When most people think about kettlebell exercises, they typically think of swings, squats, deadlifts, and presses. While these are all great exercises that can help build strength, there are plenty of other kettlebell movements that deserve some attention.
One of the things I love most about kettlebells is their versatility. They can be used to build strength, improve mobility, challenge stability, and develop better coordination. You don’t always need to lift heavier weights or perform more complicated exercises to get results. Sometimes, the movements that look the simplest can be the most beneficial.
As we get older, it’s important that we continue to challenge our bodies in different ways. Moving forward and backward is important, but so is moving side to side, rotating, balancing, and maintaining control of our bodies in different positions.
Today, I want to share five kettlebell exercises that you might not be doing but should consider adding to your workouts.
1. Kettlebell Single Arm Dead Bug
The dead bug is one of my favorite core exercises because it teaches you how to stabilize your trunk while moving your arms and legs independently. Adding a kettlebell to the movement creates an additional challenge for your core and shoulder stability.
By holding a kettlebell in one hand while performing the dead bug, your core has to work to resist unwanted movement and keep your body stable. This challenges your ability to maintain control through your trunk while coordinating movements between your upper and lower body.
Benefits of this exercise include:
- Improving core stability and control.
- Developing shoulder stability.
- Improving coordination between the upper and lower body.
- Strengthening your ability to resist unwanted trunk rotation.
- Building better body awareness.
Having a strong core isn’t just about having strong abdominal muscles. It’s about being able to control your body during movement, which is important for everything from carrying groceries to performing more challenging strength exercises.
2. Kettlebell Goblet Cross Step Lunge
Most people are familiar with traditional lunges, whether that’s stepping forward, backward, or even laterally. However, the cross step lunge introduces a different movement pattern that challenges your hips, balance, and coordination.
By holding a kettlebell in the goblet position, you’re adding an additional challenge to your core while maintaining an upright posture. The cross step introduces movement across your body, requiring your hips and lower body to control movement in a way that traditional lunges may not.
Benefits of this exercise include:
- Improving hip mobility and stability.
- Strengthening the glutes and legs.
- Challenging balance and coordination.
- Improving lower-body control during multiplanar movement.
- Developing core stability while moving.
As we age, maintaining the ability to move confidently in different directions becomes increasingly important. Life doesn’t happen in straight lines, and our workouts shouldn’t be limited to them either.
3. Kettlebell Lateral Deadlift
Deadlifts are one of the best exercises for building strength through your hips, glutes, and posterior chain. However, most people only perform them in a traditional stance, moving straight up and down.
The kettlebell lateral deadlift introduces a side-to-side component that challenges your lower body differently. By shifting your weight toward one side while maintaining a hip hinge, you’re asking your hips and legs to control movement in the frontal plane.
This exercise can be especially beneficial because lateral movements are often overlooked in traditional strength training programs.
Benefits of this exercise include:
- Strengthening the glutes, hamstrings, and inner thighs.
- Improving hip mobility and control.
- Developing strength during side-to-side movements.
- Challenging balance and weight shifting.
- Improving the ability to load one leg more than the other.
Being able to shift your weight and produce strength from different positions is an important part of maintaining functional movement. Whether you’re stepping around an obstacle, working in your yard, or participating in recreational activities, lateral strength can make a difference.
4. Kettlebell Tall Kneeling Halos
Shoulder mobility is something that many adults struggle with, especially as they get older. Between sitting at desks, spending time on our phones, and not regularly moving our shoulders through their available range of motion, it’s easy to lose confidence and control with overhead movements.
The kettlebell tall kneeling halo is a great exercise for challenging shoulder mobility and stability while also strengthening your core.
By performing halos in a tall kneeling position, you’re reducing the ability to compensate with your lower body. This encourages you to maintain a stable trunk while moving the kettlebell around your head in a controlled manner.
Benefits of this exercise include:
- Improving shoulder mobility and control.
- Strengthening the muscles that stabilize the shoulders.
- Challenging core stability and upright posture.
- Improving coordination through the upper body.
- Developing greater control during overhead movements.
One of the things I like most about this exercise is that it combines mobility and stability into one movement. Rather than simply stretching your shoulders, you’re actively controlling movement through a comfortable range of motion.
5. Kettlebell Half Kneeling Ankle Rock
Ankle mobility is one of those things that doesn’t get much attention until it starts affecting how we move.
Limited ankle mobility can influence how we squat, lunge, walk, and navigate stairs. When our ankles aren’t moving well, we may compensate by changing how our knees, hips, or other joints move.
The kettlebell half kneeling ankle rock is a simple exercise that can help improve ankle dorsiflexion, which is the ability to bring your knee forward over your foot while keeping your heel grounded.
By using a kettlebell to provide a controlled load, you can work on improving your ankle’s available range of motion while maintaining stability.
Benefits of this exercise include:
- Improving ankle dorsiflexion mobility.
- Developing better control through the ankle.
- Supporting improved squat and lunge mechanics.
- Improving the ability to move the knee forward over the foot.
- Building confidence with loaded ankle movement.
This exercise is a great reminder that not every kettlebell movement needs to be focused on building strength. Sometimes, using a little resistance to improve how a joint moves can be just as valuable.
Final Thoughts
One of the biggest mistakes people make with their workouts is thinking that they need to constantly do more. More weight, more repetitions, more exercises, and more intensity.
But sometimes, what we really need is to move better.
These five kettlebell exercises challenge your body in ways that traditional strength exercises might not. They encourage you to develop strength, mobility, balance, stability, and coordination, all of which become increasingly important as we get older.
You don’t need to add all five exercises to your next workout. Start with one or two that address an area you’d like to improve, use an appropriate weight, and focus on performing each movement with control.
At MB Wellness, we believe strength training should help you do more of the things you enjoy outside the gym. That’s why our Small Group Personal Training sessions focus on more than just lifting weights. We work on building strength, improving mobility, developing balance, and helping you feel more confident in how your body moves.
If you’re over 40 and looking for a personal training experience that meets you where you’re at, we’d love to help.
Move Better. Get Stronger. Feel Free.