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Today’s Workout: The kettlebell weight-loss workout

Burn 400 calories in just 20 minutes with this muscle-building routine.

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The Workout Plan to Get Ripped Without Breaking a Sweat
Eugenio Marongiu / Getty
The Workout Plan to Get Ripped Without Breaking a Sweat
Eugenio Marongiu / Getty

If you want to minimize your time in the gym and maximize your calorie burn and results—and who doesn’t?—then you should grab a pair of kettlebells.

Most kettlebell exercises are explosive, full-body movements which rev your heart rate and challenge multiple muscle groups at once. Need more proof? Lifters who train with kettlebells burn as many as 400 calories in 20 minutes, a study by the American Council on Exercise showed.

Pro tip: Perform this workout at a high intensity to get the benefits of excess post-exercise oxygen consumption. EPOC is known as the “afterburn” effect, because your body continues to burn calories post-workout, and therefore boosts your metabolism long after you’ve left the gym.

What you’ll need:

You’ll need two kettlebells of equal weight for this workout. Pick a weight that is challenging but allows you to finish a set of reps as prescribed for your experience level while maintaining proper form.

Directions

Perform the exercises and repetitions as a 20-minute AMRAP. Pace yourself—20 minutes is a long time to work near your maximum capacity—and try not to take any more rest than you need. If the exercise is a single-arm movement, perform the prescribed number of reps on each side.

Beginner: Complete 6-8 reps per movement
Intermediate: Complete 8-10 reps per movement
Advanced: Complete 10-12 reps per movement

Alyssa Ages is a strength coach at CrossFit Metric and an athlete with PowerNYC Training.

For more fat-burning kettlebell workouts

Check out five kettlebell exercises for beginners, eight kettlebell workouts to build total-body strength, and five high-intensity interval weight-loss workouts you can do with kettlebells.

For a complete archive of our daily quick-hit routines, go to mensfitness.com/todaysworkout.

Routine

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Today's Workout

The kettlebell weight-loss workout (AMRAP)

Exercise
Equipment
Sets
Reps
Rest
Exercise 1 of 6

Kettlebell Swing

Equipment
Kettlebells
Sets
1
Reps
8-10
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 2 of 6

Kettlebell Clean

Equipment
Kettlebells
Sets
1
Reps
8-10 (per arm)
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 3 of 6

Kettlebell Press-Out

Equipment
Kettlebells
Sets
1
Reps
8-10 (per arm)
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 4 of 6

Kettlebell Thruster

Equipment
Kettlebells
Sets
1
Reps
8-10
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 5 of 6

Sumo Deadlift High Pull

Equipment
Barbell
Sets
1
Reps
8-10
Rest
0 sec.
Exercise 6 of 6

Farmer’s Walk

Equipment
Dumbbells
Sets
1
Reps
8-10
Rest
0 sec.
Carry a kettlebell in each hand.
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