15 Minute Workout

Video Transcription: 

Neghar: Hi guys this is Neghar Fonooni, with Molly Galbraith! We’re representing Girls Gone Strong and today we’re going to be showing you an intermediate kettlebell workout that you can do in the event that you only have one kettlebell available to you. So it’s great if you have a whole bunch of kettlebells available, to move around and do a whole bunch of things but the great thing about kettlebells is that that’s not necessary.

Molly: Right, they are really versatile tools and a lot of times I hear “well my gym has only one kettlebell” or “I can only go to the gym when it’s really busy and I don’t want to monopolize all of the equipment”, so we put together these exercises for you! It’s a full body workout and it can all be done with one kettlebell!

N: Yes, so we’re going to do 4 exercises (technically it’s 4 although one of them is a combination exercise). You’re going to set your timer for 15 minutes and you’re going to pick a weight that feels comfortable for you to use for all the exercises. You’re just going to get through as many quality rounds as possible in that 15 min time frame. So by that, I mean if you need a break for 30 seconds you break for 30 seconds, if you need a break for a minute you break for a minute, it’s all up to you.

M: Like our friend Jen Sinkler says: “As many sets as pretty. Not as many as possible but as many as pretty” We’re going to start with the first exercise which is a Turkish get up with a windmill at the top and on each side.

N: Yeah! So what I need to do is a Turkish getup on each side, and at the top of my getup I’m going to do a windmill. I’m going to pick up the bell, then come up to my forearm and if you notice the whole time my shoulder is cocked, my wrist is straight, and my arm stays perpendicular to the ground. Now you wouldn’t turn, but I’m going to turn towards you so that you can see that I place my toes about 45 degrees away from the bell arm, and I’m going to hinge up my hips and you’re just going to go as deep as you can, so you might be there, you might be touching the ground or you might not - what matters is that your level of mobility allows you to rotate underneath the bell and that the movement is constantly coming from the hips and not the low back. So you will do five and after the fifth one you are going to reverse your movement and you’re going to come back down to the ground and then you will do the other side. So one of those on each side, and then you’ll move on to the goblet squat.

M: Ok! I’m going to do the goblet squat, give Neg a little chance to a rest for a second. So with the goblet squat, we’re going to place the kettlebell right in between your feet and you’re just going to pick it up and hold it right by your chest. You’re holding the bell right underneath the horns, you’re going to put your feet in whatever position feels comfortable for you - I am a little bit taller so my stance is a little bit wider - but generally shoulder width maybe a little bit wider but make sure that toes are turned out slightly, Okay! You’re going to make your core nice and braced, you’re going to drive your knees out as you sit back into your hips and go as low as you can, maintaining a neutral spine then you’re going to bring your hips and reverse the motion to stand back up. Again some of you might not be able to go that deep because you might not have the mobility and control That is fine, just go as deep as you can, whereas other people can sink it to the basement.

N: So we will say about 5 to 10 of those. It just depends. Your kettlebell might be really light, your kettlebell might be really heavy, it just depends.

M: So the next thing we’re going to do is a one arm row. And we’re going to do this without stabilizing our body or anything, but if you’re finding that it is hard to stay neutral in the movement then you can always put your hand down on a bench or couch or wherever you have access to. You’re going to hinge back into the hip, you’re going to pick the kettlebell up, maintain a nice braced core and you’re going to row the kettlebell. You’ll notice I’m not going like this, okay, just keep that elbow nice and close to the side,

N: She’s pulling the shoulder blade back right here, there you go very nice!

M: And that’s the one-arm row, and then obviously I do the other side.

N: So you do 5 to 10 on both sides, and you’re going to round it out with a kettlebell swing.
If you are relativity new to kettlebell swings I’d like you to stick with a two handed swing, as that’s really the one that requires the least amount of skill in terms of all the different types of swings. They all require a lot of skill and practice but we’re going to go ahead and stick with the two handed swing. I am going to hinge at my hips, if you notice the kettlebell stays really high and tight in my groin the entire time, I never swing it down below my knees and the entire movement is perpetuated by the hips. So my hips go back and my hips come forward and at the top, I’m tight and stable.

M: There’s no hyperextending at the top - she’s finishing with her glutes not her lower back, taking a rather plank position at the top, staying nice and stiff and the bell just floats.

N: If you notice, my feet never leave the ground and that’s really important that my feet stay connected to the ground the entire time. So you’re going to do about 10 to 20 of those. If you are a little more advanced you can do a one hand swing, or hand to hand, it’s totally up to you, but I’d like you to start with the two hand swing.