Advanced Kettlebell Windmill

Muscles worked

The prime movers are the rectus abdominis and the obliques, which flex the trunk forward and resist it being pulled into extension or twisted out of line.

Even with a single joint doing the moving, the muscle is not working alone — the glutes finish hip extension; the hamstrings assist hip extension and slow the knee down; the deltoids stabilise the shoulder and add force at the top of the range.

Every exercise for:AbdominalsGlutesHamstringsShoulders

How this movement works

One joint moves, and it moves the load away from the body. With nothing recruited to assist, the target muscle reaches its own limit rather than the limit of the weakest link in a chain — which makes this useful for adding volume after the heavy compound work, not for opening a session.

It is filed under strength: produce force against resistance for a countable number of repetitions, and progress the resistance over time.

What you need

A kettlebell's mass hangs below and outside the handle, so it pulls away from the grip and the wrist has to stay packed. That offset is why racked and swinging variations feel nothing like the dumbbell version.

Every exercise using:Kettlebell

These train the abdominals too, using equipment this one does not:

• Air Bikebody only
• Barbell Rollout from Benchbarbell
• Bosu Ball Cable Crunch With Side Bendscable
• Crunches with Legs on Stability Ballexercise ball
• Medicine Ball Full Twistmedicine ball

Difficulty

Listed at intermediate level. It assumes you already own the underlying pattern and can hold position under load — if the position breaks before the target muscle tires, drop back to a beginner variation until it does not.

Of the 97 abdominals exercises in this database, 17 are listed at intermediate level.