Many fitness experts agree that performing 300 kettlebell swings a day is an excellent way to lose weight fast. There are suggestions on how you should break the reps up as well as 300 swing challenges. Almost no one suggests doing them all in one go. Sure, that’s possible but not realistic for the average person to do day after day. I’ve found the best way is to do them in one workout session in intervals.
What Is Interval Training
Interval training for fitness and health has become popular over the years because of its effectiveness and approach. Instead of working out with no rest or taking a break when fatigued, rest periods are structured. When it comes to kettlebell training this typically involves performing exercises for X amount of seconds followed by Y amount of seconds to rest.
For instance, one method called Tabata usually suggests working out for 20 seconds and then resting for 10 seconds. This is considered a round. Most popular workouts call for somewhere between 8 and 10 rounds. That means you’re only spending about 4 to 5 minutes performing that set of exercises. Certainly not a long time which is why you’ll likely be asked to perform 2 or 3 additional sets of different exercises.
Breaking up your workload in such a manner not only gives some brief recovery for your body but also your mind. What may appear to be an easy workout will slowly test your endurance as you progress in the later rounds. You’ll begin to look forward to those precious seconds of rest. The benefit is that your heart rate will remain elevated while giving your body intermittent breaks.
300 Kettlebell Swings In Just 17 Minutes
For the purpose of this kettlebell workout, the format follows an EMOM-style structure. That is to say, a certain number of swings should be done every minute on the minute. However, the way I’ve set it up is to do these swings every 30 seconds (not minute) and use the remaining time to rest. I guess one could call it EHMOHM (half-minute) but that just seems ridiculous!
So how many swings per 30 seconds you’re probably wondering? Only 10! Seems like a breeze right? It starts off that way in the beginning but by the end, you’ll be huffing and puffing. I’ll explain my reasoning for this set up later but for now here’s the break down:
Workout Details
- Use your standard kettlebell weight (35 lbs. for me)
- Do 10 kettlebell swings continuously in 30 seconds
- Repeat for 10 rounds (300 seconds or 5 minutes total)
- Rest for 1 minute
- Repeat the above items in order 2 times
The way I like to think about it is you’re doing 100 swings in 5-minute chunks. Each set is followed by a 1 minute recovery period to catch your breath. Obviously, resting after the final set is a given and not factored into the overall time. When it’s all said and done you’ll reach your 300 kettlebell swings in a mere 17 minutes.
The reason for setting it up this way
I wanted to create a program that could be repeated every day indefinitely. Performing kettlebell swings in larger sets in a shorter time I found was too taxing on my body. Last year I did 100 consecutive kettlebell swings a day for over 5 months. That was just the right amount and I couldn’t imagine increasing that for such a long duration.
More recently, I got the idea to do 30 swings each hour to hit that magical 300 number. Suffice to say, it didn’t pan out the way I hoped. Why? Because life got in the way. Things happen that require your attention and it was hard to remain consistent. Rather, it’s much easier to put the work in quickly and get it out of the way.
Perhaps easier isn’t the best term to use. More manageable for sure but you’re still pushing yourself with a lot of reps in under 20 minutes. I find that completing the first set is no problem. By the second set, I’m in the groove and feeling it. During the 3rd and final set, I want to be finished already!
The beauty of it is that by that same time the following day I’m fully recovered and ready to go. Initially, I didn’t have any 1-minute breaks in between sets. That proved too much for me to handle and therefore not realistic to repeat daily. Those breaks are just enough time to prepare for the next set and keep going during the workout and for the long haul.
Keeping track of rounds, sets, and breaks
Since there are so many parts to this 300 kettlebell swing workout, using a clock to track progress isn’t recommended. Fortunately, there is a free android and IOS app called Flex Timer that is easy to program. There are many options that might confuse you if you’re unfamiliar with the app. Follow the below steps to create the timer as I’ve done for this workout.
Flex Timer Programming
- Select Intervals as the timer type
- Set the Intervals to 10 x 30 seconds (leave rest between intervals & groups to none)
- Go back to timer options and chose 3 Repetitions
- Set the Rest between repetitions to 1:00
- Choose Interval for the Flex Timer status shows option
- Direction (up or down) is your preference – I like “up”
- Be sure that the Additional Options are all off otherwise reminders will become annoying (Prelude can be set to whatever to allow time to position yourself)
Suggestions for dealing with fatigue or soreness
There may be some days where you’re not feeling 100% and believe that taking an off-day is the only choice. Keep in mind that getting those 300 kettlebell swings in is the primary goal. It’s okay to drop down to a lighter weight once in a while. Over the course of two weeks, I recall switching out my 35 lb. kettlebell for a lighter 25 lb. bell once. I wasn’t happy about it but I knew I’d be more upset by skipping a day.
After that, it dawned on me that instead of always doing 2-handed swings I could alternate arms after each round. By only doing 10 swings before switching neither arm was overused. The additional rest for the idle arm was very beneficial! This alternative helped when the occasional blister popped up during the previous 2-hand swing workout as well.
What’s Your 300 Kettlebell Swing Goal?
When I was redesigning this site I wanted a workout routine that was quick, no-frills, and effective. I love the variety of kettlebell exercises that allow for a virtually unlimited number of creative kettlebell workouts. However, I simply did not have the time to properly absorb new routines and thus the reason for this simple program.
Maybe you’re in a similar situation. Or perhaps you just want to see results and don’t care about variety. If so, how long do you plan on doing 300 kettlebell swings a day? I truly believe that with my method you may go as long as you desire without wearing down. Whatever you decide I’d love to hear about in the comments below!
