1. Overhead Obliques
Before you do kettlebell abdominal exercises, make sure that you choose a weight which is heavy enough to give you a workout but not so heavy that it causes strain. To work the obliques with kettlebells, try the windmill. Stand with your feet about hip-width apart, turning your toes slight to the left. Hold a kettlebell in your right hand at shoulder level, turning your palm forward and allowing the weight to fall onto your forearm. Press the kettlebell up overhead and as you look to the right, slowly and gently lower to the left, trying to touch your left fingertips to the floor before slowly lifting to standing once again. Keep the kettlebell raised and perform two to three sets of ten to fifteen windmills with each hand.
2. Are You a Renegade?
The renegade row is one of the most challenging kettlebell exercises for the abdominals, and also works the legs, back, chest and arms to give you a full-body workout. Place yourself into a push up position, placing your kettlebells shoulder-width apart and lifting onto the handles with straight arms. Keep your back straight by engaging the abs and then press into the right kettlebell. Gently lift the left kettlebell towards your mid-abdomen, keeping your elbow into your body and then lower back down slowly, repeating with the opposite hand. This is a difficult kettlebell ab exercise, so start off slow, performing two to three sets of five lifts with each arm, gradually working your way up to ten lifts in each set.
3. Pass It On
To get a serious workout for your core, stand with your feet a bit wider than shoulder-width apart and place a kettlebell between your feet. Squat slightly, keeping your back flat and pushing your buttocks out. Lift the kettlebell with your left hand and without lifting your back, turn your torso to draw the kettlebell near your outer left heel; however, do not let the kettlebell touch the floor. Hold for a moment and then turn towards center, swapping hands between your legs and then moving to the right side. Make sure that you keep your buttocks and abs tight during the movement to protect your back. Additionally, it is important to keep the swings slow and controlled so that you are using your abdominal strength and not momentum during the exercise. Perform two to three sets of fifteen to twenty swings.
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