2 Kettlebell Mobility Combos

Kettlebells are extremely good for flexibility and mobility. There is so much that can be done with them. The key is slow, deep, controlled movements with light to medium weight. Separate this from your strength or any other training and take some time to focus and enjoy the movements.

I’ve designed two great kettlebell mobility combos that you can use in your regular training, they pretty much target everything:

• Ankles
• Knees
• Hips
• Thoracic (rotation and extension)
• Shoulders

The first kettlebell combo consists of:

1. Dead squat curl
2. Spiral press
3. Snatch
4. Windmill

These combos already require you to have some flexibility and even strength, so, don’t pick up a kettlebell and defeat the purpose by injuring yourself. Guaranteed you will if you don’t progress safely. Good mobility is a journey, not something you can just force over a couple of days. Invest the time, make it part of your lifestyle.

Now, I could tell you how these combos are so good for CrossFitters, BJJ and MMA fighters, kettlebell sport athletes, etc. but the truth is, this is good for anyone, and everyone should be including these movements or a form of it in their training. Especially thoracic rotation and extension.

If I haven’t convinced you yet to pick up a kettlebell and do some slow mobility movements for your body, for your freedom to move, then watch this other combo below.

This second combo consists of:

1. Dead swing clean
2. Squat
3. Snatch
4. Windmill
5. Sots press

So, let’s say you came across this page without much kettlebell experience but want to start using kettlebells, what is the best approach?

You should start with the fundamentals of kettlebell training, fully understanding these would take you about a week or so, depending on how quick you learn and pick up things. From there you would progress to mastering one of the most technical and important exercises of kettlebell training, the kettlebell clean.

Once you master the kettlebell clean everything else will fall into place, your swing will be better, your racking, your snatch, and best of all, your transitions will be smooth.

What do these mobility exercises provide?

They do nothing if your technique is not up to scratch, so priority number is to understand kettlebell technique and when you have that under control you can reap the following benefits from these mobility combos:

1. Dead swing clean
   Hamstring stretch
   Feel those hammies, don’t try and remove the stretch by bending the knees
2. Squat
   Calves (ankles), quads (knees), glutes (hips), and the back (thoracic spine)
   You have to maintain good form and go to the depth of your squat
3. Snatch
   Hamstrings
   Get a good deep dynamic hip hinge for the snatch
4. Windmill
   Hamstrings, thoracic, and shoulders
   Keep the legs nice and straight if possible to get into the hammies, focus on the safe rotation of the shoulders, and understand the thoracic rotation that is happening, create more of it by pulling the top shoulder back and pushing the bottom one out
5. Sots press
   Thoracic extension and shoulders
   You really get a whole lot more out of this one but let’s focus on the main ones, thoracic extension and shoulders. You have to create as much extension as possible to be able to press the kettlebell up, there is so much happening in your back, it’s great.
6. Dead squat curl
   Everything from the squat transfers
   The curl provides an additional resistance which a great for the depth of the squat and the work the back needs to do
7. Spiral press
   Thoracic rotation and shoulders
   The spiral press is great to work the thoracic, just follow the pressing movement like a spiral and look at the bell