Done right, humble kettlebell swings are a full-body workout. Not only do they strengthen the posterior chain (muscles along the back of the body) and raise your heart rate in a short amount of time, they target the legs, arms, and core. It’s high-intensity, low-impact movement, but what will 100 a day do to my body?
To find out more, I took a kettlebell and started. Will doing 100 kettlebell swings a day for two weeks help improve my posture and strengthen my posterior muscles? I’m not new to weird workouts - read what happened when I did 50 hamstring curls a day for a week or 100 dead bugs a day for a week - but kettlebell swings aren’t often used in my strength training. so 100 a day was definitely a challenge. Read on to find out what happened.
Before I begin, let me remind you that doing 100 reps of anything is a lot, and it’s not recommended to target the same muscle groups every day. If you’re new to kettlebell swings or returning to training after an injury, it’s a good idea to check your form with a personal trainer before adding reps or weight to an exercise.
How to do kettlebell swings
(Image credit: Shutterstock)
The first thing to remember before doing kettlebell swings is that the swing part of the movement is done with the legs, not the arms.
1. To perform kettlebell swings, start by standing on an exercise mat (we have a list of the best yoga mats to use as exercise mats if you need guidance), with your feet shoulder-width apart, and placing the kettlebell in front of. you.
2. Bend your knees and grasp the kettlebell with both hands.
3. With your core engaged, return the kettlebell back between your legs; then, as you swing up, engage your glutes and abs and keep your arms extended as the kettlebell rises.
4. Strive to raise the kettlebell to chest level with your arms outstretched. Squeeze your glutes and flick your hips at the top of the movement.
5. Let the kettlebell drop naturally and move it between your legs again for the next rep.
Of course, kettlebell swings can also be done with a dumbbell, holding the weight by the plate, and not by the handle.
Remember that the movement in kettlebell swings comes from your hips - you are not lifting the weight with your arms. Think of your hips as a pivot in motion—your lower body stays glued to the ground, your weight returns through your heels, and your torso moves back and forth to swing the weight. The core muscles work along the back of your torso—it’s not a squat or a raise.
Be careful not to bend your knees too much during this movement (again, this is not a squat) and don’t lean back at the top of the movement as you’re putting too much pressure on your lower back - keep your core tight. avoid it.
Learn more about how to do kettlebell swings and the variations you can try here.
I did 100 kettlebell swings a day for 14 days - here’s what I learned
In an effort to master this movement, I grabbed a kettlebell and began to swing; here’s what I found out.
This movement worked for my entire body.
I didn’t expect to feel this movement as much as I did. It affected all the different muscle groups in my body, and I could feel my glutes and abs working hard as I rocked the kettlebell back and forth.
Doing 100 a day meant I had a tendency to rush reps to get to the end, but doing kettlebell swings too fast puts too much emphasis on the upper body when the movement should come from the legs.
Doing 100 swings a day was a lot
Aside from feeling this exercise in my glutes and abs, after a couple of days of 100 reps, I actually felt movement in my lower back. Worried about arching my back during the exercise, I videotaped my form and sent it to a friend, a personal trainer, who assured me that I was doing nothing wrong, but going from completely giving up kettlebell swings to 100 per day. there was probably a bit of a jump. Over the next few days, I broke the task down into four sets of 25 reps, keeping the kettlebell on the table and doing 25 reps at different points in the day rather than all at once.
As a reminder, to prevent lower back pain while swinging kettlebells, consider engaging your core during the exercise. To do this, either think about pulling your belly button into your spine, or tighten your stomach as if you’re about to be hit. Here’s more on how to engage your core and why it’s important.
I have a couple of blisters
They say that kettlebell swings help you work on your grip strength - I definitely need to practice this. Around the fifth or sixth day of my trial, I began to develop blisters on my arms from the kettlebell. This is a sign that I’m not lifting weights half as often as I should, but it’s a surprise nonetheless.
I found it easier to activate my glutes while running.
On the days I used to sneak kettlebell swings before going for a run, I definitely felt my glute muscles activated more when I ran kilometers. Like many runners, I tend to have lazy glutes while running, and I’ve found that swinging kettlebells before going outside helps me warm them up while running. One study (will open in a new tab)published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that six weeks of kettlebell training improved explosive strength by almost 20%, so maybe using kettlebells as part of my pre-run warm-up will help me run faster in the long run.
I became more confident in the movement
By the end of my two-week trial, I had managed to swing kettlebells with one hand for a couple of days, a step up from the two-handed press technique. It helps to put more stress on your stabilizing muscles and I definitely felt like my shoulders were working harder.
I will definitely add them to my strength training in the future.
There is no doubt about it - doing 100 kettlebell swings was one of my most boring challenges. However, despite the pain in my back and blisters on my palms, I really felt the benefit in my body. Of course, two weeks is not enough time to see any physical difference, but I felt like I was working hard on my lower body and core, and because of this, I began to run stronger.
I will definitely continue to train with kettlebells in my program, but I am looking forward to the moment when tomorrow morning I do not have to do 100 swings.
Looking for more inspiration? Read what happened when this fitness writer did 100 kettlebell snatches a day for a week, and watch this 15-minute ab workout.
Top Kettlebell Deals For Today