Hey I am back again and been working on my deep heavy weighted back squats with my mate on the weekend. Then I got someone called me on the Sat telling me how he hurt his back doing the swing. But he did not blame it on the swing because he knew he did not exactly have the best technique. And I thought there are probably some people out there who may not know how to precisely execute the fundamental kettlebell swing. Seriously, if you can’t get the kettlebell swing right you can pretty much forget about doing other ballistic kettlebell lifts. You’re going to hurt your back anyway.
The swing is a very functional low back endurance exercise builder and it is what the doctor ordered for if you have a dodgy back. According to the famous spine biomechanist, Professor Stuart McGill, PhD, concluded that low back strength does not prevent the risk of back problems but low back muscular endurance does. What the hell is low back muscular endurance? It means the ability of your low back muscles to hold before fatigue sets in.
And high repetition of kettlebell swing certainly develops low back endurance and the glutes (the butt) that helps buffer the stress on the low back.
Watch the video below and learn how to properly execute the best swing you could to save your back.
Kettlebell Swing to save your back from TC Lee on Vimeo.
If you have watched the video, you would know what I meant about “Floating the Bell” and the “Bell Going Behind the Hips”.
“Foating the Bell”
Floating the Bell (Upswing Phase)
Key Points for “Floating the Bell”
- Keep your trunk/torso straight by having muscular tension on those areas
- Squeeze (meaning active contraction) the butt cheek muscles
- Straightened the knee joints
- Maintained tight shoulder joints
“Bell Going Behind the Hips”
Backswing
Key Points for “Bell Going behind the Hips”
- Maintained a neutral spine posture (Never round the lower back)
- Look up and straight to the front
- Hinge from the hip joint
Alrite mate hope you are getting some useful information here to save your back from pain. If you like what you see here, please leave a comment or even leave a comment with a question.
Talk to You Soon & have an Awesome Week
TC
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Nice work on the discrimination between good form and bad form on the basic KB swing exercise TC! Stuart McGill’s recent research has smiled fondly on proper kettlebell technique for improving core endurance and improving back health. While this is true, I see the effects of poor form frequently resulting in disc injury in the lumbar spine. I heartily encourage patients to get acquainted with kettlebells, and learn to use them properly from someone well trained like TC.
In regards to your points about endurance of the core muscles, while kettlebells are great for advanced endurance training, some might need to get started with lower levels of stress. On my site, you can use a test advocated by Dr. McGill to measure endurance of the major muscles of the core and see if you’re ready to take on the kettlebell. http://fixyourownback.com/blog/?p=67
Cheers!
Phillip Snell, DC
Portland, OR
http://www.fixyourownback.com/blog
Hey Dr Snell
Thanks for reading the post and very much appreciate your inputs on the core muscle endurance. Certainly agreed that there has to be a certain level of core muscles endurance before undergoing the swing. Would never suggest anyone to perform the kettlebell swing if the person has severely poor muscle endurance in the low back.
Good article, found your blog by google, it’ll be in my regular reading from now on.
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