Kettlebell Workouts 2025

Here are 5 techniques I’ve used to prep candidates over the years to destroy the 5 minute Snatch Test:
1- HEAVY Double Swings.
2- Heavier Than Normal Snatches
3- Lighter Than Normal Snatches For SPEED / POWER
4- Heavier Than Normal 1-Hand Swings
5- Snatch Specialization Cycles

1- Based upon the program, there’s usually no need to.
2- Why do you want to add them in? What’s the purpose / end goal?

[1] A properly executed Swing trains, strengthens, and even builds some muscle on the Posterior Chain
[2] Swings [Help] Train Your Midsection (Core)
[3] Swings Train You To Produce More Power and Power Endurance:

[a] Use heavy, multi-joint compound exercises like Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Dips, Pull Ups, Rows, Military Press…
And then -
[b] “Fill in” with isolated exercises like Biceps Curls, Triceps Extensions, Shoulder Raises, Leg Extensions, Leg Curls, Calf Raises, and Abdominal work.
And then -
[c] Eat intelligently so you maintain a relatively low body fat instead of looking like the Michelin Man

Teaching the Olympic lifts (O-lifts, as some call them), was a “juice that wasn’t worth the squeeze.”
Too technical and clients had to suspend their disbelief.
So, back to the dumbbell versions of the O-lifts.
Then, I saw the Dragon Door ad for kettlebells in 2001.
I bought my first set in January 2002 and started using them with my clients shortly thereafter.
We all loved them for their short, effective brutality.

The best options for you are based on your strength, work capacity, and technical skill with your kettlebell or kettlebells.
Knowing how to program yourself can be tricky and time-consuming.

I first started using OTM workouts back in 2004.
My Olympic lifting training partner and I would do 2 to 3 reps OTM with 40kg Snatches.
More reps and our power would drop - the Snatches would become “grind-y.”

The result of your RM is directly connected to your technique, or lack thereof (just like shooting a 3-pointer at will requires practice)
He’d shortchanged his previous RM attempts because he’d had “leaks” - technique leaks which sabotage your strength.
Got 3 reps with a 4th in the bank with a pair of 32s on the Clean + Press, after using ‘The Foundation’ program. Pre-Foundation Program, he couldn’t budge them out of the rack.

[1] - Lewit K. Relation of faulty respiration to posture, with clinical implications. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 1980 Apr;79(8):525-9. PMID: 7364597.
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/
[3] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278249048
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/

1- They contract as a spinal stabilizer on both the backswing and the Snatch itself during its upward trajectory to fixation over your head.
And equally if not more importantly -
2- They act as a “brake” (yes, like the ones in your car) and decelerate the arm and kettlebell as they hurtle through shoulder flexion toward fixation over your head.

Here’s how you set it up:
1- Pick your strength exercise(s) of choice.
2- Set your timer for X number of minutes.
3- Do as many high quality reps as you can in X number of minutes.
4- Do MORE reps in your next workout.
5- Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you no longer can.

In my book, double kettlebell complexes are the “Whole Enchilada” -
They work:
[+] Your pushing muscles
[+] Your pulling muscles
[+] Your legs (front and back)
[+] Your core
[+] Your heart and lungs
[+] Your subconscious brain’s desire for variety and novelty
[+] Your “challenge button”

So I want to encourage you:
If your training is going well right now - PRESS IN. (Or is that “ON”?)
Keep going and resist “squirrel brain” or “SHINY OBJECT SYNDROME.”
If it’s not - you can’t measure results, or you’re “Halfway Herbert-ing” it…
Do yourself a solid and get on a plan.