activate your core, improve balance, build muscle and burn fat. But to do this they put a strain on your muscles and joints, which can result in injury if you’re not careful.

This is especially true when you’re just starting out, and even more so if you are performing any of the movements incorrectly.

By far the best way to avoid injury is to do a thorough warm up at the beginning of the workout.

Try these kettlebell warmup exercises before you start an intense workout:

 

 

If you experience pain during your workout, take a break for a day or two and, when you return to your kettlebell exercises, make sure you’re doing them right. Check your form, reduce the weight you’re using, and lower the intensity of your workout.

 

Recovery is the key to progress

 

If you’re working out hard, your muscles should burn, and your heart should be pounding. Beginners who start kettlebell workouts will definitely feel sore the next day. This is a good thing, but you need time to recover.

Give yourself enough time off after your workout – a few days for your muscles to recover before you hit the weights again. If you push yourself too hard at the beginning, you’re likely to get injured.

 

How to use kettlebells to avoid diminishing returns

 

Muscles adapt and learn. As you repeat exercises, they become accustomed to that exercise.

If you repeat the same workout at the same intensity all the time, you will initially see good returns. But over time those returns will diminish.

If you stick to the same exercises for a long time, you’ll eventually be doing the exact same amount of exercise but reaping less reward.

It’s good for beginners and more advanced athletes alike to mix up kettlebell exercises instead of always doing the same movements.

Because kettlebells work your whole body, you don’t need to separate leg days, chest days etc. But you should learn how to do many different kettlebell exercises in order to vary your workouts.

Variety may be the spice of life, but it’s also the secret to consistent workout gains.

If you’re ready to mix it up and learn how to use kettlebells for more varied exercises, check out this workout video with 25 movements:

 

 

Varying your workout also gives your muscles the chance to recover while you work different muscle groups. It keeps your body guessing, which is the best way to avoid hitting the dreaded plateau.

 

Kettlebell swings for beginners

 

Kettlebell swings are a super effective full-body workout. You can do them often – several times a week or even every day. But only if your body has become used to them, which should be accomplished by starting with a low weight and gradually increasing it over a long period of time.

Once you’re used to the exercise you should increase the intensity if you want to continue making gains. Do this by:

• Using a heavier kettlebell
• Increasing the number of reps you do
• Increasing your sets
• Decreasing the break between sets

For beginners, doing kettlebell swings is a really effective way to build muscle at the same time as improving cardiovascular fitness. If you’re workout out effectively, you’ll be sweating heavily and your heart will be pumping between sets.

Practice the exercises often and your body will reach a level where it gets comfortable with them and you can up the intensity. But always remember to go slowly and carefully!

 

Learn how to use kettlebells, but also other workout tools

 

Whatever your goals, whether you want to lose weight or pack on muscle mass, your best option is to mix up your exercises.

As well as targeting different muscle groups and mixing up the intensity in your kettlebell workouts, you should also try different workout tools, like barbells, gymnastic rings or resistance bands.

For strength training, the best kind of resistance band to use is a 208cm loop band:

 

 

Although these are often used for assisted pull ups, there really is no limit to the number of exercises you can do. Check out our ultimate workout guide, which contains 50 exercises.

 

We hope you enjoyed this post on how to use kettlebells for beginners exercises. See our blog for more workouts, and follow out YouTube and Instagram for exercise videos like this back workout: