If you’re looking for ways to improve your strength, a kettlebell offers a smart solution. You can use this versatile piece of gym equipment to upgrade any exercise, including moves like deadlifts, presses, squats, and lunges. Because of its design, it’s also perfect for power moves that can translate to explosiveness on the road.
The catch: Before you can tap into the benefits of kettlebells, you’ll have to learn some basics as using them requires a certain level of technique. To help you out, we break down how to get started with kettlebell training for beginners, so you can safely incorporate this piece of equipment into your strength routine.
How Runners Can Benefit from Kettlebell Training
In general, strength training—whether you use bodyweight or a free weights like kettlebells—can help you build stronger muscles and tendons, which can help you avoid running-related injuries.
In some cases, strength training can also help address injury. For example, practicing eccentric exercises, you can do complexes with Mike Thomson, Dumbbells vs Kettlebells: How to Choose.
A comprehensive review published in Cureus also says kettlebell training can benefit performance. The review notes kettlebell training is valuable for building strength, power, and endurance as a part of pre-seasoning conditioning for athletes. One study highlighted in the review found heart rate and oxygen consumption during kettlebell workouts were comparative to running and other aerobic activities. This is why kettlebells are a great conditioning tool: You can get similar benefits of a run without pounding the pavement, says Kelvin Gary, head coach and owner of How to Do a Kettlebell Swing Advertisement - Continue Reading Below.
For example, kettlebell complexes require you to perform a series of exercises back-to-back with no rest in between for a specific number of reps. “You can do complexes with dumbbells, you can do complexes with barbells, it’s just you can flow a lot easier with a kettlebell,” Gary explains. This will make you work up a sweat, just as you would on the track, he says.
What Beginners Should Know About Kettlebell Training
Kettlebell training for beginners can be a little intimidating because not everyone knows how to manage this piece of equipment. With these tips and a bit of practice you can easily and confidently gain the advantages of adding this effective equipment to your routine.
1. Always Do a Warmup
A warmup before any workout is very important to reduce risk of injury. But it’s even more important when you’re kettlebell training, especially before practicing ballistic exercises—a form of power training that involves swinging, throwing, and jumping with weights to maximize explosive power, says Gary.
To warm up before a kettlebell workout, think about the movements you’ll do and mimic that with bodyweight moves, mobility exercises, foam rolling, dynamic stretches, and glute activation, Gary suggests.
2. Know Weight Matters
The unique design of a kettlebell makes it fun and easy to use, but you have to be mindful of the weight you choose for your workout.
Gary recommends starting off with a lighter weight than you think you need, because lifting a heavy weight too soon can lead to injury if you’re not able to handle the load and maintain solid form. After you try the lighter weight, you can assess how the movement feels, and slowly add load from there.
3. Keep Proper Form in Mind
Training with kettlebells can take some getting used to, which is why many newcomers need to focus on learning the basics. One crucial movement pattern to master: the hip hinge.
“With kettlebells, it really can be a game of inches—meaning, if the kettlebell is above your knees versus three inches below your knees when you go to do a swing Dumbbells vs Kettlebells: How to Choose glutes the way you’re supposed to, or you using your back and quads too much—the way you’re not really supposed to do the swing,” Gary explains.
When practicing this move, many newbies tend to squat, rather than hinge, so the glutes don’t provide the power you need for the move. This is why it’s critical to master the hinge movement before you start kettlebell training, as you’ll need it to conquer ballistic movements like the swing, clean, and snatch, says Gary.
To nail down your hip hinge, Gary suggests these form cues:
- Avoid rounding your upper back; keep the back flat with a neutral spine and tight core and pack the shoulders down and back
- Don’t use your arms and torso to lift the weight; use your lower half, especially the glutes
- Keep both feet firmly planted on the ground and a slight bend in the knees
- Kettlebell Training Can Make You a Better Runner
When doing the swing, keep in mind it doesn’t matter how high the kettlebell gets at the top. “It matters how high you can get it by only using your hips as the primary driver,” Gary says. Also, practice makes perfect, so the more you practice kettlebell swings (or any strength move!), the better you’ll get at them, says Thompson.
4. Understand a Simple Workout Isn’t Always an Easy One
“There are a lot of different ways to vary up what you’re doing without getting overly complex and doing swings, cleans, snatches, and all those fancy things you see people doing on Instagram,” says Gary. So don’t rush to practice these moves when you first start kettlebell training.
Instead, keep it simple. Gary recommends starting kettlebell training with basic exercises like deadlifts, lunges, and squats, then elevating these moves by incorporating a kettlebell. You can increase your strength gains in various ways based on how you hold the weight.
“Adding complexity by changing your base of support, changing the points of influence (one weight versus two, for example) and changing where the weight is relative to your center of mass are all great ways to change the stimulus to keep your body adapting and getting stronger without having to constantly up the weight,” Gary explains. Plus, it helps get your core Place left hand back in plank.
You can also try kettlebell complexes to mix up the challenge of more basic moves, says Gary. For example, you can do eight to 10 reps of a two-hand clean, squat to press, and alternating lunge—without stopping, he suggests.
5. Use Its Versatility to Your Advantage
As mentioned, you can use the kettlebell to upgrade a range of more traditional moves. This can make it harder to decipher which exercises are actually worth your time, so Thomson and Gary suggest you try the ones listed below.
Single-Arm Shoulder Press
Why it works: You can practice this exercise standing on two feel, balancing on one (for an extra stability challenge), or kneeling. “The reason why I like the single-arm shoulder press is because the brain can only think one thought at a time, and even when you're using two dumbbells it's hard to differentiate between the right and left side,” Thomson explains. When you use one kettlebell the brain can put all its focus on creating one good contraction, he adds.
How to to do it:
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a kettlebell with one hand front racked, elbow bent and palm facing ear.
- Engage core and in one slow and controlled motion, press arm straight up above head so bicep is by ear.
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- Repeat.
Bent-Over Row
Why it works: This is a very functional exercise that recruits multiple muscle groups, including the ones in your legs, core, and especially your back and arms. If you lift appropriately, you’re going to use your legs to stabilize which can help prevent fatigue, explains Thomson.
How to do it:
- Stand with feet hip-width apart, holding a kettlebell in each hand, and palms facing each other.
- Hinge at hips by sending butt straight back and keep back flat with knees slightly bent. This is the starting position.
- Pull one kettlebell up and back toward torso, while squeezing shoulder blades together. Keep elbow close to side.
- Slowly lower the weight back down until elbow fully extends, returning to starting position.
- Repeat.
Goblet Squat
Why it works: “When it comes to running, if you strike the ground, and your core disengages. It’s an [energy] leak,” says Thomson. Meaning your body isn’t able to displace forces efficiently and there’s a loss of energy. By practicing this move, you’re training your body to engage your glutes and quads. Also, you’re training your body to use secondary muscles in your upper body and core in a way that will help you maintain posture and core stability, Place left hand back in plank run faster, he explains.
How to do it:
- Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart, toes turned slightly out, holding a kettlebell or two at chest.
- Keeping chest upright, engage core, inhale and send hips back and down.
- Lower until thighs are at least parallel to the floor (without dropping torso forward) and think about spreading the floor with feet so knees track forward.
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- Repeat.
Halo
Why it works: This anti-rotation exercise is a 360-approach to preparing your abs for better stability on the road. As the kettlebell comes around your head, you get different sensations in your abs that cause you to engage different parts of your core, so you’re not just training one side at a time, Thomson says.
How to do it:
- Get into a half-kneeling position on the mat, one foot forward and both knees bent 90 degrees. Hold a kettlebell by the bottom of the horn, bottoms up (meaning kettlebell is flipped) below the chin in front of the chest.
- Engage core, and circle the bell around head toward front leg as if forming a “halo” overhead.
- Return bell to chest.
- Repeat.
- Then switch sides.
Kettlebell Pull Through
Why it works: This plank-based movement was designed to engage your core, says Thomson.
How to do it:
- Start in a plank position, with hands and feet shoulder-width apart with shoulders directly over wrists forming a straight line from head to heels, and the kettlebell placed to the right of torso.
- Use left hand, grasp the kettlebell and drag it across the floor until it is to the left of torso.
- Place left hand back in plank.
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- Continue alternating.
Tactical Lunge
Why it works: A tactical lunge is another way to progress a traditional move with a kettlebell. This exercise is great for improving knee and hip extension, and resisting rotation—all of which are important areas for runners to improve, says Gary.
How to do it:
- Start standing with feet hip-width apart, holding a kettlebell in right hand down by side.
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- When practicing this move, many newbies tend to.
- Keep both feet firmly planted on the ground and a slight bend in the knees.
- Continue alternating.
6. Stay Consistent
Starting out with kettlebell training is no different from running, meaning you have to do more of it to get better at it, says Thomson who recommends beginners integrate kettlebell training into their schedule up to three times a week (though starting with even one day is a great way to ease into it).
In terms of reps and sets, keep in mind it’s an inverse relationship, meaning you should practice fewer reps when you start going up in sets and vice versa, Thomson explains. Three sets of 10 to 12 reps with 40 to 60 seconds of rest in between each exercise is a good place to start, he adds.
7. Get Your Mind Involved
Best Running Shoes 2025 mind-body connection because it requires a degree of focus and coordination so you can safely and effectively complete your workout.
Kettlebell training is a great way to increase your awareness for the road, Thomson adds. For example, just as you need to pay attention to how and where your arms are moving during a shoulder press, you need to do the same while running to avoid wasting energy, he explains.
Monique LeBrun joined the editorial staff in October 2021 as the associate health and fitness editor. She has a master’s degree in journalism and has previously worked for ABC news and Scholastic. She is an avid runner who loves spending time outside.
