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Kettlebell Bent Press

The bent press is less a shoulder lift than a full-body screw-down; you fix the bell in the rack and lower your body under it by side-bending and hinging while the arm slowly locks out. It builds tremendous overhead strength, oblique control, and hip mobility, which is why old-time strongmen used it for their heaviest one-hand presses. Reserve it for experienced lifters with a solid overhead position, and groove it light before loading it hard.

Equipment
Kettlebells
Body part
Abs, Shoulder
Type
Strength
Browse by movement
Hinge, Rotation, Vertical Press
Muscles worked
Target
Deltoid Anterior, Deltoid Middle, Abdominal External Oblique
Secondary
Triceps Brachii Long Head, Triceps Brachii Lateral Head, Erector Spinae, Gluteus Maximus
Tertiary
Latissimus Dorsi, Adductor Magnus, Vastus Lateralis

How to do it

  1. 1

    Clean a kettlebell to the rack on one shoulder with the palm facing in.

  2. 2

    Set your feet wider than the shoulders and turn them slightly away from the loaded side.

  3. 3

    Brace the trunk and begin pressing the bell as you side-bend away from it.

  4. 4

    Keep the pressing arm relatively still and lower your torso under the bell by hinging and twisting.

  5. 5

    Reach a full elbow lockout with the bell stacked over the shoulder and the free hand near the floor.

  6. 6

    Fix your eyes on the bell and stand tall by extending the hips and trunk to finish.

Tips

  • Think about moving your body under the bell, not muscling the bell up with the arm alone.
  • Keep the working shoulder packed down and the wrist stacked straight throughout the grind.
  • Master the kettlebell windmill first so the side-bend pattern is already familiar.

Variations

Common mistakes

  • Bending straight out to the side instead of hinging back and rotating slightly, which puts the load into the lower back rather than the hip.
  • Dropping your eyes to the floor as the torso lowers lets the bell drift forward of the shoulder, and a controlled grind becomes a save.
  • Standing back up by pulling with the loaded arm. The arm stays locked and quiet; the hips and trunk are what bring you upright under the bell.
  • Do not let the elbow soften at any point after lockout. Once the arm is straight it stays straight, and a bending elbow under a heavy bell is how a shoulder gets caught out of position.
  • Choosing a bell you can barely strict press. The bent press eventually moves more than a press does, but only once the pattern is grooved, so start with a bell you could press five times cleanly.

Frequently asked

How many reps of the kettlebell bent press should you do when you are new to the exercise?
Treat it as skill practice rather than a rep exercise: five sets of two or three per side with a bell you could strict press five times, moving slowly enough that you could stop at any point in the descent. Ten to fifteen total reps per side in a session is plenty. Only after several weeks of the path feeling automatic should you add load, and even then keep the reps at singles and doubles.
What can I do instead of the kettlebell bent press if I have no kettlebell?
A single dumbbell runs the same pattern, though you lose the forearm rest a bell gives you. If the mobility for the full lift is not there yet, build it with the kettlebell windmill and the Turkish get-up, which teach the same side bend under a loaded arm with far less to go wrong. An overhead band hold plus loaded side bends covers the pieces separately.
What is the kettlebell bent press for, and who should not do it?
It builds overhead strength, oblique control and hip mobility at once, and it is how old-time lifters moved their heaviest one-hand loads. It suits experienced lifters with a clean overhead position and a solid windmill. Do not do it if you cannot lock a bell overhead comfortably with the shoulder packed down, or if your lower back objects to loaded side bending. If what you actually want is a straightforward shoulder builder, a strict press does more with far less to learn.

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