MONS Athletics
Kettlebell exercises

Double Kettlebell Push Press: Let Your Legs Start the Press

From two bells in the rack, dip a few centimetres and drive up hard with your legs, then let your arms finish the lockout overhead. The legs make it possible.

3 min read · In Power · Upward

Why it works: Chapter 13, Why stretching your hamstrings will not loosen them

How to do it

  1. 1

    Clean them up once

    Both bells to the rack to start the set; if two at once is new, clean them up one at a time. After that the cleaning is done: you press from the rack and return to the rack.

  2. 2

    Find the rack

    Bells resting on the outside of your forearms, fists near your collarbones, elbows in and down, wrists straight, fingers out from between the handles. Everything overhead is built on this position.

  3. 3

    Brace, then breathe

    Tighten your trunk like you're about to be punched, and keep breathing against that tension. Don't hold your breath through the set.

  4. 4

    Dip and drive

    A short, fast bend at the knees, a few centimetres, heels down and torso upright. Reverse it hard, straightening your legs in one go, and let that send the bells up. This drive is the difference between this and a strict press.

  5. 5

    Finish tall

    Your arms finish the job once the legs have done theirs. Arms straight, bells stacked over your shoulders, shoulders pulled down into your back, ribs down. One still moment at the top.

  6. 6

    Return to the rack

    Bring them down to the rack under control, softening your knees as they land. Reset the position and go again. When the set ends, lower them from the rack and set them down.

  7. 7

    The test

    A push press should feel like the bells were launched. If your shoulders are grinding, the legs came up short and you turned it into a press.

Watch for

  • A deep or slow dip. The knees bend too far or too slowly, the spring is lost, and your arms press the whole way.
  • Pressing before the legs finish. It becomes a strict press with extra steps, and the whole load lands on your shoulders.
  • Elbows flaring in the rack. The bells pull you forward and the drive leaks out sideways instead of going up.
  • Leaning back at the top. Your ribs flare and your lower back arches to get the bells overhead, instead of your arms locking out above a tall trunk.

Questions

Kettlebell push press vs strict press?

A strict press moves the weight with your shoulders alone. A push press starts with a short dip and drive from your legs, so the force starts at the floor and your arms finish it, and you can put more weight overhead. MONS uses the push press and leaves the strict press out, because it isolates the shoulder and grinds.

What muscles does the double kettlebell push press work?

Your legs and hips make the drive, your shoulders and triceps finish the press, and your trunk braces so the force travels from the floor to the bells. With two bells, both sides work at once.

What weight for a double kettlebell push press?

A matching pair, the heaviest you can drive to a still lockout 5 times without leaning back or grinding out the press. MONS only gives you this movement if you own two bells of the same size.

How many push presses, and how often?

The double push press closes the Power · Upward routine, after the dead snatches: 5 reps a set, four to six sets, resting until you feel fresh. Clean the bells once per set; every rep starts and ends in the rack. There is no daily target: press when your training day has that routine.