The kettlebell swing is probably the most impactful exercise that we’ve been using at Team Duwe Fitness over the past five years — and I believe it’s one of the reasons our clients achieve such amazing results.

Kettlebell Swing Benefits

What’s so great about the kettlebell swing?  Well, the number of benefits are surprising…

Everyone should incorporate the kettlebell into their exercise program because:

1) It’s a very efficient full body exercise.  

The kettlebell swing hits almost everything in your body.  It’s a total body movement with just one exercise! Which means it’s very efficient use of your time.  

2) Works your cardio

Because of the full body movement and interval training format, it raises your heart rate and breathing — giving you a very effective cardio workout.

3) Improves athleticism

The explosive movement works muscles and mimics movements you use to run, jump, and lift.  Because kettlebell swings effectively strengthen the “power area” of your body — it’s one of the best exercises for improving athleticism.  

4) Strengths dozens of muscles quickly

You’ll be hard pressed to find another exercise that works so many areas of your body.  The kettlebell swing strengthens your core, glutes, hamstrings, quads, back, delts and arms.  

5)  Improves balance and posture

Research shows that kettlebell swings improves balance and posture, even for elite athletes.  

When you use a kettlebell, you naturally learn what good posture feels like. To keep your balance, you need to keep your back straight and engage your core.  And forward bend comes from your hips, instead of slouching your back.

6)  Enhances flexibility

Each time you swing the kettlebell and stand tall, you engage your glutes which relaxes the opposing hip flexor.  The repeated contraction of the glutes and relaxing of the hips eventually unlocks tight hips… which is a common problem.  This is partly due to the modern conveniences of today… we sit too much! Which can lead to lack of hip mobility.

The kettlebell swing is a great exercise to combat our modern-day issues of sitting too much.  Improving hip flexibility helps increase performance in other exercises, sports, and reduces back tension.

7) Convenience

Everyone wants convenience. We’re looking for something super convenient — you can do the kettlebell swing at the gym or at home.  It’s a small weight that doesn’t take up much space and can be easily stored. You can buy a kettlebell at Walmart or order online.

8) Burn calories and fat

An American Council on Exercise (ACE) study found that the average person can burn 400 calories in just 20 minutes with a kettlebell. That’s an amazing 20 calories a minute, or the equivalent of running a six-minute mile!

And this doesn’t even include the after-burn effect!

Researchers credit the brisk calorie burning to the fact that the kettlebell workout is a total-body movement that is also done very quickly due to the interval-training format.

It’s a quick workout, and you do get a big bang for your buck in a very short amount of time. The only other thing I could find that burns that many calories is cross country skiing uphill at a fast pace.

9)  Reduces back pain

A 2012 study found that kettlebell swings have healing benefits and can reduce back pain. Researchers discovered the movement of a kettlebell swing can reverse posterior strain on the discs in the lower back (namely L4 and L5). That same study stated that other posterior chain exercises, such as back raises and deadlifts, can actually make lower back problems worse.

It’s a Game Changer

The kettlebell swing does so much and that’s why it’s a staple exercise at Team Duwe Fitness.  It improves strength, cardio, flexibility, and balance… all at the same time. Developing great quality muscle and shred body fat fast.

Once you get yourself a kettlebell, it’s gonna be the game changer you’re looking for!

Recommended Reps and Workout Format

To implement into your workout, we recommend 30-40 second work followed by 15 seconds rest.  Repeat for 5 to 10 rounds.

Do this 2-4 times a week and you’ll see significant gains in your body, endurance, and overall quality of life.

Choosing Right Kettlebell Weight

For beginners, we usually recommend 10 to 20 lbs for women and 25 to 35 lbs for men.  

Anything lower than 10 lbs, probably isn’t worth it.  Start with something that gives you a little challenge but isn’t too heavy — so you can learn how to use it properly.  

And then as you get stronger, you can slowly increase the weight.  Eventually, you can even go up to 100 pounds!

How to Perform the Kettlebell Swing

The swing is a complex movement, so instead of reading some text we suggest you watch the movement in the video above.  With that said, here are a few pointers for you:

• Look straight ahead.  Avoid looking down.
• Feet in comfortable position, slightly wider than shoulder width.
• Keep back straight, avoid slouching.
• Lower the kettlebell between legs and pop hips forward.  It’s important to use your legs and hips to quickly raise the kettlebell.  It’s all in the hips!
• Kettlebell should rise to chest level, so arms are parallel with the floor.

Full Body Kettlebell Workouts

If you add the kettlebell swing to your workouts, you can achieve amazing results…

And if you go to www.duwefitness.com, you can get a free 14 day trial of our amazing at-home program which features a lot of kettlebell swings and full-body kettlebell workouts.  

Go make it happen!