The Advanced Kettlebell Swing

Ok so after the American Council on Exercise research, we know that the kettlebell swing actually IS the best fat loss movement there is.

But we've been doing it wrong for years.

My friend Keira Newton, RKC II and Z-Health Level 2, were talking about how all of the videos on YouTube about the swing, even the "good" ones, are demonstrating the *old* swing.

So I asked her to do a video….

Lets take a look:

Back in 2004 when I first got certified as an RKC Kettlebell Instructor, doing swings with hyperextension (arching the back and neck really really hard) was considered the correct way to do swings.

In the last two years, Z-Health has had a major effect on the way that the kettlebell community lifts, and we've switched to kettlebell swings with a totally neutral spine (including neck). Swing with a neutral, long spine, are safer, stronger, and more powerful.

Lets take the swing apart, and look at the different ways people screw up swings.

First, the worst possible way to screw it up:

The back is intollerant to too much forward flexion with weight, this is a back injury waiting to happen.

If someone is totally untrained (hasn't lifted weights before) this is the most common thing for a person to do.

Because someone isn't good at folding at their hips, they just fold at their back instead.

Out of all the things you can do lifting, this is definitely the worst and most dangerous.

This is the "Old" Swing.  Sometimes I call it the "Level One" Swing or the "Beginner Swing".  Sometimes I just call it "2004"

This is preferable to "The Bad Swing", but it's not the best.

Like I said, this was the original RKC Swing. Back in the day, this is how it was done.

I taught this as the way to do swings for years.  You're probably not going to get injured doing swings like this.  But it's not optimal.

The hyperextension (over arching) of the back and neck causes compression. 

That compression can lead to pain, and you'll definitely lose strength and power.

You really want to be doing swings with a neutral spine.

Perfect Neutral – The Advanced Kettlebell Swing

The Best Kettlebell Swing – Neutral Spine, Long Spine

The best way to think about it is "getting taller" or "lengthening" from your tailbone up through the top of your head.

The kettlebell swing really is like a moving plank. 

When you get good at this swing, you'll be shocked at how much more powerful you feel. 

And if you've had any little tweaks doing the swing, or if it ever hurt in your neck or upper back, you'll probably find that it goes away with this swing.

For my clients that have been doing kettlebell swings with me for years and years (and originally learned the "old" swing) I call this the "advanced" swing.

I want to thank Keira Newton, RKC II, Z-Health Level 2 for doing this video for us.  She's the owner of Dynamic Kettlebells in Santa Fe New Mexico.  She's a friend of mine, and she's one of the best Kettlebell Instructors and Z-Health practitioners there is.

The reason we talk about kettlebell swings here on the Lose Stubborn Fat! blog is because they are the best fat burning workout there is.  

If you missed the article where I talked about the American Council on Exercise doing a study on kettlebell swings and fat burning, here is the short version: Kettlebell workouts burn 20.2 calories per minute, that's double spinning (9.8 calories per minute) and that's double traditional boot camp workouts (9.9 calories per minute).

Kettlebell workouts are the best fat burning workout there is.

That doesn't mean that if you do kettlebell swings you can eat crap.

What it means is that you should eat an awesome diet AND do workouts that burn fat.

Hands down, the absolute fastest and most powerful way to lean up is to combine a great diet with awesome workouts.  This combination wins every time.

My friend Mike Geary, author of The Fat Burning Kitchen is doing a 3 day sale for his 34rth birthday.  If you don't already have a killer eating clean type diet, you should totally get Fat Burning Kitchen while it's on sale for his birthday.

Make sure you have someone watch you doing swings.

Most people who think that they are doing "neutral spine" are actually eating rounding forward too much  or arching back too much.

Usually, if someone hasn't worked out a lot, or has never had anyone coach them, they're round forward too much.

But it's the people who've had trainers for years that have the hardest time not arching back too much.

Either have a friend watch your swings, or have someone video you doing swings.  It will make all the difference.

Josh Hillis

P.S. Kettlebell Swings are the most powerful fat loss exercise known to man (as proven by the American Council on Exercise study), for a swing based kettlebell fat loss workout, get the 21 Day Kettlebell Swing Challenge: http://www.21daykettlebell.com