Kettlebell swing
Explosive hip hinge with a bell, swung one-handed or two, in short sets
A cast-iron bell is hiked back between the legs and thrown forward by a snap of the hips, not lifted with the arms. It floats to chest height, then drops into the next rep. Hard style versions treat every swing as a braced maximal effort, which keeps sets around ten reps and rest generous; sport styles pace them for minutes at a time. People use swings for hip power, conditioning and grip, often as the fast half of a session whose other lifts are slow. The whole setup is one bell and a few square feet of floor.
Who backs it
Sorted by strength of stance
- Pavel TsatsoulineRecommends
Strength coach · StrongFirst
Swings are half of Simple & Sinister, and he prescribes them near daily rather than saving them for hard days. He points to a StrongFirst team leader who identified 100 swings three times a week as the dose that gives the most for the least, and notes Tim Ferriss got what he wanted from 150 to 300 a week.
Source: StrongFirst: A Kettlebell Simple & Sinister Excerpt
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