Picture this: You’re standing at the top of a ridge after a big climb. Your pack is heavy — it’s full of elk meat. You look back, your hunting buddies are still slowly making their way up the ridge. So, you lean on your trekking poles and look out over the country while you wait for them. Then you notice something that surprises you. Your back, shoulders, and legs all feel great, even after a heavy uphill climb. You look back down the mountain and smile. You did all those kettlebell workouts for hunting prep, and they paid off.

The kettlebell is a great mountain hunting training tool because it’s versatile. You can build your strength, stability, muscular endurance, mobility, and conditioning all with a kettlebell. Even better — kettlebells are a great training solution for busy folks. If your schedule, or where you live, makes it hard to get to the gym, you can order two kettlebells, train at home, and make a ton of progress. You’ll save time, energy, money, and not have to worry about whether or not you’re training often enough to be ready. 

Let’s walk through how to use kettlebells to train for hunting, so you’re the one standing at the top of the ridge waiting on his buddies, not a straggler stuck in the slog.

Why Kettlebell Training Works for Hunting Performance

You’ve heard of kettlebells before. I bet you’ve even picked them up at the gym. Hell, you might even already own some. The question is, do you know how to use them effectively for hunting performance and why they’ll work for you? Here’s the how and the why.

Mountain Training Versatility

Years ago, legendary strength coach, Dan John, came on video call to chat with a mentorship group I used to run. Dan’s been around for a long damn time, performed well as an athlete himself, and trained everyone for just about everything. So, when he talks about training, smart coaches listen to him.

When we talked about getting training equipment for a gym, the main thing Dan mentioned was versatility. You need to ask yourself how many ways you can use a piece of equipment and how many things you can accomplish with it.

Kettlebell training for backcountry hunting has a lot of versatility because kettlebells have so many productive uses. Swing a kettlebell, and you build the hip power that helps drive you uphill. Lunge with a single kettlebell held at your side, and build the balance and stability necessary for mountain terrain. Carry kettlebells, and build the shoulder and back strength and endurance necessary for long, heavy pack outs. Use a kettlebell for prying goblet squats, and improve your hip and ankle mobility for health and efficient movement in the mountains. Those are just a few of the tons of kettlebell uses for mountain training.

Efficiency of Time and Place

I spend the bulk of the year living on a cattle ranch an hour from anywhere. I also hop in the truck to drive around the country a lot. Those two things, combined with a busy work schedule and the desire to hunt as much as possible, make it difficult to get to the gym during big parts of the year. So, I do my strength and muscular endurance training with kettlebells.

If you can relate, I can’t tell you how much buying a couple of kettlebells improves your life and training consistency. No matter where you are, all you have to do is warm-up, grab your bells, and get to work. What would have sucked hours from your day now costs you less than an hour. And most of your excuses are squashed.

Grip Strength and Efficiency Under Load

Kettlebell training builds grip strength because no matter what you do with a kettlebell, you gotta squeeze that sucker. Also, the load is at a single pole, which gravity pulls hard towards the ground. On top of all that, a lot of kettlebell training includes swings and cleans, which dynamically challenge and build grip strength.

Think of all the things you do while hunting that require a strong grip. There’s carrying gear and there’s tugging on a hide while you skin a critter. There’s also the knife work involved in skinning that critter. On top of that, grip strength is important for shoulder health. 

Carrying kettlebells — farmers carries, suitcase carries, rack carries, waiter’s carries — helps build efficiency under load. It trains your postural endurance and improves your breathing while moving with weight. Each is important for moving through the mountains under a heavy pack.

Mobility + Core Stability & Strength for Rugged Terrain

Kettlebell movements in general improve mobility as well as core stability and strength. Unilateral kettlebell movements have an even greater impact on each. The better your mobility and core stability/strength, the more efficiently you move through the mountains. Efficient movement saves you a lot of energy, and it decreases the likelihood of injury. You will trip. You will fall. And if your joints are healthy because of lots of solid mobility training, there’s a better chance that you’ll stand up unscathed. Mobility and core stability for hunters is super important. Kettlebell work gives you both.

How to Structure Kettlebell Training for Hunting Prep

Kettlebell training for backcountry hunting requires skill and structure. It’s important that you start with the right foundation of skill with basic movements and build. If you don’t, you’ll end up butchering the movements and you won’t get what you need from them. Before we get into that, let’s get on the same page about the kettlebells you need for effective training.

Which Kettlebells to Buy: Your Minimum Bell Requirements

I recommend that you buy at least two bells of the same weight. Individually, they should weigh about 25% - 30% of your body weight. That, of course, depends on your strength levels. If you’re relatively strong, that should be about spot on for most of the work you do. If you know you’re lacking some strength, stick around 20% of body weight to start. 

If you have the budget, add one lighter bell for learning Turkish get-ups, and a heavier bell for goblet squats, suitcase carries, and single-arm pressing.

Kettlebell Basics for Mountain Hunting

To get the most out of kettlebells, you need to master a few basic movements:

The swing

The clean

The press

These are the foundations of kettlebell training. Mastering them allows you to move the bell(s) around your body and into different positions for a lot of different exercises. And, you can train these movements to build strength, power, and muscular endurance. Along with using the bells to load other basic movements — such as lunges, rows, and carries — spend time practicing to master the swing, the clean, and the press.

Training with the bell in the goblet position, as in during goblet squats, is also an important technique to master — a simple technique, but important, all the same. Dial in your goblet hold. It’ll help build core strength that makes you more efficient and protects your back when loaded with a heavy pack. And it’s a great position for loading your legs. 

Kettlebell snatches and Turkish get-ups are also killer kettlebell movements. Snatches are great for building power and dynamic shoulder strength and stability. Get-ups are great for combining mobility and kettlebells for hunters. The get-up builds strength, stability, and mobility throughout the body. Snatches and get-ups aren’t necessary for your progress as a hunter. But they are fun to learn and have great training benefits. If you’ll be training with kettlebells, it’d be wise to learn them.

Assessments — What You Should Test at the Beginning of Your Kettlebell Training

You need to know if you have any movement limitations at the hips and shoulders. Limitations at the hips affect how safely you hinge to swing a bell. Shoulder mobility limitations can make it unsafe to press or snatch bells overhead. So, first do the movement assessments included in The Hunter’s Field Test.

There are some tests not included in The Hunter’s Field Test that are useful for setting baselines as you begin training with kettlebells. 

Goblet Squat: Grab one bell and do as many good goblet squats as possible without stopping. The goal is to hit at least 25-30 good reps. If you easily pass this test, you have a decent foundation of leg and core strength. Try the next one when you’re fresh.

Double Kettlebell Front Squat: Lift both bells into the rack position. (If you’re unsure how to do that, watch this video demonstrating rack carries.) Do as many good squats as possible. The goal is to hit at least 20 good reps. If you can, your base strength leg and core strength is solid. If not, you have work to do to bring each up.

Farmers Carry: Set up a 25-yard carry “course” by setting up cones or objects 25 yards apart. Walk the course with one bell in each hand, making figure-8s around the objects. The goal is to carry the bells for 2 minutes without putting them down. If you can, your grip, core, and general strength is solid. If not, you have building to do.

The Best Kettlebell Exercises for Hunters

We listed out the kettlebell basics. Now, let’s add to them with the kettlebell exercises that have the biggest impact on your hunting fitness. Some are distinctly kettlebell exercises. The rest are basic, but important, movements that are easily loaded with kettlebells.

Kettlebell Exercises for Hunters:

Two-hand swing (typically just called “kettlebell swing”)

One-hand swing

Single clean

Double clean

Single-arm press

Double-arm press

Single-arm clean and press

Double-arm clean and press

½ Kneeling press

Bent over row

Single-arm bent over row

Goblet squat

Double kettlebell front squat

Goblet lunges (all variations)

Goblet step-ups

Double kettlebell single-leg RDL

Contralateral single-leg RDL

Farmers carry

Suitcase carry

Single-arm rack carry

Double-arm rack carry

Waiter’s carry

With the exercises listed, let’s talk about structuring them into a training program.

Kettlebell Training Programs for Mountain Hunters

Programming principles don’t change just because you’re using a particular tool. You just use the tool in application of the principles. However, kettlebell training does have a drawback when it comes to applying max and relative strength training principles. They don’t offer enough load for most people to build maximal strength. So, when we train with kettlebells, we’re mostly focused on power, strength endurance, muscular endurance, grip strength, and core strength. Some might call it functional strength training. We call it knowing how to use a tool to produce the right outcomes. 

Let’s talk about how to build a kettlebell strength training program. We’ll talk about the training day, lay out a sample training week, and then build it all into a one-month training program.

The Training Day: Kettlebell Training Workouts and Their Objectives

There are three main hunting fitness objectives we can accomplish with kettlebells. We can build power, we can build strength endurance, and we can build muscular endurance. It follows that we build our workouts to achieve those objectives. But, that’s not all, kids! There are secondary objectives. They are core strength, core stability, grip strength, and mobility. 

Below are three workouts, one for each main objective. Means to accomplish the secondary objectives are built into the three workouts. 

(A quick nomenclature note. Whenever you see letters paired with numbers, you do all of the exercises under the letter designation as a superset or circuit. Sets and rep designations: The number of sets is on the left side of the X. The amount of reps is on the right side of the X.)

Also, be sure to do a solid, mobility-based warm-up before starting each of these workouts.

Here we go.

Kettlebell Workout 1: Power

A1. Kettlebell Swing: 3 x 5

A2. ¼ Turkish Get-up: 3 x 5 per side

A3. Plank Walkback: 3 x 10

*B1. Split Squat Jump: 4 x 2 per side

*B2. Double Rack Reverse Lunges: 4 x 4 per side

*C1: Plyo Push-ups: 4 x 3

*C2: Double Kettlebell Overhead Press: 4 x 4-6

D: Double Kettlebell Clean: 3 x 10

*Rest 15 to 20 seconds between exercise 1 and exercise 2. Rest 2 minutes after completing exercise 2 before starting exercise 1 for the next round.

Kettlebell Workout 2: Strength Endurance

Instructions: Set a timer to beep every 30 seconds for 21 minutes. You'll circuit through the movements every 30 seconds. When the timer goes off at the top of every 30 seconds, do the prescribed reps of the given movement. At the top of the next 30 seconds, do the prescribed reps of the next exercise, and so on until you've worked for 21 minutes.

Exercises:

Goblet squat or Double kettlebell front squat x 3-4 reps

Bent over row x 3-4 reps

RDL x 3-4 reps

Example:

Do 3 double kettlebell front squats, then do 3 bent over rows at the top of the next 30 seconds, then do 3 RDLs at the top of the next 30 seconds. Keep going in the same way and order until you’ve worked for 21 total minutes.

Kettlebell Workout 3: Muscular Endurance

Aim to get 15 reps during each 30-second work period.

A) Box Step Ups (right leg): 4-6 x 30 seconds work / 30 seconds rest

B) Box Step Ups (left leg): 4-6 x 30 seconds work / 30 seconds rest

C) Bent Over Alternating Row: 4-6 x 30 seconds work / 30 seconds rest

D) Push-ups or Modified Push-ups: 4-6 x 30 seconds work / 30 seconds rest

E) Farmers Carry + RDL Intervals: 5 x 1-minute work / 1-minute rest

Instructions: Set up a 15- to 20-yard “course.” You’ll stop to turn each time you reach the far end of the course. Start each interval by doing 5-10 RDLs. Walk to the far end of the course. Once you reach it, do 5-10 RDLs. Then walk back to the starting line. Do more RDLs. Keep going like this until the 1-minute interval is up. Rest for 1 minute, then repeat until you’ve completed 5 total intervals.

The Training Week: How to Plan Your Kettlebell Workouts

With our three kettlebell workouts lined out, let’s talk about where to put them in the training week. 

In most instances, it’s best to follow a training planning system called the neural - metabolic continuum. It states that you place the most neurologically demanding strength training at the beginning of the week, and the most metabolically demanding strength training at the end of the week. The training in the middle of the week flows between the two poles. Power and pure strength training are the most neurologically demanding. Muscular endurance strength training is the most metabolically demanding. 

Metabolic fatigue limits your ability to access your power and strength. Power and strength work — when done with appropriate volume and intensity — primes your nervous system for other types of training. 

I’m sure you’ve caught on by now. You’ll do the power workout at the beginning of the week, the strength endurance workout in the middle of the week, and the muscular endurance workout at the end of the week.

Planning Your Kettlebell Training Throughout the Month

You’ll plan a month of kettlebell workouts for hunting prep the same way you’d plan a month of traditional strength work for hunting prep. You’ll do it with a wave. 

It looks like this.

Week 1: Baseline volume

Week 2: Slight volume increase

Week 3: Slight volume increase

Week 4: Cut volume to below baseline volume

This build then break setup gives your body enough training stress to drive adaptation, then builds in rest that actually allows you to adapt to the training. You can’t keep piling things on without a step back, otherwise your body won’t have enough resources to adapt to training and you’ll stagnate or go backwards.

Planning Your Kettlebell Training Throughout the Year

It can be helpful to bias your training towards different physical abilities throughout the year. This builds fitness in layers, which allows you to maximize all the abilities you need as a mountain hunter. We’ll talk about how to do this in general and then with the specifics of kettlebell training for backcountry hunting.

General Yearly Training Blocks

We use four training blocks per year.

Early Offseason, focused on general aerobic capacity, general strength endurance, and general muscular endurance.

Late Offseason, focused on aerobic power and maximal strength.

Pre-season, focused on specific conditioning, specific strength endurance, and specific muscular endurance.

In-season, focused on specific conditioning maintenance along with general strength training.

This progression builds a foundation and then transforms that foundation into specific hunting fitness. Let’s talk about how to apply your kettlebell training to these blocks.

Kettlebell Training for Mountain Hunting Yearly Progression

Here’s how to bias your kettlebell training to meet the goals of each training block.

Early Offseason: Do more strength endurance and muscular endurance workouts than power workouts. Use more general movements — squats, deadlifts, rows, presses. Practice your kettlebell skills — swings, cleans, snatches, get-ups.

Late Offseason: Bias towards more power training. Apply the kettlebell skills you built during the early offseason with more intensity — especially swings, cleans, and snatches. Include jumping and throwing exercises and basic strength exercises.

Pre-season: Bias towards more specific strength endurance and muscular endurance training. By specific, I mean by using movements that closely replicate uphill and downhill movements.

In-season: Use a more general, stratified approach by training each ability evenly.

A Quick Note Before Closing Out

Earlier, I mentioned that kettlebells aren’t the best tool to train for maximal strength. It’s best to use barbells and specialized bars for that. So, it would be best for your long-term performance to do some heavier strength work for at least a few months out of the year. If that’s not possible, it’s alright. You can still make a ton of progress training only with kettlebells. They can still get you to the peak.

Use Kettlebells to Get You to the Peak: Conclusion and Next Steps

I hope you’ve pictured yourself at the top of the ridge, still strong after a heavy, uphill pack job. And I hope you realize that consistent work with kettlebells, paired with smart conditioning can get you there. Use the advice and the workouts in this article to start training. If you want the certainty that you’re doing the right kettlebell training for you right now, and the right cardio and conditioning to accompany it, sign up for our Pathfinder program. You’ll get a comprehensive kettlebell and conditioning program that meets you where you’re at and takes you to the top of the mountain.