A trainer shows us how to tell if your kettlebell is too heavy for your workout

Choosing the right kettlebell can often feel like a Goldilocks-level feat: If you go too light, you wind up short-changing your workout; and if you go to heavy, you tap out before your desired number of reps… or worse, you hurt yourself. And so, it’s important to go jussst right with your weight. The best way to figure out what that is? The kettlebell rack.

Racking a kettlebell involves picking up a kettlebell using one hand, and is the basis for pretty much every other move you’ll do with the weight. If you’re automatically doing it incorrectly, it’s a good sign that the kettlebell you’ve picked is too heavy for you. According to trainer Roxie Jones, there are three common mistakes that people make in their kettlebell racking that serve as clear indications that they need to go lighter: They need to use their other hand to assist in lifting it, their elbow is sticking way out to the side to support the weight, or the bell is swinging wildly over their shoulder.

“Picking up your weight the right way is how you’re going to proceed with the rest of your workout, and if you’re not doing that correctly, you’re probably going to do the rest of your workout incorrectly,” says Jones. “And then you’re probably putting strain on your other muscles that you don’t need to be working.”

Watch the video above to see the right way to rack a kettlebell, and set yourself up for success in every other kettlebell move to come.

Now that you know how to choose the right kettlebell weight and rack it correctly, there are plenty of different moves worth using it for. Include a kettlebell in your abs workout to amp up the intensity, or try this kettlebell arm and shoulders workout to leave your entire upper body burning.