Posts Tagged ‘kettlebell swing’

Some time back I posted about 200lb kettlebells and how much I want one for swings in particular.

Now some guys can press these suckers, thats 2x as hard as a headstand pushup for most of us. They can also be used for rows and some other moves. Nothing beats a heavy lift for hormonal stimulation.

So I thought I had lucked out, a catalog for a local supplier had them. Normally to ship one of these to New Zealand costs $1000.

I got on the phone and asked them to ship me one for $300. The guy said he would get his logistics man onto it and get back to me.

Well they didnt for two weeks and eventually just fluffed it off and said they could no longer get them in.

That kind of sucked but living at the bottom of the world far away you get used to these things.

Finally today I connected the dots.

I have known about the T-Bar handle for years, why the hell was I trying to buy a 200lb kettlebell?

All I need is a T-Bar handle for $20 worth of pipe fittings. Which I will buy this week I may add.

To this handle you may attach as much weight as you want. 150lb, 200lb, 300lb even 500lb. Obviously at some point all you will be doing is dragging or rocking the sucker.

Now if you are broke this still sucks because there is an outlay for plates. They can be as expensive as kettlebells with shipping costs.

If you cant afford plates its no problem at all. Get online and calculate the weight to volume of cement.

Figure what size cylinder of cement you want attached to your T-Bar handle. You dont want it too big or the wrong shape.

Then you will need some duct tape & cardboard or a plastic pipe tube to cast your new 200lb kettlebell substitute.

Not a big hassle to make at all and a huge money saver. If you have plates you have variable resistance. Otherwise just make several of them at different cement weights.

Heavy Mother of swing here I come.

The T-Handle is also great for doing:

two-arm bent rows
deadlifts
hack squats
front squats
biceps curls
overhead triceps extensions
suitcase dead lifts
sidebends
reverse curls
grip training
thick bar training (with thicker handles)

The swing is a great exercise for when you are stuck indoors. Its quiet – even silent. So if its the middle of the night & you need a quick exercise fix its ideal. Its also a great cardio workout.

Many folks soon learn that Kettlebells are not like regular weights. With Kettlebells you can go for volume in a way not possible with a barbell & dumbbell.

The guy in the video above is Rob Russell.

Here is a guy doing 6000 swings in under 2.5 hours

His form is fully lame ass though – can you really call that a swing ?

Here’s a good PDF program to get you started http://occupyfirstplace.com/KB10K.pdf

I think Swings are the fundamental Kettebell exercise – certainly the easiest but nothing is easy once you get beyond a few hundred reps.

Yep its gotta be the simplest kettlebell exercise of them all – The Swing !!!

But not just any swing. What you need to do is get a kettlebell thats way beyond your strength level in most exercises. So if you normally do your presses and cleans with a 20KG or 24KG, use a 40KG for the heavy swings.

You will need to have developed your motor skill set with kettlebells before using heavy weights and remember to use tension throughout to stabilize the move.

Do high swings with one arm and you will feel it in your grip and forearms immediately. Much better than barbell curls.

Good Luck.