Kettlebell Figure 8

How to do it

1. Stand with your feet wider than your shoulders and one kettlebell on the floor between them.
2. Hinge at the hips with a flat back and take the bell in one hand.
3. Pass it backward between your legs to the other hand.
4. Bring that hand around the outside of the leg to the front, then pass the bell back between the legs again.
5. Continue tracing a figure of eight around and between your legs.
6. Keep the back flat and the hips hinged — the torso does not rotate to follow the bell.

Common mistakes

• Rotating the trunk to follow the bell. The hips and shoulders stay square; resisting the turn as the weight travels around you is what the exercise is.
• Standing too upright. The hinge is held throughout — standing up mid-pass means the bell has to travel further and the back takes it.
• Using a bell heavy enough that the hand-off is uncertain. The pass happens behind your legs where you cannot see it, and a dropped bell there lands on a foot.
• Rounding the back to reach the pass. A wider stance gives more room; a rounded spine is not the way to make the gap bigger.

Muscles worked

Primary

• Abs
• Obliques

Secondary

• Hamstrings
• Shoulders