Effectiveness of Dumbell Swings?

[Mala]

I do cleans, snatches, and sandbag shoulders (which are my favorite) to work on my explosiveness in my hips, but I'm coming off a deep cut on the top of my trapezius muscle, so sandbag shoulders are out of the question as of right now, the abrasion would really be detrimental to my injury.

I've been cleared to do physical activity, there isn't any pain in the range of motion when I do snatches, pull-ups, really anything that would stress that part of the body, but I was wondering if I should substitute swings instead of shoulders and how effective they are for developing explosiveness.

And swings should be from resting to completely overhead, correct? I was thinking about doing them heavy, 5 x 5 or 5 x 4.

 

[sensoukami]

Dumbbell swings are an AWESOME exercise! When I first wanted to try them, I took one session at the gym and did basically nothing but dumbbell swings interspersed with a bit of jump rope to keep the hear rate up. Started with a light dumbbell for 15, and started moving up each set for 6 sets. Waited to see what was sorry the day after and the day after that...

Wow! I had read that the Dumbell Swing was considered an amazing 'posterior chain' exercise, and my experience jives with that. Traps, spinal erectors, glutes, hamstrings all felt the burn, and the quads too. One guy I read said "If I had 15 minutes to work out, and could only pick one exercise, I'd pick the dumbbell swing." I agree with him.

But it's not from a dead start, it's a "swing" after all...you get it started, and you get into this smooth, up and down swinging motion, and you till you start breathing real heavy...there are videos out there...also different grips. Also, your supposed to be driving with your lower body, not muscling the weight up with the upper.

And as to how high you go, my research pointed to two different types. The 'original' Russian Kettle Bell swing only went up to about shoulder level or slightly higher...Going to almost full verticle is referred to either as the American swing, or the Crossfit Swing. I got to almost full verticle myself, nice to get the fuller range of motion.

I've been neglecting to do some swings, and have been thinking 'bout it. This little post/reply should get me off my ass...

Have fun,

 

[DEVILsSON]

Yes it's a good exercise that you can use for variety to train explosiveness or endurance depending on the goal.

 

[catspajamas200***]

Are dumbells preferred over kettle bells?

 

[XTrainer]

^Dumbbells allow you to go all the way overhead if you want, something that would be awkward/unsafe with a kettlebell.

Kettlebells put the load farther away from you, which changes the feel of the exercise significantly.

They're both good.

 

[ExtremeStandard]

A wicked full body blasting exercise, great on conditioning days.

 

[Bright5086200]

i use to do kettlebell swings and i found that once i stopped doing them and only focused on squats/deadlifts/bench i tried them again and though "o man these will be nothing now". i was greatly mistaken. it was only 35 pounds but i swung it and i felt like a rock instead of a springboard. u know what i mean. If i were you i would add a day for explosive movements. powercleans, snatches, kettlebell/dumbbell swings just to ge that hip explosion.

 

[JT RIPPER]

if its a true swing, you should only let the kb/db go as high as the momentum carries it, as opposed to letting your arms and shoulders carry the weight to vertical...only you can say which version is right for you, as an RKC, I personally prefer the russian style of course

 

[glennpendlay]

if its a true swing, you should only let the kb/db go as high as the momentum carries it, as opposed to letting your arms and shoulders carry the weight to vertical...only you can say which version is right for you, as an RKC, I personally prefer the russian style of course

KB or dumbell swings go about to eye level if done right. Its a hip exercise. Just as people are not allowed to squat halfway and say its a legit squat, you shouldnt be allowed to do a KB swing way different and say its the same exercise. A KB swing has explosive hip extension, and this extension by momentum carries the KB to about eye level. You dont pull on it with your arms, and you dont use such a light KB that hip action alone carries it way, way above your head. period and end of discussion.

 

[XTrainer]

^Glenn, have you ever tried swings with a dumbbell? I did them after reading about them in a Ross Enamait book. He takes them all the way overhead, which, as I agree, would not work with a kettlebell. However, it feels great with a dumbbell.

 

[zx]

I'm thinking about ading DB version to my routine. Can some of you guys post a god form video?

 

[Keith Wassung]

Consider sort of "merging" the KB and DB and use a Hungarian Core Blaster

 

[Ian Coe]

Consider sort of "merging" the KB and DB and use a Hungarian Core Blaster

Is that the name that it goes by.

I've seen it referred to a a T hand KB