9 Tips to Improve Your Kettlebell Swing

Kettlebell swings are one of the best exercises for firming your buttocks, hamstrings, quads, abs and pretty much everything else. The dynamic loading and unloading of the weight trains you to you your entire body to generate the force necessary to move the bell from between your legs to chest or shoulder height. Proper form is imperative to keep from hurting yourself.

These tips will help you maximize the fat burning potential of the kettlebell swing!

The hips go BACK not down! I can’t tell you how many people have come to me saying swings hurt their back. Inevitably the reason is they are squatting down instead of pushing the hips back.

Try this – Place your hands on your hips with the forefinger of each hand in the hip crease and use the hands to tilt the pelvis. Let the knees unlock, but don’t bend them, just unlock them.

Keep pushing the hips back. At the same time keep the chest lifted and shoulder blades pinched, chin up.

Pop the hips forward and straighten the knees. The hamstrings, glutes, quads and abs should all be tight at the moment of full expansion. The pelvis should be forward.

If you are doing swings with 1 kb (2 handed or 1 handed) the forearm(s) should be touching the inside of the upper thigh through the bottom portion of the movement. If the forearm(s) go between the knees you are squatting (or you have longer arms than me which is saying a lot)

If you are practicing with a more relaxed style you can let the arm relax a little and round a bit through the mid & upper back but the lower back stays flat!

Activate your lats to keep the shoulder down and packed

Shins stay vertical – Do not allow any movement below the knees. This results in scooping and is usually caused by shifting the weight from the mid foot/heel to the ball of the foot. You should be able to lift the toes off the floor at any time during a swing.

Going deeper into the backswing (back NOT down) will generate more power by loading the posterior chain more. You can’t go as deep/back with 2 handed swings.

Swing to shoulder height or forehead height, unless you are specifically working on high pull variations. The variation that I have seen some do, two handed swings overhead can be dangerous, you are better off snatching

At the top of the swing don’t arch the back to get it higher. You may lean back onto the heals to counter-balance the bell but the back remains flat.

Save your grip and hands. Do not squeeze the handle in a death grip. For all but the heaviest (for you) bell you should be able to hold the bell in the fingers by just keeping them curled and only tightening a little through the back swing. Holding the bell tight at the base of the top of the palm below the finger will lead to much pain and suffering from blisters and torn callouses.

Breathing should be natural. Don’t force it. Find a rhythm that works for you. Personally my breathing pattern changes depending on how much work I’ve already done. I tend to inhale on the downswing and exhale on the upswing when fresh, but when I get tired I do a double breath. Exhale on the backswing, quick inhale on the way up, exhale at the top, quick inhale on the way down. It takes a bit of experimentation, but that  really is your natural breathing pattern.

That’s it for now. I hope you find these pointers helpful in fine tuning your swing so you can get the most benefit from this tremendous exercise!

By: Dave Randolph

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