Double Kettlebell Jerk

Secondary muscles
Triceps, Abs
Body part
Shoulders
Position
Standing
Laterality
Bilateral (both sides together)
Category
Strength

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With two bells racked, the jerk uses a sharp dip and leg drive to send the weight overhead, then a second knee bend to catch it with the arms already locked. Mastering that re-bend is what separates it from a push press, and it lets the legs move loads the shoulders could never press alone.

How to do the Double Kettlebell Jerk

  1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, holding a kettlebell in each hand at shoulder height.
  2. Bend your knees slightly and engage your core.
  3. Press the kettlebells overhead, fully extending your arms.
  4. Bend your knees and quickly drop into a partial squat.
  5. Explosively extend your hips and knees, driving the kettlebells overhead.
  6. Lock out your arms and catch the kettlebells overhead with your knees slightly bent.
  7. Stand up straight and return to the starting position.
  8. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.

Tip: Keep the bar close, extend the hips fully and let the legs, not the arms, generate the speed.

Muscles worked

Primary

Delts · Shoulders

The delts hold the bar in the front rack and press it overhead on clean and press variations.

Secondary

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with the arms early — the arms are just hooks until the hips have fully extended; if the elbows bend before the bar reaches the thighs, you have lost the power.
  • Catching with a soft rack — on a clean the elbows should come through fast and the bar should sit on the shoulders, not in the hands; if the wrists take the weight, work on elbow speed.
  • Rushing the first pull — the bar should leave the floor at a controlled speed with the back set, and the speed comes in the second pull from the hips.
  • Looping the bar — the bar should travel straight up and stay close; if it swings out and back you are muscling it with the arms.

Where it fits in a workout

Olympic lifts go first in a session, before squats or deadlifts, while you are fresh and explosive. Pair a clean with a front squat to make a complex.

How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.

Variations and alternatives

Similar exercises

Alternatives

Easier and harder

When to talk to someone

  • Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
  • Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
  • Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.

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More exercises

Sources

  1. ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
  2. ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
  3. ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
  4. CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)

Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.

Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.