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Before understanding why this kettlebell core workout is fantastic for your mid-section, let’s define the core. The core, abs, or midsection (or whatever you call it) is every muscle between your ribs and your glutes—got it? Good, because contrary to popular belief, the core is much more than just the six-pack, it also includes muscles in your sides and back, such as the obliques and the erector spinae.
Now that is out of the way, let’s discuss why the kettlebell is an excellent tool to strengthen the core. The kettlebell design has a thick handle and offset center of mass compared to a dumbbell (about 6-8 inches from the handle), which has core strengthening benefits. Dumbbells tend to center the weight within your hand, but with kettlebells, this changes depending on your exercise, like kettlebell swings versus goblet squats.
RELATED: Best Kettlebells for Your Home Workout
The offset load while using the kettlebell impacts your stability. The stabilizing muscles of your core and body constantly adjust because of the shifting center of mass with each rep. This fact makes the kettlebell a great tool to improve your core strength and endurance.
Here we’ll dive into 10 great kettlebell exercises and how to do them, and we’ll tie it into a nice bow with a kettlebell workout to give you a rocking, strong core.
10 Best Kettlebell Core Exercises
Below are 10 excellent kettlebell exercises for the core. You can perform many kettlebell exercises for the core, but the ones below will give you the most bang for your buck and train every muscle group from head to toe.
1. Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up
Why do it: Besides training every muscle from head to toe, the kettlebell Turkish Get-Up improves unilateral shoulder strength because of the rotator cuff and upper back demands.
Note: It’s best to perform the Turkish Get-Up as the body weight exercise before doing it with a KB.
How to do it:
- Lie on your back holding a kettlebell in one hand with the same knee bent and the opposite leg straight. Hold the kettlebell straight up over your chest and rest your opposite arm on the floor.
- Exhale and contract your abs to lift your body up, reaching the kettlebell toward the ceiling as you sit up to balance on your opposite elbow. Straighten your arm to extend up and lift your hips off the ground to balance on your hand and foot.
- Step your other foot back under your hips to a half kneeling position and lift your hand off the floor. Press through your front foot and your back toe to stand up in a lunge position, then step your back foot forward. Keep the arm holding the kettlebell extended straight up throughout the movement.
- To reverse the movement, step back, drop to your knee, lower your hand to the ground, swing your foot forward, set your hips down, and lower your upper body back to the starting position.
- Repeat for the recommended number of repetitions on each side.
