Fitness Blender’s 27 minute Kettlebell Workout video burns a high number of calories and engages all major muscle groups. There are also many stabilizing muscles that are heavily called upon. For these reasons, this is a great Kettlebell routine for weight loss.

Kettlebells have been around in Russia since at least the early 1700’s, and in 1948 it became the Soviet Union’s national sport. For all the attention that this type of training has been receiving in the last few years, they are definitely not a new concept in terms of fitness tools, entertainment, or measuring devices (Russian farmers would utilize them to gauge the weight of their goods at markets).

These cumbersomely shaped weights have the unique capacity to build endurance, explosive strength, and flexibility simultaneously. With that said, these are a training device for the advanced exerciser and should be used with caution, particularly for those who have any back trouble and/or lack of core strength.

How this routine works:
We have included a short warm up routine at the beginning of this video in order to help ensure that your muscles are warmed and ready for the workout ahead.

We use a jumping rope to get the heart rate up – if you don’t have one, bodyweight cardio such as jumping jacks will suffice. You may wish to do a longer bout of cardio than is shown in the Kettlebell workout video above.

Next we move into several different active stretching movements of the upper body.

The Workout
This routine has 8 different Kettlebell exercises, and you will do the entire thing twice through. In between each of the exercises, you will see a demonstration clip that indicates the name of the next move and how many reps you will do.

One Arm Swing – One of the most traditional Kettlebell exercises, this one targets the hamstrings, glutes, and core, though there aren’t many muscles in the body that don’t have to pitch in to complete this movement.

Kettlebell High Pull – This one engages the upper body effectively, requiring that you maintain enough control over the weight that, while keeping your elbow at a 90 to the ground, pull the elbow back towards yourself, just before pushing back forcefully to drop back into a full one armed swing.

Figure 8 Curl – Speed up the motion on the Figure 8 Curl and it turns into an anaerobic exercise that also challenges your core.

Squat Jack Jerk – Needless to say, this painful adaptation of a Squat Jack is not made any easier when you are maneuvering a Kettlebell back and forth from the inside thigh to the outside thigh.

Full Swing 180 – If you are not experienced with this type of training, skip this move until you feel more familiar with the logistics of a Kettlebell, otherwise you might have one coming down on top of your head. This is a perfect example of a true total body exercise.

Burpee and Clean – Everyone loves Burpees, right? So we figured that the only thing better than a bodyweight Burpee would be one that had a Kettlebell clean at the top of the motion.

Overhead Cross – Lower body, upper body, and core muscles all have to synchronize in order to pull this off. Not only are you burning fat, you’re also building muscle coordination & flexibility.

Half Dragon Flag – Challenge your core strength with one of the top five hardest core exercises out there. Only attempt this move if you have a great deal of existing core strength.

This 27 minute Kettlebell video burns between 270 – 470 calories depending on a comples set of variables including your gender, bodyweight, lean muscle mass, and exertion levels.