Dan Tai is the 4th fittest man in the UK and a Mirafit athlete, he has taken the CrossFit world by storm in recent years after retiring from professional rugby back in 2017 due to injury. Since then, he has become one of the top UK athletes, showing us that you don’t have to stop at one sport.

If you really want to push your body to its limit, then keep reading to find out more about Dan Tai’s 16kg Kettlebell chipper workout.

What's a Chipper Workout?

It’s the kind of workout that you need to ‘chip away’ at. A chipper workout usually involves between 5-10 exercises that are performed in succession at a high volume. It is one of the toughest workouts you can do because your muscles will fatigue and you have no time to recover.

Ready to give this one a go? Have you got what it takes?

Warm Up - 3 Rounds

• 5 kettlebell good mornings (holding the KB)

• 4 kettlebell thrusters (2 reps each arm)

• 3 side bends (per side, holding the KB)

• 2 inchworms

• 1 burpee shuttle run (10m and back)

The Kettlebell Chipper

• 50 kettlebell Russian swings

• 40 kettlebell goblet squats

• 30 kettlebell hang clean and jerk (alternate arm every 5 reps)

• 20 kettlebell suitcase deadlifts (alternate arm every 5 reps)

• 10 over kettlebell burpees

• 20 kettlebell suitcase deadlifts (alternate arm every 5 reps)

• 30 kettlebell hang clean and jerk (alternate arm every 5 reps)

• 40 kettlebell goblet squats

• 50 kettlebell Russian swings

• 100 kettlebell overhead walking lunges (swap arms whenever)

This is a 15 minute workout with a time cap of 25 minutes. Make sure to take note of your time so that you can try and improve it each time.

Workout Benefits

If training at home, or there is minimal space and equipment available in the gym, a Kettlebell is one of the most versatile pieces of equipment that you can use. Even with just one kettlebell you can complete a full body workout.

Having a chipper style workout allows people to break up movements into achievable sets, whilst also keeping the movements varied.

The workout begins and ends with kettlebell swings, one of the most well-known exercises to perform with a 16kg kettlebell. Swings are a great movement to increase your heart rate as well as building muscle, especially when you’re doing 100 of them in a workout. Dan chose swings because -

'They challenge your posterior chain pre and post fatigue - helping develop resilience and conditioning in the back, glutes and hamstrings.'

Goblet squats are a fantastic exercise to incorporate into your workout no matter what your training level. Unlike a back squat that loads the spine and may not be suitable for everyone, a goblet squat places the weight in-front of your body so it’s easier to stay upright and keep your centre of mass in the right place.   

When it comes to performing clean and jerks with a kettlebell, not only will you be increasing shoulder strength and stability, but it will also be a test of your grip strength. Instead of swapping arms after every rep, which might slow down the workout, Tai recommends switching after every 5 reps. This will challenge your shoulders when it comes to maintaining strength for a prolonged period of time.

Kettlebell suitcase deadlifts engage your core stabilisers in an anti-rotational and lateral way. Similar to a side bend or side plank, but with the added movement and shifting of the hips/knees.

Burpees are a test to both your full body strength and your cardiovascular health, doing them with a kettlebell increases the difficulty tenfold. The beauty of this movement is that it can be performed with or without a kettlebell depending on your experience level. When chatting to Dan about including them in his chipper, he told us -

'Burpees are my favourite movement, so they had to be thrown in somewhere!'

Including the overhead walking lunges as a finisher is a great way to max out at the end of the session. If you need to scale the exercise you can hold the kettlebell in a goblet position or even go without the weight. It’s a fantastic full body movement that also targets core strength, balance and stability.

This workout is a hard, long chipper with a tricky finisher to really target your whole body with only one kettlebell and minimal space. Depending on the intensity that you attack this workout, it could definitely help improve cardiovascular fitness as well.

If you’ve not got long to train and you want to train hard, then this workout is for you. It’s a no nonsense session that will push you to your limits, with just one piece of equipment.

Written by guest author Eryn Barber.

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Tags: Equipment > Power Racks and Cages ; Exercise Type > Strength ; Target Area > Waist