In this 24‑minute outdoor workout, Tommy Cassano, founder of Outdoor Body, leads a kettlebell‑focused upper‑body shred set in Yosemite’s El Cap Meadows. The session is structured as a continuous, timer‑driven circuit: a brief kettlebell swing warm‑up, followed by two rounds each of chest, back, shoulders, and a final four‑minute arm finisher. Each exercise lasts 45 seconds with short rest intervals, and the routine includes bodyweight push‑ups, single‑arm rows, chest presses, good‑morning style lower‑back work, shoulder push‑ups, power presses, upright rows, triceps extensions, dips, and alternating kettlebell curls. Throughout, the coaches (Tommy and multiple spotters) provide real‑time counts, technique cues (e.g., “crush grip,” “core tight, belly button to spine,” “elbow above wrist”), safety reminders (choose a medium‑weight kettlebell, modify if new to kettlebells, keep movements controlled), and motivational shouts. The video also highlights the scenic backdrop, encourages leave‑no‑trace principles, and references the iconic granite of El Capitan. The overall goal is to deliver a high‑intensity, equipment‑light upper‑body conditioning session that can be performed outdoors while emphasizing proper form and safety.
Chapters
What's up everybody, Tommy Cassano, founder of Outdoor Body, here in Yosemite National Park. We are in El Cap Meadows, El Capitan in the background, for our Peak Kettlebell Upper Body Shredder. We're going 24 minutes nonstop. This is going to be a burner. Most of the exercises are 45 seconds. We're gonna be hitting a little bit of the core, and then we're going right into chest, back, shoulders, and then closing out with 4 minutes of arms.
Woo!
This is gonna be a great upper body shred. So grab yourself a kettlebell you can sustain. I would say, you know, medium weight or so, and that should be good for you. I mean, 45 seconds gets a little long, and we're doing 2 big rounds of each body part. So this is going to be a really good one. If you've never done kettlebells, make sure you watch the tutorials or just stick with the bodyweight workouts. So once again, we're here in El Cap, over 3,000 feet high, iconic, famous, the tallest piece of granite slab in the world. That's why it's famous for rock climbers. So we're going to get right into our kettlebell peak upper body workout. We are going to start off with a little warm-up, 30 seconds of swings with the right arm.
In 3, in 2, and 1, let's go! Core tight, belly button to spine, flexing those glutes. Let's get it! Kettlebell upper body time, let's go! Getting it in. 5 seconds, then we're just going right into toe taps. Kettlebell down, let's go! Toe taps, just like that, just getting the blood flowing. Let's go!
Look how amazing this is. Some recent movie shot here, rock climbing.
Obviously they are absolutely stunning. It is such a marvel.
5 seconds, then we're just going swings on the left side.
3, 2, 1, right here, let's go! Oh yeah!
So we are going to start off our big set workout, 45 seconds.
Of an exercise, 4 exercises, starting off with chest. Let's go, 10 seconds. 3, 2, 1. Toe taps one more time, let's go. Core tight, belly button to spine, let's get it. Whoo, 20 seconds. I mean, this is just absolutely stunning. So first exercise, we're gonna be in a glute bridge. So we're gonna be back on the ground, or it's gonna be 45 seconds slow strict press with the right. Here we go. So coming down just like this.
Kettlebell and just pressing, isolating the right side of the chest.
Let's go.
Straight down, straight up.
Come on, slow.
Remember, keeping the kettlebell and crush gripping, locking out, coming down. Let's get it.
15 seconds. 10 seconds, then we got the left side.
I'm gonna flip around, but you can stay in the same position.
3, 2, 1, coming around.
Let's go! Hips up, straight down, straight up, isolating, squeezing the that chest.
Let's go, 30 seconds. Whoo, come on!
The next, we're just gonna lay flat and we're going to do a chest press.
15 seconds left, let's go. Getting nice and itchy and dirty here in the meadow. Here we go. 5, 2, 1, here we go. So laying flat, grabbing the kettlebell, and we're just pressing straight up, straight down.
45 seconds, let's go.
Come on, keep the core tight, legs flat.
30 seconds left.
Come on, let's go!
15 seconds.
Next we're just doing our bodyweight 45 seconds super slow push-ups, like less than 10 in 45 seconds.
3, 2, 1. 1. Kettlebell down. Here we go. So push-up position, just here, slow, and coming up. It's almost like a 3-count. 1, 2, 3, come up. 1, 2, 3, super slow. I want you to rest for a second at the top, really engaging, squeezing that chest, and up. Let's get it. Slow push-ups sometimes are even harder than regular. Just all out, let's go. 10 seconds, stay with me, come on, let's go. One more, and up. We got one more round of that, let's go.
Glutes up.
Pressing.
Come on. 45 seconds.
Core tight. Belly button to spine.
30 seconds left.
Let's go. Come on.
Let's get it.
15 seconds. 10 seconds.
Sweat is coming down.
3, 2, 1, switching sides. Let's go, we got our left side.
Come on, lost a second or two, but that's all good. Come on, elbow taps the ground. You're locking out. Hopefully you can see that.
Let's go. Come on, almost there. 20 seconds.
15 seconds. Come on, 10 seconds.
Let's go.
2, 1, here we go! Chest pressin' for 45 seconds.
Let's get it, stay with me.
Locking out, grabbing that kettlebell, squeezing like you got a pencil in between your chest, and you're locking out.
Let's go.
10, 15 seconds. Little wind here.
10 seconds. 4, 3, 2, 1. Here we go, slow push-ups.
Let's get it straight.
Slow push-ups, all the way down, all the way up. 1, 2, 3, coming up. Let's go, 30 seconds. Squeezing core tight, belly button to spine. Let's get it. Almost there, 15 seconds, then we're getting right into our back work. We're going back rows. Oh yeah, right arm first. 3, 2, 1 more, and 1. Coming up, grabbing that kettlebell. Let's go, one arm row, straight up, straight down. Let's get it. Squeezing tight, isolating that right side. Let's go, 30 seconds. This arm can rest just like that, but don't put a lot of pressure. Should be isolation in the back. See how the back knee slightly bent? Let's go, 15 seconds.
10 seconds.
Switching sides, let's go! Left side, come on, 45 seconds, super slow. All the way up, all the way down.
30 seconds.
Let's go.
20. Squeezing.
Next we're going to go good mornings, which isolates the lower back.
It's kind of like a straight leg deadlift almost, but we're not going all the way down.
So one thing, be super safe, slow squeeze of the back. So coming up right here, legs super tight and straight, stick your butt out, down, straight up. You'll feel a little bit in the glutes, see it, feel it in the hammies, but really try and isolate. This is just for lower back and squeezing up super slow. We used to do these in college football with barbells with a ton of weight on, but now it's more for just some isolation, not necessarily building a ton of muscle, but really shredding up and activating that lower back with this back workout. Let's go, almost there, 10 seconds. 3, 2, and 1. We're just gonna go on our knees. It's a back crunch, so lock out, squeeze. We got our body weight Squeeze. So lock out, elbows come all the way in, shredding it up. Imagine like you have heavy dumbbells and you're just squeezing that back. There's a pencil on your spine and you're trying to snap it.
Let's go, come on, let's get it, almost there.
Let's go! 2, 1, back up. Rose on the right, come on, 45 seconds.
Whoo!
Come on, let's get it! 15 seconds, come on, shredding up this lower back. 5, 2, 1, other side, let's go! Ooh-wee! Come on, let's go now, 30 seconds. Oh yeah, come on, 15 seconds, 10 seconds, then we got our good mornings. 2, 1, here we go once again. Slightly down, slightly up, isolating that lower portion of the back. Booty comes out slightly, legs straight or even a slight micro bend in the knees. Let's go, 30 seconds, squeezing tight, looking good, feeling good at El Cap. Look at this, it is just absolutely amazing. 15 seconds, closing out with our back crunches, then we move on to shoulders. Let's go! 2, 1, back crunch. So remember, you got a pencil, you're squeezing. Super tight.
You can go a little faster on this just because it's bodyweight.
We have a power press. So right here, so hips down and then straight up. So you just bend your knees, you sink, you're coming straight up in the air.
Elbow stays in tight.
Down, straight up. Let's Let's go. Down, straight up, locking out, closing this gap between the ear and the bicep armpit. Let's go. Down, straight up. Oh yeah, let's go. 15 seconds. Power pressing straight up. Let's go. You can always do an isolation, but with 45 seconds it gets a little heavy sometimes. Switching sides, and we are focused more on the form than the quantity of exercise. Let's go, 30 seconds. Keep this arm straight out, then we're going upright Row.
Come on, 20 seconds.
Almost there, 10 seconds. 2, 1, here we go. Core tight, legs together.
Straight up, straight down.
So as you can see, my elbows are above my wrist and we're squeezing those traps, those upper delts. Side angle, all the way up, all the way down, nice and slow. Get some of that upper back, shoulders. Ooh, got some metal on me.
Come on.
Let's get it. 15 seconds, then we're getting into our slow shoulder crunches. These are gonna be a burner. 2 and 1. So we're gonna be right here in our kind of animal stance, and all we're doing is top of our head Touch the ground. Also called shoulder, shoulder push-ups. You want your hands faced in slightly. Down and up, let's go. Slight bend, pretty good bend in the knees. Let's go, these are a burner. Let's get it, 15 seconds. Almost there, 10 seconds. 2, 1, here we go! Power pressing on the right, round 2.
Once again, if your kettlebell is light enough and you think you can stand, you can do a strict press if you want. I like a little power press.
Keeps your form intact and engages your core. More of a full body through an isometric press.
10 seconds. 3, 2, 1. Upright row, legs again. Together, coming straight up and down.
Let's go!
All day, come on, getting it in here at Yosemite National Park. Come on, elbows up, remember core tight, belly button to spine, locking and loading. Let's go!
15 seconds. Come on.
5, 2, 1. Shoulder push-ups. Let's go. Almost there. Down, straight up. Core tight. Bend those knees. Then we're closing out with some arms, baby.
Let's go.
20 seconds. 15 seconds and getting right into arms.
Let's go!
3, 2, 1, popping up. Here we go, 2-minute arm burnout. 30 seconds tricep extension. Let's go! Elbows in, core tight, boom!
Come on, 15 seconds, 10 seconds, 3, 2, 1, come back up. 2-minute burnout. Each side. So that's 4 minutes actually. Let's go, 30 seconds.
Oh yeah, whoo, come on!
2 minutes of tries, 2 minutes of buys.
15 seconds.
Oh, it's burning. Let's go, 3, 2, 1.
Dips.
Come on, down, straight up, get the top of those horseshoes. Then we got biceps, so we're going curls double, then we're going right curls double again, then we're going left.
Ooh, if the kettlebell is too heavy, you can do more of a hammer curl.
I'll show you in a second. 3, 2, and 1. Let's go. So just like this, core tight, coming straight up. Let's go, 30 seconds. Let's get it. Squeezing those tri— those biceps, sorry. Elbows up, 15 seconds. Come on, you want the arms— you're really doing arms and all kettlebells full body the way you squeeze it, but That's good for some isolation too. 3, 2, 1, here we go. Curling. So straight up, straight down.
If the kettlebell's heavy, you can do it like a baby swing and do more of a bottoms up.
Let's go, squeezing. But if it's light enough, you hold it in your— that crush grip in the fingers, and you kind of slide it straight up. Let's go. Oh yeah, biceps! 5 seconds. 2, 1, flip it up. We got our curls. Elbows up. Let's go, let's finish strong. Come on now, 15 seconds. Oh, El Cap is so pretty. 3, 2, 1, let's go! Let's finish strong.
Left side curls once again.
You can do a little bottoms up hold, a little bit more of a hammer curl if it's too heavy. If not, hit that isolation, squeezing. Let's go! It's all you got left.
Come on, 10 seconds.
5, 4, 3, 2, and time! Woo!
That is it, your peak kettlebell upper body workout here at L-CAP in Yosemite National Park. Remember, you can always run that back, do it 2 times, make it a 48-minute upper body workout. If not, each and every time, getting after it. Mobility before, stretching after. Here at Yosemite National Park, the valley floor is just luscious and beautiful today. There's animals roaming, there's people roaming, everything here in El Cap. If you've never been here,. You have to come visit. This is a very special, unique place. It's absolutely stunning. And always remember, no traces left behind, keeping and preserving the land for future generations. I'll see y'all next time in the outdoor body workout, and stay wild.
