Exercise Library / Kettlebell Swing
Kettlebell Swing
Explosive hips, floating bell — the hinge at full power.
Muscles worked
Primary Glutes
Secondary Hamstrings Lower Back Shoulders
Tap a muscle to explore it on the interactive muscle map.
How to do it
- Hike the bell back high between your thighs like a rugby snap.
- Snap your hips forward hard — the power comes from the hips, not the arms.
- Let the bell float to chest height; your arms are just ropes.
- Stand tall and squeeze your glutes at the top of every swing.
- Let the bell swing back deep before the next hip snap.
Common mistakes
- Squatting the swing. Dropping into a squat instead of hinging kills the hip snap that powers the bell.
- Lifting with the arms. Muscling the bell up turns a power exercise into a front raise and gasses the shoulders.
- Rounding at the bottom. Catching the backswing with a rounded spine loads the discs exactly when forces peak.
What the camera coach watches
These are the exact checks FitFormBuddy runs on every rep of kettlebell swing — and what it says when you drift:
- Hinge vs. squat shape“hinge, don't squat — hips back”
Get real-time form cues on this exercise
FitFormBuddy watches through your camera and coaches you mid-set — reps counted, mistakes called out as they happen.
