One of my favorite kettlebell flows that I’ve incorporated into my weekly workouts comes from Onnit’s Eric Leija. Its simplicity by design is deceiving in that the difficulty increases after each round. Not from any complex movements, but rather the endurance required to progress to the end of the workout. Full-body workouts like these force you to keep the majority of your muscle groups activated for a sustained period of time.
If you think about it, kettlebell flows turn your body into a machine of sorts by performing the same pattern over and over. However, since we are human, we’re more susceptible to overheating and exhaustion. Every set should be slightly more difficult than the last which makes for a gratifying finish after the last one. Once you feel like you’ve mastered a flow, you can always increase the number of rounds or the weight size for a whole new difficulty level. It’s this scalability combined with the short duration of the workout which makes me truly appreciate flows.
This Squat Clean Flow you’ll see below looks very similar to the one I mentioned above. In fact, Eric Leija, actually offers words of encouragement on the post for the creator, Joshua Evans (themvmtcoach). I wouldn’t doubt that it was inspired by the flows that Eric creates. Take a look.
Kettlebell Squat Clean Flow
See what I mean? The sequence of each round for one side of the body is roughly 10 seconds. That’s extremely short, however, there is a ton of movement (especially in the vertical sense) during that time. The squat serves as the main exercise that joins the rest of common moves. As someone who’s come across more workouts featuring the goblet squat, it’s nice to see one that utilizes a rack position squat. Keeping the kettlebell loaded to the side really hones in on the aspect of working out each side of the body after each sequence.
Breaking Down The Kettlebell Squat Clean Workout
Whether you’re new to kettlebells or a veteran, this particular flow should be easy enough to recreate. There are no crazy hand passes or rotational moves you need to worry about. Rather, each exercise is executed with simple and quick precision. It might not look as glamorous as some of the kettlebell mobility workouts, but your body will certainly feel it at the end.
Exercises Listed In Order
- Kettlebell Row to
- Kettlebell Clean while
- Moving to a Squat then
- Rise to a complete stand and
- Perform a Kettlebell Snatch then
- Lower bell to rack position while
- Seamlessly moving to a Squat and
- Powering your way up to a Push Press then
- Finally returning kettlebell to floor and switching sides
Depending on your speed, you’ll most likely complete 4 sequences (2 on each side) within a minute, including 15-20 seconds for rest. Given the 5 round recommendation as suggested by Joshua, expect to perform a total of 20 sequences. It’s not a full-length workout, however, you could combine it with another couple of short workout flows to create one hell of a routine.
Personally, being such a fan of kettlebell flows, I often double the suggested time to reach a 10-minute mark. That’s an accomplishment in itself which is draining yet satisfying. Since I like to do my workouts for 20 minutes, I like to draw random stack 52 kettlebell cards to finish the last 10 minutes with various kettlebell exercises. It’s a great way to slow the pace of the workout and give yourself a little bit of a breather.
