How to Increase the Kettlebell Press

Press every day. This is a simple method that can quickly increase your press, but won't cause too much muscle gain. Working out Monday through Friday, take the heaviest bell you can press for a set of five repetitions. Do a single set of five with that bell. Drop down one bell size and press that one for a set of five. Once you can press that heavier bell for both sets of five fairly easily, then repeat with the next size bell. This is the basic program outline from Pavel Tsatsouline, author of "Pavel's Power to the People."

Press three times per week. If the above program has stopped working, or you are seeking to build a little more muscle, then you may switch to this program. This program consists of what are called ladders, which are similar to pyramid workouts. On Monday you will do ladders of one to four repetitions. This means you will do a set of one, then two, then three, then four, and repeat starting at one again. Do up to five ladders. On Wednesday, you will do five ladders of one to three repetitions. Friday will be the hardest day with ladders of one to five repetitions. When you have completed five ladders of one to five you may increase your bell size. This is the basic program outline by Tsatsouline in "Enter The Kettlebell! Strength Secret of The Soviet Supermen."

Switch to the Sots press. If you are having trouble increasing in kettlebell size, or if larger bells are not available, then the Sots press will allow you to continue pressing. It takes away some of the leverage you have in the standing military press, and thus makes pressing harder, allowing you to continue getting stronger with a bell that has become easy to press. The Sots press is performed like the kettlebell military press, but from a squat stance. You will clean the bell, drop into a squat position and press from there. Either of the above programs can be done with the Sots press.