What Are Kettlebell Swings Good For?

Some people might look at others swinging a ball of iron or steel and think they look pretty silly. However, the benefits of kettlebell swings far outweigh the negatives of performing them.

The kettlebell swing is a monster of an exercise. It targets multiple areas of your body across different muscle groups and is an excellent fat burner. Fitting kettlebell swings into your exercise routine is a great way to make sure you’re engaging your whole body and keeping your heart rate up.

Here, we’ll go over the benefits of a kettlebell swing, including the muscle groups it targets, its fat-burning potential, and how it can help you with your balance and stability.

By the end of this article, you shouldn’t have any questions as to why kettlebell swings are a great workout exercise to add to your routine.

Kettlebells for Power and Strength Training

If one of your fitness goals is to push out more explosive power and develop stronger muscles, then the kettlebell swing is an excellent exercise for you. It is praised as one of the best strength training exercises anyone can do, often giving you quicker results than other full-body exercises.

Many gym-goers often work out the glamour muscles; chest, biceps, and core. While those are important muscle groups to exercise, they aren’t the only ones. Kettlebell swings are a great way to make sure you aren’t only working out the front half of your body but also the back half, supporting you in everything you do.

Kettlebell swings affect many different muscle groups of the body. However, this type of exercise primarily targets the posterior chain, the back half of your body. The posterior chain includes everything from the neck muscles supporting your head down to your heels.

If performed correctly, kettlebell swings will engage your hamstrings, hips, core, glutes, and the stabilizing muscles of your back and shoulders. All of these muscles are essential to building strength and looking good.

Not only that, but these muscle groups are also the most often used in daily activities. You might notice that things like lifting a box, moving a desk, or jumping are more manageable than they used to be.

You may also experience some gains to your delts and quads, but a lesser extent than the other muscle groups mentioned. These will mostly benefit your form and stability when performing the kettlebell swing.

Many people notice a change in their muscle tone, size, and form within the first couple of weeks of consistent kettlebell swings.

Kettlebells for Cardio

Aside from muscles, kettlebell swings are an excellent cardio workout. They are a low-impact workout, meaning you can continuously do them for longer than other exercises, thus raising your heart rate for longer.

Keeping your heart rate up is an essential part of improving your fitness. One of the chief advantages of kettlebell swings is that you can perform them every day. When you get your heart pumping like that daily, your endurance will improve. The more endurance you have, the lengthier and more intensive workouts you can do.

Also, the long-term benefits of cardio exercise are widely known and medically proven. You reduce your risk for cardiovascular disease, increase your lung capacity, and improve your sleep cycle! Having a healthy immune system is essential to living a long, and more importantly, happy life.

Kettlebells for Fat Burning

Since kettlebell swings target nearly your entire body, the exercise is an excellent fat burner. Indeed, kettlebell swings are often known as the king of calorie-burning weight exercises.

The key to burning fat with a kettlebell swing is performing the exercise properly. The kettlebell swing can be done daily for extended periods if you engage the correct muscles and don’t pressure the improper ones.

As we’ve mentioned, kettlebell swings are an excellent cardio workout. Cardio keeps your heart pumping and your metabolism running. If you do kettlebell swings in the morning, especially,  your body will continuously burn fat throughout the day.

Also, because kettlebell swings engage almost your whole body by targeting your posterior chain, you’ll feel the burn on your muscles. People start to notice fat-burning results faster, leading to more muscle building in a shorter amount of time.

Indeed, according to the American Council on Exercise, kettlebell swings burn an incredible 20 calories per minute. If you were to do the exercise for an hour, you would burn 1200 calories!

Kettlebells for Balance and Stability

The key to correctly performing a kettlebell swing is to straighten your back and pop out your hips, letting the ball’s momentum guide your body’s movements. If you can’t do it correctly at the start, adjust your position, and try again.

The correct kettlebell swing form doesn’t just benefit your back and muscles, but it also increases your balance and stability in general. You’ll notice a difference in how easy it is to perform other exercises, all because your balance is better and the muscles impacting your stability have improved.

Kettlebells for Posture

So many of us work sitting at a desk or a computer all day, and our leisure time often doesn’t look much different. Most of us have terrible posture, to say the least.

Kettlebell swings are a way to combat bad posture. By working the posterior chain muscles, your back will naturally straighten if you do the exercise correctly. Your muscles in your lower back and butt become stronger so that sitting or standing with a straight back becomes less of an effort.

Not only that but by working out your upper back, kettlebell swings will pop your chest out. Those glamour muscles everyone values so much are more prevalent when performing exercises like the kettlebell swing that target the back.

Cannon’s Conclusion on What Kettlebells Are Good For

Kettlebell swings are a fantastic exercise to incorporate into your workout routine. As you can see, the benefits are numerous. You’ll notice a near-immediate difference in your strength, balance, and posture if you consistently perform the exercise with correct form. While they’re not the easiest exercise available, push yourself, and the results will quickly become apparent.