This unilateral strength workout with a heavy kettlebell focusses on the upper body, it leaves no muscle unworked!
Hits all the deltoids, obliques, chest, and back muscles.
The workout is as follows:
- 20-meter farmer walk left
- 20-meter overhead walk right
- 20-meter farmer walk right
- 20-meter overhead walk left
- 8 chest presses left
- 8 bent over rows right
- 8 chest presses right
- 8 bent over rows left
- 1 to 2 minutes rest
6 rounds.
Weight is 75 to 80% of your max.
For the first round, use a lighter weight for the overhead work and chest press.
Bent-over dead rows
I love this version of the bent-over row as it also works your core and even posterior chain muscles with isometrics. You have to work really hard to remain as solid as possible while rowing, pull the heels outwards, press the heels into the ground, squeeze the glutes, brace your abs, pull your lats down, create tension on the non-rowing side as well. When ready, start rowing while remaining as solid as a rock. Row the weight into the hips, focus on pulling the elbow up, and slowly release, take advantage of the down phase of this movement as well. If you find that your body is moving too much while rowing, then your weight is too heavy. Make sure you check out the common rowing mistake video at the bottom.
I’ve written down a decade of kettlebell information, that includes rowing, pressing, swinging, and more, it especially touches upon safety, foundational techniques, etc. If you’ve previously tried to train with kettlebells but gave up due to forearm or other pains, give the book a go, I wrote it to help people like yourself get into kettlebell training and lay the proper foundation to become PRO, whether enthusiast or trainer.
Buy the Kettlebell Training Fundamentals Ebook if you want to get started right away, if you want a paperback version of the book, go to Amazon. Check out our online course if you want to get certified.
One Kettlebell
I chose to do this with one kettlebell as it provides added benefits. Most people think that training with two kettlebells is harder than one, yes it adds more load, but it does not make the exercise harder, in fact, quite the opposite. Snatching one kettlebell is harder than two, farmer walks with one kettlebell is harder than two, and so on. I’ve already given one great example in the video, the one-arm farmer walks require more engagement of muscles to stay straight, to stabilize, etc.
Should you buy the book? Only if you say yes to one of the following:
- I want to prevent my own kettlebell aches and pains ✓
- I want to teach others how to prevent kettlebell aches and pains ✓
- I want to learn the fundamentals of kettlebell training ✓
- I want to teach others the fundamentals of kettlebell training ✓
- I want to understand 25+ kettlebell grips to make my training efficient ✓
- I want to learn more about swinging, rowing, pressing, and other important exercises ✓
- I want to understand how to train with kettlebells ✓
Buy the book today and start learning right away.
Video: 10+ Kettlebell Row Variations And Common Mistake Made
Find out below what the common mistake made is with rowing exercises, you might even be making this mistake without knowing it. This bit of knowledge might change the way you row and/or what weight you chose to work with from here on out.