Here’s a challenging 5-minute kettlebell flow workout.

I’ve used kettlebell flows off and on for years.

Workouts are generally highly organized, predictable and step by step.

Kettlebell flows are the opposite.

A truly improvised flow session is unpredictable with no real agenda for using any specific exercise, and no designated reps per exercise.

You flow with whatever comes to mind, for whatever amount of time, without stopping to rest or putting the kettlebell down.

Most flow workouts are performed in the same spot, so they are space-efficient.  

Keep the kettlebell moving.

Best Exercises for Kettlebell Flows

Familiarization of the exercises in a flow is essential.

Don’t make the mistake of dabbling with movements you don’t have an intimate familiarity with.  I can’t think of a better way to get hurt.

When I’m setting up for a flow session, I use the following exercises the most:

Swings

Snatches

Cleans

Overhead Pressing

Around the World Slingshot

Lunges

Squats 

Rows

Windmills

Swings have a ton of variations and are a mainstay in any flow session.

Fluid transitions between 2-hand swings, single-arm swings, and hand-to-hand swings keep the kettlebell moving.

All of the ballistic kettlebell exercises (swing, snatch, clean) have a rocking/pendulum-like motion that creates opportunity for quick transitions between exercises.

Ultimately, any exercise is can be used for a flow.  

I just prefer quick transitions and constant movement, versus stop and starts.  

Love the Flow or Hate the Flow

People either love or hate kettlebell flow workouts.

I sit somewhere in the middle and understand the love and the despise of both sides.

The problem most people have with kettlebell flow workouts the “did it for the gram” type portrayal, where the user is twirling paperweight size kettlebells.  

Playing hot potato with a 15lb kettlebell is mostly a waste of time.

People also tend to use kettlebell flows TOO OFTEN.

Kettlebell flows make up about 5% of my training time.

The other 95% of the time, the focus is on building strength and power, active mobility, movement capacity, and cardio.

24/7/365 kettlebell flow training often delivers mediocre results.  

Training with too light of weight for too long creates little to no long-lasting improvements in performance or aesthetics.  

Sure, you’ll break a sweat, but sweating doesn’t mean you’re making gains.  It means you’re sweating.

I have an unbroken sweat streak going while mowing the yard on my riding lawn mower or walking for 30 minutes in 90degree heat.

Sweat is a cooling mechanism for the body.

Now, I’m not here to fully bash kettlebell flows, because the fact is I do play around with flow work throughout a training week.

Benefits of Kettlebell Flow

The benefits of a kettlebell flow training are having to improvise, change shape and adjust posture, coordinate each movement, catch, power up, move beyond accumulating fatigue, stay focused, etc.

Kettlebell flow workouts are challenging, both for the mind and body.

And honestly, flow training is FUN.

The gym is a place where people are rewarded for effort, consistency, and discipline.

But it’s also a place that can become insanely boring and monotonous.  

Flow training breaks up the monotony.

A more sensible approach would be to sprinkle in a flow here and there.

After the warm-up or at the end of workout once the big stuff is completed.

Advice: Use a Heavier Kettlebell

I wrote an article about the benefits of kettlebell swings, where I touched on people making the mistake of “lifting” the kettlebell during the swing.

It’s not 100% always true, but overwhelmingly,  lifting the kettlebell happens because the kettlebell isn’t heavy enough.

You can’t lift a kettlebell that’s heavy enough to train the powerful posterior chain muscles.

Try lifting a 24kg kettlebell completely horizontal up to sternum height with straight arms.

Hip action is everything with ballistic kettlebell exercises.

What does this story have to do with kettlebell flow workouts?

Pick a weight that you cannot lift with ballistic exercises like swings and cleans.

In most flow workouts, the snatch is the weakest exercise with regard to weight.

Most people can swing and clean a lot more weight compared to the snatch.

If snatches will be part of a flow, I select my kettlebell with heaviest weight I can snatch with control.

I use the same approach with kettlebell complexes.

These exercises are valuable only because of the explosive hip action needed to move the kettlebell through space.

Exceptions to Using a Heavier Kettlebell

Kettlebell exercises that cross the midline of the body are the exception to the “use a heavier kettlebell” advice.

“Lighter” kettlebells are best for cross-body movements, especially single arm cross-body variations.  Control is the name of the game here.  

Cast iron colliding with bone doesn’t usually end well.

My advice with cross-body exercises is to practice in isolation.  

Slipping them into a flow tends to diminish the returns of the other exercises.

In general, there’s no greater waste of time than grossly underloading exercises on a regular basis.  

You’ll spin your wheels in a vortex of a maintenance phase, forever. 

Improved Circular Training Options

Clubbells and macebells are amazing for circular strength training.

 

Clubbells and macebells have a longer shaft with the bulk of weight located at the end, which creates a more torque.