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Hom eWorkoutsNews & ArticlesRev iewsVideoAuthorsAthlete JournalsLast 1 0 Day sThe Ket t lebell Swing: Why It 's t he Perfect Exercise

Andrew Read Contributor - RKC Team Leader Mor e Articles from this Author Thomas Edison once said, "The doctor of the future w ill give no medicine; instead he will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, nutrition and the cause and prevention of disease.

If y ou were looking for a single exercise to care for the hum an fram e y oud probably look for an exercise that helped us regain our posture from one of sitting hunched ov er to one that was upright, extended, and open. Youd probably also look for an exercise that worked the posterior chain to ov ercom e all the negativ e effects of sitting and, if y ou could find one exercise that could do both of those, y oud probably also wonder if y ou could find one super exer cise that could strengthen y our heart and help y ou lose weight, too. It s called t he ket t lebell swing. Here are the reasons why its becom e the num ber one exercise m ost people should be doing: Reason #1 It s Bet t er for Y our Back Firstly , and perhaps m ost significantly , Dr. Stuart McGill found kettlebell swings show a rev ersed polarity of posterior shear at L4 and L5 when com pared to traditional posterior chain exercises. 1 This is im portant because for those with lower back issues traditional posterior chain exer cises such as deadlifts, good m ornings, etc. m ay exacerbate the condition, while swings m ay not. For those looking to strengthen the lower back and unable to use these traditional exercises the swing m ay be just the thing they re looking for. Reason #2 Lower Loads are Safer Because of the dy nam ic nature of the swing the opportunity to ov erload or injure the body is quite low. A wellperform ed swing is ballistic in nature. A swing should be punched forward by the hips, not pushed slow ly into place. For those wondering what Im speaking about picture the difference between a bullet and a m issile. In the RKC we speak of ballistics and grinds. A ballistic is a bullet one m om ent of acceleration then it is coasting after being fired. A grind is like a m issile constantly being pushed along, no m atter how fast or slow it m ov es. The swing is as ballist ic as a st anding jump. And because of t hat , and t he lower loads t hat are necessit at ed by it , t he lower back simply cant be ov erloaded t he way it could be v ia deadlift s or power cleans. Between lower loads and the rev ersal of negativ e forces on the spine, those two factors alone m ay be why m any with problem lower backs credit the swing as the secret to rehabilitation of their injuries. In addition, the lower loads allow for m any , m ay reps to be done in a workout. This results in a m uscle flushing that McGill wrote about, quoting Jay s 2 01 0 research: The rapid acceleration of the bell v ia the m otion of the hips and knees is accom panied by substantial activ ation of m uscles in both the posterior chain and the abdom inals. The rapid contraction-relaxation cy cles of som e m uscles occurring ov er half-second periods, specifically from inactiv e to 1 00% activ ation back to alm ost com plete relaxation, hav e also been recognized by Jay et al. as a m echanism for flushing m uscle of m etabolites. Interestingly , Jay et al. also found pain reduction and incorporated kettlebell training 3 tim es per week ov er 8 weeks in a group of workers who

perform ed dem anding work. They proposed the m uscle flushing m echanism as an explanation for the reports of lower pain. 2 Make It Ev en Safer wit h Breat h One of the least used tools for power generation or lifting safety is our breath. Try this sim ple experim ent put y our hands ov er y our stom ach and exhale like a sigh. Now , sniff air into y our belly through y our nose and then exhale short and sharp like y oure try ing to blow out a candle far away . Not ice t he difference in how hard y our st omach works? And do y ou know when y our st omach is st rong and swit ched on y our spine is bet t er prot ect ed? Im agine y our spine as a flagpole. On its own, with no bracing it just kind of flops around in the breeze. But when y ou use forceful exhalation, known in RKC circles as power breathing, y ou are essentially creating a stiff wall around that flagpole to keep it stiffer. When the brain registers the spine is stable it allows y ou to create m ore power. In essence, y our abdom en is like the v olum e control for y our strength. The m ore tension y ou create there, the stiffer the spine, the m ore force y ou can generate. In addition, chiropractor Dr . John Sulliv an say s that: Using the Valsav a m aneuv er creates a dy nam ic internal pr essure that I believ e supercharges the cerebral-spinal fluid flow. The interthecal pressure is greatly increased when y ou add m ov em ent to the Valsav a m aneuv er. Cer ebral-spinal fluid is pum ped or controlled by respiration that causes m ov em ent in the sacrum and cranial bones. Now add to this the weight of a Kettlebell and y ou substantially am plify all these factors. I am not surprised people feel so great after a swing workout. 3 Getting back to Edison, he adds: Edison, being an expert on electricity knew that the body functions by electrical im pulses and he m ust hav e further realized that the flow of electricity could be im peded by the spinal structure. I believ e that the spinal curv es m ust be correctly m aintained or the flow of inform ation in the nerv ous sy stem is com prom ised. In Chiropractic we call that a Subluxation. In order to do the Kettlebell swing correctly I really had to work on m y form and this had an incredible influence on establishing the proper lordotic and ky photic curv atures of m y spine. 4 Get t ing St art ed By this stage, y our e probably itching to get swinging, so heres som e tips from Master RKC Mark Reifkind5 who recom m ends starting to swing with a v ersion called the Power Swing: Set up as if y ou wer e doing a conv entional two hand swing: hips back shoulders down, lats engaged, connected and linked to the bell.

Hike the bell into the back swing hard, y oure only doing one rep. Stand up into a single rep swing. Let the bell back swing as if y ou wer e parking the bell at the end of a set, placing it on the deck in front of y ou in the perfect position to start the next rep. Keep y our hands on the bell and reset for the next rep DO NOT STAND UP BETWEEN REPS. Continue doing single reps for between 5 and 1 0 reps. Do between 5 and 1 0 total sets. Each and ev ery rep requires y ou t o get back int o t he perfect st art ing posit ion over and ov er. Its the kettlebell equiv alent to the barbell box squat, which also takes all the m om entum out of the squat, forcing the trainee to generate all the power from their posterior chain. Just like the power swing. The power swing em phasizes the key com ponents of the perfect swing - sitting back and loading the hips, connecting with the kettlebell, and com bining centers of grav ity , as a strong hike pass and perfect control are essential after the initial swing. The key principle of Hardstyle Kettlebell training is that, to quote Pavel, "We choose pow er over efficiency, choosing maximal acceleration in the quick lifts and maximum tension in the grinds." Why Only Chest Height ? If were looking to the swing to be our one size fits all solution to back car e then we m ust recognize that, for m any , swinging the bell ov erhead is im possible without hy per extending the lower back or jam m ing the neck or shoulders due to lim itations in their thoracic m obility . The swing is an expression of forward force projection such as found in boxing or mart ial art s, like a st raight punch. If y oure an athlete with a v ertical com ponent to y our sport such as in Oly m pic weightlifting, Highland Gam es, or ev en swim m ing, then try the snatch. Picking the right tool for the job will go a long way to ensuring your back stays healthy and strong for years to come! See m ore about: kettlebells, RKC, back injury , Training

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Tweeted by crossfit mama 1 6 m in ago .@standupkid MT @PerfectFitUSA: The KB swing. Reasons why its becom e num ber one exercise m ost people should be doing: t.co/oUZZOlUQ Tweeted by Assignment Desk1 1 7 m in ago The #kettlebell swing. Here are the reasons why its becom e the nu m ber one exercise m ost people should be doing: t.co/7 fnWd3 v O Tweeted by Perfect Fit USA 2 1 m in ago @BS3 kettlebells: The Kettlebell Swing : Why its the perfect exercise t.co/2 cPKm Y1 M @RJB_0

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