5 Reasons You Should Be Swinging + Variations

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5 Reasons You Should Be Swinging Variation
Living.Fit
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5 Reasons You Should Be Swinging Variation
Prepared by Living.Fit Table of Contents
Introduction
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5 Reasons You Should Be Swinging Variations
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Builds a powerful backside Builds a powerful full
body connection Builds Explosive Power Builds
Grip Strength Builds Work Capacity Introduction
The goal of this program is to put you on the way
to building strength and flow tricks with
kettlebells, but first to do that, you must
start with foundational kettlebell knowledge and
movements. This program is for beginners who
need a solid foundation in fundamentals of
kettlebell movement before moving on to flow as
well as experienced lifters who want to learn to
teach kettlebell flow or move in new planes of
motion in order to build new kettlebell
strength. 5 Reasons You Should Be Swinging
Variations When most people think of a
kettlebell and what to do with it, the first
thing that comes to mind is the swing. For most
kettlebell enthusiasts it has become second
nature, but to those who have never picked up a
kettlebell it definitely looks awkward. Swinging
a weight between ones legs is typically frowned
upon in a gym setting.
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5 Reasons You Should Be Swinging Variation
If you are doing them, great! Here are a few tips
on how to get more from swings and if you are not
swinging, why you should get started. First of
all why should we do them? The swing is a
powerful movement that is (fairly) easy to learn
with incredible benefits for all levels of
athletes. Let us break them down Builds a
powerful backside Anytime you are in a hinge
position (think hips back with straight, but not
locked out legs) you are going to be working
your posterior chain (hamstrings, glutes, back).
Combine some power behind it and not only are
you building elasticity of the musculature, you
are also building strength through some of your
key drivers. Increase the strength, flexibility
and overall response of your hamstrings and
glutes and you will see a a dramatic increase in
your power output. Builds a powerful full body
connection Why is this important? Look at some
of the best fighters in the world. Size does not
always matter. Many times it is the athlete who
can orchestrate movements with precise timing,
rotation and control that can have devastating
knock out power. What implications does this
have? The average Jane or Joe (most of us) can
develop similar full body power through the use
of certain compound movements explosively.
Olympic lifts are great, but have a high
technical barrier. Movements like the swing help
you understand the connection from the start of
the movement at your feet to the end of the
weight at the top o the swing along with
everything in between. Builds Explosive
Power While this goes along with building a
strong back side (stronger glutes more
explosion) the swing targets explosive strength
due to a couple reasons. You have to generate
incredible force to swing the bell without using
your arms, thus focusing on hip speed. The
ability to decelerate a weight that is much
heavier due to speed, redirect that load and
fling it back has a direct carry over to just
about all explosive aspects of sports from fast
rotation (Swinging, punching, throwing) to
explosive sagittal movements (jumping).
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5 Reasons You Should Be Swinging Variation
Builds Grip Strength Pick up a fairly heavy
kettlebell and immediately every muscle, tendon
and ligament in your hand, wrist and forearm
fire. Now start swinging it. You cannot hold a
bell with a viselike grip since you will tear
just about every ounce of skin on your palm so
you will have to hold it just tight enough to
keep from letting go and just light enough to
not break the handle in half. This bit of
movement within your hand will challenge your
grip even more. Adding one arm swings,
alternating swings and flips and you will have
everything you need for crushing grip strength. A
strong grip is an incredibly underestimated
attribute. From the mundane of opening a tightly
packed jar to the dramatic holding on for dear
life, be it a cliff, opponent, etc. Grip
strength is incredibly important. Do not neglect
it. Builds Work Capacity Work capacity allows
you to go longer, burn more calories and build
overall athleticism. I am not a hater of typical
conditioning methods, even of the machine
variety. If it gets you going and you enjoy it,
who am I to judge? I will say there are better
options than others, but ultimately the thing you
do consistently is what is going to benefit you.
With that said, I am also about efficiency. I do
not typically have long bouts of uninterrupted
time which is why swings are so powerful. Combine
swings with a pushing or stability movement for
rounds and you have got a powerful conditioning
circuit with little equipment that can be done
just about anywhere. Alright so that is why we
are swinging. Now let us get down to the
mechanics. Mechanics of the swing
Breath Posture Execution Being mindful of your
breath during a set will help you stay focused on
the output of each movement as well as when and
where to keep tension high. Breathing into your
belly and diaphragm versus chest breathing will
activate your parasympathetic system keeping
stress lower and you calmer. If you start taking
fast, shallow breaths into your chest the set
will not last long.
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5 Reasons You Should Be Swinging Variation

• From there let us discuss posture. Focusing on
  your connection to the ground will help you stay
  grounded (pun intended) and thus more
  structurally sound. The external load is going to
  want to move you all over the place. In order to
  not get taken for a ride you will want to use
  tension at the right time in order to
  counterbalance the weight as it moves forward and
  back. As you hinge and launch you want to make
  sure you have inhaled at the right time and
  maintained tension in order to keep your body
  safe.
• For your challenge we are going to start with
  dead start swings. I use these as a progression
  for multiple swings since all the focus is on
  one, perfect rep. I also use these as an
  intensifier because you have to generate
  momentum each and every rep. The execution of the
  swing is powered by the orchestration of all the
  pieces moving together. Let us start
• From the second you position the bell in front of
  you, ground your feet, stand tall, pull your
  shoulders back and take a few belly breaths.
• Hinge down and once you have reached that end
  point squat down to reach for the bell without
  compromising mid and upper back position
• Grab on to the bell take another breath in, build
  tension, and powerfully hike the bell back
• Once you have reached that end point behind you
  with your arms married to your upper body tense
  your glutes and drive your hips forward
  explosively
• With that power generated the weight will have
  moved up explosively while you finish that
  position in a tall stance with a strong posterior
  pelvic tilt (imagine rotating your pelvis up to
  your sternum)
• At the top of the end position tighten up your
  lats, pull the weight back down connect your arms
  to the body and hike back again
• At the end of the bottom position bend your knees
  slightly again to bring the bell forward to the
  starting position