EXERCISE OF THE MONTH: THE KETTLEBELL PRESS

I have been using kettlebells for quite a few years and really love them. I don’t think there’s anything better for developing upper body and in particular shoulder strength and stability. One of my favorite exercises to perform is the kettlebell press. If you’re familiar with shoulder presses then you already know the exercise. In fact many may argue that dumbbells or barbells do the exact same job for the press as the kettlebell. But in fact they don’t – quite. The kettlebell is in itself an unbalanced load when in the shoulder press position. This allows for a more natural and indeed a more fluid movement when pressing, which doesn’t place stress on the joints in the same way as an overhead press with say a barbell. Equally the kettlebell with this instability, ensures that you engage your core, giving you added benefits which are often lost when using other alternatives.

The kettlebell press forces us to adhere to good biomechanics, engaging our core and moving fluidly. We can start off with a lighter kettlebell of say 4kg and then can easily progress as we start to develop our shoulder and tricep strength. One of the things I like best about the kettlebell press is the variety.

There are literally hundreds of ways you can alter the kettlebell press to add variety including, for example, the see-saw kettlebell press, kettlebell clean and press, alternating kettlebell press, kettlebell military press, one-arm kettlebell press and even a squat kettlebell press. In fact the list goes on. The variations are really limitless which is one of the reasons this basic exercise has so much to offer.