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5 Swing Workout Upgrades
Hopefully by now you know that you don’t need to be training your butt off everyday in order to change the way you look and feel.
Short 10 minute workouts are all you need and using the Kettlebell Swing as a foundation is the best place to start.
No other resistance based exercise offers such a perfect blend of both cardio and strength training.
But, even the best exercises can get a little boring after a while and boredom is not what you want when workout consistency is the key to success.
So, here are 5 ways to upgrade the swing and make them more fun…
1. Reps & Work Time
60 seconds is a great goal for the Swing. You can probably manage around 40 swings in this time.
If you can’t manage 60 seconds then you can break down your work time into more manageable chunks with a short rest in between e.g..
- 10 reps x 4
- 15 reps x 2 then 10 reps x 1
- 20 reps x 1 then 10 reps x 2
- 25 reps x 1 then 15 reps x 1
- 30 reps x 1 then 10 reps x 1
- 40 reps (approx. 60 seconds)
2. Rest
The longer you rest the easier and more aerobic (training with oxygen) your workouts. Very short rest periods become anaerobic (training without oxygen).
A nice goal here is an equal rest to work ratio e.g.
- Swing x 15 seconds
- Rest x 15 seconds
- Repeat
or
- Swing x 30 seconds
- Rest x 30 seconds
- Repeat
As you become more proficient at the Swing you can start reducing your rest periods even further e.g..
- Swing x 30 seconds
- Rest x 15 seconds
- Repeat
Finally you can work on increasing or decreasing rest periods every set e.g..
- Swing x 20 seconds
- Rest x 20 seconds
- Swing x 20 seconds
- Rest x 15 seconds
- Swing x 20 seconds
- Rest x 10 seconds
You can then reverse this rest ladder or take a longer rest and repeat.
3. Speed
Changing the speed of your swing can have a big impact both on your cardio and muscle activation.
Try speeding up your swings by actively popping your hips through harder, stopping the kettlebell dead at chest height and then actively pulling it back down again.
Try:
- Swing Regular Speed x 15 reps
- Rest
- Swing Fast x 15 reps
- Rest and Repeat
You can apply these speed changing elements to all these other workout variables. Have fun and play with your swing speed.
4. Movements
There are 3 basic Swing movements for you to master: two handed, one handed, alternating hands.
Single handed swings put more rotation through the body and into the core as well as overloading the shoulder stabilisers and Lats.
200 total reps is a nice target for swings, so you could break it down like this:
- Two Handed x 20 reps
- One Handed x 40 reps changing hands every 10
- Two Handed x 10 reps
- One Handed x 40 reps changing hands every 5
- Two Handed Swing x 10 reps
- Alternating Swing x 30 reps changing hands every 3
- Two Handed Swing x 10 reps
- Alternating Swing x 20 reps changing hands every 3
- Two Handed Swing x 20 reps
This is a challenging swing workout so you may need to rest after every few sets.
5. Load
Increasing the weight of the kettlebell will certainly make the exercise more difficult.
Just changing from two hands to one hand effectively doubles the load on the shoulder so be careful.
You can slowly integrate a heavier kettlebell into the one handed swing like this:
- Two Handed Swings x 10
- One Handed Swings x 2 each side
- Repeat
With time just add an extra rep to the one handed swing so:
- Two Handed Swings x 10
- One Handed Swings x 3 each side
- Repeat
Finally if you have a collection of kettlebells you can perform loading ladders e.g..
- Two Handed Swing x 12 (16kg)
- Rest 15 seconds
- Two Handed Swing x 12 (20kg)
- Rest 15 seconds
- Two Handed Swing x 12 (24kg)
- Rest 15 seconds
- Two Handed Swing x 12 (28kg)
- Rest 15 seconds
- Two Handed Swing x 12 (32kg)
Ladies can do exactly the same thing but starting with less weight.
After this ladder you can either rest and repeat or come back down the ladder starting at the 32 kg.
Here’s Week 3 from my 12 Week Bodyweight Program:
- Shoulder Taps x 30 secs
- Scissors x 30 secs
- Yoga Squats x 60 secs
- Static Lunges x 30 secs
- Side Shuffles x 30 secs
- Fast Mountain Climbers x 30 secs
If you want to take a break from kettlebells or find yourself away from your kettlebell then bodyweight training is very effective.
There is lots of core and cardio included in the workout above.
You will also notice how you develop lots of beneficial mobility from the yoga squats and side shuffles.
This workout will take you 4 minutes to complete and I recommend you perform the circuit 3 times for a total of 12 minutes. Take a short rest in between each circuit.
Click to download this workout
This weeks question:
Q. “Can the kettlebell flows you shared last week serve as a full time program?”
A. Kettlebell flows are fun, demanding, and also beneficial but they do not constitute a formal program.
Professional workout programs have progression and structure built into them and although you can progress flows by changing reps and resistance it is not the same.
My advice would be to have fun with kettlebell flows now and again but try to structure the majority of your training around a structured training program.
I hope this helps.
Greg