One of my favorite kettlebell exercises to enhance speed.

The kettlebell swing. Why?

It’s a great total body exercise but when talking about speed develppment it directly ties in because of hip extension.

When accelerating you increase your speed by triple extension, which is simultaneous extension of the hips, knees, and ankles. The stronger and more powerful you can make this, the faster you will accelerate and the faster you’ll become.

I try to incorporate kettlebell swings at least once a week into my training regimen. It helps to keep my hips strong and reinforce the hip extension that is needed for sprinting.

There are many variations you can do with it as well. Including single arm, alternating arms, and so on. I do like to mix in those every now and then but for me and my athletes I like using two arms and focusing on the hip extension throughout.

This exercise has numerous benefits and I have just highlighted one as it relates to speed development.

I’ll be posting more exercises and tips for athletes coming up. Stay tuned!

David Banko