Kettlebells are a perfect tool when it comes to building strength, explosiveness, and flexibility for football. The problem is many have started to look down on kettlebells because of those who’ve turned them into a cult object. Kettlebells are a tool, not a philosophy! I’ve heard of a few fairly major college football training programs that are using nothing but kettlebells. This is the extreme we don’t need.

By themselves, kettlebells won’t build the strength necessary for football, but when added to a solid strength training program, they can help build a great amount of speed, explosiveness, and maybe most importantly, flexibility.

Getting guys to stretch enough is probably the hardest thing I have to do as a coach. Hell, I hate traditional stretching, but hand a football player a kettlebell, have him do an exercise that builds great flexibility in the speed muscles, and complaints of “This is so boring!” seem to fall away.

One of the problems with implementing kettlebells into your football strength program is that there is a seemingly endless list of exercises that can be done. This is great for variety, but it can bring on “paralysis by analysis” for the beginner. Here are five exercises that are perfect for beginners and will help you start building strength, speed, and flexibility from a solid base of basic kettlebell movements.

1. Kettlebell swing

When it comes to building explosive power in the hamstrings and developing insane game speed, kettlebell swings are the bee’s knees! Well, when they’re done properly, they are. Once called “expensive pull-thrus” by Jim Wendler, they build the type of explosiveness in the hamstrings that is absolutely necessary for football speed.

Technically, they're an expensive pull-thru. The advantage they have over the pull-thru is they involve the hips a bit more and can be done much more explosively. But this is only if the swing is done correctly. The “squat style swing” is great for fat loss but terrible for football speed.

You have to let the bell swing back between the legs. You should look a bit like you’re about to make a tackle. Keep your abs tight on the way back so that you don’t injure your lower back. Preferably, these should be done one arm at a time.

Kettlebell swing bottom and mid-point

Swings have to be an explosive exercise. You must snap the kettlebell forward, popping the hips rather than just using momentum to swing the damn thing around. Don't be afraid to go semi-heavy. Go for 3–5 sets of 3–5 reps.

2. Kettlebell bent press

The bent press brings to mind images of old time Strongmen pressing those huge, cannonball shaped barbells. Those guys were know for doing crazy feats of strength, many of which can only be duplicated by the truly strong monsters of modern day. So how did these old-timers, who frankly by today’s standards are skinny, pull off these amazing lifts?

They simply had more power in their abs and hips. One of the ways they built this insane “core” strength was on Bosu balls. Kidding, kidding. They did it with big, heavy, abdominal movements like the bent press. The problem is doing these with a  barbell is a royal pain in the ass, but grabbing a kettlebell makes the movement manageable. You still get all the benefits of the exercise.

Basically, do a full side bend. While you’re still bent, press the kettlebell away from the shoulder and up. Then with the bell overhead, stand up. This builds great strength in the abs and obliques and also builds the stabilizers in the hips and shoulders. It’s a great move for strength and flexibility.

I know most guys, especially high school football players, want to do endless sets of crunches so they can get the magical six-pack and look “like a beast coach.” But crunches are meaningless. Do the bent press for several weeks and watch all your lower body movements improve.

These can be done at the end of the workout for 3–5 sets of 5–10 reps (per side).

3. Overhead throw

The overhead throw is a great testing movement. It teaches players to transfer power from the legs through the hips and into the upper body. These are super easy to do. Basically, you do a swing but release at the top—back and overhead.

Measure the best of three throws and retest every six weeks or so. You’ll notice that as your strength goes up, so does the distance of the throw. This is also a good indicator of overall athletic ability. Charles Poliquin once called this the best indicator of future athletic prowess in young athletes.

A 15–20-lb bell is plenty. If you go too heavy, it won’t go anywhere. Too light and it won’t test much. It’s classic force-velocity curve stuff.

4. One-arm overhead squat

Despite what many believe, the overhead squat is almost entirely a flexibility exercise. It will increase flexibility in the hams, glutes, quads, and the ever tight hip flexors. Plus, it builds tremendous stability and strength in the abs, obliques, and shoulders.

For most, this is a difficult exercise at first. The balance and flexibility required will throw most football players off. But if you work to the point where you can get into a full overhead squat and come up with some force, you’ll be as flexible in the hips, back, and shoulders as you’ll every need to be.

Grab one kettlebell, clean it, and then press it overhead. Hold it in the overhead position and squat just as you would with a barbell. Sit back, stay upright, and go deep. Use this at the end of your warm up as a flexibility exercise or at the end of your workout to loosen up before the next session. Stick with 3–4 sets of 10–12 reps.

5. Two kettlebell front squat and press

This is another one of those great kettlebell exercises that works several qualities at once. The front squat and press is great work for the legs and shoulders and it teaches transfer of power from the legs through the upper body, much like the clean and jerk but without having to learn the much more complex lift. It can be used for conditioning or for general flexibility/strength/high rep work.

Just grab two kettlebells, clean them to the shoulders, drop into a deep front squat, and explode up all the way through to hold the bells at arms' length. You can do this with one bell at a time to increase difficulty.