The swing is a fundamental exercise when training with kettlebells. It is a very effective and explosive movement that burns fat and develops power. But before you can safely perform a swing, you must first learn how to correctly do a hip hinge, and from there, a deadlift.

The Swing: Part 1 – Hip Hinge and Deadlift

Hip Hinge
• Stand with your feet hip width apart
• Push your hips back and allow your torso to move forward
• Lengthen your spine and open up your chest
• Your shins should remain as close to vertical as possible

Deadlift
• Stand over the kettlebell
• Perform a hip hinge until your hands are touching the bell (Refer back to the steps for performing a Hip Hinge)
• Before you lift the bell, pull shoulders back/down and engage your lats (do not round your shoulders)
• Brace your abs
• As you lift the bell, think about pressing your weight into the floor and keep the weight on your heels
• Stand up tall and squeeze your glutes
• Repeat hip hinge pattern until bell is back on the floor

Hike
• Step back from the bell
• Stand with feet a little wider than shoulder width apart
• Perform a hip hinge until your hands are touching the bell
• Tilt the bell towards you
• Before you hike the bell, pull your shoulders back/down and engage your lats (do not round your shoulders)
• Brace your abs
• Hike the bell between your legs. Your arms should come in contact with your ribcage and your forearms should come in contact with your upper thighs.
• Return the bell softly back to the floor in front of you

Swing
• Hike the bell between your legs
• Stand up explosively, snap your hips and squeeze your glutes
• The bell should float up into the air after your hips snap forward
• Then hold your hips forward and maintain tight glutes until your arms come in contact with your ribcage as the bell begins to drop.
• Then push your hips back quickly out of the way allowing the bell to go between your legs.

Need to increase swing weight? Try doing some sets with descending rep counts and increase weight as reps decrease just to get use to swinging a heavier bell. Example:
If you can easily swing a 25 lb bell for 25 reps, then swing a 30 lb bell for 20 reps, 35 lb for 15 reps, 40 lb for 10, and a 45 for 5.

If you don’t have a heavier bell, purchase one! The only way to increase your swing weight is to use heavier swing weight 😉

Bonus – Sample workout for BEGINNERS:
Complete all 3 exercises and rest 1 minute between rounds -Perform 5 to 10 rounds depending on fitness level
Exercise / Number of Repetitions
Swings 10
Goblet Squats 5
Push Ups 5