Short and Sweaty Kettlebell Workout: Descending Swing & Squat Ladder

Don’t know what to train? Got a kettlebell?

Then I’ve got you covered, buddy.

Here’s a short and sweaty kettlebell workout that will leave your glutes, legs, and lungs pumping. It doesn’t take much longer than ten minutes but is still a great workout. This is one of the workouts in our Advent Calendar 2021, and my wife and her friends often throw this in as a finisher when they train together in our garage gym.

Me? Oh, I did it once in 2012 and I’m still recovering. Back to you.

You’ll be doing a superset consisting of:

1. Kettlebell Swings
2. Goblet Squats

You’ll be using the same kettlebell weight for both exercises. Something like 12–16 kg for a woman and 16–24 kg for a man is a good starting point the first time you try this.

You’ll start by doing ten reps of each exercise, then nine reps of each, then eight, seven, and so on all the way down to one.

Rest? If you need to. I don’t care, just get it all done.

Here’s how the workout will look in its entirety:

(I’ve bolded every other superset to make it easier to read)

1. Kettlebell Swing: 10 reps
2. Goblet Squat: 10 reps
3. Kettlebell Swing: 9 reps
4. Goblet Squat: 9 reps
5. Kettlebell Swing: 8 reps
6. Goblet Squat: 8 reps
7. Kettlebell Swing: 7 reps
8. Goblet Squat: 7 reps
9. Kettlebell Swing: 6 reps
10. Goblet Squat: 6 reps
11. Kettlebell Swing: 5 reps
12. Goblet Squat: 5 reps
13. Kettlebell Swing: 4 reps
14. Goblet Squat: 4 reps
15. Kettlebell Swing: 3 reps
16. Goblet Squat: 3 reps
17. Kettlebell Swing: 2 reps
18. Goblet Squat: 2 reps
19. Kettlebell Swing: 1 reps
20. Goblet Squat: 1 reps

Aaand you’re done!

That’s it, buddy. No gimmicks, just old-fashioned, honest work. Hope it felt good in your buns.

What About Progression?

You can try to beat your previous time. You can use a heavier weight. Or you could give a rat’s ass about progression and performance for once and just do this because you like how it makes you feel. Exercise is actually allowed to be fun every once in a while.

Check This Out

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