One other month, one other viral TikTok health problem. The most recent one? Doing 100 kettlebell swings a day for 30 days. Proponents say that this routine could make you “leaner, stronger, and sooner,” within the phrases of 1 fan, however as we all know from earlier social media health developments (taking a look at you, 75 Laborious), on-line health recommendation isn’t all the time as much as snuff.
Kettlebell swings, to be clear, are 100% legit—they’re a staple lower-body train for good purpose. “Kettlebells are top-of-the-line instruments for each mobility and power, so that you get a double whammy [of workout benefits],” Maggi Gao, CPT, an authorized kettlebell teacher and health coach primarily based in New York Metropolis, tells SELF. The kettlebell swing works the muscle tissues on the again of your physique (known as the posterior chain), significantly your glutes and hamstrings, which makes it an particularly nice train for anybody who spends most of their day sitting. The movement of the swing additionally trains hip mobility and lumbar (again) stability, which signifies that whenever you’re doing it correctly, this train will strengthen your again in a secure approach—no bending, flexing, or twisting required. As an explosive motion, it additionally helps prepare energy and offers you a very good cardio exercise. And at last, it’s an excellent lower-body train to do when you have knee ache. In contrast to lunges and squats, which contain a whole lot of bending and straightening of the knees, the motion within the kettlebell swing comes out of your hips.
However…must you do 100 of ’em? Lengthy story brief: It is dependent upon your stage of expertise, Gao says. For those who’re accustomed to kettlebells—say, you steadily embody them in your exercises and really feel such as you’ve received the shape down pat—doing 100 swings a day isn’t a half-bad thought, she says. In actual fact, it’s even one thing she recommends to purchasers, significantly these with packed schedules: “It’s nice for rising endurance and power, particularly for those who simply need to get a bit of little bit of motion in every single day, as a result of it’s not going to take up a whole lot of time,” Gao says. “You get actually good bang to your buck.”
For folks merely scrolling by way of TikTok, seeing the problem, and considering it could be an effective way so as to add new motion into their day? Properly, that’s one other story. For those who aren’t already working with kettlebells, doing 100 swings a day is inadvisable, in response to Gao. “It’s like beginning to run 5 miles every single day whenever you haven’t carried out any operating earlier than,” she says. For one, you’ll be setting your self up for burnout. In relation to any sort of exercise, going from zero to 1 hundred (actually, on this case) shouldn’t be sustainable.
What’s extra, it may also be harmful, in response to Gao—it’s placing a ton of latest pressure in your physique and probably setting you up for harm. That’s as a result of a kettlebell swing is a reasonably superior motion, and for those who begin cranking out reps earlier than you get the shape down, you would damage your decrease again and neck, or pressure your shoulders.