The Kettlebell Swing:
What are swings about?
What’s the purpose?
A. Loaded hip hinging and FORCEFUL hip extension.
RKC, HKC, Strong First…it doesn’t matter who teaches it and the nuances, some hinge more, some less, regardless, it’s about hip hinging and extension.
Whats hip hinging?
It’s engaging/ creating motion from the hips…or pushing the HIPS back without creating motion at the low back.
What does hip extension look like you ask?
See that arrow? It’s pointing out the FULLY extended hip.
It’s about using your ass to bring the hips into a fully locked out position.
Think hips under you, standing tall, and butt fully (like you’re cracking walnuts) squeezed, and then some.
That’s full hip extension and what we’re looking for at the end of a good kettlebell swing.
Why are Hip Hinging and Hip Extension good for you?
“That’s like asking why’s a tree good, why’s a sunset good, why’s boobs good?”- Joe Dirt
Cause it just isssssss
Because having good hip/ low back mechanics and a big old rock hard ass strong posterior means you’re:
- Strong
- Free from low back pain
- Free from knee pain
- Powerful
- Awesome (there’s a vast difference between a big ass and a big butt…remember that kids, yes, I’m talking to you, eating the cake frosting right out of the jar).
How to Swing a Kettlebell 101:
Set up in a position to “hike” the bell.
- Hips back
- Shoulders packed
- Bell in front of you but not overreaching
Hike the Bell and load the hips
Stolen from shape.com…just put a KB where her hands are…
- Find tension in the glutes and hams
- Keep pressure in the midfoot through the heels
- Keep the arms long and hands up in your junk
Drive the heels down and the hips forward aggressively
- Squeeze the butt hard
- Lock the knees out squeezing the quads
- Focus on using the hips to “pull” the bell through
Find an aggressive plank position at the top
From Stack.com, you should click the photo, great swing tutorial
- Glutes, quads, abs fully engaged and tight
- Shoulders down
- Arms long, let the bell “float” at the top. It should end no higher than shoulder/ eye level.
Put it all Together:
That’s (the very basics) of what a good kettlebell swing is and looks like.
It’s not this squat/ front raise thing that people do in group exercise class.
Great comparison of that squat/ front raise thing and a good (hinging) swing.
And that over the head ‘Merican swing that has come to be popular thanks to we can’t do things like “them” we need to do things different even if it makes no sense CrossFit.
A word (or many) on this ‘Merican swing thats become so popular.
As far as I’m concerned (and granted, I’m no kettlebell expert), it’s a crappy kettlebell swing…..
Why?
Cause it doesn’t BEST serve the purposes of the kettlebell swing.
The ‘Merican Swing either lacks hip hinging and extension, it becomes a squat/ front raise and/or requires a very light kettlebell to get the weight overhead.
I know some people are all like,
“Even though we swing it overhead, we don’t lift from the shoulders!”
Which means the kettle bell has to be super light cause the bell itself is traveling a greater distance and it’s still subject to gravity, but don’t think you’re doing more work by swinging overhead.
If we all recognize that the swing is a hip hinge and is all about hip extension, then at the point the hips are fully extended you’ve actually finished working. The rest of the movement is the bell continuing on its upward path thanks to the momentum caused by the hip extension phase.- Andrew Read
The reality is with the “American” Swing you MUST use a waaay light bell compared to the traditional Swing if you’re gonna get it overhead.
“If the swing is brought totally overhead, the athlete must use a lighter kettlebell (which will likely lead to decreased Force output) to ensure they can move the kettlebell all the way to the overhead position.” – Mike Young Ph.D
Why swing an extra light weight just to put it overhead?
Why not just do some traditional (Russian) swings with a much heavier weight and actually challenge and build the hips in the process?
And if you are lifting from the shoulders you’re limited by how much you can front raise, which probably isn’t all that much compared to what you can extend with the hips.
In essence, you’re training neither movement in an effective way, <—–the classic combination exercise conundrum.
Not to mention there are all types of chances for some nice shoulder impingement along with cervical and lumbar hyperextension at the top of the movement<——Yes, I know these things don’t have to happen, I read Supple Leapord too, but in practice they seem to be VERY common.
This is still a load of lumbar hyperextension and cervical extension… and those things are bad, especially done for loaded reps, under fatigue….
I am not saying a safe overhead kettlebell swing cannot be done. It is just that for most people the possible benefits of the overhead kettlebell swing are simply not justifiable when compared to all the problems that can arise out of it.- Thierry Sanchez
Lets face it:
Before CrossFit made the Squat overhead front raise American Swing popular, it was…..
WRONG
It was pretty much an unwritten rule that if you did swings that way Pavel Tsatsouline, will come to your house and kick you in the face.
Pavel balancing a KB for no apparent reason….
Repeatedly.
Thing is, there are lots of I will not call it a Box CrossFit gyms teaching the American Swing and it’s really tiring round housing thousands of people every day, I mean, who the hell do they think he is, Chuck Norris? .
I think the main reason the American Swing came to be popular is because, like most of the fitness industry, most CrossFit coaches just did what the supreme Yoda spouted.
They just didn’t have the background to critically ask, Does Glassman know what he’s talking about?
“What’s the purpose of this exercise?”
Let’s face it, if you don’t understand the biomechanics and physiology of an exercise you can’t actually understand it’s purpose.
No different from the group exercise instructor who was indoctrinated with, “no one should squat below ninety degrees, it’s bad for the knees”.
Here’s the point:
Kettlebells have been around for a long time, people have figured out how to use them best.
“Isn’t it possible that people have figured out the best uses for these tools over the last centuries and any attempts to fix something that isn’t broken is only in an effort to seem like you’ve got something original to say?”- Andrew Read
Why not use waaaay more weight, snap those hips ingrain proper movement patterns, and build yo’ self a big round donkey azz actually get something out of the exercise?
Remember: What’s the Purpose?
Getting Tired or Getting Better?
Grab a bell on Amazon, and they’re Prime!!!!!
About Roy:
Hi Roy….I’m confused as to why some professional instructors, in particular Brook Benten in her Kettlebody DVD, is demonstrating that the correct way to do a swing is a squatting motion not a hip hinging motion which I know is the correct way. I’ve seen so many videos with the instructor teaching it the wrong way. I don’t get it. Brook has all these credentials yet she is teaching the swing the wrong way. What gives?
Suzanne,
I can’t directly comment on Brook Benten. I’ve never seen her swing a kettlebell. But I can tell you that it’s common to find “experts” who don’t really know how to use this tool or that. Or what good technique actually is.