Advanced · Movement lesson
Bottoms-Up Kettlebell Press
Learn how to approach the bottoms-up kettlebell press and scale it when your bell is too heavy.
Trevor · Founder & head coach · 5 min read
Full video · 1:38 · Trevor
Key takeaways
- It trains grip, wrist, and shoulder control.
- Practice holds if pressing is too heavy.
- Use the same strong-body brace as a normal press.
What it is
The bottoms-up press is a press with the bell balanced upside-down by the handle. It is self-correcting: if you are not controlling the bell with your grip, wrist, and shoulder, it simply will not stay up.
How to do it — step by step
- Clean or curl the bell into a bottoms-up hold with the base pointing to the ceiling, wrist stacked and straight.
- Crush the handle and brace your whole body.
- Press only if the bell stays balanced — a controlled hold is already useful.
- Lock out overhead with the bell still balanced, then lower under control.
Common mistakes
- Forcing reps with a bell you cannot balance.
- Letting the wrist bend instead of stacking it.
- Going too heavy — this is a control exercise, not a max-out.
Muscles worked
- Grip and forearms — the balancing crush
- Rotator cuff and shoulder — stabilizing the wobble
- Core — bracing
- Triceps — the lockout
Variations and alternatives
- Bottoms-up hold or carry if pressing is too heavy.
- Assisted press: help it up with the free hand and lower slowly with one.
How to program it
Use it as an advanced press variation for grip, wrist, and shoulder control — lighter loads, higher focus. If you only have one heavy bell, practice bottoms-up holds and negatives. In the app it is a shoulder-health and stability accessory.
Frequently asked questions
What is the point of the bottoms-up press?
Balancing the bell upside-down forces your grip, wrist, and rotator cuff to work overtime, building control and shoulder stability. It is self-correcting — you cannot fake it — which makes it great practice even as a hold.
Video transcript
Read the video transcript
All right, guys. How to do the bottoms-up press. Guess what? There is no how to do it. You just do it. And if you're not doing it wrong, right? Guess what happens? That happens, right? So do whatever you need to do. Orient yourself however you would like to press this kettlebell. That's it. That is it. Okay. I don't care how you press it. As long as you can press it, you can do it.
And then you just follow the plan, the reps and sets, and you will get the results. That's it. And also, if you don't have access to a lot of kettlebells, let's just say you're using one kettlebell for most of your workouts, you want to get into bottoms-up pressing, but it's impossible for you to bottoms-up press the weight that you've been using for your other workouts and you don't have a lighter kettlebell.
That's fine. What you can do is just practice holding it in the bottoms-up position like this, right? And then maybe over time, once you get used to it, you can help press it with the free hand and then negative down with one hand. Press it up with the free hand, negative down with one hand until before you know it, you're repping out some bottoms-up presses like they're nothing. And that's it. Peace.
Train with a clear plan.
Start Foundation Week 1 free in the app. Follow guided sessions, use the timers, and record your results.
