“It Don’t Mean a Thing If it Ain’t Got That Swing”

7/24/08 Posted in Kettlebell Crazy  |  0 Comments

Monday found me doing an extended kettlebell drill that I took from Gabi Katschthaler’s Hungarian Courage Corner: two minutes of the one-hand swing, snatch, clean and jerk, “Viking” push press, snatch, and transfer to the opposite hand for more of the same; rest a minute, and repeat for about ten rounds. Even on a cool morning like this one, I worked up a good head of steam (”It’s not sweat–it’s your fat cells crying!”)

But today (Wednesday)I’ve got a torn callus on the palm of my right hand–so no snatches or cleans for me! Back to the basics: five sets of 40 two-hand swings with the 32 kg. bell, finished up with Turkish get-ups.

Snatches look impressive.  But the humble swing is not a thing to scorn.  Without the swing, there would be no snatch, no clean.  All you’d be left with is dead lifts.

Tracy Reifkind succeeded in losing 100 pounds in just under one year, in large part due to swinging a 26-pound kettlebell, for just 20-to-30-minutes, two to three times a week.  As she was shopping for new clothes for her new figure, she was surprised to discover more tone and definition than she would have expected–especially in her arms and shoulders, considering that she’d done no conventional weight training.  And all with swing-based training.

A possible explanation, supplied by Tracy’s husband, Mark,  is that  “the speed of the movement  is such that the forces are much higher than than [that] 26 pounds; perhaps two and a half to three times the actual weight of the bell.  Since force equals mass times acceleration, the ‘virtual’ force she was throwing through her upper body was much, much greater than she realized.

“Your body doesn’t distinguish between force that comes from heavier weight (more mass) or more speed (acceleration).  Force is force.  Producing, reducing and re-directing that force totally transformed her body, especially her arms, shoulders and back.”

Note that Tracy was doing “swing-based” exercises.  Her program, even at the time, included snatches, cleans, and presses. Your own program is entirely up to you.  Often friends who do their  first workout with me look at the swing and say, “That’s it?” They don’t realize–until the next day–that they’ve just worked their hips,inner thighs, glutes, hamstrings, back, shoulders, core and gotten in some cardio, to boot.

But another six to eight weeks of swings alone–even varying them with one-handed or alternating drills; and the Turkish Get-Up–will leave most people saying, once again, “This is it???  I mean, this is nice, but can I do something else?”  Then the cleans, presses, bottom-up cleans, waiter’s presses, snatches, and all the rest await you. 

But it’s the swing that’ll get you there.