Are you looking for a new way to train your chest? Or perhaps you work out at home and don’t have the budget (or space) for a garage gym?
If so, kettlebells are an excellent tool because you can do plenty of fun chest movements and challenge yourself, regardless of your experience level.
So, let’s explore 11 of the best kettlebell chest exercises and see how we can arrange them into effective workouts based on experience.
11 Effective Kettlebell Chest Exercises for Balanced Development
1. Flat Kettlebell Bench Press
Muscles worked: chest, shoulders, triceps, and midsection (isometrically)
Experience level: beginner
The flat kettlebell press is an effective alternative to the barbell press to train the chest muscles through an extended range of motion.
You can lower the weights to a greater degree than when using a barbell (so long as it doesn’t bother your shoulders), which provides a greater stretch and could help with muscle growth.
How to:
- Grab a pair of kettlebells by the handles, sit on a flat gym bench, and place the weights on top of your thighs.
- Straighten your wrists and lie back carefully as you lift the weights and position them over your chest. You can thrust them up through your knees to get them in position more easily.
- Bring your shoulders back, plant your feet on the floor, inhale, and engage your abs.
- Slowly lower the weights to your sides while keeping your elbows close to your torso.
- Pause momentarily and press the weights to the top, squeezing your chest muscles. Exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Resist the pull of the weight and avoid bending your wrists if the bell rests against the top of your forearms. Instead, keep your wrists straight (even if that means using a bit less weight early on) to promote stability and avoid joint discomfort.
Hevy – Workout Tracker
Hevy – Workout Tracker
Create and log your workout with Hevy and track your progress
2. Incline Kettlebell Bench Press
Muscles worked: chest (particularly the upper portion), shoulders, triceps, and midsection
Experience level: beginner/early intermediate
The incline bench press offers the same benefits as the flat version, the only difference being muscle activation.
Performing the press at an incline allows you to emphasize the upper (clavicular) portion of the chest, which is beneficial for balanced development.
How to:
- Grab a pair of kettlebells and sit on a gym bench with an incline set to 35-45 degrees.
- Lift the weights and place them on top of your thighs.
- Straighten your wrists and lie back as you thrust the weights with your thighs, positioning them over your chest with your arms straight.
- Bring your shoulder blades back, take a deep breath, and engage your abs.
- Slowly lower the weights to your sides until you feel a stretch in your chest (particularly the upper portion below the clavicle).
- Press up and in, meeting the kettlebells at the top position as you exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Don’t incline the bench too much, as that can shift the emphasis to the shoulders more than the upper chest. A low incline (just one or two adjustments beyond flat) may be ideal, depending on the bench. Experiment to see what feels best.
Related: Upper Chest Workout and 9 Exercises to Achieve Robust Pecs
3. Flat Kettlebell Chest Fly
Muscles worked: chest and shoulders
Experience level: beginner
The chest fly is an excellent isolation exercise that primarily works the pectorals and involves the front of the shoulders to some degree.
Performing the movement with kettlebells typically increases the difficulty because the weights are farther from your chest. As such, you may experience a slightly more intense stretch at the bottom position.
How to:
- Grab a pair of light kettlebells and sit on a flat gym bench.
- Lie back and simultaneously raise the weights, positioning them over your chest. Keep your wrists neutral (palms facing one another).
- Bring your chest back, straighten your wrists, and grip the kettlebells firmly to keep them in position (the bell should align with your hand instead of moving back and forth).
- Take a deep breath, engage your abs, and lower the weights to your sides while slightly bending your elbows.
- Go down until you feel a stretch in your chest, pause, and bring the kettlebells back to the top, squeezing your chest. Exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Maintain a slight bend in your elbows to avoid stretching your biceps as you move your arms to your sides.
4. Incline Kettlebell Chest Fly
Muscles worked: chest (particularly the upper portion) and shoulders
Experience level: beginner
Like an incline press, performing flyes on an incline emphasizes the upper portion of the chest.
Other than that, this movement offers the same benefit as other kettlebell flyes (i.e., potentially allowing for a slightly better chest stretch at the bottom position).
How to:
- Grab a pair of kettlebells and sit on a gym bench set at an incline (30-45 degrees).
- Lie back carefully and lift the kettlebells, positioning them above your chest, with your wrists neutral (palms facing one another).
- Bring your chest back, plant your feet on the floor for stability, and inhale.
- Slowly lower the weights to your sides until you feel a stretch in your upper chest, and return to the top as you exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Consider adding these to your training even if you already do an upper-chest-specific activity (e.g., an incline press) if your upper chest is lagging.
5. Kettlebell Floor Press
Muscles worked: chest, shoulders, triceps, and midsection
Experience level: beginner/early intermediate
The floor press is a minimalistic option for training your chest, especially at home if you don’t have access to a bench.
It’s a good exercise that allows for a good concentric contraction at the top, but it doesn’t provide as good of a stretch at the bottom because of the limited range of motion.
How to:
- Grab a pair of kettlebells and sit on the floor with your legs straight.
- Carefully raise the weights close to your torso and lie back.
- Position the back of your upper arms on the floor with your elbows close to your body and your forearms vertical. The bells should be behind your hands, resting close to the top of your wrists.
- Bend your knees, plant your feet on the floor for stability, and bring your chest out.
- Take a deep breath and press the weights up and in.
- Pause briefly and slowly lower the weights as you exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Lower the weights slowly to avoid hitting the floor with the back of your arms. This may not seem bad, but it could lead to significant wrist and elbow stress.
6. Glute Bridge/Decline Floor Press
Muscles worked: chest (middle and lower portion), triceps, and shoulders, as well as midsection, glutes, and hamstrings (isometrically)
Experience level: intermediate
The glute bridge press is a creative and somewhat unorthodox kettlebell chest exercise, where you set your upper body at a decline and shift the emphasis toward the middle and lower chest.
One limitation is that your elbows cannot travel down too much, so you can’t stretch the chest as much as when doing a decline press on a bench.
How to:
- Grab a pair of kettlebells and sit on the floor.
- Tense your upper body, lift the weights close to your torso, and lie back, positioning the back of your upper arms on the floor. Position your elbows close to your body and keep your forearms upright.
- Bend your knees, plant your feet on the floor, inhale, and push through your heels to assume a bridge position. Don’t hyperextend your lower back––keep your knees, hips, and shoulders in a straight line.
- Breathe in and press the kettlebells up and in.
- Slowly lower the weights to the bottom as you exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Given the body’s position for this movement (the fact that your buttocks are in the air), there’s a risk of back hyperextension, which can place more stress on the spine. Avoid that by contracting your abs when you assume the position to draw your belly button toward your spine.
Hevy – Workout Tracker
Hevy – Workout Tracker
Create and log your workout with Hevy and track your progress
7. Kettlebell Crush Grip Press
Muscles worked: chest, shoulders, and triceps
Experience level: early intermediate
The crush grip press involves grabbing the lower portion of the kettlebell by its sides, which means you use a close grip, similar to a narrow-grip bench press.
Doing so keeps the chest engaged but places additional emphasis on the triceps, forcing them to produce more force.
You can also perform a kettlebell crush grip floor press if you don’t have access to a bench.
How to:
- Grab a kettlebell and sit on a flat gym bench.
- With your arms grabbing the kettlebell by its sides, lie back and position the weight over your chest.
- Plant your feet on the floor, bring your shoulders back, and engage your abs.
- Lower the kettlebell to your upper stomach/lower chest, pause briefly, and press it back to the top as you exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Actively squeeze the kettlebell (as if trying to flatten it from the sides) during each rep to maintain a secure grip and improve chest activation.
Related: Killer Chest and Tricep Workout to Obtain Large Sculpted Muscles
8. Kettlebell Pullover
Muscles worked: chest, shoulders, triceps, lats, and midsection
Experience level: intermediate
The pullover is a movement where subtle tweaks in technique can shift the emphasis to your chest or lats.
How to:
- Grab a kettlebell by the horns (bell facing up) and sit on a flat gym bench.
- Carefully lie back and position the kettlebell over your chest. Keep your arms slightly bent and wrists straight.
- Bring your shoulders back, inhale, and engage your abs.
- Slowly lower the weight behind your head without changing the angle of your elbows.
- Pause briefly, move the kettlebell to the starting position (roughly over your chest), and exhale.
Trainer’s tip: To avoid engaging your lats too much, lower the weight to the point where you mostly feel a stretch in your chest––typically to where the kettlebell is behind your head.
9. Kettlebell Floor Chest Fly
Muscles worked: chest and shoulders
Experience level: beginner
Performing the exercise on the floor limits your range of motion to a degree and may result in a slightly lesser stretch of the chest fibers at the bottom position.
However, this may be more beneficial if you experience shoulder discomfort when you lower the weight too much.
How to:
- Grab a pair of kettlebells and sit on the floor.
- Lift the weights to your sides and lie back, lifting the kettlebells and positioning them over your chest. Have your palms facing one another) and maintain a slight elbow bend.
- Bring your shoulders back and inhale. You can keep your legs straight or plant your feet on the floor for balance––whichever feels more comfortable.
- Lower the weights to your sides until the back of your upper arms touches the floor.
- Move the kettlebells back to the top as you exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Similar to a floor press, keep the movement controlled and avoid hitting the floor at the bottom position, as that can lead to some undue joint stress.
10. Kettlebell Crush Grip Push-Up
Muscles worked: chest, shoulders, triceps, serratus anterior, and midsection
Experience level: intermediate
The close-stance (diamond) push-up is an excellent movement for the triceps and shoulders. One issue is that this close hand position can lead to wrist discomfort.
However, when performing the exercise with your hands on top of a kettlebell (crush grip), your wrists are more comfortable, and the risk of ulnar wrist pain is lower.
How to:
- Set a kettlebell on the floor, get down on your knees, and place your hands on top of it.
- Extend your body into a push-up position with your legs straight (a slightly wider stance can help with balance) and toes supporting your lower body.
- Keep your fingers pointed forward to prevent your elbows from flaring.
- Bring your shoulders back, inhale, and engage your abs.
- Slowly lower yourself as much as possible and press back to the top as you exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Use a heavier kettlebell with a wider lower portion (bell). This will ensure a more stable base and provide enough surface area for your hands.
11. Kettlebell Push-Up
Muscles worked: chest, shoulders, triceps, serratus anterior, and midsection
Experience level: intermediate
Like the previous kettlebell movement, the goal is to use the weight as your foundation instead of lifting it to create a stimulus.
This is a more advanced push-up variation, where the goal is to place a pair of kettlebells on the floor, grab them by the handles, and use that as your foundation. Doing so increases the range of motion, allowing you to lower yourself more than you could during a floor push-up.
As such, you can stretch your chest muscles better at the bottom and hopefully enjoy more growth.
How to:
- Place a pair of kettlebells (preferably the heaviest possible for stability) on the floor.
- Lean forward, grab both handles and extend your body into a push-up position. The weights should be shoulder-width apart, but experiment to see what feels best.
- Bring your shoulders back, breathe in, and engage your abs, drawing your belly button toward your spine.
- Lower yourself as much as you can and pause momentarily.
- Press back to the top position as you exhale.
Trainer’s tip: Control the descent (negative) on each rep and go down as much as possible, so long as it doesn’t bother your shoulders. Doing so will provide a fantastic stretch of your muscles, which is valuable for growth.
Kettlebell Workouts for Chest Growth: Beginner & Advanced Options
Beginner Kettlebell Chest Workout
This is a simple kettlebell chest workout suited for someone new to lifting. It provides a good stimulus for the whole chest and has just enough volume to support growth.
| Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest period (min) |
| Flat Kettlebell Bench Press | 4 | 10-12 | 2 |
| Flat Kettlebell Chest Fly | 4 | 15-20 | 1.5 |
Why aren’t there more exercises? A beginner wouldn’t need much more variety to build a solid foundation so long as they can do these movements safely and without experiencing shoulder pain.
Eight sets is also enough for most beginners, even if they only train the chest once weekly. Of course, each set must be challenging enough (close to failure) to force a positive adaptation (e.g., muscle growth).
You can log your workouts, track your performance on each movement, and follow your friends using the Hevy app.
Advanced Kettlebell Chest Workout
The following workout features more exercises, sets, intensity techniques, and ‘rules’ to make the most of it and continue seeing results as a more advanced lifter.
| Type | Exercise | Sets | Reps | Rest period (min) |
| Set | Flat Kettlebell Bench Press | 3-4 | 8-10 | 2.5 |
| Set | Incline Kettlebell Press | 3-4 | 10-12 | 2 |
Superset | Flat Kettlebell Chest Fly | 3 | 15-20 | 1 |
| Kettlebell Crush Grip | 3 | To RPE 9 | 1 | |
| Rest-Pause | Kettlebell Push Up | 1 | *See below. | – |
*Rest-pause is an intensity tactic that allows you to complete more work in less time and push your muscles to utter exhaustion. Doing these can be pretty fun (if pain is fun for you), especially at the end of your workout.
To do these, I recommend testing how many kettlebell push-ups you can do in one go before you hit failure and use that as your base. Add 50% to that number to get your target for that movement.
For example, at the end of your chest workout, you can bang out 20 smooth and controlled kettlebell push-ups through a full range of motion. So, add 50% (10 reps) and aim to do 30 total reps while resting as little as possible.
It may look like this:
20 reps ⇒ (10 seconds rest) ⇒ 3 reps (10 seconds rest) ⇒ 2 reps (10-15 seconds rest) ⇒ 2 reps (10-15 seconds rest) ⇒ 2 reps (10-15 seconds rest) ⇒ 1 rep
Other than that, there isn’t anything that special about the workout. It has more exercises and sets because that’s necessary to create a significant enough disruption for growth.
You also have one superset, where one movement emphasizes the chest, and the other works the chest but focuses on the triceps.
Related: Free Workout Plans for Every Fitness Level
Are Kettlebells Good for Chest Training?
Kettlebells are a good workout tool to train your chest and other muscle groups, such as the quadriceps, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and lats. All you need are a few kettlebell exercises organized into a proper routine.
As you can see, there are plenty of chest exercises you can add to your kettlebell training. You can also use intensity techniques (such as rest-pause and supersets).
Plus, as with barbells, dumbbells, and gym machines, you can challenge yourself to do more by lifting more weight, doing more reps, and adding more sets.
Conclusion
So, there we are. The above are 11 of the best kettlebell chest exercises, along with two simple and effective workouts for beginners and advanced lifters.
All that’s left is to pick a few movements you want to try, organize them into a simple workout, and get to work.
Looking for a way to log your workouts and track your performance over time? Check out Hevy––the ultimate workout-tracking app.
Hevy – Workout Tracker
Hevy – Workout Tracker
Create and log your workout with Hevy and track your progress
FAQs
1. Can kettlebell chest workouts replace the bench press?
Kettlebells can replace traditional barbell training to get fit and build muscle. Still, it wouldn’t be ideal if you want to compete in a strength sport like powerlifting because you need enough practice with the specific lifts you’ll be doing to build the necessary skills.
2. How heavy should the kettlebell be for chest training?
It largely depends on the exercise and your goals. Lift lighter weights on isolation movements (e.g., chest fly) and pick heavier kettlebells for compound lifts (e.g., chest press), especially if you want to build strength.
3. Can I train the chest effectively with just one kettlebell?
Training one side at a time can work just as effectively, but it may be more difficult to balance yourself. So, start with a lighter weight and increase it gradually.
