Walk into almost any gym and you’ll see the usual suspects: barbells, dumbbells, cable stacks and rows of machines. But there’s another piece of kit that deserves just as much attention.

Kettlebells are among the most versatile tools you can add to your training, allowing you to build strength, muscle, power and conditioning without requiring much space or equipment.

Thanks to their distinctive shape, with the load sitting beneath the handle, kettlebells lend themselves to everything from swings, cleans and snatches to presses, squats and loaded carries. In other words, you can train pretty much your entire body with one or two bells.

They’ve also helped popularise an entirely different style of training: kettlebell flows, where several movements are linked together into one continuous sequence. They’re a useful way to combine strength, coordination and conditioning while breaking away from traditional sets and reps.

Once you’ve got your bell, you’ll need something to do with it. These eight kettlebell workouts cover everything from five-minute finishers to full-body circuits.

You’ll need a pair of kettlebells for this fast-paced, full-body session. Starting at 10 reps, you’ll work your way down a descending ladder of four compound exercises. Complete the full ladder and you’ll rack up 120 reps.

How:

Set a timer for five minutes. Perform each exercise for 10 reps with little to no rest between movements.

For your next round, perform 8 reps of each, then 6, 4 and finally 2.

If you finish before the five minutes are up, begin climbing back up the ladder, starting with 2 reps and adding another 2 each round until time expires.

The Exercises:

• Kettlebell Front-Rack Squat
• Kettlebell Push Press
• Alternating Reverse Lunge
• Alternating Seesaw Bent-Over Row

One kettlebell, two exercises and five minutes. That’s all you’ll need for this shoulders, back and core workout.

The session uses both ascending and descending rep schemes, with your performance in the first half determining where you begin the second.

How:

The workout is divided into two 2-minute-20-second sections, separated by 20 seconds of rest.

Begin the first section with 1 rep of each movement on each arm. In the next round, perform 2 reps per arm, then 3, continuing to add 1 rep per round until time expires.

Rest for 20 seconds.

For the second section, begin with the highest number of reps you reached during the first. So, if you reached 5 reps per arm, start there. Subtract 1 rep each round until you reach 0 or the final 2 minutes 20 seconds expires.

The Exercises:

• Kettlebell Clean to Push Press
• Single-Arm Gorilla Row

This five-minute session alternates dynamic full-body exercises with isometric holds, challenging your legs both while you’re moving and when you’re desperately trying not to.

How:

Set a timer for five minutes.

Minute 1 – Clean-to-Squat Ladder: Perform 1 double-kettlebell clean and 4 squats. Each round, add 1 clean and remove 1 squat until you finish with 4 cleans and 1 squat.

Minute 2 – Split-Squat Hold: Hold an isometric split squat for 20 seconds. Rest for 10 seconds, switch legs and repeat.

Minute 3 – Clean-to-Squat Ladder: Repeat minute one.

Minute 4 – Split-Squat Hold: Repeat minute two.

Minute 5 – Single-Kettlebell Rack Squat: Perform 15 seconds of single-arm rack squats, then switch the kettlebell to the opposite arm for another 15 seconds. Finish with a 30-second isometric squat hold.

Simple doesn’t mean easy. This eight-minute circuit uses just one kettlebell and two fundamental movements – swings and squats – to hammer your posterior chain while sending your heart rate north.

How:

Complete two four-minute rounds.

Each minute consists of 40 seconds of work followed by 20 seconds of rest.

During minute one, perform 1 swing followed by 1 squat, repeating continuously for 40 seconds.

In minute two, perform 2 swings followed by 2 squats. Continue adding 1 rep to each movement every minute until you reach 4 swings and 4 squats in minute four.

For the second four-minute round, reset to 1 rep of each exercise and repeat the ladder.

The Exercises:

• Kettlebell Swing
• Goblet Squat

A kettlebell can also add resistance to movements that would traditionally rely on bodyweight alone.

This six-move core sequence from trainer Eric Leija’s Kettlehell programme challenges your abs through a mixture of flexion, rotation and stability work.

How:

Perform each exercise for 40 seconds, followed by 20 seconds of rest. Complete two to three rounds in total.

The Exercises:

• Bridge to Sit-Up
• 2-Step Get-Up
• Russian Twist to Quick Twist
• Pullover to Sit-Up
• Kettlebell Hollow Rock
• Side-to-Side V-Up

Rather than completing traditional sets of individual exercises, this kettlebell flow links several movements together into one continuous sequence.

How:

Complete 5 reps of the entire flow for one set. Perform 10 sets in total, resting for 30 seconds between each.

The Flow:

• Squat Lift to Goblet Squat
• Squat Return
• Squat Lift to Bottoms-Up Hold
• Overhead Triceps Extension to Squat Return

This five-minute EMOM double-kettlebell workout incorporates forward, lateral and reverse lunges alongside cleans and presses.

The result is a full-body conditioning session that gets you moving in more than just one direction.

How:

For the first three rounds, perform 4 reps of each movement, then rest for the remainder of the minute.

For round four, increase to 6 reps per movement and give yourself 1 minute 15 seconds to complete the work.

For the final round, perform as many rounds as possible of kettlebell swings and goblet squats for one minute.

The Exercises:

• Bent-Over Row
• Gorilla Clean
• Forward Lunge Clean
• Lateral Lunge Clean
• Reverse Lunge to Overhead Press

Finisher:

• Kettlebell Swing
• Goblet Squat

Grab a training partner and prepare to discover just how quickly one exercise can become unpleasant.

This five-minute finisher pits you against each other – and the clock – using nothing but kettlebell swings.

How:

Set a timer for five minutes and make sure you each have a kettlebell. There’s no requirement to use the same weight, so choose a load appropriate to your strength.

Partner one performs 5 kettlebell swings, then puts the bell down.

Partner two immediately performs 6 swings.

Continue alternating, adding 1 rep each time: 7, 8, 9 and so on.

When the five minutes are up, whoever is still swinging loses.