4 Week Kettlebell Rotation

I love kettlebell workouts! And some of the best kettlebell workouts are right here on the internet–on YouTube! So I decided to put together a rotation filled with some of my favorite kettlebell workouts. Why should you do kettlebell workouts–other than the fact they are usually a lot of fun? The biggest reason I love kettlebell workouts is that they can give you a low impact total body strength workout that also burns lots of calories. But other websites describe the health benefits of kettlebell workouts better than I can. Here is a concise list of 14 health benefits of kettlebell training.

The two primary trainers I am using in this rotation are Caroline Girvan and Heather Robertson. Linda @ Barlates has 2 kettlebell workouts that I am using and Yvette Bachman has a few as well. Those are the 4 trainers whose kettlebell workouts appear in this rotation. Some of the workouts do not include warm ups and/or stretches. In these situations I will be using warm ups and extended stretches that are available on YouTube. Usually they are led by the trainers whose kettlebell workouts are included in this rotation but occasionally I will use one from another trainer (Naomi Joy).

Kettlebell training every day is a good way to burnout and over train. So this rotation has more rest days than other rotations I have created. You get 2 rest days in which I list nothing and one rest day that I give you a low intensity flexibility/mobility workout to do. On the days I list nothing, it is up to you what you choose to do. Take a true rest day–do nothing except maybe go on a nice walk. Or it can be a more active rest day–do some yoga. Or maybe some cardio. Just lay off the kettlebells or other resistance equipment. Most of the workouts in this rotation use nothing but a kettlebell. But a few of the workouts by Yvette Bachman require some additional equipment (dumbbells and a step). You will not repeat any of the kettlebell workouts the entire 4 weeks. However, some of the warm ups and stretches will be repeated.

A problem with getting the most out of your kettlebell training is not using heavy enough kettlebells. This was my issue for a long time but slowly, over time, I accumulated heavier kettlebells. But kettlebells are expensive and as you get into the heavier ones, the price really skyrockets. That’s when I discovered an easy fix–adjustable kettlebell handles. You create your own kettlebells using barbell plates. Here is a link to the ones I bought. They work great, but they are not the only ones out there. There are lots. In fact, here is the first adjustable kettlebell I bought, but it is obviously a lot more expensive than just buying the handles. I got 4 sets of handles (creating 4 kettlebells) for the price of one adjustable kettlebell. My thought when I bought the adjustable kettlebell was to quickly change the weight but, just like the stupid SelectTech dumbbells I bought a million years ago (and have long since gotten rid of), it is not a quick change and the workouts I like to do require every weight of kettlebell you need to be available immediately. The point is, you are not going to get a lot out of a month long kettlebell rotation unless you have multiple kettlebells that are appropriate to your strength level. One kettlebell will not cut it. There are too many different exercises done in these workouts and some require a lighter kettlebell, some a heavier kettlebell. With that said, you can always substitute dumbbells for a kettlebell if necessary. Especially for exercises like snatches (dumbbells are safer on the shoulder and wrist if you are new to kettlebell training) and goblet squats and deadlifts (you need something heavy for those two exercises).

Here is a little bit about the trainers used in this rotation. I have created trainer pages for Heather Robertson, Caroline Girvan and Linda @ Barlates. So just click on their names and that will take you to more info. Yvette Bachman is a gym owner who posts workouts that she teaches in her gym on YouTube for free. She used to post a lot before she started charging for streaming. Now she just posts them occasionally. But all of the ones she originally posted on YouTube before she created her $$ streaming channel are still there and there are a lot. Her workouts are intermediate to advanced level. What tends to push them into the advanced level is how long they are. They are frequently at least an hour and sometimes longer and they are all intense metabolic workouts. She also uses a lot of different equipment–kettlebells, medicine balls, bosu balls–but usually she just uses a step and dumbbells. She almost always plays great music.

Here is how I schedule my workouts in YouTube. I have created a private playlist on YouTube for each day of the week. Every Sunday I get out my rotation for the week and plug in my workouts on the days I plan to do them in the order I plan to do them. Then in the morning I just go to the YouTube app on my AppleTV, click on the playlist I created for that day, choose the first workout, hit play and it will play through all of the workouts in the playlist from beginning to end. You can use this rotation post to do the same thing. Click on the workout review and the link to the YouTube workout is in each review, so you can create your playlists from this rotation. I have not reviewed all of the warm ups so I will link directly to the YouTube video for those. I also recommend subscribing to YouTube premium. They will give you a free month. Long enough to get through this rotation. It is worth it if you do YouTube workouts every day like I do.

Week 1:

Day 1: 10 Minute Full Body Warm Up + 30 Minute Full Body Kettlebell Workout | Supersets + Optional: 7 Minute Stretching Session

Day 2: Rest Day

Day 3: Total Body Kettlebell Workout + Kettlebell Tabata Workout + 10 Minute Full Body Mobility and Flexibility Routine

Day 4: Rest Day

Day 5: 5 Minute Full Body Warm Up + 15 Minute Lower Body Kettlebell Workout + 12 Minute HIIT // Upper Body Kettlebell Workout + Quick Daily Stretching Routine

Day 6: 9 Minute Full Body Warm Up + Kickass Kettlebell Series Day 4: Kettlebell Cardio + Optional: 10 Minute Daily Stretching Routine

Day 7: Unwind

Week 2:

Day 1: 5 Minute Full Body Warm Up + Barre Bell HIIT + Controlled Kettlebell HIIT

Day 2: Rest

Day 3: Killer Kettlebell HIIT Workout // Total Body Sculpt

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: Leg Day Warm Up Routine + Kickass Kettlebell Series Day 1: Leg Workout + Optional: Full Body Stretch // Great for Tight Hips

Day 6: HIIT/Step w/ Kettlebell & Heavy Weights (for some of the dumbbell moves you can use a kettlebell)

Day 7: Relaxing Full Body Stretch // Flexibility & Mobility

Week 3:

Day 1: 40 Minute Kettlebell Workout // Full Body Strength & Cardio

Day 2: Rest

Day 3: 10 Minute Full Body Warm Up + Kickass Kettlebell Series Day 2: Complexes + Optional: 7 Minute Stretching Session

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: 9 Minute Full Body Warm Up + Kickass Kettlebell Series Day 5 + Optional: 10 Minute Daily Stretching Routine

Day 6: Cardio Kettlebell Mash up

Day 7: Weekend Recovery Stretch

Week 4:

Day 1: Kettlebell Circuit // Full Body Workout

Day 2: Rest

Day 3: 5 Minute Full Body Warm Up + 45 Minute Full Body Kettlebell Workout

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: Kettlebell HIIT Workout

Day 6: Cardio & Kettlebell

Day 7: Full Body Stretch & Recovery