The kettlebell has received a lot of love and popularity from athletes looking to build explosive strength and muscle for decades.
And in the past couple years, it’s become increasingly popular as a mainstream form of resistance for everyone to use.
A lot of this has been tied to the rise in the popularity of group exercise classes that utilize kettlebells.
As more people become familiar with this piece of equipment, it is important to learn how to build workout routines around the tool.
In this article, we’re going to provide you with a kettlebell workout. This kettlebell workout assumes you have 4 days per week to perform resistance-based strength training.
This is a workout I would write for myself to use at home with a set of kettlebells. However, keep in mind that it is simply a template and should be modified in whatever ways necessary to meet your individual needs and goals.
4 Day Kettlebell Upper/Lower Workout Routine Overview
As mentioned, the following workout routine assumes the only form of resistance you plan to use is a set of kettlebells.
It also assumes that you have 4 days per week to make it to the gym.
As a result, the workout routine follows an upper/lower workout split.
So, twice a week you will perform exercises that focus on your upper body. And the other two workouts will focus on the muscles of the lower body. With that said, and since we are using kettlebells, there will be some exercises that train both the upper and lower body.
On days in which you do not perform resistance training, you can perform cardiovascular exercise if it aligns with your individual goals and abilities.
A sample weekly routine is provided below.
4 Day Kettlebell Workout Weekly Routine
- Monday: Kettlebell Upper Body Workout 1
- Tuesday: Kettlebell Lower Body Workout 1
- Wednesday: Rest/Cardio
- Thursday: Kettlebell Upper Body Workout 2
- Friday: Kettlebell Upper Body Workout 2
- Weekends: Rest/Cardio
Kettlebell Upper Body Workout 1
| Exercises | Set Range | Rep Range |
| Kettlebell Row | 3 | 8-15 |
| Kettlebell Shoulder Press | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Upright Row | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Hammer Curl | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Overhead Tricep Extension | 3 | 8-12 |
Kettlebell Lower Body Workout 1
| Exercises | Set Range | Rep Range |
| Kettlebell Squat | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Power Clean | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Lunge | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Swing | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Glute Bridge | 3 | 8-12 |
Kettlebell Upper Body Workout 2
| Exercise | Set Range | Rep Range |
| Kettlebell Row | 4 | 8-12 |
| Single Hand Elevated Pushup on Kettlebell | 4 (2 Each Side) | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Halo | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Floor Lying Pull Over | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Windmill | 3 | 8-12 |
Kettlebell Lower Body Workout 2
| Exercises | Set Range | Rep Range |
| Kettlebell Clean and Jerk | 4 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Romanian Deadlift | 4 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Sumo Squat | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Calf Raise | 3 | 8-12 |
| Kettlebell Racked March | 3 | 8-12 Each |
Final Thoughts on 4 Day Kettlebell Workouts
This article describes how someone might build an upper/lower workout split using nothing but a set of kettlebells.
A workout routine such as the one described above can be used for as long as you like. So long as you are making progress towards your goals, there is no need to switch up your training style that often. You can make the workouts more difficult by increasing reps, sets, or weight used to achieve your progress.
It typically takes 4-12 weeks to begin seeing results from a program. The important part of training is being consistent. And once you establish consistency in your workouts, maintain that consistency for as long as you can.
Rest periods in between sets and exercises will be highly individualized. A good starting point is 1-2 minutes in between sets.
If you have any questions about this workout out, how to create a kettlebell workout, or how to make the most out of using a 4 day workout routine, please feel free to leave a comment below.