The bottoms up press is a unique exercise that can only be done with kettlebells.
It works the grip significantly and requires some balance as well.
It can be done with some variations, but typically it is done with just one arm at a time and in a strict military style, or at least close to that.
Clean the kettlebell so that you are gripping the handle with the mass of the kettlebell above your fist in a balanced position.
Do a press keeping the kettlebell bottoms up the entire time.
Important! Keep your eyes on the bell to help keep the balance. It is best to practice in a place where you can drop the kettlebell if needed especially once you’re first getting started (or if you’re going heavy!).
This is a fantastic exercise for many different reasons.
Lately, I’ve been getting back to working with this exercise.
This morning’s workout I worked with the 32kg or 70lb kettlebell.
On my left side I hit sets of 7, 5, and 3 reps.
On my right side I hit 9, 8, and 4 reps.
These included PR’s in both sets and total volume, at least for anytime recently.
I find that the bottoms up press has great carry over to most other types of pressing.
Want to learn more about kettlebells and how this is just of 8 types of pressing you can do with them? Check out The Kettlebell Workshop videos here.
There’s another big benefit, and that is shoulder health.
A friend of mine who use to train a lot of clients mentioned that he found a good correlation for shoulder pain.
How much can you press with a kettlebell normally?
How much can you press with a kettlebell bottoms up?
If those numbers are dramatically different, than chances are your shoulder is jacked up!
And in fact, some shoulder pain is one of the reasons I started doing bottoms up pressing again.
My right shoulder was giving me some grief when I was pressing kettlebells normally. So I backed up the weight and volume and resumed pressing bottoms up.
My numbers keep going up, and my shoulder is feeling great.
If you’ve got any shoulder pain, it’s worth a shot.
It’s not guaranteed to work for you. No one thing solves all problems, but this is something to add to your repertoire.
And if you want even more, check out the 8 Shoulder Flows which come as a bonus to The Indestructible Body.