Can you do kettlebell swings with a dumbbell?

Yes. The hip hinge and hip snap are the same, and a study of 20 healthy young men that recorded seven shoulder muscles found largely similar activation in two-hand kettlebell and dumbbell swings. The main limit is load, since heavy dumbbells get too wide to pass comfortably between the legs.

How do you hold a dumbbell for swings?

Wrap both hands around the handle, one beside or over the other, with the dumbbell pointing along the path of the swing so it passes between your thighs. Some lifters instead hold a fixed dumbbell upright by the underside of its top head, and with a plate-loaded dumbbell the collars must be tight either way.

How high should the dumbbell go?

To about shoulder height, with the arms straight and roughly parallel to the floor. That is as high as a full hip snap carries it; swinging higher usually means the arms or lower back are lifting it, and taking it overhead is a different, more demanding variation.

How heavy should the dumbbell be?

Start with a weight you can swing to shoulder height for 10 to 15 smooth reps while finishing tall and without leaning back. When the dumbbells that still fit between your legs feel light, a Kettlebell Swing is the easier way to keep adding load.

Is this the same as the dumbbell swing in strength sport?

No. The dumbbell swing contested in all-round weightlifting is done with one arm, which stays straight as the dumbbell travels from between the legs to overhead. This version uses both hands and stops at shoulder height.

Dumbbell Swing

What Is the Dumbbell Swing?

Dumbbell Swing is a compound exercise that primarily targets the glutes and hamstrings, and also engages the lower back, adductors, quadriceps, abs and shoulders. It is a beginner-level movement in which one dumbbell, held in both hands, is swung back between the legs and then driven forward to shoulder height by a fast, powerful snap of the hips.

The swing trains hip power and conditioning at the same time. Each rep is a quick hip hinge: the hamstrings and glutes load as the bell travels back between the thighs, then fire hard to extend the hips and send it forward. Because the hips do the work and the arms only guide the weight, a set of swings can be kept going for many reps, which is why it shows up both as a power drill early in a session and as a conditioning finisher at the end.

The movement is the same as the Kettlebell Swing, and it is the usual way to train that swing when only dumbbells are available. The difference is the shape of the weight. A dumbbell's heads are wider than a kettlebell's bell, so a heavy dumbbell soon gets too big to pass comfortably between the thighs, and the dumbbell swing tends to be done with light to moderate loads. Once you outgrow the dumbbells that fit, the kettlebell is the better tool for heavy swings. This two-hand, shoulder-height swing is also different from the one-arm dumbbell swing contested in all-round weightlifting, where the arm stays straight and the dumbbell travels all the way overhead.

The Dumbbell Swing suits anyone who wants to build hip power, train the back of the body and raise the heart rate with a single piece of equipment. The skill it depends on is the hip hinge, so learn to push the hips back with a flat back first, then practice the slow version with a Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift or Kettlebell Deadlift before adding speed. The most useful thing to feel is the glutes finishing each rep: if the shoulders or lower back are working harder than the hips, the swing has turned into a lift with the arms.

Muscles Worked

MuscleActivation

Biceps Femoris: Primary
Gluteus Maximus: Primary
Erector Spinae: High
Semimembranosus: High
Semitendinosus: High
Adductor Magnus: Medium
Rectus Abdominis: Medium
Vastus Lateralis: Medium
Deltoid: Low
Latissimus Dorsi: Low

Instructions

Stand with your feet about hip to shoulder width apart, toes pointing forward or slightly out, with a dumbbell on the floor a little in front of you.
Hinge at the hips and grip the dumbbell's handle with both hands, so the dumbbell points forward and back rather than across your body. Check that the collars are tight on a plate-loaded dumbbell.
Brace your abs, keep your back flat and your knees softly bent, and hike the dumbbell back between your thighs so it passes behind your knees.
Drive your hips forward hard, squeezing your glutes, so the dumbbell floats forward on straight arms.
Let the dumbbell rise to about shoulder height, arms roughly parallel to the floor, as you finish standing tall with your knees straight and your ribs down.
Let the dumbbell fall, keeping your arms long, and wait until your forearms meet your body before pushing your hips back into the hinge.
Guide the dumbbell back high between your thighs with your back flat, then drive straight into the next rep.
Breathe out sharply as your hips snap forward and breathe in as you hinge back.
To finish the set, let the dumbbell swing back once more, slow it with your hips and set it down in front of you.

Common Mistakes

Squatting the swing
Bending the knees deeply and dropping the hips straight down turns the swing into a squat, takes work off the glutes and hamstrings and loads the quads and lower back instead.
Lifting with the arms
Raising the dumbbell with the shoulders instead of letting the hip snap float it up tires the shoulders and caps how much the hips can do.
Rounding the back at the bottom
Letting the spine curl as the dumbbell travels back between the legs puts the load on the lower back rather than the hips.
Leaning back at the top
Throwing the shoulders behind the hips to finish the rep arches the lower back, when the rep should end standing tall with the glutes squeezed.
Hinging too early
Pushing the hips back before the arms reach the body on the way down lets the dumbbell drag the torso forward and strains the lower back.
Swinging the dumbbell low
Letting the dumbbell drop toward the knees or floor instead of passing high between the thighs lengthens the lever on the back and can clip the knees.

Injuries

Dumbbell Swing is a medium risk exercise when performed with proper technique. The lower back takes most of the strain: rounding as the bell travels back between the legs, squatting the swing instead of hinging, or leaning back at the top to finish the rep all shift the work from the hips onto the spine. The shoulders and grip are the other weak points, since a heavy dumbbell pulls hard on the arms at the bottom and the hands have to hold a smooth handle at speed.

Keep the back flat and the knees only softly bent, let the bell travel back high between the thighs, and finish each rep standing tall with the glutes squeezed rather than arching the lower back. Choose a dumbbell light enough to swing without leaning back, check that a plate-loaded dumbbell's collars are tight before every set, and clear the space in front of you in case the weight slips. End the set as soon as the hips stop driving the bell and the arms or lower back start lifting it, which usually happens late in a long or timed set.

If you cannot hinge without the swing turning into a squat, regress to the Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift or Kettlebell Deadlift and rebuild the pattern slowly. To progress, move to a heavier Kettlebell Swing, then the Kettlebell Single-Arm Swing. Stop if you feel sharp or worsening low-back pain, pain that runs into the buttock or leg, or pinching at the front of the shoulder, and anyone with a recent disc injury or back surgery should get clearance from a healthcare professional before adding swings.

Overview

Primary Focus: Full body
Equipment: Dumbbell
Modality: Strength
Difficulty: Beginner

Alternative Exercises

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Can you do kettlebell swings with a dumbbell?: Yes. The hip hinge and hip snap are the same, and a study of 20 healthy young men that recorded seven shoulder muscles found largely similar activation in two-hand kettlebell and dumbbell swings. The main limit is load, since heavy dumbbells get too wide to pass comfortably between the legs.
Q: How do you hold a dumbbell for swings?: Wrap both hands around the handle, one beside or over the other, with the dumbbell pointing along the path of the swing so it passes between your thighs. Some lifters instead hold a fixed dumbbell upright by the underside of its top head, and with a plate-loaded dumbbell the collars must be tight either way.
Q: How high should the dumbbell go?: To about shoulder height, with the arms straight and roughly parallel to the floor. That is as high as a full hip snap carries it; swinging higher usually means the arms or lower back are lifting it, and taking it overhead is a different, more demanding variation.
Q: How heavy should the dumbbell be?: Start with a weight you can swing to shoulder height for 10 to 15 smooth reps while finishing tall and without leaning back. When the dumbbells that still fit between your legs feel light, a Kettlebell Swing is the easier way to keep adding load.
Q: Is this the same as the dumbbell swing in strength sport?: No. The dumbbell swing contested in all-round weightlifting is done with one arm, which stays straight as the dumbbell travels from between the legs to overhead. This version uses both hands and stops at shoulder height.