Workout of the Month: No Way Out

ALL LEVELS/kettlebell workout for strength and endurance / 12 mins

Equipment: kettlebell

Don’t be the fool on April Fools’ – try our workout of the month instead. “No Way Out” is your way out of boring exercises. In only 12 minutes, this kettlebell workout will target your whole body and challenge your strength and endurance. Ready?

Using just a kettlebell, you will cycle through 3 rounds of 4 exercises. Since we are talking about a timed circuit, you will perform as many reps as possible within the allocated time for each exercise. There is a 10s rest between exercises, and the duration of each subsequent exercise decreases – to allow for an increase in fatigue. And to make things interesting, you will be alternating between a loaded (kettlebell) exercise and an unloaded (bodyweight) exercise.

The exercise sequence is as follows:

1. Side lunge – 60s
2. Kettlebell clean press – 50s
3. Squat – 40s
4. Kettlebell swing – 30s

KETTLEBELL WORKOUT: NO WAY OUT

SCALING

Beginners – use 5-10kg kettlebell

Advanced – use 10-20kg kettlebell 

EXPERT TIPS

The focus of this workout is the pace. The bodyweight exercises (lunge and squat) will allow you to go faster, and preferably unbroken; the kettlebell exercises will require a slower/controlled pace, and you may need to break it into manageable sets. 

This workout will challenge your aerobic capacity, and there is no way out of this, except to pace yourself well. The rest period is not high and will only be adequate to set yourself up for the next exercise. But take comfort in the fact that the duration of each exercise will decrease. Don’t forget that each time you complete a cycle, you will be more fatigued, so it’s ok to slow down a little – try to go unbroken in your reps.

Keep note of your progress, record the total number of reps at the end, and try to beat it next time.

KETTLEBELL WORKOUT EXERCISES

1 – SIDE LUNGE

60 secs exercise, 10 secs rest

• Keep core tight.
• Knee over toes.
• Leg straight.

2 – KETTLEBELL CLEAN PRESS

50 secs exercise, 10 secs rest

• Keep core and glutes tight.
• Drive the hips up.
• Squeeze shoulder blades together.

3 – SQUAT

40 secs exercise, 10 secs rest

• Keep core tight.
• Drive hips up.
• Weight through the center of the feet.

4 – KETTLEBELL SWING

30 secs exercise, 10 secs rest

• Keep core tight.
• Drive hips up.
• Squeeze shoulder blades together.

Kettlebell workout: done! Time to check some other options:

• 10-minute high-intensity workout
• 17-minute whole-body workout
• 12-minute strength and endurance workout
• 15-minute circuit training
• 15-minute strength and endurance circuit workout
• Strength and endurance workout