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How heavy should my kettlebell be for swings? This PT has the answer
Everybody wants to do the kettlebell swing. Not only is the 100 kettlebell swings a day challenge all over TikTok, it’s a fun movement, and it’s hard not to look and feel good powering a kettlebell up to eye level.
But learning to master the kettlebell swing takes time, patience and practice.
The first thing to get right is choosing the right weight of kettlebell to swing. Advice on the internet will give you sex-based recommendations, along with the caveat that it depends on an individual’s strength.
But expert trainer Gede Foster, director of fitness and performance at digital fitness platform FIIT, has a more useful answer.
Foster suggests using two other exercises to gauge how heavy a kettlebell you should use for swings.
“For powerful, full-body movements like swings, the kettlebell should feel light to moderate when performing a Romanian deadlift,” Foster tells Fit&Well. “But you shouldn’t be able to lift it out in front of you like a front raise.”
(Image credit: Getty Images / this kettlebell leg workout.)
The second exercise, the front raise, is particularly helpful in making sure you don’t go select too light a kettlebell.
“If you’re just starting out, it’s natural to go lighter while you build confidence with the technique,” says Foster, but you need to be mindful, she says, not to “go so light that your form suffers.”
If the kettlebell is too light for a swing, you will likely compensate by using your arms to lift the weight. “A proper kettlebell swing is a hip-driven movement. The power should come from your glutes, not your shoulders,” says Foster.
“The arms are just there to guide the bell. So, starting slightly heavier, while still maintaining good form, encourages the correct mechanics by forcing your hips to do the work.”
Now you’ve got the right weight of kettlebell, use Foster’s kettlebell swing tips to master the movement, then put it into practice with this kettlebell leg workout.
FIIT has recently launched a beginner kettlebell plan on its app, including detailed technique tutorials, which you can sample by signing up for a free trial.
