The Dumbbell Swing is an overall conditioning exercise that works the lower body, midsection and upper body. Performed properly, there are few exercises which more effectively exhaust both strength and stamina without fatiguing a specific muscle group.
Online Personal Training Video: Dumbbell Swing
How To Do It
1. Begin in a standing position with your legs slightly wider than shoulder width. Your back should be neutral, with absolutely no hunch in it whatsoever. Hold one end of a dumbbell with both hands and straight arms, while keeping your shoulders back.
2. Simultaneously swing the dumbbell backward, between your legs, while squatting slightly. Your “squat” should be more like sitting back in a chair than a classic squat.
3. Remaining in constant motion, explode up with your legs while strongly contracting your gluteals and swinging the dumbbell forward in a natural, straight-armed arc.
4. The “snap” of your hips, created by the previous motion and strong gluteal contraction, will serve as the dumbbell’s prime mover.
5. Once the dumbbell reaches the end of its arc, somewhere between chest and eye level, allow it to swing naturally downward, between your legs as you squat, to begin the next repetition.
6. Do not pause before going into the next repetition.
Online Personal Trainer Tips
1. Avoid making the dumbbell swing an upper body exercise. Your hip snap and gluteal contraction should propel the dumbbell to the proper position.
2. DO NOT LEAN BACK. Your back should remain neutral, straight up and down throughout the execution of the exercise.
3. Look straight forward.
4. Many people continue the movement until the dumbbell is overhead. This is fine, so long as you remain within your skill level and performance capability. It bears mentioning that you must remain in complete control of the weight. Not completely controlling a weight that is overhead is undesirable to the say the least, with potentially dire consequences. Do so at your own risk.
