Cardio is good for us, but if you don’t enjoy running or spending time on cardio machines at the gym, you’re probably reluctant to hop on the VO2max improvement train. Fortunately(?), there’s a viral workout that promises you can get good at running without running—by doing a specific workout with weights called the kettlebell ladder. I tried it, and I have opinions.
What is the kettlebell ladder workout?
The concept of a “ladder” is not exclusive to this workout (and not even the right term for this) but I’ll explain it the way this workout is being talked about online.
To do the viral kettlebell ladder VO2max workout, you:
- Do one kettlebell swing, breathing normally (typically you’ll take one breath per rep).
- Put the kettlebell down, and rest for as long as it takes you to take one breath.
- Do two kettlebell swings, and then rest for two breaths.
- Do three kettlebells wings, and then rest for three breaths.
- Keep going like this. Once you get to 20, you go back down the ladder.
- 19 swings, 19 breaths.
- 18 swings, 18 breaths.
- And so on, back down to one.
My gripe about the terminology is that in the way the term is most commonly used in the kettlebell world, a “ladder” only goes up. A “pyramid” is what you call a rep scheme that goes up and back down. So this is a pyramid. But whatever, the name doesn’t really matter.
The point is that you work up from one rep to 20, back down to one. And for each set, you rest for the same number of breaths as you just did swings.
What TikTokers (and others) say the kettlebell ladder workout does
Probably the most viral clip about this workout is from a guy who says that this workout is “a trick to speedrun getting good at running”, even if you don’t run. He presents no solid evidence for this, just says that he did the workout and was later able to pass a firefighter test. (That test, the Biddle, looks pretty tough but I will note it is not a running test.)
The same TikToker later said that he was actually tricking people into being good at fucking. He then goes on to describe the kettlebell swing exercise as a “ballistic hip thrust,” saying that you “shouldn’t use momentum” which has me in a flames-on-the-side-of-my-face reaction since ballistic movements are the ones that use momentum, and I’m starting to wonder if this guy knows anything about exercise at all.
But. Kettlebell swings are a real exercise. They can provide a cardio or a strength stimulus, or both, depending on how you use them. Kettlebell ladders aren’t a new idea at all, and they certainly didn’t start with this TikToker. Good on him for bringing the idea to the masses, I guess. Let’s try it, and then discuss.
What it’s like to actually do the kettlebell ladder workout
I descended into my garage gym for you, dear reader, and did 400 swings for the sake of fitness journalism. That’s right: one plus two plus…all the way up to 20 and back down is an even 400 swings.
My butt, back, and hamstrings were sore for days. Please do not do 400 kettlebell swings all on the same day, if you haven’t done any kettlebell swings at all lately. (And even if you have, consider working up to this workout gradually.)
But that’s hindsight. Let’s talk about how it went.
First, I had to choose a kettlebell. I own a wide variety, from very light ones I can flip and juggle to a big boy that’s about 60% of my body weight. I nearly grabbed the biggest one, figuring I could probably do a set of 20 with it, and ultimately there is one set of 20 in this workout.
I probably had a guardian angel watching over me that day, because right before I started the timer, I said, you know what? I’m going to use a 24 kilo (53 lb) kettlebell instead of the 40 (88 lb). If it’s too easy, I’ll use the 40 next time. Thank you, kind spirit, whoever you are. You were right. I would have died with the 40.
Because, again, it’s 400 swings. And sure, you technically only have to do “one” set with the 20, but it’s sandwiched between two sets of 19, and those are sandwiched between sets of 18, and so on. When in doubt, pick the lighter bell.
And you know what? It went perfectly. The first few sets felt laughably easy: swing, breathe, swing swing, breathe breathe. It wasn’t until I was up to 10 that it started to feel like work, and then as I was ascending into the teens I started thinking: oh god, I’m nowhere near halfway.
But I never doubted I could make it. I deliberately slowed my breathing between sets, because 12 deep breaths give you a longer rest than 12 quick breaths. And I was using a light enough kettlebell that I wasn’t gasping for air. I wore a heart rate monitor, and looking at the graph later, it was pretty much perfect for a challenging-but-not-killer cardio workout. And it fit into a cool 30 minutes.
I spent most of my time in zones 3 and 4. It wasn’t HIIT (that would be jumping between zones 1 and 5) and it’s definitely not a low intensity zone 2 kind of workout. Rather, it’s a steadyish medium intensity workout. Your heart rate never comes down too much during the short rests, and it doesn’t rise too much during the work sets, so there are fluctuations but they hover around a medium level. My average heart rate was around 80%.
Does the kettlebell ladder workout work?
As in, will it improve your VO2max? Probably! But only because just about any type of heart-pounding exercise will improve your VO2max in the long term, unless you are already a professional athlete. Zone 2 will improve it. The Norwegian 4×4 will improve it. Even crappy “HIIT” videos can improve it, at least a little.
And you know what? I think the original appeal of the workout does have something to it. If you want to run, but you hate running and feel more comfortable with a piece of heavy iron in your hands, then a workout like this one might be your perfect training wheels. You’ll start building your aerobic fitness, and then you can use that fitness to go out for a run and not suffer quite as much as if you started with the running. I’m all about making things more accessible when you’re a beginner. Start where you can.
Now, would I recommend it for a more experienced runner or exerciser? With reservations, yes! It doesn’t take much time or space, and it gives you a good balance of work and rest (if you chose the right weight of kettlebell, which is a big if). I could definitely see adding this in to your routine in place of a cardio workout, so long as you’re still doing plenty of running if your goal is running. (If you don’t care about running? Sure, do this instead. Knock yourself out.)
How long does the kettlebell ladder workout take?
Mine took 28:57, or just under half an hour. It would be hard to make it take much longer (unless you’re adding extra breaks) or much shorter (if you’re doing the full number of swings).
But if you’re just getting started, don’t feel like you have to jump into the full 1-20-1 pyramid the first day. It’s fine to do a shorter version (especially if your kettlebell is heavy and you’re gasping for breath long before you hit 20). You can start with, say, a 1-5-1 pyramid and progress by adding more sets as you gain fitness.
How do you breathe when you’re doing the kettlebell swings?
OK, important point of clarification. You count breaths during your rests, but you breathe normally during the kettlebell swings. The way it’s often taught, you inhale at the bottom of the swing (when the bell is between your legs) and you exhale, perhaps forcefully, at the top (when the bell is at its highest point, up in front of your chest).
Personally, when it gets heavy, I prefer to breathe out at the bottom (when I need to brace a little harder) and inhale at the top (when I’m standing tall and the bell is floating—it’s like a millisecond of rest). I don’t think there’s really a wrong way, so long as it feels right for you.
(And yes, I know there are kettlebell coaches who would say that’s heresy. For what it’s worth, I have an IKO kettlebell instructor certification, and I didn’t have to breathe any particular way to earn it.)
How do you do a kettlebell swing, again?
- Start with the bell on the ground, a little bit in front of you.
- With straight arms, pull it back toward your hips. Don’t bend your knees any more than you absolutely have to.
- Stand up straight. The motion of straightening your hips will propel the bell forward, like pushing a child on a swing. (The bell is the child. Your arms are the chains of the swing. Your hips are doing the pushing.)
- As the bell swings back toward you, absorb the force by bending your hips but not your knees, and repeat the process.
- After the last swing, absorb the force with your hips again, and put the bell down in front of you.
If it feels like you’re using your arms and shoulders to raise the bell, you aren’t using your hips enough (and the kettlebell is probably too light).
If you’re bending your knees so that your body goes up and down like a squat, don’t do that. Keep the knees still. Bend at the hips.
There is, by the way, another type of kettlebell swing that uses a little bit of a knee scoop rather than the horizontal hip thrust movement I just described. If you know how to do that, feel free to use that movement instead. If you don’t, forget I said anything.
How heavy a kettlebell should you use for the kettlebell ladder workout?
Something that you are okay with doing 400 reps of in half an hour. It’s okay if that number scares you a little, but it shouldn’t sound completely out of reach.
Another way to think of it is: could you do several sets of 20 in a row, with only a short rest in between? Because you’ll have to do …18, 19, 20, 19, 18… after you’re already a bit fatigued from working up from 1 to 17.
I used a 24 kilogram bell, which is about 53 pounds. For comparison, I squat around 250 pounds and deadlift over 300. If you work out consistently, somewhere between a 16-kilogram (35 pound) and a 24-kilogram (53 pound) kettlebell might be good. If you’re newer to exercise (or to cardio work, or kettlebell swings in general), something lighter, like 20 pounds, might be a better place to start.
Normally, when it comes to weights, I would urge you go to a bit heavier than you think you can. But since this is meant as a cardio exercise, lighter is better. It will help you to keep moving without getting too fatigued. If you finish the 400 swings and feel like it was too easy, then find a heavier weight.
How do you keep track of your kettlebell swings?
This was a challenge, for sure. A few sets in, I grabbed my pen and training notebook and started making tally marks when I finished each set. Just did the set of seven? I’ll make the seventh hash mark and then I know to count up to seven breaths before moving on.
After I hit 20, I wrote the remaining numbers on my paper: 19, 18, 17, and so on. After each descending set, I’d cross off the number I just did.
Then there’s the question of what counts as a resting breath versus one of the normal breaths you take during a set of kettlebell swings. I decided that I would count exhales when the kettlebell was on the ground. If I’m breathing while I set the kettlebell down or just after I pick it up, that’s a working breath so long as the bell is not touching the floor.
How should I schedule this workout?
However you like, just promise me one thing: don’t do it every day if you aren’t used to doing workouts of this intensity every day. Here are the guidelines I’d recommend:
- Do it once a week if you are doing other cardio, like easy running or using the cardio machines at the gym, at least two other times a week.
- Do it two or three times a week if this is your only cardio workout for some reason.
- Do it more than three times a week only if you have some experience with this type of workout and are able to finish the workout feeling pretty good, like you’d be happy to do it again.
How should I progress this workout?
At first, you may want to start with shorter ladders to ease yourself into the routine. (It’s also totally valid to go from 1 up to 5 and back down to 1, then rest a few minutes, then do another 1-5-1.) If you start that way, the obvious progression is to make your ladders longer, until you’re up to 20.
Once you’re regularly doing 1-20-1, you can go for longer ladders if you like, for a longer cardio workout. Or, you can use a heavier kettlebell, for a more intense workout in roughly the same amount of time.
There’s no kettlebell ladder police, so feel free to make things challenging for yourself in whatever way makes sense to you. You can do multiple ladders in a session, or do them more often, or pair a ladder with, say, a running workout. A short ladder would be a great indoor warmup before heading out for a run on a cold day, for example—I’m going to keep that idea in my pocket for when the weather cools down.
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