Kettlebell Swings for Beginners: 5 Best Tips to Master the Swing

In this post, you’ll learn the best kettlebell swings tips for beginners.

Kettlebell swings allow you to add weight and strength during short period workouts. 

Here’s the thing though:

Finding the right type of exercise to add to your daily routine can difficult. 

There are many choices.

If your goal is to target muscles in the legs, glutes, hips, core, and back, kettlebell swings are an excellent choice. 

Some of the benefits of kettlebell swings are:

• They maximize your power output
• You get to experience an advanced grip as well as arm strength
• Improves your aerobic capacity
• Good for weight loss
• They are less time-consuming exercises.

Now, let’s look at 5 tips to help you master the kettlebell swings. 

1. Perfect the hip hinge 

This is the first thing to tackle when it comes to kettlebell swings for a beginner. 

The hip hinge is crucial to succeeding in the kettlebell swings. 

When you improve how you perform an unloaded hip hinge pattern, it becomes a great foundation. 

This will, in turn, enable you to do explosive, safe, and yet complex kettlebell swing movements. 

Here are some tips to get a perfect hip hinge: 

Stand in front of an office chair leaving space between you and the chair prop.

• Draw your butt backward as if you were going to sit down in the chair. 
• You won’t be bending your back too far with your legs almost straight; neither will you assume a squat position.
• Grab a kettlebell and let it swing backward between your legs. And let it come to its initial resting position, then repeat. 

2. Keep your eyes up 

As you shift the kettlebell from different gravitational pull points, strain occurs. 

Your back and spine might experience some strain if your posture is not right. 

Keep your eyes focused on a point that is two meters away from where you are standing. 

Look towards the ground but with your head and neck in an upward alignment with your spine. 

Fix your eyes up into the top of your eye sockets when you are at the bottom of the swing. 

At the same time, make sure to keep your head in a neutral position. 

3. Don’t let the kettlebell drop too far 

Having the kettlebell drop too far backward is a very common mistake for beginners.

It’s dangerous and can result in back injuries. 

You might twist your back when that happens. And that will cause other discomforts depending on the weight of your kettlebell. 

To prevent this, throw your kettlebell slightly backward, always assuming a straight back and a forward gaze. 

4. Go heavier 

To get a clean kettlebell swing, you have to opt for a heavier kettlebell. Here’s what I mean. 

If you are used to a ten pounds (5 kg) dumbbell, then you should use a 5 pounds (7 kg) kettlebell. Gym beginners usually use 10-pounds kettlebell. 

This is because heavier weights are better for explosive movements like swings. 

Using a lightweight kettlebell while perfecting your swing is like using a whiffle ball to learn how to throw a baseball. 

A kettlebell that is too light will need the use of your arm muscles in the forward swing. 

And you might squat too much on the backswing as the weight is not enough to pull backward. 

5. Always do a warm-up  

For beginners, warming up is crucial to your kettlebell swings.

The major benefit of warm-up before workouts is that it dilates blood vessels. 

And dilated blood vessels carry more blood, which ultimately helps in exercising. 

A researcher from Colorado state university gathered a report on the topic. It looks at the role of adenosine triphosphate, commonly known as ATP. 

This is released by the red blood cells and dilates the blood vessels. During warm-up, muscles contract and expand, thus demanding more blood. 

To get the full benefit of the kettlebell exercises, you have to warm up first. 

You can opt for stretches as they help in getting your muscles ready for the burn from swinging the kettlebell. 

Yoga stretching exercises like the downward dog and the cobra pose can create a quick and effective stretch routine. 

You can also look for more dynamic warm-ups. 

Always remember to take time to cool down when you finish your full workout. You do some post-workout stretches for two to three minutes. 

Related: 7 Easy Kettlebell Exercises That Will Improve Back Strength

Takeaway

Kettlebell swings improve your aerobic capacity. Doing it often can help you lose weight. 

To get the best results from using these swings, follow these kettlebell swings tips for beginners we discussed.

Kettlebells come in different sizes. If you’re starting, with the 8 kg and the 12 kg sizes being the recommended weights for beginners. 

You need to make sure that your body gets enough rest between training periods. 

And, if you have any problems in your knees, the kettlebell swings offer you a lot of exercise options where you don’t need to involve your knees. 

This is a great attribute of these swings as they are flexible to accommodate a lot of individuals. 

As a beginner, the results of using kettlebell swings might seem out of reach. 

Well, you don’t have to worry about this as all you need to do is improve your swinging skills.