WHY KETTLEBELL SWINGS?

Kettlebell swing is an exercise that many people failed to appreciate its simplicity in getting the job done. Top strength and endurance athletes and martial art artist use the kettlebell swings to their advantage. To a busy person, it is one hell of a handy and very versatile tool that does it all for him or her. It helps fat loss, improves core strength, increases aerobic fitness, develops hip power & strength and prevents low back pain. Pretty much covers most things people want.

As I explained to a full house Perfect kettlebell swing workshop last Saturday (21st Jan 2017), it’s a quick lift suitable for both strength and endurance athletes as well as non-athletes. Another big plus is its fuss-free setup. It’s just a iron ball with a suitcase handle sitting there waiting to be moved. You can do it at home, in a gym or do it at the park. It’s your choice.

Despite all the great things associated with the kettlebell swing, you’re most unlikely to get the benefits of this quick lifts unless you know exactly how to do it and actually become good at it. And to just swing it (as some personal trainers say) without paying attention to the subtleties is pretty much a waste of time. The worst thing is to risk low back pain with no benefits at all.

WORKSHOP OBJECTIVE

The aim of this workshop is to help kettlebell user dive deep into the skill of swinging the kettlebell, understanding the biomechanics and particular techniques we teach that help a user quickly get good at the swings and consistently make improvements. And allow them to have a plan to progress and regress when needed depending on their kettlebell swinging skills. BTW, the particular techniques we teach here has helped some of our gym members swing upwards of 68kg kettlebell.

The kettlebell swing workshop was attended by both newbies and experienced kettlebell users that included personal trainers, certified StrongFirst Kettlebell instructor and crossfit athletes. There were also very competent kettlebell users that train with us at Get Results PT gym regularly that attended the workshop as well.

WHAT’S IN THE WORKSHOP

This highly informative and hands-on workshop not only provided step-by-step plan on how to get a complete newbie to start swinging the kettlebell within an hour it also allows experienced user to make sense of how we put the whole thing together and allow them get to swing better and do it with more confidence. The following components are what we covered at the event:

  • Should you swing? – Clear yourself with 2 simple tests so you can minimise the chances of hurting yourself
  • Patterning hip-hinge – Going through what is really in the hip-hinge and what is not a hip-hinge
  • Learning the kettlebell deadlift – Loading up the hip-hinge movement
  • Setting up for a strong swing – The most overlooked part of the swings
  • Learning to actually swing well – Putting everything together from above and develop more hip power
  • Participants were partnered up and given ample time to practice what we went through and given trouble-shooting drills to work on any difficulties that they have.

At the end of the session, everyone seems pretty satisfied with the workshop based on both verbal and written feedback and walked away with newfound knowledge of the swings. And I managed to capture one happy workshop attendee on the video below swinging her 20kg kettlebell with ease. She was swinging 12kg previously before she came to this workshop.

BIGGEST TAKE AWAY

Based on the feedback, hip hinging properly and hinging deep enough to gather some loaded power from the hamstring and hip musculature seem to be the most common biggest take away from this workshop. Most people when they do the swing just don’t hip-hinge enough to get the maximum power from the hip. Just watch the video above and watch how the happy attendee hip-hinged deep to load up those power and let it go with her hip drive.

SHOULD YOU ATTEND OUR NEXT PERFECT KETTLEBELL SWING WORKSHOP?

If you’re looking for a very simplistic approach to get all the benefits that come with kettlebell swings, this is definitely the workshop for you. As mentioned earlier, you can’t get any more convenient and straightforward than the swing. And the information and hands-on practice in this workshop will allow you to develop a plan to continue learning the swing after the event. And if you are a personal trainer who is teaching the swings and feel that you could still do better, this is for you too. As one trainer at the workshop told me, it gave him a very good idea how to teach the swing. Even a certified kettlebell instructor told me that it was well worth her time and she learnt a great deal.

And for $10 it was a great deal in my opinion for the content we put out. We even made it even better by making it free if they bring a friend. If you’re keen for the next Perfect Kettlebell Swing workshop which will be on 18th Feb 2017 Saturday at 10am. To register, go to this link.

If you got a question to ask, feel free to ask in the comment section below.


Coach TC
Coach TC

TC holds a BSc in Exercise & Health Science from University of Western Australia (UWA) and has been a personal trainer for the last 17 years. He is based in Perth and has been coaching his clients who are usually over 40s and very busy get in shape, move well and healthily with less aches and pain and be stronger for life without living a highly restrictive lifestyle. He offers both online and in-person coaching. You can find out more about him at https://strongerforlifegym.com.au