Alternating Kettlebell Press
Trains the Shoulders.
- Equipment
- Kettlebells
- Mechanic
- Compound
- Force
- Push
- Level
- Intermediate
How to do it
- Clean two kettlebells to the rack position, bells resting on the backs of your forearms.
- Stand tall with your feet hip-width apart and your stomach braced.
- Press one bell overhead until the arm is straight and the bell settles over the shoulder.
- Lower it back to the rack as you press the other one up.
- Keep the torso still — one side is always loaded more than the other.
- Continue alternating without letting the ribs flare.
Common mistakes
- Letting the wrist bend back under the bell. Straight wrist with the bell resting on the forearm is what makes a kettlebell press comfortable; a bent wrist takes the whole weight through the joint.
- Rocking side to side with the rhythm. The alternation makes the load asymmetric on every repetition, and holding still against that is what the version adds.
- Pressing before the bell has settled in the rack. A bell caught badly is pressed badly, and the rack position is where the repetition starts.
- Leaning away from the pressing side. Side-bending is how a one-sided press gets finished when the shoulder runs out, and it puts the load through the trunk.