If you only just entered the kettlebell training world, you might not have heard about the squat vs hip hinge controversy. Like with anything, I suggest keeping an open mind.
“Performing a kettlebell swing squat style does not make you a bad trainer; performing an incorrect kettlebell swing squat style makes you a bad trainer. Performing a kettlebell swing ‘any’ style powered by the shoulders makes you a bad trainer.” -Taco Fleur
The hip hinge is the movement pattern with which the Russian swing was made popular, and anything that did not feature this movement was considered bad, but no more. The squat version is only bad when it’s performed incorrectly and becomes damaging to the person performing the movement. If executed correctly, guess what? You’re simply working and powering the movement with a different muscle group.
It’s bad when you’re doing a high number of kettlebell swings, using your shoulders and erector spinae to power the move, because your shoulders and erector spinae are more than likely not conditioned to perform this move one hundred times without getting injured. There is also nothing wrong with a shoulder raise if performed correctly with the appropriate weight and right amount of repetitions, and named correctly (i.e. not a “swing”). Watch a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIuLguUQbeM
A kettlebell swing that looks like a squat is not bad – I repeat, it is not bad – it’s simply a kettlebell swing squat style, assuming that the squat style is executed correctly and the arms are used as a pendulum. It’s wrong when the person should be performing the hip hinge style, but is performing the squat style because their glutes are too weak to power the movement in the hip hinge.
A great way to spot if the shoulders are being used during the swing is when you see the kettlebell drooping at the top of the swing; if the kettlebell looks like an extension of the arm, it’s more than likely that the swing was properly powered by the lower body.
An exercise named “kettlebell swing” that has someone doing shoulder raises, is not necessarily bad if he/she intended to work the shoulders. It is, however, incorrectly named, and should be called “shoulder raise,” “squat and shoulder raise,” or “hip hinge and shoulder raise,” depending on what he/she is doing.
Main Differences
Correct Naming
What Not to Do
The reason I spend a considerable amount of time covering the squat vs hip hinge is because I’d like you to start thinking outside of the box: Think movement, safety and goals. If those are met, any intentional movement named correctly is okay. Last but not least, I highly recommend that anyone entering the kettlebell world first learn the hip hinge movement and fully understand how the arms should function during the swing, then progress to the squat-style swing. You’ll also find that if you want to dip into the world of kettlebell sport, the squat style becomes more popular, even if not performed exactly the same way.
Now that we have covered the kettlebell swing, we’re going to discuss another transitional movement. The double arm clean is a transitional movement which allows you to seamlessly move from a double arm swing into several different exercises.
The double arm clean is a transition from double hand grip to either horn grip or open hand horn grip. Your elbows should be tucked in, and the bell or handle should rest against your chest.
To complete the full movement, perform a double arm swing hip hinge style like you normally would, with the difference being that this time you want to keep the kettlebell close to your body as it comes up, rather than out and away. You do this by guiding it up plus in with the swing and by keeping the elbows tucked in.
You can move your hands from double hand grip to horn grip once the kettlebell is in front of your body by loosening the grip and sliding the hands up to the horns. You can choose to keep the thumbs over the index fingers while doing so to give you more confidence with this move. Once you become more secure with the movement, you can transition from double hand grip to open hand horn grip by letting go of the bell for a split second, moving the hands forward around the bell, and thumbs within the horns.
The open hand horn grip is the preferred grip, as the weight is more evenly distributed in the racking position. To return from a racking position into a swing, it’s important to keep the weight close to the body going down and back; do not cast the weight out.