The kettlebell press is a great exercise for the strength and conditioning of athletes. It is done standing up, like sports. The athlete trains one side of the body at a time, which has application for many sports. It develops the shoulders, arms, and core. For all these reasons it’s a great upper body exercise.
To perform this exercise you need a kettlebell. With the kettlebell, this is held a little differently than a dumbbell. When the kettlebell is held, take an underhanded grip and hold it by the inside corner of the kettlebell.
Stand up with the kettlebell resting on the forearm. The athlete’s palm should be facing towards the midline. The hand should be at shoulder level. Stick the chest out and pull the shoulders back.
From this position, press the kettlebell up and slightly back. At the top position, the kettlebell should be in line with the hips. As the kettlebell is being pressed, the hand should be rotated so that the palm moves from facing the midline to facing towards the athlete’s front. Lower and repeat. Once the repetitions have been done with the first arm, switch arms.
What about the other arm? The other arm should be held out to the side for balance while you are pressing.
The kettlebell can be brought to the shoulder or it can be cleaned there to combine exercises.
Several things to focus on during this exercise. First, the athlete needs to stand tall. This means we don’t want them leaning backwards while pressing the kettlebell. Second, at the top position the kettlebell should be in line with the athlete’s hips, this helps with balance. Another cue is the have the arm next to the athlete’s ears at the top.
This can be a challenging exercise in a large team setting. It requires enough kettlebells, or the correct weights, for a third to a quarter of the athletes to be able to exercise with at one time. While this would work with a basketball or baseball team, it would be a challenge for a football team to have enough at each weight to be challenging.
