RIRLift app icon RIRLift

Exercises

Kettlebell warm-up exercises with one light bell

Published October 24, 2026

For a kettlebell warm-up, do 90 seconds of jumping jacks, then with a light bell 8 good mornings, 5 lateral lunges per side and 3 slow windmills per side, follow with 10 bell glute bridges and 8 kettlebell deadlifts to groove the hinge, and finish with 2 easy sets of 10 swings before your working bell. It takes about 8 minutes, and on get-up or snatch days the last step becomes two light sets of that lift instead.

  1. Jumping Jack Calves, Quads
  2. Kettlebell Good Morning Hamstrings, Lower Back
  3. Kettlebell Windmill Abs, Shoulders
  4. Kettlebell Glute Bridge Glutes
  5. Kettlebell Deadlift Glutes, Hamstrings, Lower Back
  6. Kettlebell Swing Glutes, Hamstrings

Raise your heart rate without the bell

Ninety seconds of jumping jacks is enough to get your breathing up before you pick up a kettlebell. Keep the bell on the floor next to you so the rest of the routine flows without a break.

Raise, no equipment

Jumping Jack

Calves, Quads

You need nothing but a little floor, and ninety seconds gets your breathing and body temperature up before the bell comes off the floor.

How to do it

  1. Feet together, arms down.
  2. Jump your feet apart while sweeping your arms up over your head.
  3. Jump back in as the arms drop.
  4. Keep going for 90 seconds at a steady pace.

Cues

  • Soft knees on every landing
  • Find a rhythm

Common mistakes

  • Landing stiff-legged: bend your knees a little.
  • Going all out: you still have the session ahead.

Swap for: Skipping in Place, High Knees, Jump Rope

Build a session with Jumping Jack

Mobility with a light kettlebell

Grab your lightest bell. Good mornings take your hamstrings through the hinge range, lateral lunges move the hips side to side, and windmills combine a hip hinge with an overhead shoulder, the position every get-up and snatch passes through. Move slowly and keep every rep smooth.

Mobility, hamstrings and hinge

Kettlebell Good Morning

Hamstrings, Lower Back

Holding a light bell at your chest and bowing forward teaches your hips to move back while your back stays long, which is the hinge every swing depends on.

How to do it

  1. Hold a light kettlebell by the horns against your chest.
  2. With soft knees, send your hips backward and bow forward until you feel your hamstrings working.
  3. Return to tall by squeezing your hips through. Do 8 slow reps.

Cues

  • Hips back, not down
  • Long spine

Common mistakes

  • Bending your knees into a squat: they stay only slightly bent.
  • Rounding your back to go lower: stop where your hamstrings stop you.

Swap for: Dumbbell Good Morning, Good Morning, Romanian Deadlift

Build a session with Kettlebell Good Morning

Mobility, hips side to side

Kettlebell Lateral Lunge

Quads, Glutes

Kettlebell work is mostly front to back, so a side lunge moves the hips in the direction swings never do.

How to do it

  1. Hold the bell at your chest and take a wide step out to one side.
  2. Sit back into the stepping hip while the other leg stays straight.
  3. Push back to standing. Do 5 per side.

Cues

  • Sit into the hip
  • Straight leg stays long

Common mistakes

  • Letting the bent knee collapse inward: keep it over the foot.
  • Stepping too narrow to sit back: go wider.

Swap for: Cossack Squat, Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Barbell Lateral Lunge

Build a session with Kettlebell Lateral Lunge

Mobility, overhead shoulder and hips

Kettlebell Windmill

Abs, Shoulders

The windmill holds a bell overhead while your hips hinge sideways, rehearsing the locked arm and open hip that get-ups and snatches need.

How to do it

  1. Press a light bell overhead in one hand and turn your feet about 45 degrees away from that arm.
  2. Push your hip out toward the bell side and slide your free hand down the inside of your front leg.
  3. Keep your eyes on the bell and the arm vertical.
  4. Come back up slowly. Do 3 per side.

Cues

  • Eyes on the bell
  • Hip pushes out, arm stays vertical

Common mistakes

  • Bending the overhead elbow: lock it or go lighter.
  • Twisting your torso instead of hinging at the hip.

Swap for: Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up, Plate Halo, Kettlebell Overhead Press

Build a session with Kettlebell Windmill

Activation: groove the hinge before you swing

Swings are a fast hinge, so make the hinge solid first. Ten glute bridges with the bell on your hips wake up the glutes, and eight slow deadlifts teach the hips-back pattern you will snap through in the swing.

Activation, glutes

Kettlebell Glute Bridge

Glutes

With the bell resting on your hips, a bridge gives your glutes a light load and a clear target before you ask them to snap a swing.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up with feet flat and the bell held on your hip crease.
  2. Drive your hips up until they line up with your knees and shoulders.
  3. Squeeze one second, lower. Do 10.

Cues

  • Squeeze at the top
  • Heels do the work

Common mistakes

  • Overarching your lower back: finish with ribs down.
  • Rushing: the pause is the point.

Swap for: Glute Bridge, Kettlebell Hip Thrust, Single-Leg Glute Bridge

Build a session with Kettlebell Glute Bridge

Activation, slow hinge

Kettlebell Deadlift

Glutes, Hamstrings, Lower Back

Eight slow deadlifts are a swing in slow motion. They let you check the hip hinge before you add speed.

How to do it

  1. Set the bell between your feet.
  2. Send your hips backward, grab the handle with both hands, and pull your shoulders back.
  3. Stand up with a firm hip squeeze, then lower the bell the same way. Do 8.

Cues

  • Bell between the heels
  • Shoulders packed

Common mistakes

  • Squatting the bell up: hips go back first.
  • Reaching for the bell with a rounded back.

Swap for: Kettlebell Sumo Deadlift, Trap Bar Deadlift, Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Build a session with Kettlebell Deadlift

Light sets of your first kettlebell lift

Finish with light sets of the session's first lift. Before swings: 2 sets of 10 easy swings with a lighter bell. Before get-ups: 1 slow rep per side. Before cleans and presses or snatches: 2 sets of 5 per side with a bell one size down. A goblet squat set of 5 opens any session with squats.

Light set for squat sessions

Goblet Squat

Quads, Glutes

Before kettlebell squat work or front squats, one set of 5 goblet squats tells you how your hips and ankles feel today.

How to do it

  1. Hold the bell by the horns at your chest.
  2. Squat down between your knees until your elbows brush your inner thighs.
  3. Stand up. Do 5 slow reps.

Cues

  • Elbows brush the knees
  • Tall chest

Common mistakes

  • Letting the bell drift away from your body.
  • Coming up on your toes.

Swap for: Kettlebell Suitcase Squat, Dumbbell Squat, Bodyweight Squat

Build a session with Goblet Squat

Main lift, ramp in with easy sets

Kettlebell Swing

Glutes, Hamstrings

The swing is the center of most kettlebell sessions. Two easy sets with a lighter bell let you find the hip snap before the working bell.

How to do it

  1. Hike the bell back between your legs like a football snap.
  2. Drive your hips forward hard so the bell floats to chest height.
  3. Let it fall back between your legs and hinge to receive it.
  4. Warm-up: 2 sets of 10 with a lighter bell.

Cues

  • Hips snap, arms just guide
  • Stand tall at the top

Common mistakes

  • Lifting the bell with your arms: the hips send it.
  • Squatting each rep: it is a hinge.

Swap for: Kettlebell Deadlift, Dumbbell Swing, Cable Pull-Through

Build a session with Kettlebell Swing

Main lift, one slow rep per side

Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up

Shoulders, Abs

The get-up moves you from lying to standing with a bell overhead, so a single slow rep per side with a light bell is a warm-up in itself.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back with the bell pressed up in one hand, same-side knee bent.
  2. Roll onto the opposite elbow, then the hand.
  3. Lift your hips, sweep the straight leg under you to a kneel, and stand up.
  4. Reverse every step to lie back down.

Cues

  • Eyes on the bell
  • Arm locked the whole way

Common mistakes

  • Rushing between positions: pause in each one.
  • Letting the bell drift in front of your face.

Swap for: Kettlebell Windmill, Kettlebell Overhead Press, Dumbbell Single-Arm Overhead Carry

Build a session with Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up

Main lift, light ramp sets

Kettlebell Clean & Press

Shoulders, Quads

Two light sets of cleans and presses warm up the whole chain from hips to locked-out shoulder before the working bell.

How to do it

  1. Swing the bell between your legs and pull it close to your body into the rack, resting on your forearm.
  2. Press it overhead until your arm is straight.
  3. Lower to the rack, then let it drop back between your legs.
  4. Warm-up: 2 sets of 5 per side with a bell one size down.

Cues

  • Bell hugs your body on the clean
  • Press straight up

Common mistakes

  • Letting the bell flip and bang your wrist: keep it close.
  • Leaning back to finish the press.

Swap for: Kettlebell Overhead Press, Kettlebell Thruster, Dumbbell Push Press

Build a session with Kettlebell Clean & Press

Main lift, light ramp sets

Kettlebell Snatch

Shoulders, Glutes, Hamstrings

The snatch is the fastest kettlebell lift and the hardest on the grip and shoulder, so give it its own light sets after the swing.

How to do it

  1. Hike the bell back between your legs.
  2. Drive your hips forward and pull the bell up close to your body.
  3. Punch your hand through as it passes your head so it lands softly overhead.
  4. Lower and repeat. Warm-up: 2 sets of 5 per side with a lighter bell.

Cues

  • Punch through at the top
  • Close to the body

Common mistakes

  • Swinging the bell in a wide arc so it slams your forearm.
  • Starting heavy before your swings feel crisp.

Swap for: Kettlebell Swing, One-Arm Dumbbell Snatch, Kettlebell Clean & Press

Build a session with Kettlebell Snatch

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Swing session

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets27 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentKettlebells

Your session is mostly two-hand swings with your working bell.

The hinge drills come first because the swing is a hinge. Two easy sets with a lighter bell bridge into working sets that stop 2 or 3 reps before your hips lose their snap, which keeps every rep powerful.

Swing Day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 1 × 60 4 0 s
Kettlebell Good Morning 1 × 8 4 0 s
Kettlebell Glute Bridge 1 × 10 4 0 s
Kettlebell Deadlift 1 × 8 4 30 s
Kettlebell Swing2 warm-up sets firstTwo light sets of 10 first. 5 × 10–20 2 1 min
How to run it
Run the routine top to bottom, then start your working swings.
How to progress
Add reps per set up to 20, then move to the next bell size.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Get-up and press day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets20 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentKettlebells

You train get-ups and presses and want your shoulder ready overhead.

Windmills and a slow get-up per side prepare the overhead lockout. The presses stop 2 reps short of failure so the shoulder stays stable.

Get-Up and Press
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 1 × 60 4 0 s
Kettlebell Lateral LungePer side. 1 × 5 4 0 s
Kettlebell WindmillPer side. Light bell. 1 × 3 4 0 s
Kettlebell Turkish Get-Up1 warm-up set firstPer side. 3 × 1–2 2 1 min
Kettlebell Clean & Press2 warm-up sets firstPer side. 4 × 5–8 2 90 s
How to run it
Do the mobility drills, then one light get-up per side, then cleans and presses.
How to progress
Add a rep per side each week up to 8, then step up a bell.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Snatch day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentKettlebells, Dumbbells

You practice kettlebell snatches.

Snatches need a warm grip and a strong hinge, so the swing comes before the snatch and both get light sets. Working sets end 2 to 3 reps short of failure because technique breaks before muscles do.

Snatch Day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. 1 × 60 4 0 s
Kettlebell Good Morning 1 × 8 4 0 s
Kettlebell Deadlift 1 × 8 4 0 s
Goblet Squat 1 × 5 4 30 s
Kettlebell Swing 2 × 10 3 45 s
Kettlebell Snatch2 warm-up sets firstPer side. 5 × 5–10 2 90 s
How to run it
Routine, then swings, then snatches.
How to progress
Add reps per arm up to 10, then move up.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How do you warm up for kettlebell training?

Jumping jacks to get warm, light-bell good mornings, lateral lunges and windmills, a bridge and slow deadlift to groove the hinge, then easy sets of your first lift. About 8 minutes.

What are the best kettlebell warm-up exercises?

Good mornings, windmills, glute bridges, deadlifts and light swings. They cover the hinge, the hips and the overhead shoulder.

Can kettlebell swings be a warm-up?

Yes. Two easy sets of 10 with a light bell is a quick warm-up before lifting or running.

What weight should I use to warm up?

Your lightest bell for the mobility drills, then one bell size below your working bell for the light sets of your main lift.

What are the 5 best kettlebell exercises?

The swing, goblet squat, clean and press, Turkish get-up and snatch cover most of what a kettlebell can train, and all five appear on this page.