Kettlebells are quickly becoming the next big thing in fitness.
But as opposed to the many fad gizmos that come and go (shake weight, anyone?), kettlebells have been an important Russian tool for building strength for centuries.
Here are the two basic kettlebells exercises you need to know in order to make the most of them.
The Swing If there were only one quintessential kettlebells exercise, this would be it.
This primarily utilizes your lower body but also incorporates your back.
Perform the swing as follows:

1. Stand with the kettlebell on the floor between your legs.
   
2. Squat down to grab the handle with both hands.
   
3. Stand up a bit to lift the kettlebell off the ground and "push" it further between your legs.
   
4. With the momentum of the kettlebell, vigorously extend your legs and thrust your hips forward to swing the kettlebell out to eye level.
   
5. As the kettlebell drops back down, squat to bring the kettlebell back between your legs to complete one rep.
   

To do more than one swing, keep repeating steps 4 and 5.
The Turkish Get Up The Turkish get up is truly a unique upper body exercise.
You start out lying down with the kettlebell held overhead and stand up while holding it in that position.
Here's how to do the Turkish get up:

1. Lie on the ground with your feet together.
   Grasp the kettlebell with one hand and push it up overhead.
   
2. Bend the same knee as your kettlebell hand to put your foot on the ground.
   
3. Twist and lift your torso up, using the opposite hand to push off and rest on your elbow.
   
4. Raise yourself up to that hand, lifting your torso a bit further.
   
5. Now, put all your weight into to your hand and foot on the floor and push up enough to allow yourself to swing your other leg beneath you to rest on your knee and take your hand off the ground.
   
6. Now push off with the leg on the ground so that you are standing on both feet with the weight overhead.
   
7. Reverse these movements to return to the starting position and complete one rep.
   

Make sure you switch off each arm every rep to avoid exhaustion.
Keep an eye on the weight at all times.
Make sure you lift and lower the weight with control to avoid injury.
Do combinations of both these exercises every week.
Make sure you stop before your form gets sloppy.
These exercises constitute the very basics of kettlebells exercises and are full-body workouts that will keep you strong and lean.