Published 5 July
Written by Tom Phillips (Fitness instructor)
Kettlebell swings have grown in popularity over the past decade as a quick full-body workout with advantageous benefits:
- Kettlebell swings involve your whole body, which requires your heart to beat faster to pump blood throughout your body, improving all-round cardiorespiratory fitness as well
as strength. - Kettlebell swings target glutes, hamstrings, calves, erector spinae, trapezius (traps) and rhomboids (collectively known as the posterior chain). These muscles are of paramount importance in body health, core stability and posture.
- Kettlebell swings require high force development and activation of muscles of the posterior chain, which can improve your overall fitness, explosiveness, performance and power.
- Kettlebell workouts are high intensity and can burn a lot of calories in a short time.
- Most kettlebell workouts can be completed in as little as 10–15 minutes and require only a kettlebell to get started. This means they are perfect for fitting workouts into a
busy lifestyle.
How a kettlebell swing should be successfully achieved…
- Shoulders: Keep your shoulders relaxed to avoid shrugging the kettlebell and ending up with your shoulders around your ears.
- Glutes: Activate your glutes by driving your hips through to a neutral position (where you are upright). Aim to keep your forearms attached to your hips until you reach neutral then, as your arms come up, squeeze your glutes to prevent overextending your lower back.
- Head: Your head position should be neutral. The gap between your chin and your chest shouldn’t change.
- Elbows: Use soft elbows throughout the swing. Keep your arms relaxed to take the tension out of your arm muscles and, instead, use the momentum of the kettlebell.
- Knees: Your knees shouldn’t bend excessively during the swing – it should be a hip hinge motion. This is a posterior chain movement (the muscles on the back of your body), not a quads exercise.
Did you know…
We offer personal training plans and personal programmes. If you would like guidance and support on how to get the most out of your workout, or best practice whilst using our gym, please speak to a member of the team for more information on how we can help you.
You can also visit our website to book a weekly kettlebells class with us, as part of our exercise class programme. Available to members or on a pay-as-you-go basis.
