Kettlebells For Building Muscle – Legs, Back and Biceps Workout

If you missed the first article on using kettlebells to build muscle, you can check it out here:

Kettlebells For Building Muscle: Chest, Shoulders and Triceps Workout

As we touched on last time, kettlebells are typically used for lung burning, conditioning-style workouts …. but what most people don’t know is that they can be a great tool for building muscle, too.  For pure mass gain, utilizing a body part split is ideal. So to compliment our workout from last time, this is a back, biceps and legs workout that can be done with a single kettlebell and your own body weight:

Snatches

Do 50 total, switching hands every 5-10 reps.  Men should use a 24k ‘bell, women 16k.  Time yourself and do all 50 reps as fast as you can.  As your conditioning level improves, strive to improve your time.  You can also start with a lighter weight or less reps and work your way up if you’re out of shape.

Goblet Squat/ Pull Up Superset

Start by doing 15 Goblet Squats.  Here’s how to do the Kettlebell Squat:

The Kettlebell Squat

Follow the KB Squats with a Pull Up ladder – do 1 rep, rest :30, do 2 reps, rest :45, do 3 reps.  Check out this article for more information about the Pull Up ladder:

http://www.cbass.com/Pavel’sLadders.htm

After completing the Pull Up ladder, rest about :60 seconds and repeat this superset two more times.

Rengade Rows

Finish the workout off with 3 sets of 10 reps here.  Here’s my original post on the Kettlebell Row:

The Kettlebell Row

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So how do you put these muscle-building kettlebell workouts together into a routine that makes sense, gives you the right amount of recovery, etc.?  Simple – do the chest, shoulders and triceps workout (we’ll call it workout A) on Monday.  Rest or do some light recovery work (walk, ride your bike, swim, etc.) on Tuesday.  Do the workout detailed in this post (workout B) on Wednesday.  Again, do some light recovery work, flexibility/mobility, etc. on Thursday.  Do workout A again on Friday.  Take the weekend off.

The next week, you’ll follow the same schedule, except you’ll do workout B on Monday, workout A on Wednesday, and workout B on Friday.  Rest for the weekend and start all over again the next Monday.  You can do this routine for 4-6 weeks until you’ll need to change it up.

Now you have a basic plan for using kettlebells and your own body weight to build muscle.  If you’ve been working towards fat loss and/or conditioning for a long period of time, this routine could  be just what you need to mix your workouts up.  Give it a go and let me know what you think!

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5 thoughts on “Kettlebells For Building Muscle – Legs, Back and Biceps Workout

  1. Pingback: Kettlebell Basics » Kettlebells For Fat Loss Part 1

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