Fitness Friday: Bottoms Up Kettlebell

Fitness Friday: Bottoms Up Kettlebell, Bottoms Up Carry and Bottoms Up Press

For Fitness Friday, here’s a kettlebell routine to incorporate: Bottoms Up Kettlebell, Bottoms Up Carry and Bottoms Up Press

The routine involves holding the kettlebell upside down. Keep your upper arm close to the body, and hold the lower arm at the 45-degree angle necessary to hold the kettlebell vertically. In the “carry” variation, you hold that position while walking a straight line.

Check out the video below for proper technique on the Bottoms Up Kettlebell Carry.

Obvious benefits of this are strengthening the grip and shoulders. Not so obvious is that the inherent instability of the kettlebell in this position will force the activation of a large number of other muscle groups.

One of the things I learned in my workouts with Skip Bunton at Body Specs is the value of working to keep balance through body and weight shifts. The weight shifts and the body’s effort to maintain balance strengthens the core, which is fundamental to golf — and to so many other things.

One of the dangers of aging is the loss of balance. Working with weights to strengthen the core and other muscles used to maintain balance can potentially help you avoid a injurious fall in the future.

The bottoms up carry activates even more, as the motion will increase the difficulty of maintaining that balance.

There’s even more for you with the Bottoms Up Press. In this, start with the bottoms up position and push upward. Check the video above for proper technique.

Again, the instability of having the weight above the handle will activate more muscles than a more stable position.

For my workouts, I employ Amazon Basics kettlebells. I had trouble finding Kettlebells in local shops during the early stages of the pandemic when I went from working out at a local gym to working out in my basement. There isn’t anything complicated about kettlebells and the Amazon ones fit my hand nicely.

Use the link below, and Amazon will throw a few cents my way to help pay for hosting.