Ideas For Strength Training At Home

If you hate the gym, find it too expensive, don’t like the crowds, or just don’t have the time to make it to the gym and are looking for ideas for strength training at home then look no further.

All you need is one kettlebell to get started, and over a period of time, you can upgrade your weight. A more optimal selection is two kettlebells of different weights if you have the budget for it.

You can buy a good kettlebell from Amazon and have it arrive at your house the next day. We recommend competition kettlebells as they remain the same size for the bell and handle when you go up in weight. Whereas the cast-iron kettlebells start small and get bigger as the weight goes up. There are plenty of things to consider with this but one is that the grip becomes harder when the handle gets bigger.

A good kettlebell weight to start with for males is 16kgs/35lbs and for females 12kgs/26lbs. If you’re on the stronger side and get two kettlebells, then go for 16kgs/35lbs and 20kgs/44lbs, or 12kgs/26lbs and 16kgs/35lbs if you’re female. If you have no previous training experience, then you want to go one level down with the weight selection.

As you upgrade in the future, you want to make sure that the kettlebell challenges you and you’re struggling around rep 6. You’ll find that the shoulder press will be the hardest, and the row and squat the easiest. The swing is a ballistic movement, so it needs some weight behind it, and if you don’t have a good heavy weight, then replace the swing with a single-leg deadlift.

Make sure to check some of the exercise videos below for a demonstration and the top 5 kettlebell instructional videos here.

Getting Started With Kettlebell Strength At Home

Ideas for strength training at home when you just get started with kettlebells. First, you should focus on just the basic moves with good form and technique. The four exercises to focus on for strength are:

Muscles/Areas Worked

The shoulder press works on the area around the scapula, the deltoids, the triceps, and even core work.

The bent-over row works on the lats, the rear part of the deltoid, and the triceps.

The goblet squat works on the calves, quadriceps, gluteals, core, and other muscles in the legs.

The swing works on the posterior chain, like the hamstrings, gluteals, back, and core.

There are plenty more muscles that are targeted with these exercises but together, they make a good selection of strength exercises to get you started.

Once you’ve mastered the basics, and are ready to upgrade your kettlebell collection, you can work on pure strength and hit every body part separately with a split program.

Kettlebell Shoulder Press

You want to make sure that you can perform the shoulder press strict and that form and technique are not sacrificed. The video shows the strict press with a clean from dead, you would only perform the clean once to get the kettlebell in a racking position ready to press.

Kettlebell Bent-Over Row

The bent-over row can be performed with different stances. The one shown provides a good stable base but might be harder for shorter people. In that case, step one leg out to the side into a split stance bent-over row.

Kettlebell Goblet Squat

The Goblet squat should be performed with a nice neutral to wide stance at the start, but as you progress, you want to make things more difficult and place some focus on the front of your shins, the tibialis anterior which is a muscle that’s important to strengthen for ankle dorsiflexion. You put more focus on this by performing a narrow Goblet squat. Try it and notice the difference!

Kettlebell Swing

The kettlebell swing is great for working on power, endurance, flexibility, and strength. At the start of your strength journey with the kettlebell, you’re working on laying the groundwork. As you upgrade, you want to go heavier with your kettlebell swings and work on low heavy reps.

Program Ideas For Strength Training At Home

We’ve put together a perfect package that includes videos covering all the exercises, follow-along workout, and so much more.

When you’re ready to upgrade and want to literally hit every muscle group separately then get our 4-day kettlebell split strength program named Prometheus Phase II.

If you’re looking for more than just strength, if you want cardio, endurance, flexibility, mobility, power, and also have the ability to check if you’re doing this correctly and safely, then come and join our private online group of people who have access to our workout library and professional coaches. All is included for a low monthly fee of $21.

Strength Training At Home FAQ

Also check out the following helpful links:

• The 5 best kettlebell workouts
• Top 10 reasons to kettlebell strength train
• The 5 best kettlebell instructional videos
• 20 common kettlebell mistakes to avoid