6 Kettlebell HIIT Workouts: A Beginner's Guide

Kettlebell HIIT workouts are some of the most time-efficient ways of gaining strength and increasing endurance. These exercises are known to be hard and fatiguing, but their results are undeniable when it comes to building a strong and healthy body.

So, if you’re tired of traditional weightlifting, want to spend less of your time working out, or are just looking to add variety to your workout routine, this article is for you.

We’ll dive into kettlebell HIIT workouts, understand their benefits, and discover the best exercises for your fitness objectives.

What Is a HIIT Workout?

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training, and, as the name suggests, it involves pushing your body to near its limit in a series of short intensive workouts with rest time between them.

During HIIT exercises, your heart rate is typically between 60-95%, with the highest rate at 85-95% during workouts and the lowest rate at 60-70% during rest periods. Therefore, you should not rest for more than a few seconds to maintain the proper heart rate.

This training method has been around for a while now and has shown incredible results, especially when it comes to fat loss. Some studies even reporting an increase of 28.5% in fat loss compared to other methods.

Additionally, other studies have also shown that HIIT workouts can be especially beneficial for those with cardiac diseases. Since it is effective in lowering the chance of a serious event such as a cardiac arrest, for example.

Finally, HIIT workouts are awesome if you want to spend less time working out while still enjoying its benefits. Typical kettlebell HIIT workouts take something between 20 minutes to half an hour, which makes them very time-efficient.

Can You Do HIIT With Kettlebells?

The short answer is yes, absolutely! But first, let’s understand the different kinds of HIIT workouts:

1. Aerobic HIIT

The aerobic HIIT is the most traditional style of HIIt workout. It is where most research has been done and it consists of mostly cardio exercises such as running, cycling, jumping rope, rowing, etc.

The thing is, later we discovered that almost any compound exercise can be done effectively in HIIT patterns. This information opens the door to a world of workout possibilities.

2. Bodyweight HIIT

This is a famous workout in the world of calisthenics and has been gaining popularity outside of it as well since its simplicity enables it to be done almost anywhere. The exercises performed here are bodyweight exercises such as burpees, jumping jacks, lunges, push-ups, etc.

3. Resistance HIIT

Finally, there’s resistance HIIT where we apply the HIIT principles to exercises that need equipment. And here’s where the main focus of this article lies: kettlebell HIIT workouts.

However, it’s important to highlight that there are several other kinds of resistance HIIT workouts that can be done with different equipment. But that’s a subject for another day.

What Are the Benefits of Kettlebell HITT Workouts?

Besides the fat loss benefits already mentioned previously, kettlebell HIIT Workouts are a stellar way of increasing overall body strength while working on cardio at the same time.

Due to the intense nature of the exercises, the kettlebell HIIT workouts is also beneficial for those who wish to not spend much time working out since it takes about half an hour to complete a training session.

Structuring a Kettlebell HIIT Workout

Before we get into the best exercises for your workout, we should understand how to appropriately structure a HIIT workout in a way that you get the most out of it while preventing injuries.

1. Warm-up

Start with 5-10 minutes of light to moderate exercise so your muscles can prepare to perform at a greater capacity later.

Warming up is obligatory before you engage in any kind of physical exercise. If you go directly from standing still to your maximum effort, you are setting yourself up to get injured eventually.

2. HIIT

After warming up, you can start your HIIT workout. Here number of reps doesn’t matter. What matters is going all out for a specific amount of time and resting after. In typical HIIT workouts, you should do 6-10 sets of 30/60, 30/30, 20/40, 20/20, or 20/10 (Working Intervals in seconds /Recovery in seconds).

You can adjust the rest and activity times to make it harder or easier. But make sure not to go with something ridiculous like 90/10 where you barely give yourself time to rest while going at max intensity for one minute and a half.

3. Cool down

After your workout, you should cool down by stretching or by walking. That way your heart rate and blood pressure can slowly recover to basal levels.

6 Best Kettlebell HIIT Exercises

With all that out of the way, there’s nothing else to do except tell you the best exercises for your kettlebell HIIT workout:

1. Kettlebell Swing

If you have ever touched a kettlebell in your life, you’ve probably done this exercise before, as  Kettlebell swing is one of the most basic kettlebell exercises out there.

It is great for beginners since it’s a fairly simple exercise to execute and it works as a full-body workout with special attention to your glutes, hamstrings, lower back, and core muscles.

If you’re looking to build a heart-shaped butt, this one is for you!

1. Place a kettlebell of challenging weight in front of you.
2. Grab it in a deadlift stance, knees shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent, hips back and back straight.
3. Lift the kettlebell while popping your hips forward to give the kettlebell some extra momentum
4. Let gravity drop the kettlebell again and let it pass through your legs. Be careful not to get hit.
5. Once it's under your leg again pull it back up.
6. Repeat it until your time is up and rest.

This exercise can be performed with both hands or with one hand at a time. The one-hand variation adds greater stability to the exercise forcing you to gange even more your core muscles. However, you can pull as much weight as with the two-hand swing.

2. Kettlebell Clean and Press

If you are an athlete looking to add more explosion to your movements, this may be the exercise for you. It works both the upper and lower body and is also great to get your heart pumping. As a result, you can put in some cardio work while you weightlift.

1. Place a kettlebell of challenging weight in front of you. This exercise is done one arm at a time.
2. With slightly bent knees, hips back, and straight back, pull the kettlebell explosively toward your shoulder while standing straight up at the same time.
3. The arm you are not using will be extending backwards.
4. Once the kettlebell reaches your shoulder, extend your arm up and hold the kettlebell there for a couple of seconds. Use your legs to give an extra push to your body.
5. Slowly return  to the starting position.
6. Repeat it until your time is up and rest.

3. Kettlebell Goblet Squat

Experience all the benefits of squats, but with the extra weight of the kettlebell!

Jokes aside, the kettlebell goblet squat is probably the most simple squat variation, and it can increase all the benefits the regular squat already provides, such as the strengthening the whole lower body with a special focus on the quadriceps.

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding the kettlebell with both hands at your chest.
2. Start squatting by bending your knees and pulling your hips back. Make sure to brace your core and keep your back straight.
3. Once your thighs are parallel to the ground. Slowly make your way back up.
4. Repeat it until your time is up and rest.

One more thing: if you have lower back pain when squatting, consider making adjustments to your form and focus on keeping your back straight.

4. Kettlebell Squat and Press

This one is a real burner. The kettlebell squat and press is kind of a fusion between the clean and press and the goblet squat. You’re going to squat holding the kettlebell close to your chest and after that, lift it over your head. This is an excellent full-body exercise.

1. Grab the kettlebell by the horns and keep it close to your chest
2. Squat while holding it. Bend your knees and bring your hips back while maintaining your back straight
3. Once you're done squatting, lift the kettlebell with both hands until it’s over your head
4. Come back to the starting position.
5. Repeat it until your time is up and rest.

5. Kettlebell Bob and Weave

This exercise focuses on lateral movement which is not commonly seen at the gym. Besides increasing overall strength, this exercise is also particularly useful in developing hip mobility and cardio capacity.

1. Hold the kettlebell by the horns and close to your chest.
2. Squat and lunge sideways, almost like you’re going under an imaginary limbo bar.
3. Stand up again and do the same movement to the other side.
4. Repeat it until your time is up and rest.

6. Kettlebell Russian Twist

Just like every workout session, we left the abs to the end. The kettlebell Russian twist is one of the best weighted ab exercises with a special focus on the oblique muscles, which are responsible for the rotation of the torso and give men that coveted V-line.

Nonetheless, your other core muscles still need to stabilize you and maintain your posture, so they also get a good workout out of it.

1. With a kettlebell close to your chest, sit on the floor with your feet on the ground and knees bent.
2. Lean back slightly so your core is engaged. Remember to always keep your back straight.
3. Rotate your torso to the right, bringing the kettlebell beside your hip. Return to the center, then rotate to the left.
4. Repeat it until your time is up and rest.

Final Thoughts

A Kettlebell HIIT workout is a great way to improve your fitness goals, such as gaining strength and losing weight while still being time-efficient. However, it’s important to be careful when doing HIIT workouts.

Due to the intensive nature of the exercise, doing it with improper form or without warming up can be dangerous and defeat the whole purpose of the workout.

Do it safely, do it well, and you can be sure you’ll be seeing results soon enough. Ready to take your gains to the next level? Download the Flex APP and enjoy all its benefits, from an auto-progression tracker to a plate calculator and a community that cheers you on. Get fit with Flex!