If there is a single prerequisite to using kettlebells, it is learning how to hinge. Without a proper hip hinge, you cannot safely or effectively deadlift, swing, clean, snatch, or otherwise properly protect your spine or recruit the posterior chain muscles (back, glutes, hamstrings, even calves).
1. Dowel Hinge
A. Assume your jumping stance. (This is typically the same as hip-width, but you can also jump up and down in place a few times - wherever your feet land is your jumping stance! More often than not, this is the best stance from which to generate and absorb power through the floor, as it vertically stacks the ankles, knees, hips and shoulders.)
B. Reaching one hand over the shoulder and one hand under, secure the dowel in place behind your back, in line with your spine. Establish three points of contact: back of the head, mid-upper back, and tailbone. The goal throughout the dowel hinge is to maintain all three points of contact, which collectively indicate a consistently neutral spine. Often, a first timer will initiate the movement by flexing from the lumbar spine - immediately peeling the dowel or broomstick off of the tailbone and then upper back, leaving only one point of contact as the spine turns into a C-shape. If this happens, don’t panic - stand up, reset, stick out the chest a bit - play around with it until you learn to move from the hips, keeping the back consistent. Think of your hips as a literal hinge - it’s called a Hip Hinge for a very good reason!
2. Wall Hinge
Another equipment-less option is to set up just in front of the wall, facing away, with your hands on your hips to remind you that they are your point of flexion. Stick your rear end straight back, until your tailbone makes contact with the wall. Stand up. Take a small step forward and repeat, feeling a little more stretch in the hamstrings this time. Continue until you have moved far enough away from the wall that your torso is parallel with the floor at the lowest point of your hinge - this as far as you’ll go. Keep that point in mind when you get to your kettlebell swing - the more you sit the hips back and fold the chest to face ground, the greater the potential for power in your swing. Think of it like stretching a rubber band - in this way, you are eccentrically loading the muscles of your posterior chain.
Final point of focus: remember to inhale at the top and exhale to stand - the same way you would exhale upon hip extension with a swing, clean or snatch.
Give these a try and focus on slow, smooth, crisp movement - even if you’re a pro hip hing-er, using either or both of these as a warm up to reinforce solid mechanics pre-lift or swing is never a bad idea. Have fun!
