Forget crunches – these 5 standing kettlebell exercises build bulletproof core strength

When it comes to working our core, most people’s minds often turn to lying on their backs and busting out 100 crunches. While crunches do target your abdominal muscles, there are more muscles that make up your entire core, including your spinal muscles, pelvis and glutes.

“In my experience, too many gymgoers neglect standing exercises when wanting to develop their core strength,” says Reid Stafford, Senior Personal Trainer at Ultimate Performance. “This is because they conflate ‘abs workouts’ and ‘core workouts’ as the same thing, and gravitate towards horizontal movements such as planks and crunches. But, if you want a strong core, you need to incorporate exercises you can perform while standing.”

But what makes standing core exercises so good? “They require your body to focus on, not only lifting and lowering the weight, but also keeping itself stable throughout the movement and working against gravity so you don’t fall over,” explains Reid. “This brings into play those all-important core stabilization muscles.” 

Why are standing kettlebell exercises good for your core?

Reid says the main reason he prefers using a kettlebell, as opposed to a dumbbell or a barbell, for standing core exercises is the fact that the weight isn’t balanced equally. “With kettlebells, the weight is directly underneath the grip and therefore your body has to work harder to maintain balance and stability when holding the weight, all of which will bring your core muscles into play.”

Ready to fire up your core muscles with some standing kettlebell exercises? These are the five Reid recommends…

1. Farmers carries

Although traditionally a Strongman exercise, farmer carries are growing in popularity since the rise of HYROX, and a good thing too. It's a simple exercise – walking for a set distance with a kettlebell in either hand – but, don't let that fool you. They're brilliant for firing up your core muscles to create spinal stablisation as you try to maintain an upright posture. They also work your shoulders, triceps, biceps, lats, traps, erector spinae, quads, glutes, hamstrings and calves, so a great full-body exercise too. 

2. Single leg deadlifts

The single leg deadlift is a unilateral exercise (which means working one limb at a time, such as a single leg squat).  Reid says he particularly likes these movements as they require an ever greater degree of balance and co-ordination. "Your body has to work even harder against gravity, which will require a strong core to perform correctly, safely, and without falling over,” he explains. As well as challenging your balance, single leg deadlifts also work your glutes, hamstrings and erector spinae.

3. Front rack kettlebell squats

"Front rack position" is where you hold a weight in front of, or on your shoulders in front of you. Squatting with weight on the front of your body, as opposed to your back, forces your core muscles to work even harder to try and stop your body from tipping over and maintain an upright posture. But, by using two kettlebells, as opposed to a barbell or dumbbells, adds an extra element of challenge to your core, as the weight isn't balanced.

4. Single arm kettlebell swings

You've probably tried kettlebell swings, but have you tried doing it with just one arm? If not, time to try! As a whole, kettlebell swings work your entire body, from your glutes, hamstrings, calves, quads, shoulders, lats, traps, rotator cuff, and your core muscles. But, again, by using just one arm, your core has to remain tight to help you stay grounded, as well as building anti-rotational strength.

5. Windmills

Although this is one of Reid's favourites, we'll just say it now, these are quite hard so don't jump in for a kettlebell that's too heavy. That being said, windmills target multiple muscles that stabilise your trunk and hips, including the obliques which are used in trunk flexion and trunk lateral flexion. They're a great exercise for your core because they require the abdominal muscles to contract to control the movement.

Looking for more kettlebell-inspired exercises? Try this five-move standing kettlebell workout that will take you no longer than 20 minutes. If you don't have any kettlebells, don't stress, there are plenty of other standing core exercises you can do that don't require a kettlebell. If that's you, try this 15-minute standing dumbbell workout instead.