Swing Practice in 10 Minutes: The Easy Way Colin Cooley, RKC

I have resigned myself to the fact that the Hardstyle Kettlebell Swing is the best exercise on the planet. There is a reason why Master RKC Brett Jones lists heavy 1 arm swings as his top exercise choice for preparing for the RKC. There is a reason why Master RKC Mark Reifkind says it is better than 100% of all exercises. Tim Ferris, RKC and Newsweeks worlds best guinea pig estimated that as a Minimum Effective Dose, 75 to 225 swings a week was all that was needed to develop a perfect posterior, six pack abs and for him, a 100+ lb increase in his deadlift. There is a reason Tim Ferris dedicates a section of his book the 4 Hour Body to the benefits of swinging a kettlebell: Swings work!

That being said, I firmly believe pairing Heavy Dead or Power Swings (say 2 sizes up from your snatch size bell), than using a snatch size bell for over-speed eccentric work might be the best kept secret in improve your swing technique and building your volume and conditioning. Dead Swings involve starting from a hinged position and hiking the bell, swinging to eye level and parking the bell after each rep. Pavel believes you expend somewhere in the neighborhood of 35% more energy when you do Dead Swings. Over-speed Eccentric Swings involving throwing the bell back through the legs during the backswing to add eccentric load to the hamstrings and hips, i.e. posterior chain. This teaches the body to brace for a load and maintains tension through the entirety of the swings. The beauty of this program is that it only last 10 minutes. I view it more a swing practice in a controlled environment. The work to rest ratio is so that the quality of the reps never deteriorate.

The program looks like this: On the Minute for 10 minutes Pair Heavy Dead Swings with 2 Handed Over-speed Eccentric Swings. During rest periods perform Fast and Loose Drills or Joint Mobility Work. Do not Sit Down or Be Idle! Perform this program 2-3x per week.

Here is the Start and Finishing Position for the Dead Swing:

Here is the Apex:

Week 1: 5 Dead Swings(Heavy. 2 sizes up from your snatch size bell) Minute 1 10 2 Handed Swings(Snatch Size Bell) Minute 2 Complete these 2 sequences on the minute for 10 minutes. You end up doing 5 sets of 5 dead swings and 5 sets of 10 2 handed swings. 75 TOTAL REPS.

Week 2: 6 Dead Swings(Heavy. 2 sizes up from your snatch size bell) Minute 1 12 2 Handed Swings(Snatch Size Bell) Minute 2 Complete these 2 sequences on the minute for 10 minutes. You end up doing 5 sets of 6 dead swings and 5 sets of 12 2 handed swings. 90 TOTAL REPS.

Week 3: 7 Dead Swings(Heavy. 2 sizes up from your snatch size bell) Minute 1 14 2 Handed Swings (Snatch Size Bell) Minute 2 Complete these 2 sequences on the minute for 10 minutes. You end up doing 5 sets of 7 dead swings and 5 sets of 14 2 handed swings. 105 REPS

Week 4: 8 Dead Swings(Heavy. 2 sizes up from your snatch size bell) Minute 1 16 2 Handed Swings(Snatch Size Bell) Minute 2 Complete these 2 sequences on the minute for 10 minutes. You end up doing 5 sets of 8 dead swings and 5 sets of 16 2 handed swings. 120 REPS

Week 5: 9 Dead Swings(Heavy. 2 sizes up from your snatch size bell) Minute 1 18 2 Handed Swings(Snatch Size Bell) Minute 2 Complete these 2 sequences on the minute for 10 minutes. You end up doing 5 sets of 9 dead swings and 5 sets of 18 2 handed swings. 135 REPS

Week 6: 10 Dead Swings(Heavy. 2 sizes up from your snatch size bell) Minute 1

20 2 Handed Swings(Snatch Size Bell) Minute 2 Complete these 2 sequences on the minute for 10 minutes. You end up doing 5 sets of 10 dead swings and 5 sets of 20 2 handed swings.

Whys does this work? Whys does this develop more Swing Power? Because youre doing more work in the same period of time each workout 10 minutes. And thats one of the definitions of power more work in same or less time. You will also groove a lot of reps on the Swing each week with this program. Because your technique and form will also be dialed in, you wont suffer from crappy swing syndrome; generally resulting from doing too many reps with too little rest. Treat your training like practice and watch your results and performance skyrocket.