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A simple kettlebell routine can go a long way in strength training and injury prevention. Photo: Adobe Stock\/Nanci <\/p>\nA simple kettlebell routine can go a long way in strength training and injury prevention. Photo: Adobe Stock\/Nanci <\/p>\n
Strength work is such an important part of triathlon training, but so many of us are guilty of skipping it every week. Maybe that\u2019s because it\u2019s hard to find motivation to get out to the gym after you\u2019ve already gone swimming, biking and running every other day of the week, or perhaps it\u2019s because you feel like your home gym setup is lacking. <\/p>\n
An easy and relatively affordable way to fix the latter issue is with a kettlebell or two. Kettlebells are a great tool that can revolutionize the way you do strength training, whether that\u2019s in the gym, at home or wherever else you bring yours with you. Not convinced? We spoke with Jenna-Caer Seefried<\/a>, head coach at Endurance Fit in Calgary, Canada, who loves a kettlebell workout\u2014and thinks you will, too.<\/p>\n Seefried\u2019s Thoughts on Strength Training<\/p>\n Seefried got her start as a strength and conditioning coach in 2011, a year before she raced her first triathlon. In the years that followed, she would dive headfirst into the world of multi-sport racing, reaching IRONMAN podiums around the globe, winning gold in her age group at the ITU Long Distance Triathlon World Championships and eventually adding the title of triathlon coach to her job description. Today, she works with athletes of all ages and all levels to help them reach their triathlon and fitness goals.<\/p>\n A huge reason people reach or fall short of these goals, she says, is in their strength training routines. If someone is committed to checking off every prescribed strength session, they will have much more success in training and racing, as well as fewer injuries (on average). The issue for so many triathletes, however, is that the main focus is swim, bike, run, leaving the gym and weights as a bit of an afterthought.<\/p>\n \u201cStrength is always the first session to go when the season starts to ramp up,\u201d Seefried says. She has her athletes doing strength work two to three times per week, with the focus of each session depending on the time of year. <\/p>\n \u201cDuring the off-season, it\u2019s about base-building,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely more towards that kind of heavier load focus and just building a really strong foundation that we can play off of as the season gets going.\u201d <\/p>\n Early-season training, Seefried says, is split between building strength and activation work. Once you\u2019re in the thick of the season, the workouts aren\u2019t as intense, but Seefried is quick to note that this doesn\u2019t mean they are any less important. <\/p>\n \u201cThese sessions are more about maintaining what you built earlier in the year,\u201d she says. \u201cThey should focus a lot on the movement pattern activation. A lot of single-leg work, a lot of core work and just keeping your body balanced more than building muscle.\u201d <\/p>\n She says your body will already be fatigued and stressed from your swim, bike and run training, so \u201cwe don\u2019t need too much extra stress\u201d from weights and the gym. <\/p>\n \u201cWe just want to make sure you\u2019re moving well so you can support the training you\u2019re doing,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n Kettlebell Training<\/p>\n Seefried doesn\u2019t just recommend using kettlebells\u2014she herself works out with \u201ca collection\u201d of them in her basement gym. <\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re such a great tool when it comes to strength training,\u201d she says. \u201cThey give you a lot of options, especially around more dynamic movements.\u201d<\/p>\n Seefried points to machines you would find at a gym, most of which will only work one muscle group at a time. With a kettlebell, you can hit multiple muscles and parts of your body with a single exercise. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are so many movements you can do that allow you to work on trunk rotation on top of strength training on top of balance,\u201d she says. \u201cThat makes a really big difference.\u201d <\/p>\n Further, Seefried says she is a \u201cmassive fan of single-side work,\u201d which kettlebells are perfect for. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re running or cycling, you\u2019re doing thousands and thousands of strides and pedal strokes,\u201d she says. \u201cIf you\u2019re out of balance on one side or one side is stronger, that\u2019s just going to get exacerbated as you keep going.\u201d <\/p>\n Focusing on single-side exercises can combat that and even out those imbalances. Seefried notes that many people will only have access to lighter kettlebells, making those one-sided exercises imperative (as the kettlebell will likely be too light for full-body movements). <\/p>\n If you can only afford one kettlebell, that is no problem at all, but Seefried recommends getting two if possible. One can be on the heavier or \u201cmid-range\u201d side for lower-body movements, while the other should be a bit lighter for your upper-body exercises. <\/p>\n Exercises to Try<\/p>\n There are several exercises that Seefried says are great for a full-body kettlebell workout. She is quick to mention that, while kettlebell swings are a classic, they should be approached with care. <\/p>\n \u201cThey are very good for a dynamic building as you get into it, but just being cautious with those in the beginning, because it\u2019s so easy to hurt yourself doing them,\u201d she says. If you want to add swings to your workout plan, start with a lower weight and work up rather than jumping into the heaviest option right away. <\/p>\n The first movement Seefried recommends is a single-leg split lunge. This is \u201ca little bit simpler,\u201d she says, but it can be very effective. To do it, you lunge as you normally would while holding the kettlebell in the arm opposite from the leg you\u2019re bending. <\/p>\n \u201cThat will help give you a little bit more trunk control,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n Next up is a Bulgarian split squat. Just like the split lunge, you will hold the kettlebell in the opposite hand, then perform the movement as you normally would (bending one leg to 90 degrees while the other rests on a raised platform like a bench or step). <\/p>\n Moving to upper-body, Seefried says she loves a kneeling shoulder press. To perform this exercise, you rest on one knee and bend the other leg to 90 degrees while keeping that foot planted in front of you. From there, perform the shoulder press as you normally would, once again lifting the weight in the arm that is opposite the planted foot. <\/p>\n \u201cDoing it on the ground like this forces you to really engage your core at the same time as you do the press\u201d Seefried says. \u201cKettlebells really shine in movements like these because you have to counterbalance and hold your core while also doing a strength movement.\u201d<\/p>\n Sticking to the upper-body, Seefried says kettlebells are great to use like dumbbells. She says a bent-over row\u201d is always good, once again doing one side at a time. <\/p>\n \u201cAs with the others, this one-side work will show you if you have any imbalances,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n For core, she suggests \u201canything with rotation,\u201d such as Russian twists. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you think about when you\u2019re swimming or when you\u2019re running, there is a lot of that rotational movement,\u201d she says. \u201cBut when you see people working their core, they often do crunches or situps or other movements that don\u2019t have any rotation.\u201d <\/p>\n Another core exercise that will engage your entire body starts in a high-plank with the kettlebell near one of your hands. Reach across with the opposite hand, engaging your core, back and legs to stay upright, then lift the kettlebell to the other side. Repeat with the other hand and return the weight to its starting point before carrying on for more reps. <\/p>\n For all of these exercises, Seefried recommends lifting eight to 10 reps with 60 seconds of rest in between each round. (If you have a lighter kettlebell or if it gets easier as you progress, you can increase the number of reps for each movement as needed.) <\/p>\n Tags:IRONMAN<\/a>Strength<\/a>Training<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A simple kettlebell routine can go a long way in strength training and injury prevention. Photo: Adobe Stock\/Nanci…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590624,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[499,103,61,60],"class_list":["post-590623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fitness","tag-fitness","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/AdobeStock_527175477-1024x577.jpeg\")
Photo: Adobe Stock\/bongkarn<\/p>\n