Strength Max for Athletes
Do you want to achieve the maximum strength for your sport in the shortest amount of time? Are you looking for that bull-like strength necessary to surpass the competition? Are you interested in jumping higher and quicker than the competition to put down that slam dunk or to bury that volleyball spike on the opponent's court? If so, we have access to the most scientifically based strength training and power training programs in existence that will allow you to achieve all your goals. Have you had a difficult time finding the appropriate strength training information which will make you … [Read More...]
40 Sports and Strength Training Applications for the Kettlebell Swing
Analysis of the Kettlebell Swing
The kettlebell swing is a powerful ballistic movement which can be used for strength training, power applications, and endurance training. The swing is unique in that it possesses a rapid eccentric phase along with a rapid concentric phase and can be thought of as a movement with repeated cyclic periods of relaxation and power generation, a perfect combination for the reactive power athlete. Also, a characteristic which makes the kettlebell swing stand out is that the swing possesses both horizontal and vertical force vectors, a factor responsible for the many applications of the exercise.
The purpose of this article is to point out the many athletic applications of this dynamic movement. Some of them are strength based and some are related to endurance training needs, but most can be directed toward intense power output. I will present a thorough, but by no means exhaustive list of sports and training applications based on these three modes of training and will follow up the list with some workouts that can be used to achieve the desired outcomes.
The Kettlebell Swing and/or the Resistance Band Kettlebell Swing can assist significantly in the following goals and movements
Strength-Speed Applications
- To assist in the final pull and finish in the deadlift by focusing on glute activation and intense contraction (moving a heavy kettlebell with significant speed)
- Strengthening glutes and hamstrings for middle and long distance runners to increase stride length and frequency
- Knee protective movement to strengthen the posterior kinetic chain in all athletes
Endurance Applications
- Increasing endurance for middle distance runners
- Increasing endurance for field sport athletes that involve continuous activity (soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, etc.)
- Increasing endurance for combat sports (MMA, boxing, judo, wrestling, tae kwon do, kickboxing, etc.)
- Increasing strength-endurance for triathletes
- Increasing strength-endurance for crossfit athletes
- Increasing speed-endurance for a 400 meter sprinter
- High repetition swings for back health as applied to all athletes
- Efficient fat loss technique to increase lean body mass in many athletes who require it for improved athletic performance
Power Applications
- Rebounding for basketball
- Jump shooting for basketball
- 2 ft. dunking for basketball
- Blocking a shot for basketball
- Rapidly coming out of a defensive stance and accelerating for basketball
- Diving for a ball
- Offensive lineman coming out of a 3 pt. stance to block
- Defensive lineman coming out of a 3 pt. stance to pursue an offensive player or fight off a block
- Wide receiver elevating to receive a pass
- Quarterback extending after receiving ball from the center
- Linebacker or defensive back driving low and hard on a tackle
- Approach and jump for a volleyball attacker
- Blocking at the net for volleyball
- Pursuing and digging a ball in the sagittal plane for a volleyball defender
- Jump top spin serve for a volleyball player
- Jump off the starting take off board for a swimmer
- Baseball infielder fielding a ground ball, extending at the hips and delivering ball to destination
- Baseball catcher coming out of stance and throwing ball to 2nd base to nail a base stealer
- Baseball outfielder leaping to catch a ball at the fence
- Baseball infielder leaping to catch a hard line drive
- Field sport athlete accelerating to the ball
- Soccer goalie leaping to defend an attack on goal
- The tennis serve
- Explosive hamstring and glute drive for a sprinter
- Explosive hip extension for a high jumper
- Take down power for a wrestler in a low stance
- Rapid hip extension on back flips and back hand springs for gymnasts
- Rapid hip extension on back flips for a diver
- To improve the standing broad jump for a combine athlete
Workout Tips
Strength and hip extension groove for powerlifter
1 x 20 with lighter kettlebell (2 min rest between all sets)
4 x 10 with heavy kettlebell
1 x 30 with lighter kettlebell
Strength-Endurance for MMA Fighter
3 x 3 min of 1-arm swings (alternate when desired) 1 min rest between sets
For Vertical Power
1 x 20 with lighter kettlebell
3 x 10 with resistance band attached (heavier KB) 2 min rest between sets
For Speed-Endurance (400 m sprinter)
1 x 20 with no resistance band
4 x 15 with resistance band attached (45 sec rest between sets)
There you have it! Some real reasons to incorporate kettlebell swings into your workout and some basic workout patterns to follow for your type of sporting activity!
Start Swinging!!
