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These four EMOM kettlebell workouts will provide you with weeks of strength and conditioning training. The workouts have been designed to promote whole-body muscle endurance and functional fitness.
But to broaden the benefits, bodyweight and cardio exercises have also been enlisted to burn fat and sculpt lean, defined muscle.
It’s this cross-pollination of exercises that promote the development of multiple fitness components. If you incorporate these EMOM kettlebell workouts into your general training routine, you should experience enhanced strength, muscle endurance, stamina as well as improved muscle tonality.
In short, the four EMOM kettlebell workouts in this article will help you forge a functionally robust body.
Related: You'll need a Competition Kettlebell for these EMOMs!
EMOM kettlebell benefits
As we discussed in our other article, EMOM Training | Everything You Need to Know, EMOM training is a great way to get a lot done in a short space of time. In just a short 20-minute EMOM workout you’ll likely be able to amass more reps and shift more weight than you would in a ‘standard’ gym workout. But how?
The reason that EMOM training is so productive has to do with the fact that the rest periods are constricted. Whereas during a gym workout you can take as much time as you want between sets, there is no such luxury with EMOM training.
Once the buzzer sounds you’ve got to get straight back into the next set!
every minute on the minute for whole body fitness
Coupled with highly functional kettlebell exercises, EMOM training becomes one of the most effective ways to promote whole-body fitness. And not just strength and muscular endurance either.
Because the intensity and output remain high throughout an EMOM workout, the heart must beat harder and faster to meet the demands of the session. Consequently, when you organise your EMOM workouts around full-body functional exercises, such as the kettlebell clean to press, snatch, and squat thruster, you’ll also improve cardio performance as well.
It's for this reason why these EMOM workouts promote weight loss and improve muscle tonality. The sustained high-intensity element burns fat for fuel while the functional exercises encourage muscle growth.
Equipment needed for these emom kettlebell workouts
Another string to the EMOM bow is that they don’t require much equipment. With little more than a training timer and single item of resistance equipment (such as kettlebell, dumbbell, or Olympic barbell), you can achieve a highly rewarding workout.
In fact, to get a great EMOM workout you don’t even need that much. In another article, we created 4 Bodyweight EMOM Workouts. These workouts require merely a patch of ground, a training timer, but lots of grit and determination.
However, for the kettlebell EMOM workouts below, you will require the following items of equipment:
Kettlebell (preferably two weights – a medium weight for complex movements and a heavy for swings/squats)
Training timer (the countdown timer on your phone works perfectly fine for EMOM; however, if you want a timer that you don’t have to keep resetting, follow the link: 5 Best Training Timers)
Rowing machine (some of the EMOMs feature cardio exercises, such as rowing; but if you don’t have access to a rower you can always substitute with running, cycling or skipping).
EMOM kettlebell workouts
Depending on how experienced you are with the kettlebell, you may encounter an exercise that you’re not familiar with. If this happens consult our article, 10 Killer Kettlebell Exercises, where you'll find a comprehensive tutorial.
And if you don’t have a kettlebell, you’ll find some serious KBs reviewed at the end of this link: Best Competition Kettlebells >
emom 10
To start things off the first EMOM kettlebell workout is a short sharp 10-minute whole body blast. Yes, it’s only 10-minutes, but the kettlebell exercise selected activates all major muscle groups – including your heart. Meaning, though it’s short, you’ll still find it a challenge.
This EMOM kettlebell workout is perfect for that post-run pump. Pairing it with cardio, such as a 5-mile jog or 5k row, will transform your training session into a met-con workout.
10 X 1-minute – Kettlebell clean to press continuous cycle (aim for 8/10 reps each arm)
emom 20
Typically, EMOM workouts feature a resistance exercise, a training timer, and lots of hard work. However, to mix things up, I sometimes like to throw in a cardio blast.
This not only breaks up the EMOM (which, let’s be honest, can sometimes get a bit monotonous), but it also stimulates the cardio-respiratory systems.
By doing so you will transform what is primarily resistance training into a metabolic conditioning workout. This broadens the fitness benefits while also adding some much needed variation.
5 X 1-minute – kettlebell swing (aim for 15/20 reps)
1000-metre row
5 X 1-minute – kettlebell squat (aim for 15/20 reps)
1000-metre row
5 X 1-minute – kettlebell jerk (aim for 8/10 reps each arm)
1000-metre row
5 X 1-minute – kettlebell thruster (aim for 10/12 reps)
emom 30
We’re turning up the heat now. The previous two EMOM kettlebell workouts were appetisers. This workout is a three-course meal that will leave you with a nasty stitch. (Hopefully!)
Centred on the classic kettlebell exercise clean to press, this three-part EMOM workout has a cheeky little twist to it.
The first 10 X 1-minute section focuses just on the clean phase. Here you’re performing the initial part of the full movement before returning the bell back to the start position.
The second 10 X 1-minute section transitions to the press. For 10 X 1-minute EMOMs, you will be performing the press only.
The third and final section sees you piece the two movements together into their unified whole. This is where this EMOM kettlebell workout really gets challenging. Already tired and fighting fatigue from the previous 20-minutes, now you’ll have to hold strong over the final 10 X 1-minutes.
Oh, I nearly forgot, don’t forget the ascending bodyweight exercise pyramids between each EMOM. (10 down to 1 = 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2 and1 – 55 reps total.)
10 X 1-minute – Kettlebell single-arm clean (aim for 8/10 reps each arm)
10 down to 1 – Press-ups
10 X 1-minute – Kettlebell single arm press (aim for 6/8 reps each arm)
10 down to 1 - Burpees
10 X 1-minute – Kettlebell single-arm clean to press continuous cycle (aim for 4/6 reps each arm)
emom 40
And now for the banquet! This is one of those workouts where, if you finish, you’ll walk away feeling battered and bruised. You should emerge from this EMOM kettlebell workout as if you’ve just brawled with a bear.
But, as well as inducing a nasty case of the DOMS, this workout should also leave you with a much deserved sense of self-satisfaction. For to get through this one you need more than a high level of fitness. You also need some serious grit and determination.
Let’s have a look at it shall we?
10 X 1-minute – Kettlebell swings (aim for 20/25 reps)
5-minute skipping (or 1000-metres row)
10 X 1-minute – Kettlebell thrusters (aim for 10/12 reps)
5-minute skipping (or 1000-metres row)
10 X 1-minute – Kettlebell single-arm snatch (aim for 6/8 reps each arm)
5-minute skipping (or 1000-metres row)
10 X 1-minute – Kettlebell single-arm clean to press continuous cycle (aim for 6/8 reps each arm)
When you’re done with the above kettlebell workouts, challenge yourself to these 4 Dumbbell EMOMs.
Enjoyed this EMOM Kettlebell workouts?
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About Adam Priest –
A former Royal Marines Commando, Adam Priest is a content writer, college lecturer, and health and wellbeing practitioner. He is also a fitness author and contributor to other websites. Connect with Adam at info@hungry4fitness.co.uk.