10 Kettlebell Exercises For Runners You Should Include In Your Workout!

Did you know that kettlebell workouts are a great way to supplement a runner’s lifestyle? These exercises help to improve overall strength and performance to protect you from injury when running.

In this article, we’ll explore 10 of the best kettlebell exercises for runners to add to their workout regimens. Keep reading to get the rundown, as well as how often you should do these exercises and insights into kettlebell workout benefits.

1. Two-Handed Kettlebell Swing

Difficulty Level: Hard (especially for beginners)

These full-body reps target your core and upper back muscles, hamstrings, hips, as well as your glutes region.

Here’s how to do two-hand (beginner-friendly) kettlebell swings:

1. Straighten your arms while pushing your hips backward until you touch your inner thighs with your wrists
2. Keep your back flat
3. Quickly push your hips forward while tensing your glutes and abs, moving into an upright position
4. Standing up, your arms ascend so the kettlebell reaches chest height (don’t use your shoulders to raise it)
5. With shoulders down and back, let your arms descend back between your legs.

Progression: Once you master 10 10-swing rounds (with 20 seconds of rest between), progress to a one-handed kettlebell swing.

2. Kettlebell Single-Leg Deadlift

Difficulty Level: Hard

Great for improving lower-body strength. It targets glutes, spinal erectors, and hamstrings, as well as hip/foot/torso stability.

Here’s how to do single-leg kettlebell deadlifts:

1. Stand, holding a kettlebell in one hand
2. Bend at the hips and extend the kettlebell to the ground, while lifting the leg on your same kettlebell holding the side
3. Simultaneously squeeze your lifted leg’s quad and flex its foot in the air
4. Maintain a flat back and slightly bent standing knee while pushing your hips backward
5. Once the bell taps the floor or extends as far as possible with a flat back, ascend back to a standing position

Progression: Once you master the single-leg deadlift, progress to a staggered stance 2-armed deadlift, 1-armed staggered stance deadlift, 2-armed single-leg deadlift, and 1-armed single leg deadlift.

3. Kettlebell Side Lunge

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

Side lunges mainly target your leg, butt, and core muscles, including hamstrings and quads.

Here’s how to do kettlebell side lunges:

1. Perform a 2-handed hold of a kettlebell in front of you
2. Stepping sideways with one leg, bend the step-out leg and keep the other leg straight up
3. Hold your shoulder and chest region back
4. Push your weight into your bent leg in order to thrust you back upright

Progression: Increase the kettlebell weight, add an upper-body rotation, add step-in angles, or add jumps.

Regression: Place a slider under your straight leg or don’t squat quite as low.

4. Kettlebell Goblet Squat

Difficulty Level: Intermediate (easier on the back)

Goblet squats with a kettlebell target your full lower-body muscles, as well as core and arm muscles.

Here’s how to do a kettlebell goblet squat:

1. Perform a two-handed hold of the kettlebell with each hand on a different side
2. Hold the kettlebell in front of you at chest level
3. Drive your hips backward while keeping your chest upright (the squat) until your elbows touch the inside of your knees
4. Push through your heels while squeezing your glutes as you return to an upright position

Progression: After you do one rep, rest 10 seconds, then increase to two reps, rest again, and so on until you reach 9-10 reps.

Regression: Reverse in rep difficulty starting at about 9-10 reps. Each time you rest for about 10 seconds, decrease by one rep until you reach a single rep.

5. Kettlebell Rear Lunge

Difficulty Level: Easy-Intermediate

Rear lunges target your lateral core muscles, shoulders, glutes, and legs (including quads, hamstrings, and calves).

Here’s how to do a kettlebell rear lunge (it helps to face a full-length mirror):

1. Perform a one-handed kettlebell hold with that hand at your side
2. Maintain bodily symmetry
3. Step backward with one leg, slowly dipping down until that leg’s knee touches the ground
4. Drive into your feet to push your body back upright, maintaining symmetry still

Progression: Gradually increase kettlebell weight, or gradually increase reps with rests in between.

Regression: Gradually decrease reps with rests in between (within a single workout).

Related: Get Started In Absolute Weight Training For Beginners – CPT Approved!

6. Kettlebell Half-Kneeling Shoulder Press

Difficulty Level: Hard

These target your entire body, with an emphasis on arm muscles (triceps and deltoids), glutes, and core muscles.

Here’s how to do the kettlebell half-kneeling shoulder press:

1. Perform a one-handed kettlebell hold in the “rack” position (bell rests on your wrist at 0 degrees) while in a half-kneeling position (one knee to the ground and the other bent)
2. Your hand bones should line up with your forearm bones
3. Gradually press the kettlebell upwards, fully extending the elbow until the arm is completely vertical
4. Gradually lower the kettlebell back down

Progression: Once you master the press with perfect form, gradually increase the kettlebell weight.

Regression: Try a fully kneeling/seated shoulder press with your kettlebell instead.

7. Kettlebell Row

Difficulty Level: Easy-Intermediate

It targets your core muscles, shoulders, hips, legs, biceps, and back-of-the-body strength.

Here’s how to do a kettlebell row:

1. With one hand, hold the kettlebell
2. Get into a lunge stance, with the leg on the same side as the kettlebell stepping backward
3. With your kettlebell arm, retract your shoulder blade
4. Pull the bell up until your elbow just goes past your body, with your elbow snug against your side
5. Extend the kettlebell back down and you release your shoulder blade

Progression: Try a row variation, such as the kettlebell bent-over row, double kettlebell bent-over row, or kettlebell renegade row.

Regression: Reduce kettlebell weight or reduce reps gradually (the regular row is already a regression of the row variations).

8. Kettlebell Leg Pass-Through

Difficulty Level: Intermediate

The leg pass-through mainly targets your core muscle group, shoulders, and leg muscles.

Here’s how to do the kettlebell leg pass-through:

1. In a slightly bent/squat position, put your legs shoulder-width apart
2. Hold a kettlebell with your left hand and hold it between your legs
3. Swing the kettlebell around your left side, behind you, and back through your legs as you pass it to your right hand
4. Take the kettlebell with your left hand again, this time passing it directly backward through your legs and passing it off to your right hand
5. Repeat with your right hand, etc.

Progression: Gradually increase the weight of your kettlebell as you master form and repetition with a basic weight.

Regression: Decrease the number of reps in one session.

9. Kettlebell Snatch

Difficulty Level: Hard

The kettlebell snatch primarily targets your glutes, hamstrings, shoulders, and hips.

Here’s how to do a kettlebell snatch:

1. Put your feet shoulder-width apart in a standing position
2. With one hand, hold your kettlebell (overhand grip)
3. Squat until the kettlebell is situated between your feet, then burst upwards out of the squat, pushing the bell overhead
4. You’ll pull the kettlebell in a vertical path in front of you
5. Pause with the bell overhead
6. Gradually lower the kettlebell down to where you started

Progression: The snatch is often considered the final progression when it comes to full-body kettlebell exercises.

Regression: Try get-ups or swings until you’ve re-mastered them.

10. Kettlebell Thruster

Difficulty Level: Intermediate-Hard

It’s a full-body kettlebell exercise, targeting the back, arms, glutes, legs, and other muscle groups.

Here’s how to do a kettlebell thruster:

1. Grab two kettlebells of the same weight (one for each hand)
2. Hold them up to shoulder level by extending your legs to gain a starting position
3. Squat down with the kettlebells
4. Pause for one second
5. Reverse the direction and stand upright by pushing through your heels
6. You’ll extend your arms overhead

Progression: Progress to the one-arm kettlebell variation or combine squat/curl/press/overhead extension.

Regression: Try lowering kettlebell weight or reducing the number of reps.

Benefits of Kettlebell Exercises for Runners

Many kettlebell exercises benefit runners because they tend to work for multiple muscle groups at once. Some of them even target full-body muscles. Some studies have even looked at the benefit of kettlebell exercise when it comes to lower-body injury rehabilitation. The benefits for runners include:

• They increase your cardiovascular capacity
• They improve your endurance
• They boost your strength
• They help to protect your body from injury by working for muscle groups you wouldn’t otherwise condition
• They help your body adapt to increased stress
• They strengthen the backside of your body

How Often (Per Week) Should You Perform Kettlebell Exercises for Runners

Kettlebell exercises are pretty intense when it comes to boosting your workout regimen. They work many muscles in the body that aren’t usually strained, so you have to be careful about not overdoing it.

Generally speaking, 1-3 kettlebell workouts per week is a good place to start. If you’re preparing for a race, you might want to stick to the lower end of that range.

Final Thoughts

Hopefully, our guide to the 10-15 best kettlebell exercises for runners has given you an idea of how to strengthen and condition your body.

These thrusters, swings, rows, and other options are all great ways to boost your endurance, protect you against running injuries, and improve your overall bodily strength.

References

https://www.kettlebellkings.com/blog/the-best-kettlebell-workouts-for-runners/#:~:text=Kettlebell%20training%20is%20an%20effective,joints%20over%20hundreds%20of%20miles.

https://www.menshealth.com/uk/fitness/a752949/kettlebell-pass-between-legs/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3096147/