Oh, the swing…
If you’ve been to my classes, you know I love the kettlebell swing. You sweat, you feel strong, you throw heavy weight around. What’s not to love?
Still, you may be asking what’s so spectacular about the swing. The swing is an efficient movement for burning fat, strengthening your back, and tightening your abs. If you can get all of that done with one movement, why would you do anything else? When it’s done correctly, the swing is one of the most efficient full-body exercises there is.
I like to use words of wisdom from people smarter than me and people who’ve been doing this longer than I have. Mark Reifkind, Master SFG is one of those people. He is a gymnast and a guru in this field. According to Mark, the swing is “the center of the kettlebell universe”. He wrote:
It’s been said that a properly executed kettlebell swing is better than 99% of all strength and conditioning exercises. I respectfully disagree. I believe it’s better than 100% of all strength and conditioning exercises – at least for 99% of all people. I challenge anyone to find a better movement. Something that provides the same level of muscular, cardiovascular, and endurance conditioning, all at the same time. An exercise that simultaneously challenges the posterior AND anterior muscular chains and everything else in between while being about as safe an exercise as you can find. One that increases your base flexibility and mobility in the hips, lower back, shoulders, without doing any specialized work. One that is as scalable to the 70-year-old grandmother, as it is the 20-year-old super athlete.
Yes, we love the swing because of all of those things he said right there. We also love the swing because it feels good. You feel like you’re working. You sweat. You can feel your body get stronger. You feel everything in your body get tighter with every swing.
And for me, it’s the closest thing, output-wise, to running that I can find. My body won’t let me run as much as I would like, yet I still crave that intense exertion. I tried spinning, I tried cycling, I tried swimming, I tried elliptical, I tried the stairmaster… I always felt like I needed to go for a run after. With the kettlebell swing, you get your butt kicked, you sweat, and actually, I dare you to go for a run after class.
In short, the swing is a head to toe fat incinerating exercise that provides both strength and cardiovascular gains. Come swing with us.
– Val
Train Smart. Be Strong. Live Balanced.
