All The Reasons That Make The Kettlebell Swing So Great
Putting Together A Quality Strength Training Program Is Harder Than You Think.
Especially if you’re not a strength coach/personal trainer, or well-educated in biomechanics. Or if you don’t understand the basic theory and application of how the human body works.
Looking from the outside in, you might think putting a strength program together is a matter of simply picking a few different exercises. Mainly, your favourites — the ones you’re good at — and disregarding the rest.
After that, you pick a certain number of sets and reps you’re going to do, and which weight you’re going to use.
And voilà, there you have it. Your very own customised strength training program.
Not so fast…Slow down, cowboy! There’s A LOT more to it than that.
Prescribing The Right Exercises (For The Right Person) Is Part Art, Part Science.
First, you must identify your goals. What is it that you want to achieve or accomplish?
Then you look at your training schedule. How often can you train?
Third, what is the current state of your body? What does your body need?
You see, you must fit the exercise(s) to the person in question.
Square pegs don't fit in round holes.
While there are hundreds of potential exercises you could do, there are some which can be prescribed more frequently than others.
These exercises are the ones that pack the biggest punch and will do more for your body. You want to pursue those as much as possible.
You don’t have to do ten or twenty different exercises when five will suffice.
In fact, if you can get the desired training effect from fewer exercises, that’s even better!
When you understand some basic principles of how the human body works, you begin to see patterns emerge. This is why a lot of problems can be attacked using the same (or similar) exercises.
Let me explain what I mean by this.
There Are A Few Universal Truths About The Modern Human Body, And How Most People Live.
Let’s see how many of the following statements ring true for YOU;
You spend too much time sitting.
You’re carrying more weight than you want.
You don’t move as well, or often, as you used to.
You suffer (or have suffered) from lower back pain.
You rarely use your big, and most powerful muscles in your everyday life.
You are developing poor posture due to looking at some type of screen, from sun up to sundown.
What impressive-looking posture!
So, What’s The Solution? Move More, And Move Better.
It sounds obvious, I know. But, are you doing it?
Well…are you?
Just because it’s obvious doesn’t mean it’s not true.
As a strength coach, my job is to hand-select the exercises which are most appropriate for my students. And the ones which will give them the most bang for their buck.
Allowing them to get the biggest return on their training investment. Getting more results for their time and efforts.
Enter: The Kettlebell Swing (below)
Here’s An Unpopular Truth When It Comes To Strength Training.
It’s not always about what you want to do, but what you need to do.
You may want to do exercises X, Y, and Z — but if your body isn’t prepared, or your technique isn’t good enough to perform them — it’s not a good idea.
It won’t end well.
You need to start with your current level of strength and conditioning, not where you’d like to be.
This means learning the fundamental exercises, from the ground up. Building a strong, solid foundation so you can then layer all the other components on top of it.
Nothing Solid Is Built On A Weak Or Unstable Foundation.
Do not skip the basics or pre-requisite steps to learning the kettlebell swing.
While it certainly is an amazing exercise, if you skip the necessary steps to learn it the right way, you won’t get the maximum benefit out of it.
And you may well end up injuring yourself in the process by using incorrect techniques or lifting a weight that isn’t suitable for you.
This is an exercise that can combat a lot of the problems of modern-day living and many of the common issues associated with being desk-bound and having an office job.
The two-arm swing is the staple and base of kettlebell training. It really does fit the bill of being an all-in-one powerhouse.
What’s So Amazing About The Kettlebell Swing?
Well, I’m glad you asked!
It ticks so many boxes from a coaching standpoint and human movement perspective.
It teaches you how to move well, allows you to work a lot of neglected muscle groups, and be very time-efficient with your training.
Below are some of the biggest benefits of the two-arm swing;
Learn how to move from your hips — disassociate your hips from your lower back (don’t confuse the two).
Strengthens the entire posterior chain — hamstrings, glutes, back, posterior shoulder.
Engages the core to a high level — your midsection muscles act as ‘brakes’ to prevent you from arching your lower back.
Develop explosiveness — powerful hip extension to work the fast-twitch muscle fibres of your body.
High heart rate — builds your work capacity and ability to get a lot of work done in a short amount of time.
The thing about the kettlebell swing is that is the entry point to all of the other ballistics (you can read more about them HERE), and their variations.
Sitting Is Bad. Swinging Is Good.
Point A - Start Position
Point B - Finish Position
In our busy lives and hectic work schedules, sitting is going to happen. There’s no denying that. But the amount of sitting you do will have an impact on your body.
My goal is to provide a solution to combat the myriad of issues caused by long periods of sitting.
Below are some of the most prevalent problems associated with long periods of sitting, and how the swing helps solve them.
1. Core switched OFF. When you are seated, your abdominal and core muscles don’t have to do much. They’re essentially ‘on vacation’, nowhere to be seen! The backrest helps to keep you upright, and after a period of time, you end up slouching, or leaning into the back of the seat, rounding the spine.
In the backswing and at the top of the swing you must contract your midsection muscles incredibly hard. You do this by “bracing”, or tensing your stomach and surrounding muscles. NOT by sucking in, or drawing your belly button towards your spine.
2. WEAK glutes. Sitting down in a chair forces you into what is called “hip flexion”, where your hips are bent to a roughly 90° angle. This has negative consequences by turning your glutes off. They don’t have to do any work to support you whatsoever.
At the top of the kettlebell swing, you cramp glutes, hard! You do this by squeezing them tight — like you’re about to crack a walnut between your cheeks.
Try it for yourself!
Stand up and see how tight can you get your butt. You don’t get any of that when you’re sitting.
Oh, and “you don’t grow an ass by sitting on it”.
3. SHORT hip flexors. Again, following on with your hips being flexed for long periods of time. This position shortens your hip flexor muscles (located at the front of your hip). They are constantly “stuck” in that bent, 90° position.
This can lead to a posture called lumbar lordosis, a swayback - exacerbated curvature in your lower back. This places pressure on your facet joints and forces you to walk with a duck butt (ass sticking out).
Kettlebell swings force you into hip extension, where your glutes engage and your hip joints become ‘open’. The goal at the finish point of the swing (Point B - shown earlier) is to reach full hip extension WITHOUT lumbar extension (arching the lower back).
4. ROUNDED upper back. Sitting behind a keyboard for eight hours is near-impossible to do with perfect posture. If you’ve managed to do it, please tell me your secret. Sitting with your head tall, shoulders and spine in neutral, with your chin tucked takes its toll. It’s hard work to do! This is why your body adopts an easier, more economical position — rounded — because it requires less energy and muscle activity.
The swing works the muscles of your upper back quite hard when done correctly. If you look at my start position (point A), you can see horizontal ripples in my shirt. This indicates the muscles of my back are contracting. I have done this by extending — arching — my thoracic spine (upper back). Maintaining this position throughout the swing requires a big contribution of all the muscles on the rear part of the body.
5. INTERNALLY ROTATED shoulders. When assessing posture, we look at yours and compare it with a position called "anatomical position". To do this, simply stand up nice and tall, then relax your limbs. The anatomical position is a reference point for landmarks on the body, and the standard anatomy of humans.
Moving a mouse and tapping away on a keyboard repeatedly shortens the pecs and internally rotates your shoulders (palms facing back). This leads to collapsed shoulders and thoracic kyphosis, excessive rounding of the upper spine.
The apex of the swing helps to counteract this. You should finish tall, with your head up, a proud chest, and “packed shoulders”. Packing the shoulder plays a big role, to pull your shoulder into its socket. This connects your limbs to your torso making it a single unit. So it becomes part of your body as a connected system, rather than being pulled out of its socket with no strength or stability supporting the joint.
There’s A Lot To Love About Kettlebell Swings!
As you’ve found out, there is a myriad of reasons for performing the swing and having it as a part of your strength training routine.
It replaces many exercises, builds strength in some of the most ignored, and powerful areas in your body. Whilst working both the muscular and cardiorespiratory systems simultaneously.
It really is a catch-all movement that most people will benefit from. Hopefully, including YOU.
Do you want to learn the fundamentals so you can master the kettlebell swing?
I’d love to teach you everything you need to know. So you can learn it quickly, do it safely and effectively so you get the utmost out of every repetition.
Here’s how you can do that — book in for a lesson today.
I wish you well on your kettlebell training journey. Enjoy the learning process and the challenges it brings you.
Swing well, swing powerfully, and swing often!