Caveman Kettlebell – Kettlebell Swing ‘Insert’

  25th April 2016 Caveman Kettlebells, Unconventional  

 

Here at Caveman Kettlebells the kettlebell swing has evolved over many years to make it the best it can be, involving as many muscle groups as possible, and making it as safe as possible.

The kettlebell swing for fitness is an exercise that people perform to get results, those results are, but not limited to; building muscle; becoming stronger and becoming fitter, to reach those goals you need to create as much resistance as you can while increasing the weight lifted, after all, it’s resistance training!

Caveman Kettlebells has added an ‘insert’ to the kettlebell swing, this partly breaks away from the common full pendulum concept which can create several issues, especially with people who just started working with a kettlebell. What does the insert accomplish? The added insert prevents the kettlebell from bobbing, which creates friction in the hands and can also cause hitting the kettlebell in the tailbone. A full pendulum guides the kettlebell upwards at the back swing, because the kettlebell travels through the legs there is only so far it can travel, this is due to the arms eventually being stopped abruptly by the legs when the pendulum motion wants to continue, therefor, an insert is safer and more comfortable. And last but not least, the insert taxes the trapezius muscle more by guiding the kettlebell towards the ground and thus creating an opposing force for the trapezius muscle group.

I have personally performed extreme high volume swings to test the technique and see if it can withstand heavy weight without causing injury, I’m referring to the bad pain that can be caused by an incorrect kettlebell swing, not the normal muscle soreness after high volume swing.

In one session I moved 13,000 kilos in swings with a 26kg kettlebell for 500 repetitions, 8,000 kilos in snatches with a 16kg kettlebell for 500 repetitions, I added another 500 double-unders to make it even more challenging. The whole test took me 2 hours 38 minutes and 48 seconds. My goal was not to set a time record, but to perform this extremely high volume with correct technique.

The kettlebell swing insert in summary

Red dot is the pivot / shoulders
Facing east / right

0 to 10° degrees is approximate height to aim for with the swing, which is approximately shoulder to eye height, see graph below.

Illustrated below is the full pendulum trajectory, which is not enouraged in Caveman Kettlebells.

Illustrated is the Caveman Kettlebells desired partial pendulum trajectory with an insert.

Up phase of the swing.