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Kettlebell Clean

A step-by-step form guide from the Ægir Iron exercise library: how to do the lift, what to watch for, and the muscles it trains.

Equipment

Kettlebell

HOW TO PERFORM

1. Stand with the bell on the floor slightly ahead of the feet and hinge down to take the handle in one hand.
2. Hike it back between the legs like the start of a swing, back flat and the shoulder pulled down.
3. Snap the hips forward and keep the bell close to the body, steering the elbow in toward the ribs as it rises.
4. Let the hand rotate through the handle so the bell settles on the back of the forearm: handle at the collarbone, elbow tucked in, wrist straight.
5. Drop it back into the hinge for the next rep, or set it down.

FORM TIPS

• The bell rolls AROUND the hand rather than flipping over onto it. If it bangs the forearm every rep, it is swinging away from the body instead of being steered up the front of it.
• A hinge with a turnover, not a barbell clean: there is no pull under the bell and no quarter-squat catch.

TARGET MUSCLES

Primary

• Glutes
• Hamstrings

Secondary

• Shoulders
• Traps
• Lower Back
• Forearms

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Related: All exercises · How every exercise is mapped to the muscles it trains