How to do it
- Hold a kettlebell in one hand and stand on the opposite leg with a soft knee.
- Hinge at the hip, letting the free leg travel straight back as a counterweight and the bell track down the standing shin.
- Stop when the hamstring is fully stretched, then squeeze the glute to stand.
Cues that matter
- Hips stay square to the floor — no opening up towards the free leg.
- Fix your eyes on a spot a metre in front of you to hold your balance.
Common mistakes
- Rotating the hip open, which turns it into a side bend.
- Reaching for the floor with the bell instead of pushing the hips back.
Muscles worked
Primary
- Hamstrings
- Biceps femoris
- Semitendinosus
Also works
- Glutes
- Lower back
- Core
Sets and reps
What to do with it depends on what you are training for. These are the ranges MuscleMap uses when it puts Kettlebell Single-Leg RDL in a session, with 150 seconds between sets.
- Strength
- 4–6 reps
- Build muscle
- 6–10 reps
- Endurance
- 12–20 reps
Same muscle, different kit
Movements that train the same part of the hamstrings with different equipment — for a day the kettlebell is taken, or a gym that does not have one.