How to do a kettlebell swing
- Stand with your feet a little wider than your hips, the kettlebell on the floor about 30cm in front of you.
- Hinge at the hips with a flat back, grab the handle with both hands and tilt the bell towards you.
- Hike it back between your legs like a football snap, wrists high up the inside of your thighs.
- Stand up hard by driving your hips forward and squeezing your glutes. The bell swings up to about chest height, arms straight and relaxed.
- Let it fall back. Wait until your forearms meet your thighs, then hinge and hike it back between your legs again for the next rep.
- To stop, let the bell swing back a final time and set it down in front of you.
Cues that help
- "Hips, not arms": the arms are ropes, the hips do the lifting.
- "Stand tall at the top": body in a straight line, glutes and stomach tight, like a plank standing up.
- "Wait for it": hinge only once your arms hit your thighs on the way down.
- "Hike high": the bell passes between your legs above your knees, not down near the floor.
Common mistakes
- Squatting the swing: bending the knees a lot and moving up and down instead of hinging back and forward.
- Lifting with the arms or shoulders, which tires them and takes the hips out of it.
- Leaning back at the top to make the bell go higher. Finish straight.
- A rounded back at the bottom. Keep it flat and the bell close.
What swings do for strength
In a 6-week study, 21 young men trained twice a week with either kettlebell swings (12 rounds of 30 seconds with a 12 or 16kg bell) or jump squats (Lake and Lauder, 2012). On average, their half-squat maximum rose by 9.8% and their vertical jump by 19.8%, with no difference between the two groups.
So swings with a light bell build hip strength and power, not just conditioning. They are not a substitute for heavy deadlifts or squats for maximum strength, but they are a good, low-equipment addition.
Sets, reps and weight
- For power and strength: 5 to 10 sets of 10 to 15 reps, resting until you feel fresh.
- For conditioning: rounds such as 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off, for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Starting weight: often 12 to 16kg for women and 16 to 24kg for men, heavier once the hinge is solid.
- Stop the set when your hips slow down or your back starts to round.
Variations and alternatives
- One-arm swing: more work for your core to stop the twist.
- American swing: overhead. Harder on the shoulders and not more effective for the hips.
- Romanian deadlift: the same hinge, slow and heavier.
- Hip thrust: the glutes, without the speed.
Tracking your kettlebell swings
PushBeyond logs the weight and reps of each set and charts the history of the exercise. Its muscle map counts the kettlebell swing for your glutes and hamstrings, with your core and shoulders as helpers.