Kettlebell Swing Workout: Mastering the Everyday Workout

The Russian Kettlebell Swing and American Kettlebell Swing are the super movements that can reverse a sedentary lifestyle, improve athletic performance, and whip anybody into shape.

The Ultimate Fitness Multi-Tool: The Kettlebell

A kettlebell stands alone as the single most effective strength and conditioning training equipment available. I’m not suggesting you ditch other strength training modalities and equipment, but I am suggesting that the kettlebell is the best piece of equipment to invest in for your home gym.

The equipment takes virtually no space and can be shoved into any closet, the exercises require minimal space and can be done inside or outside, and traveling with a kettlebell is a breeze. Work out in a studio apartment, get a workout in outside in the sunshine? No problem! Short on time and want a spicy workout to get going? A kettlebell can handle that.

The efficiency and versatility are unmatched and allow for strength training exercises that are traditionally performed with a barbell or dumbbell and high-intensity cardiovascular conditioning work. It’s a tool suitable for all ages and levels of proficiency.

The Kettlebell Swing: The Dynamic Full Body Exercise

The kettlebell swing is a dynamic, full-body movement unique to the kettlebell. The swing is the kettlebell’s superpower – this single compound movement trains the posterior chain, the core, the grip, the lats, and the shoulders. In high-rep, low-rest schemes, the kettlebell swing also helps develop cardiovascular and muscular endurance. The kettlebell swing is a lower-impact alternative to deadlifts and reduces the stress traditionally exerted on the lower back.

What Does the Kettlebell Swing Work?

Posterior Chain Muscles – The glutes, hamstrings, and spinal erectors are arguably the powerhouse of the human body and one of the most undertrained, weak areas in most people. They get forgotten about in our sedentary lifestyle. If you want a nice-looking butt or if you want to generate some serious athletic power, this is what you want to train.
The Core – The core provides stability for the spine, balance during everyday activities, and protects the internal organs. The unintended side effect of having a well-trained core is the six-pack, with the right nutrition and recovery of course.
The Grip and Forearms – Grip strength is one of the leading indicators of aging. Training grip and forearm strength with exercises like the American or Russian Kettlebell Swing helps promote longevity and maintain youth. You may not come out looking like Popeye but you’ll be able to give that firm handshake when greeting somebody.
The Upper Body – The shoulders (Deltoids) and lats (Latissmus Dorsi) help control the kettlebell during the upper phase of the swing, especially while performing the American Kettlebell Swing where the bell passes overhead. The upper back and neck muscles (Trapezius and Rhomboids) help stabilize the shoulder blades and head during the Kettlebell Swing.
Body Control & Coordination – The Kettlebell Swing is a dynamic, full-body movement that challenges coordination and body control, some of the key components of athleticism.

Performing a Russian Kettlebell Swing

The Russian Kettlebell Swing focuses on creating a powerful hip hinge to propel the kettlebell from the starting position between the legs to eye level. The arms act as a conduit for the power generated by the hip snap. The Russian Kettlebell swing is generally considered a safer alternative for beginners and anybody new to kettlebell training. That’s not to diminish its benefits for more advanced athletes. Since it focuses on hip strength and power, it’s a particularly effective exercise for training lower body explosiveness.

Russian Kettlebell Swing Video

Stand with feet roughly shoulder width apart, toes pointed slightly out. Find a comfortable position that feels somewhat natural. A good test is to jump off the ground. The position you land in will be roughly your natural, balanced position. That’s what you want your start position to feel like.
Position the kettlebell between or slightly in front of your feet.
Hinge at your hips, and bend your knees slightly, while keeping your back flat. Grab the kettlebell with both hands.
Tilt the kettlebell toward you, inhale, and hike the kettlebell back between your legs and under your hips.
Exhale and explosively drive your hips forward by squeezing your glutes and core. This should resemble standing straight up quickly. Imagine a string is attached to the top of your head and pulling straight up.
Keep your arms extended as the kettlebell swings forward. The kettlebell should rise to chest height with the bottom of the bell facing out.
A slight bend in the elbows is just fine but avoid thrusting the hips forward and bending your back. Your glutes and core should be engaged and your head to heel should be a straight vertical plane.
Allow the kettlebell to descend back between the legs, hinging at the hips and bending the knees slightly, while controlling the movement with your core and glutes.
Repeat the swing or set the bell back down in front of you the same way you hiked it up to begin the first swing.

Performing an American Kettlebell Swing

The American Kettlebell Swing is more vertical than the Russian Kettlebell Swing. The same hip hinge propels the bell upwards, however, the bell travels closer to the body all the way overhead and finishes with the kettlebell bottom up. This variant incorporates more shoulder and upper body strength to “punch” the kettlebell overhead into the ending position. The American Kettlebell swing is more demanding on the cardiovascular system and is commonly used in CrossFit.

American Kettlebell Swing Video

Stand with feet roughly shoulder width apart, toes pointed slightly out. Find a comfortable position that feels somewhat natural. A good test is to jump off the ground. The position you land in will be roughly your natural, balanced position. That’s what you want your start position to feel like.
Position the kettlebell between or slightly in front of your feet.
Hinge at your hips, and bend your knees slightly, while keeping your back flat. Grab the kettlebell with both hands.
Tilt the kettlebell toward you, inhale, and hike the kettlebell back between your legs and under your hips.
Exhale and explosively drive your hips forward by squeezing your glutes and core. This should resemble standing straight up quickly. Imagine a string is attached to the top of your head and pulling straight up.
Use the momentum from the hip thrust to propel the bell up in front of your body. The kettlebell should feel weightless.
Guide the kettlebell up overhead with relatively straight arms.
At the top “punch” the bell up so the bottom of the bell is facing the ceiling. Your arms should be by your ears.
Allow the kettlebell to descend back between the legs, hinging at the hips and bending the knees slightly, while controlling the movement with your core and glutes.
Repeat the swing or set the bell back down in front of you the same way you hiked it up to begin the first swing.

Kettlebell Swing Benefits

The kettlebell swing reverses the negative effects of a sedentary lifestyle (i.e., working at a desk, sitting in a car, watching TV, etc.). When you sit down your hip flexors get tight, your hamstrings are shortened, your glutes and spine are disengaged, and your metabolic rate is low.

The kettlebell swing not only burns calories during the workout but helps build lean muscle which increases your metabolic rate. It helps strengthen the exact muscles that experience atrophy and a lack of stimulation in a sedentary lifestyle. You’ll experience better posture and less upper and lower back pain. You’ll also likely better sleep better.

In addition to reversing negative sedentary lifestyle effects. The kettlebell is a phenomenal tool for improving athletic performance. I often hear from athletes that after regularly incorporating their performance during deadlifts, squats, cleans, and snatches absolutely skyrocket from better strength and endurance conditioning.

Kettlebell Swing Workouts

Creating a workout with kettlebell swings is very straightforward and there are plenty of apps that will program simple workouts for you right on your phone. I will link to those resources at the bottom of the article.

My preference is to create a circuit or super set with Kettlebell Swings as the primary movement and squats, pull-ups, push-ups, planks, or sit-ups as the movements performed as supersets in between sets of swings. You can include any movement in between the sets of swings including jogging, sprinting, or jumping rope.

Examples:

Lower-Body Focused