You might think swinging kettlebells means more upper body, but the power should instead come from down south. “When done correctly, you are using your hip complex, glutes, hamstrings, quads, core, and lats,” says Lauren Kanski, CPT, NASM-certified personal trainer and WH advisory board member. When you’re pushing the ‘bell out in front of you, your hips are in extension (or contracting), she says, which is why it works your lower body.

When you master this move, your muscles (and busy schedule) will thank you. Kill five birds with one stone? Yes, please. Read on for all the expert tips to get swinging kettlebells like a pro and enjoy all the perks.

Benefits Of Kettlebell Swings

Kettlebell swings are a serious full-body movement. Here are the main benefits you can reap from adding this best-bang-for-your-buck move to your routine:

• Developing power
• Improving core stability
• Building endurance
• Improving muscle imbalances (like shortened hamstrings and weak glutes)
• Teaching that explosiveness comes from the hips

The Muscles Worked

This movement mainly works the posterior chain, or the muscles on the back of your body. “The glutes and leg muscles generate force while the core musculature, shoulder girdle, and pecs stabilize to control the movement,” Baston explains.

Here are all the muscles worked during a kettlebell swing:

• Hip complex
• Glutes
• Hamstrings
• Quads
• Core
• Lats

How To Do Kettlebell Swings With Proper Form

How to:

1. Stand with feet slightly wider than hip-width apart. Hold a kettlebell in front of your body with both hands, arms straight.
2. With a slight bend in the knees and a flat back, hinge at the hips and swing the kettlebell back through the legs. Use that momentum to stand and swing the kettlebell out in front of your body, up to shoulder height.
3. Thrust the hips forward, and engage the glutes and core as you stand up straight. When the kettlebell hits shoulder height, the knees should be straight and glutes contracted in a full hip extension.
4. Allow the kettlebell to swing back down through the legs, while hinging at the hips. That’s 1 rep.

Common Kettlebell Swing Form Mistakes—And How To Fix Them

There are a lot of muscles working during a ‘bell swing. In addition to following the swing instructions, look out for these common mistakes:

• Using too much upper body or arm strength. “Try to remember that your arms are only 10 percent of the swing, you use your hips to give the ‘bell acceleration,” Kanski adds.
• Bending in the hips too early. When you do that, it becomes more of a squat motion.
• Bending in the hips too late. This makes the move too “hingey.”

• Rounding the back while swinging down. This prohibits your core from staying engaged throughout the entire movement.
• Using kettlebells that are too light. When your kettlebell is too light, you can’t engage the hips and lower bod properly.

The key to understanding proper kettlebell movement is mastering the hip hinge (rather than squatting), so try the good morning exercise or the deadlift motion before swinging. “That is the foundation,” Kanski says.

Time the hinge perfectly: Make sure you’re standing tall with a long spine, swinging the ‘bell to about nipple height, letting it fall toward your thighs, then bending your hips at the last second to start another swing, Kanski says.

How To Pick The Right Kettlebell Weight

If you’re new to kettlebell swings, you might think a lighter KB is the way to go. But, the opposite is true. You need a heavy load to use your hips for the swing, instead of your upper body, Kanski says. Heavier weight will give you momentum as you learn the movement, adds Baston.

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Kanski recommends going no lighter than 12 kg, or a 25-pound KB, but ideally, pick up a 30-35-pound ‘bell. If you’re just starting out, choose a kettlebell somewhere in that weight range, and practice the deadlift first.

Pro tip: To check if your kettlebell is the right weight, try to do a front raise with your arms. If you can, you gotta go heavier.

Make Kettlebell Swings Part Of Your Workout

Don’t be fooled by this seemingly simple fluid motion—kettlebell swings (and kettlebell workouts, for that matter) are intense. “Because it engages so many muscles and is dynamic in nature, you need adequate recovery time to prevent injury,” Baston explains. That means at least one day of rest in between picking up a ‘bell again. Plan to work a variety of kettlebell exercises, not just swings, into your routine up to two or three days per week.

For the best results: Start with three sets of five reps, giving yourself no more than 20 seconds of rest between each set.

Use the move’s intensity to your advantage by including it in a HIIT workout, ideally paired with pushups, planks, and squats (all bodyweight movements).

When you get stronger, you can level up to single arm swings and double kettlebell swings (that’s a weight in each hand), Baston says. Whatever way you choose, you’ll get an awesome total-body workout—just keep swinging.

Rachael Schultz is a freelance writer with years of experience covering health, nutrition, and physiology. In addition to Women’s Health, she has written for Men’s Health, Men’s Journal, Cosmopolitan, SELF, and Weight Watchers, among other publications. She’s most passionate about hiking, traveling, mindfulness, cooking, and really, really good coffee. 

Addison Aloian is the associate health & fitness editor at Women’s Health, where she writes and edits across the health, weight loss, and fitness verticals. She’s also a certified personal trainer through the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). In her free time, you can find her lifting weights at the gym, running on the West Side Highway in New York City—she recently completed her first half-marathon—and watching (and critiquing!) the latest movies that have garnered Oscars buzz. In addition to Women’s Health, her work has also appeared in Allure, StyleCaster, L’Officiel USA, V Magazine, VMAN, and more.