Ending the Kettlebell Swing Controversy

Ending the Swing Controversy- by Coach Tom Rankin

At SV CrossFit, we employ trainers from a variety of backgrounds.  One the whole, the diversity of experience benefits everyone.  By learning and teaching each other, we gain more knowledge and expertise than we ever could alone.  One drawback, however, is when our clientel becomes confused about exercise performance.   There are currently two popular methods for teaching the Kettlebell (KB) Swing, American (AS) or Russian (RS) style.  There is a tendency for some coaches to label their favored method right and the other wrong.  Like most things in life, it is not that simple.

Exploring the Differences

It is easy to tell the difference between the RS and AS, just look at the arc of the swing.  The RS starts just below the groin and is swung to chest or at most, eye level.  The movement is short, brisk and compact.  The AS begins level to the knees and moves upward to full arm extension over the head.  Its motion is longer and smoother than its Russian counterpart.  The height of the arc of the AS may be twice that of the RS.

The subtler difference is the bend of the knees.  The Russian style looks similar to a stiff-legged deadlift.  Most of the movement is in the hips and the knees bend slightly, almost as an afterthought.  The American swing is more like a squat as the knees bend to a much greater degree.  Each method requires a different body alignment for correct performance.

The primary focus of the Russian swing is to utilize extension of the hips to drive the lifter’s center of gravity forward and up.  This movement results in a very efficient application of force.  You may test this concept by doing a vertical jump.  Sit back quickly into quarter squat depth and immediately jump upward.  Do this several times and note how high you jump.  Now drop down into a deeper squatting movement and jump.  Most people will find that they will not jump as high in the lower squatting position.

The American Swing has its own unique advantages.  Its greater range of motion requires much more work and effort than the Russian Swing.  Test this by doing quarter squats while raising your arm to chest height when you return to standing position for a half of minute.  You could probably do this all day without breaking a sweat.  Now do deeper squats for the same amount of time and raise your arm fully over head as you stand.  Not so easy is it?  Notice the greater range of motion gets your heart pumping and increases your breathing.  This makes the American Swing an excellent exercise for building work capacity and overall fitness.  Bringing the KB overhead will also increase shoulder girdle flexibility, endurance, balance, co-ordination and strength. 



Which Swing is Best?

The answer is both and neither.  Is the hammer better than a screwdriver?  It is the goal that will determine which tool to use.  If you need to pound in nails, you want the hammer.  But it won’t be as useful if you are working with screws.  It is important to understand that the RS and AS, like the hammer and screwdriver, are tools to be used for specific purposes.  It is the lifter’s intent and goals that decide which swing is best.

The Russian Swing is the foundation of almost all ballistic kettlebell movements.  Mastering and strengthening this swing will have a positive impact on such key kettlebell lifts as the KB snatch or KB Cleans.  The short, compact stroke will allow the Kettlebeller to conserve energy that will allow for greater repetitions in the competitive kettlebell lifts (1 KB Snatch and 2 KB Jerk).  For the person who training is predominately focused on KB training, the RS would be a better choice.

The CrossFitter, however, has different needs.  He or she must excel at a much wider range of exercises than the KB lifter.  The AS will have a much better transfer to kipping pull-ups, thrusters and many other CrossFit movements.  The improvements to flexibility, balance and co-ordination will greatly benefit the Gymnastic, Weightlifting and Barbell exercises found in CrossFit training.  The added effort and work of the American Swing will help the CrossFitter develop the fitness needed to survive intense “WOD”.  When you consider the needs of the CrossFitter, it is easy to understand the advantages of using the American Swing.

Is Safety an Issue?

There are people who believe the AS is more dangerous than the RS.  They consider swinging a KB overhead potentially dangerous.  Full squats were once considered harmful to the knees.  Now they are commonly used in the rehabilitation process.  Physical Therapists realized properly performed full squats are essential for normal functioning.  The key to making any exercise safe is proper coaching. 

Very few fitness professional know how to properly teach the AS.  But the inability to coach the AS does not make it a harmful exercise.  We find the AS is a great way for our clients to learn and co-ordinate Mark Rippetoe’s active shoulders and hips techniques.  As a result of doing AS, our client performance of many other exercises (squats, overhead lifts, kipping pull-ups, etc.) dramatically improve.    

Rather than injuring clients, the AS is a very effective “pre-hab” exercise.  The AS and other exercises in the CrossFit program restores people to optimum functioning.  After a few weeks of training, many new CrossFitters notice something’s missing.  Their usual aches and pains (back pain, headaches, or other joint problems) no longer exist.  CrossFitters develop the strength, mobility, endurance and co-ordination to easily handle any stress that occurs in life.

In the Beginning

The novice CrossFitter needs to focus on mastering the nine fundamental movements (squat, front squat, overhead squat, press, push press, push jerk, deadlift and sumo deadlift high pull).  Once these movement are sound, it is easy to learn the AS.  There is no reason for beginners to learn the RS unless they have special needs, such as developing a more explosive hip drive or feeling their center connect with an external resistance (kettlebell). 

Hey Conrad?

CrossFit veterans may find value by occasionally using the Russian Swing.  CrossFitters know that the variety of training stimulus is the key to the outstanding effectiveness of the program.  Louie Simmons created a wide variety of ways for his powerlifters to bench press- incline, decline, floor, with boards, bands, chains, a wide variety of hand positions, dumbbells and God knows what else.  Because of the great variety, his lifters rarely stay stuck in plateaus and regularly lift for personal bests.  You will get better results by using a variety of swings instead of just one type.  Do the AS most of the time, the RS as a change up, and every once in a while a hybrid swing. 

Hybrid 1:  Hip drive of RS but swing KB overhead, this will feel somewhat like a power snatch.

Hybrid 2:  Squat style AS but only swing to chest or eyes level. 

Sometimes mastering a variety of different variations improves the performance of the original exercise.  Try this swing gumbo and see if it helps your AS.  Do 5 reps of each, without stopping if possible.

1.    American Swing
2.    Hybrid 2- squat style to chest level
3.    Hybrid 1- Hip drive to overhead
4.    American Swing

Absorb What Is Useful, Disregard That Is Useless
-Bruce Lee
 
Coach Glassman and Bruce Lee have both put results ahead of tradition.  They both been heavy criticized by their peers by rejecting accepted training systems to create their own.  Glassman’s CrossFit and Lee’s Jeet Kune Do are focused on a variety of methods and exercises that produce the best results.  Lee freely mixed in strength training, boxing, and European fencing with the best parts from a wide variety of martial arts.  Glassman realizes that gymnastic, powerlifting, weightlifting and endurance activities will create better total fitness results when combined than they could separately.   

Glassman and Lee realized not one type of training is best.  But the careful selection and combination of the proper sources will produce outstanding achievements.  Therefore, it follows that neither the AS nor the RS is best.  It is the intelligent use of both that will allow one to maximally improve their fitness.

_____________________

WODs-

SV:

Five rounds for time of:
30 reps Knees to Elbows
30 reps 1.5 pood Kettlebell swing

Post time to comments.

Mainsite:

Double-under for 2 minutes
Sit-up for 2 minutes
Double-under for 90 seconds
Sit-up for 90 seconds
Double-under for 1-minute
Sit-up for 1-minute
Double-under for 30 seconds
Sit-up for 30 seconds

Post numbers of sit-ups and double-unders to comments.

Compare to 031001.

Comments

[Mark]

Did the SV WOD after the main site WOD....after deadlifts yesterday and the WOD today, finished in a less than stellar 20 minutes

[Fitness Fabulous]

That's a great KB swing and great shoulders but sadly, (most) Singaporean girls don't find that attractive hence they'll skip all forms of exercise just to stay thin.

[Adam Kayce]

Excellent post, thanks for this. I'm still pretty green when it comes to KB's, and this helps clear up the confusion a lot.

(Quick note: in the "In The Beginning" paragraph, you forgot to include movement #9, the Med Ball Clean.)

[CFCMatt]

Nicely organized thoughts on the swing differences.

At CrossFit Champions, we teach everyone the AS swing.

[Melissa Byers]

Good information here, but I have to disagree with the following (emphasis added):

"The subtler difference is the bend of the knees. The Russian style looks similar to a stiff-legged deadlift. Most of the movement is in the hips and the knees bend slightly, almost as an afterthought. **The American swing is more like a squat as the knees bend to a much greater degree. Each method requires a different body alignment for correct performance.**"

In my coaching experience, the American swing requires significant hip closing and aggressive opening to move the kettlebell as high as possible before taking it overhead - *exactly* like a Russian swing. The two movements should look NO different from the bottom to chest height. If anything, the American swing requires even more hip drive, which *demands* that "hips back" bottom position.

Dropping into more of a squat (versus deadlift) to move the 'bell does not allow for proper hip closure. You'll get far less power into your swing and will have to compensate by raising the KB with your arms. This leads to the all-too-common "droopy 'bell" syndrome seen in American-swinging CrossFitters.

Melissa Byers
CrossFit 603 (and occasional Marker Monkey/Assistant Coach for Jeff Martone)

[Jay]

Great read! Well thought out & nicely delivered! Solid work...

[joemama]

Byers is right on...plus she's smokin' hot...gotta love dat...

[Tom]

I must respectfully disagree. Since Pavel Tsatsouline is considered the authority on Russian style kettlebell lifting, look in his book "Enter the kettlebell" on page 56 for a picture the starting and finishing positions of the swing. He even states that one hike passes the kettlebell behind you, fairly close to the groin, drive the hip through and start swinging. The American swing does not pass the legs close to the groin.

One does not need a great deal of knee bend to drive the hips.

This is my opinion. I would like to hear from one of the RKC on staff

Tom

[Lewis Dunn]

Thanks! Always interesting to read another take on this subject. But I hope the title (i.e. "Ending") was meant to be facetious....

[viagra online]

I love the RS style, i think the russian are the very best athletes in every competition!

[John]

Here is my opinion and I'm a Pavel Fan, why do an "American Swing" in the first place just do a Russian Kettlebell Snatch. The swing is just a basic exercise to get to more advanced ones anway. In my humble opinion.

[Marlon]

Not sure I'm buying the AS swing as delivering greater coordination , shoulder flexibility etc..is this only in relation to the RS swing?
Gotta agree with John on the "just do a Russian Kettlebell Snatch".

[Frank T.]

Actually, this does not cover it closely.

You still have to look at the Swing from an efficiency angle. The AS and RS as proposed here are both rather inefficient movements if compared to the kind of swing taught as a precursor to the girevoy sports swing.

The RS as presented by Pavel for example from my experience promotes looking forward to maintain neutral spine. However doing so forces a bent cervical spine which especially with athletes who already damaged their cervical spines due to the "Look up or forward" mentality proves a big problem.

The swing itself is a great conditioner, but in tradition only a precursor to the Snatch.

I have to take a little issue with comparing an overhead squat with an AS Swing as well. Those are completely different situations. The overhead squat usually relies on forces from above and need stability. In any swing, you use momentum,therefore there should be absolutely no pressure on the shoulders at all at the highest point. Resisting the bell during the motion is not part of any swing technique in existence. Otherwise you would have to either pull or push with the shoulders, which is completely at odds with Swing technique in the first place.