Remember the day your first started driving?You probably
didn’t start by taking out your parent’s hot rod and hitting the highway during
rush out doing 80mph.

 

You may have started in a parking lot with an old beat up car going slowly afraid to press the gas hard, learning to control the steering and get comfortable with the little things before you the open road.  In other words you practiced, you took what you felt comfortable and safe with and slowly built up skill until it became natural.

 

The gym should work the same way. Think about complex, challenging exercises as driving on the highway, you don’t start there you work your way up.

 

Today I want to talk about a complex but awesome exercise and teach you the steps you can take to nail the move.

 

Kettlebell Swing

 

The kettle bell swing is a great exercise for increasing lower body strength and power, coordination, and core strength. It will help you feel strong when you go on hikes, play recreational sports, and it will help you burn a tone of calories if you want to feel amazing in your clothes.

 

It is also a challenging exercise that when done incorrectly it can cause some injury (But so can everything in life when done incorrectly).

 

If you follow the progressions I am going to outline below you will be a pro in no time and stay safe.

 

Learning the Hip

Hinge

 

The Kettle bell swing is what we call a hip dominant exercise, which basically you are moving more at your hips then your knees. If we can’t move through our hips with no weight it is probably not smart to try it with 30lbs in your hand.

 

TK Handcuff Hinge

Band Pull Through

Increasing strength

 

Now that you have nailed the hip hinge lets load that sucker and get super strong in that position. We are going to do that by doing some KB deadlifts.

 

Build momentum

 

The first part of a swing is possibly the most important. We call this the Hike, and we want to by nice and explosive to start.

 

Now that you have the hike down lets add in one full swing. Do 3 hikes and on the third think about pushing through the ground to stand up tall and tight.

 

Now lets put it all together. Simply do one hike and stand up tall and tight. Each time from there let the kettle bell come between your legs and drive through the ground to stand up tall and tight.

 

Now you have all the tools you need to nail a KB Swing. Now does everyone need to swing? Absolutely not, a swing is just one tool in the toolbox. It is a great exercise for many different reasons but there are a million different things you can do.

 

If you need help with your KB swings or any exercise don’t hesitate to reach out me at pat@coreprincples-sc.com or call/text 203-914-6396.