Want to improve your strength, cardiovascular fitness and mobility, at home? Kettlebells could be the answer. They’re increasingly popular thanks to competitions such as Hyrox, which has a 200m kettlebell “Farmer’s Carry” round, and celebrities, including the actresses Jessica Biel and Jennifer Aniston, who include them in their home workouts (Aniston with dogs in tow).

While swinging around cast-iron, ball-shaped weights with handles on top might feel daunting, kettlebell movements are actually less “technical” than many dumbbell exercises, says Dr George Bownes, sports and exercise medicine doctor and founder of the sports medicine practice Citius Health, especially when you’re holding one kettlebell with both hands, as he recommends for beginners. “You’re going to feel more in control because both hands are doing the same thing at the same time.”

Most kettlebell exercises, such as the staple swing movement, where you drive your hips forward to propel the kettlebell from between your legs to chest height, are compound movements, incorporating multiple muscle groups, “giving you greater return for your effort”, Bownes adds. “Small muscles around the joints are improved. It’s a whole-body activity.” And because the kettlebell weight sits below your hand, you engage more muscles than a conventional dumbbell to control the movement.

Watch: The Times’s fitness and wellbeing expert Harry Jameson’s double kettleball routine

The handle allows you to swing the weight in any direction, in ballistic (fast and explosive) movements, which helped to improve athletes’ performance in a variety of sports “by enhancing strength, power, endurance, explosive power, and postural coordination”, according to a 2024 review in the journal Cureus.

Maintaining power — our ability to produce force quickly — is key to maintaining functional fitness as we age and because the whole body is involved, “there’s more opportunity to improve bone health as well as muscle strength”, Bownes says.

The momentum of the movement means your core muscles have to work constantly to keep your spine stable as the weight moves. A study in the Journal of Fitness Research found twice-weekly, hour-long kettlebell classes, including exercises such as swings and snatches, improved participants’ core strength by 70 per cent.

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Although most women are well aware of the importance of resistance training to stop the loss of muscle that accelerates in midlife, it’s crucial for men too, says the top fitness trainer Harry Jameson. “Lean muscle mass and strength training is the most overlooked part of longevity for middle-aged men — how much muscle you’re able to retain is a key factor in how well you’ll age.”

Kettlebell swings, squats and deadlifts also improve glute strength and hip mobility so many of us lack. “Most people have tight hip flexors because we spend too much time sitting, so our glutes switch off,” Bownes says.

By continuously challenging nearly every significant muscle group, kettlebell training is also a good low-impact, high-intensity cardiovascular exercise. A study in The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research found 12 minutes of continuous kettlebell swings a better cardiovascular workout than circuit training and a five to seven-minute kettlebell workout more aerobic than running.

Beginners should start with a single light kettlebell, Bownes says. For men, that could be between 8 to 12kg; for women, 4 to 8kg. If you want to progress from using one kettlebell to one in each hand, Bownes suggests halving the weight for each. For context, two 24kg kettlebells is the standard weight for men in Hyrox competitions, while two 16kg kettlebells is the standard for women.

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You can get an 8kg kettlebell on Amazon for about £14.99 (heavier weights cost considerably more), some vinyl coated to protect floors. Factory Weights, a leading manufacturer, sells kettlebells from 4kg (£12) to 60kg (£169). Bownes’s main advice is finding a kettlebell with a handle “comfortable to grip” as the diameter can vary.

Good beginner exercises are the swing, deadlift and squat (Biel and Aniston are both squat fans), while the Farmer’s Carry — carrying either one or two kettlebells, while walking 20m — improves grip strength, core stability and posture. Aim for 30 to 40 minutes of kettlebell sessions three times a week but “something is better than nothing”, Bownes says. “If your only availability is ten minutes that’s a good start.”

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