No Frills Fitness: One Kettlebell and Bodyweight Full-Body Workout

A lot of fitness trainers seem to pride themselves on writing very complicated workouts. Sometimes, I look at these programs and wonder what they’re actually trying to achieve. The methods are so convoluted that it’s all but impossible to determine the aim of the workout, let alone follow it.

Other trainers seem to assume that their audience has access to a state-of-the-art gym loaded with all the latest equipment, forgetting that some exercisers have to make do with less than stellar training facilities.

This workout is designed to be the antidote to both of these scenarios. It’s simple and requires the bare minimum of training equipment; a single kettlebell, somewhere to do chin-ups, and enough space to move. You could even use just a dumbbell if that’s all you’ve got.

In my mind, this is a “desert island workout” – something you can do even if you are shipwrecked on an uninhabited island with nothing but your trusty kettlebell for company!

Workout Overview

This workout is designed to train all your major muscles using minimal equipment. It’s a conditioning workout that will burn fat, increase your fitness, and may also improve your strength and muscle size.

It uses some simple but effective training methods to make the most of your limited training facilities and is designed to be done three times a week, e.g., Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

This allows a day between workouts for rest and recovery. You don’t have to be entirely passive during your days off and are welcome to do some LISS or HIIT cardio if you wish.

The two training methods used in this workout are:

• Ladders
• Supersets

Ladders are a simple way to do more reps than usual. For example, instead of doing your regular 8-10 reps of chin-ups, in this workout, you’ll do five reps, rest about 20 seconds, four reps, rest 15 seconds, three reps, rest ten seconds, two reps, rest five seconds, and one rep. This adds up to 15 reps per set. Each mini-set of reps is known as a rung.

Supersets involve going back and forth between pairs of exercises. This saves time and also increases the cardiovascular demand of the workout.

Related: Get More From Your Workouts with Supersets: The Ultimate Guide

The Workout

Do this workout 2-3 times a week for great results with minimal training equipment. Explanations of the exercises and the training methods can be found below.

Start your workout with a few minutes of light cardio to warm up, followed by some dynamic joint mobility and flexibility exercises.

Exercises designated a and b are supersets. Do exercise a) and then, without resting, do exercise b). Recover for the prescribed time and then repeat the pairing.

Exercise Descriptions

Get the most from this and every other workout by doing each exercise properly. This will also ensure that you keep your risk of injury to a minimum.

1a. Chin-up

Forget lat pulldowns; if you want a bigger, stronger back, chin-ups are the way to go. Not only are they a superior lat exercise, but chin-ups also give your biceps a great workout. Chin-ups are to be done using the ladder training method.

How to do it:

1. Hang from your bar with an underhand, shoulder-width grip. Cross your feet behind you if preferred. Brace your abs and pull your shoulders down and back.
2. Bend your arms and pull your chin up and over the bar.
3. Lower yourself back down and repeat.
4. Do 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 rep, resting briefly between each “rung” on the ladder.
5. Move immediately onto the next exercise.

1b. Single-arm overhead kettlebell press         

Single-arm overhead kettlebell presses are a great upper-body exercise. They’ll give you stronger, more muscular shoulders, build and strengthen your triceps, and also work your abs and obliques. Like chin-ups, this exercise is to be done using the ladder method, but you’ll alternate arms rung by rung.

How to do it:

1. Raise and hold your kettlebell at shoulder height, with the weight resting on the back of your forearm. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent for balance. Brace your abs and keep your torso upright.
2. Extend your arm and press the weight up and overhead to arms’ length. Lower it back to your shoulder and repeat for five reps.
3. Switch sides and then do five reps using the opposite arm.
4. Change arms again and do four reps.
5. Continue alternating sides and doing one less rep per rung until you finish your set with one rep per arm.
6. Rest for 60 seconds, and then go back to chin-ups.

2. Three-way lunge complex

This bodyweight-only lunge complex comprises forward lunges, backward lunges, and step-through lunges to work your legs from all the angles. While it won’t build much strength, this is an excellent complex for developing fitness, endurance, and balance.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet together and your arms by your sides.
2. Take a large step forward, bend your legs, and lower your rearmost knee down to within an inch of the floor. Push off your front leg to return to the starting position and then do a rep with the other leg. Continue alternating legs until you have done ten per side.
3. Next, standing with your feet together, take a large step back, bend your legs, and lower your rearmost knee to within an inch of the floor. Push off your back leg to return to the starting position and then do a rep with the other leg. Continue alternating legs until you have done ten per side.
4. Finally, standing with your feet together, lunge backward and then forward, combining the two previous exercises into one. Do ten complete reps on one leg before swapping sides and doing ten with the other leg.
5. Rest a minute and then repeat the entire three-move sequence.

Forward lunge: 

Backward lunge:

Step-through lunge:

3a. Push-ups

The humble push-up is a great upper body exercise. Using the ladder method means you’re going to do 30 reps per set, so just shy of 100 reps in total. This exercise will pump up your pecs and triceps.

How to do it:

1. Squat down and place your hands flat on the floor, roughly shoulder-width apart and fingers pointing forward. Brace your abs and walk your legs back, so your body is straight.
2. Bend your arms and lower your chest down to about one inch above the floor.
3. Straighten your arms and repeat.
4. Do 10, 8, 6, 4, and 2 reps, resting briefly between each “rung” on the ladder.
5. Move immediately onto the next exercise.

3b. Single-arm kettlebell row

Like chin-ups, single-arm kettlebell rows work your upper back and biceps. However, because you’ll be doing them unsupported, they also work your lower back, core, glutes, and hamstrings, albeit indirectly.

How to do it:

1. Stand with your feet about shoulder-width apart for balance. Bend your knees slightly. Hold your kettlebell in one hand. Lean forward from your hips until your upper body is inclined to about 45-degrees. Let your arm hang down from your shoulder. Brace your abs.
2. Bend your arm and pull the kettlebell up and into your ribs. Extend your arm and repeat. Do five reps.
3. Switch sides and then do five reps using the opposite arm.
4. Change arms again and do four reps.
5. Continue alternating sides and doing one less rep per rung until you finish your set with one rep per arm.
6. Rest for 60 seconds, and then go back to the push-ups.

4a. Kettlebell goblet squat

After all those lunges, your legs are probably feeling a little tired. Let’s finish them off with some goblet squats and kettlebell swings. Leg exercise don’t come much better than goblet squats and combining them with swings not only works your legs from front to back, it’ll also drive your heart rate sky-high.

How to do it:

1. Lift and hold your kettlebell in front of your chest. Stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly outward. Brace your core.
2. Bend your legs and squat down until your thighs are about parallel to the floor. Do not round your lower back. Stand back up and repeat. Do five reps and then move immediately to the next exercise.

4b. Kettlebell swings

Kettlebell swings are a very effective posterior chain exercise. It’s explosive and fast-paced, so it’s good for developing muscle power increasing your heart rate. Paired with goblet squats, it’s a real lower body killer!

How to do it:

1. Hold your kettlebell in front of your hips and stand with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart, toes turned slightly outward. Brace your core.
2. Hinge forward and, without rounding your lower back, lower the weight between your knees.
3. Drive your hips forward and swing the weight up to around shoulder height.
4. Swing it back between your legs and repeat. Do five reps.
5. Return immediately to goblet squats (exercise 4a) and do four reps, followed by four more swings. Do 3, 2, 1 reps of each exercise in quick succession.
6. Rest for 60 seconds and then repeat the sequence twice more.

5a. Hardstyle plank

Planks are a popular exercise, but many people focus too much on planking for long periods. It’s more time-efficient and productive to brace your abs as hard as you can and fatigue the target muscles much faster. This is called a hardstyle or RKC (Russian Kettlebell Challenge) plank.

How to do it:

1. Lie on your front with your arms bent and forearms extended in front of you. Lift your hips, so your body is straight. Contract every muscle in your body, including your legs, glutes, arms, chest, back, and abs.
2. Without holding your breath, squeeze all these muscles as hard as you can for 20 seconds. If you feel like you can go for longer, you weren’t contracting your muscles hard enough.
3. Relax and move immediately to the next exercise.

5b. Hanging oblique knee raises

Regular hanging leg raises mainly work your rectus abdominis. This variation brings your obliques more into play, which are basically your waist muscles or side abs.  

How to do it:

1. Hang from a pull-up bar with an overhand, shoulder-width grip. Brace your abs.
2. Without swinging, bend your legs and lift your knees up and across toward one shoulder. You won’t be able to take your knees all the way up to your shoulders, but that’s the direction in which they should move.
3. Lower your legs down and back to the center, and then repeat to the opposite side.
4. Continue alternating sides for the duration of your set.
5. Rest for 60 seconds, and then repeat the pairing twice more.

Wrapping Up

While there is nothing wrong with complicated workouts that use lots of different workout equipment, it’s good to know that you can still get in great shape even if you are limited to using nothing but a single kettlebell and your body weight. 

Ultimately, your body can’t really tell the difference between doing lat pulldowns on a state of the art resistance training machine and doing pull-ups in your local park. It just knows work, and so long as you push yourself, your body will respond by getting fitter and stronger.

Use this workout anytime you cannot get to the gym or just because you want a simple, no-frills workout.

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