Cardio You Can Do Standing Still
By: Anthony Moulesong
Tags: Health, Fitness, Kettlebells, Cardio, Workout

The Kettlebell Swing

At last! Something simple that does the trick. Wait, you’ve never heard of the kettlebell swing? Then I guess I should acquaint you.

The swing is an amazing, and amazingly simple, exercise. It’s a compound exercise, using many muscles at once, which makes it great for cardio; your heart really has to start pumping to keep all of those muscles energized and oxygenated. All you need is a kettlebell of an appropriate size, heavy enough that it makes you work but light enough that you don’t wear yourself out too quickly (more on this later). That’s it. No special shoes, stationary bikes, leotards (unless you really want to), or winter gloves required. You can do the swing in a small space (6x6 feet at most), and you don’t even have to move your feet. How’s that for simple cardio?

Oh, you don’t know how to do the swing? Okay, this will be the hardest part of the whole business. The gist is that you take a kettlebell, which is a metal ball with a handle on it, and hike it between your legs like a football player, then use your hips, glutes, and hamstrings to shoot the bell back through your legs until your arms are parallel with the ground (sticking straight out in front of you).

All right, let’s flesh that out a bit. You’re standing in your workout space, and the kettlebell is on the floor about a foot in front of you. Don’t stand right on top of it or you’ll have a hard time hiking it back between your legs, which you’ll want to do to get some momentum going for that initial swing. Stand with your feet a little wider apart than your shoulders so you have a good base for balance and enough room for the kettlebell to pass between your legs.

When you bend over to grab the kettlebell with both hands (you can get fancy once you’ve learned the swing and do it one-handed if you want to), you want to hinge at the hips, keeping your back straight and sticking your butt out while slightly bending your knees.

Photo by Sergio Pedemonte on Unsplash

This lady knows what she’s doing! Nice straight, flat back, butt out, knees bent. She is standing a little too close to the kettlebell (remember, a foot in front of you), but nobody’s perfect!

Okay, now you’re ready to get the bell swinging. Reach out, grab the bell, and immediately as you lift it off the ground, hike it backward between your legs. Don’t go crazy here, or the bell might go flying out of your hands. You just want to get it back behind your rump so you can shoot it forward with a hip thrust.

Now, it’s a swing, not a squat. You are not trying to drive the bell upwards with your legs; you’re trying to drive it forward with your hips and buns. Your legs will straighten to a locked-out standing position as you swing the bell, but this is a result of thrusting with your hips and squeezing your glutes rather than standing with your legs.

You’re also not trying to pull the bell upward with your arms and shoulders. If your kettlebell isn’t too heavy, you’ll be able to drive it upward solely with your hip hinge. Your arms are only there to guide the kettlebell, not propel it.

Okay, you’ve got the kettlebell in mid-air out in front, arms parallel to the ground, and it’s coming back down! You’re simply going to let everything happen in reverse now. As you bend over, remember to keep your back straight and stick your butt out while bending your knees slightly as the bell falls down and then back between your legs. Its momentum will carry it back through your legs and behind your fanny, where you start the whole process over again.

Simple, right? Sure, it’ll take a little practice to get into the swing of things (couldn’t help myself). Practice using your hips and buns to propel the bell and keeping your back straight and flat. Practice not using your legs and arms to do that. You can find good videos online showing you what it looks like in motion.

One more thing: keep your shoulders back and locked in their sockets while swinging. You don’t want them sticking out with your upper back rounded. This helps you keep a good firm grip on the kettlebell as well as protects your shoulders from injury.

As far as what weight to use, that will depend on how strong you are and which workout you choose below. Remember, we’re doing cardio, not strength training, so you need to pick a weight that won’t wear you out too soon but is challenging enough to get you breathing a bit. I’ll say more below.