In Part 1 of our series, we laid down the foundational principle of all long-term strength: Progressive Overload. We learned that to keep getting stronger, we must find ways to make our training more challenging over time.
Now, it’s time to apply that principle to one of the most versatile tools in the gym: the kettlebell.
We’ve all been there. You’ve been training hard and you finally own the 24kg kettlebell. Your two-handed swings are powerful, your goblet squats are deep, and you feel strong. But the 28kg or 32kg bell feels like a monumental leap. The jump is too big, and you feel stuck.
This is a common pain point in kettlebell training, but it is not a dead end. In fact, it’s an opportunity. It forces you to look beyond simply adding more weight and start exploring the true depth of what the kettlebell has to offer. The secret to breaking through this plateau isn’t necessarily a heavier bell—it’s a smarter approach.
Here are four powerful ways to apply progressive overload to your kettlebell training, even when you aren’t ready to size up.
1. Increase Complexity: The Art of Destabilization
Making an exercise more complex is a potent form of progressive overload. By altering the movement to challenge your stability, coordination, and control, you force your body to recruit more muscles and fire them in new ways.
- Go Unilateral (One-Sided): This is the most effective first step. Instead of a two-handed swing, perform a one-handed swing. The change is immediate and profound. Your core is forced to work overtime as an anti-rotation device to prevent your torso from twisting. The same applies to cleans, presses, and rows. By working one side at a time, you not only challenge your core but also expose and correct strength imbalances between your left and right sides.
- Change Your Stance: Your feet provide your foundation. By making that foundation less stable, you force your entire body to work harder. Try these variations:
- Staggered Stance: Perform kettlebell rows or deadlifts with one foot slightly behind the other.
- Split Stance: Perform a press from a lunge position.
- Single-Leg: For the ultimate stability challenge, progress to single-leg deadlifts (SLDLs).
- Create a Flow: Instead of performing isolated sets of different exercises, link them together into a seamless sequence, or “flow.” A classic example is the Kettlebell Complex. Try this: Perform 5 swings, then immediately go into 5 cleans, then 5 front squats, all without putting the bell down. This dramatically increases the time your muscles are under tension, sky-rocketing the metabolic demand and building serious work capacity.
2. Increase Density: Do More Work in Less Time
If you can’t lift heavier, you can get faster. Increasing your training density means reducing your rest periods while keeping the workload the same. This is a fantastic way to progress your conditioning and mental toughness.
- EMOMs (Every Minute On the Minute): This is a simple but brutal protocol. Start a timer and perform a set number of reps at the beginning of each minute. Your rest is whatever time is left until the next minute starts.
- Example: 10 kettlebell swings EMOM for 10 minutes.
- How to Progress: Next week, try for 11 swings each minute. Or, keep the reps the same and extend the workout to 12 minutes.
- AMRAPs (As Many Rounds As Possible): Set a timer for a specific block (e.g., 15 minutes) and perform a circuit of exercises. Your goal is to complete as many rounds as you can before the timer goes off.
- Example Circuit: 8 Goblet Squats, 10 One-Arm Rows (each side), 12 Swings.
- How to Progress: The goal is simple: beat your previous score. If you completed 5 rounds + 8 squats last time, your goal is to get further than that today.
3. Change the Leverage: Master the Bottoms-Up Position
This is an advanced technique that teaches tension and control unlike any other. By turning the kettlebell upside down and holding it by the handle with the “bottoms up,” you create an incredibly unstable object.
Pressing, holding, or even cleaning a kettlebell in the bottoms-up position is a masterclass in body awareness. The unstable nature forces your rotator cuff to stabilize the shoulder joint, requires a crushing grip to keep the bell from flipping, and demands total-body tension from your toes to your fingertips.
This is a perfect example of progression without adding weight. Being able to bottoms-up press a 12kg bell with perfect control is arguably a greater feat of functional strength and skill than a sloppy standard press with a 20kg bell.
4. Increase Volume and Quality
Finally, don’t forget the most straightforward progression: simply do more. Adding one more rep to each set, or one more set to the entire workout, is a tried-and-true method of progressive overload.
But volume isn’t just about numbers; it’s also about quality. As confirmed by research in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, the power of kettlebell training lies in its ability to improve both maximal and explosive strength. You can progress by focusing on the quality of that explosive power. Make each swing more powerful and snappy than the last. For your goblet squats, focus on owning the movement—sinking a little deeper, keeping your torso a little more upright. Improving your technique and range of motion with the same weight is a valid and crucial form of progress.
Conclusion: Your Kettlebell Has More to Offer
Being “stuck” between kettlebell sizes isn’t a limitation; it’s an invitation to train smarter. By increasing complexity, density, leverage, and volume, you can continue making significant gains in strength, skill, and conditioning with the very tools you already have. You just unlocked a dozen new ways to progress.
Now that you’ve learned to challenge the stable load of the kettlebell, what happens when the primary challenge comes not from the weight itself, but from the physics of the tool?
What’s Next: In Part 3 of our series, “The Secret to Steel Mace Strength: How to Master Leverage for Limitless Progress,” we unravel the unique properties of the steel mace and show you how to get stronger with a tool where leverage is king.
References
Lake, J. P., & Lauder, M. A. (2012). Kettlebell swing training improves maximal and explosive strength. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 26(8), 2228–2233. https://doi.org/10.1519/JSC.0b013e31825c2c9e