Legs · Bodyweight
Bodyweight Swing
How to do the bodyweight swing, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Hinge
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms hanging in front of you. Hinge at the hips, swinging your arms back between your legs, then thrust your hips forward to drive your arms up to chest height. Let the momentum come from your hips, not your shoulders.
- 1Feel your hips and glutes powering the swing through the arc
- 2Keep your core engaged and shoulders packed as you hinge and snap
- 3Let your arms float up at chest height, driven by the hips
Common mistakes
- Avoid squatting the movement; hinge at the hips
- Don't lift with your arms; momentum should come from the hip thrust
- Avoid overextending your back; stop at neutral
Muscles worked
The bodyweight swing mainly works the glutes and hamstrings, with the lower back, forearms, upper abs, quads, and side delts assisting.
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsPrimary
- Lower BackSupport
- ForearmsSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- QuadsSupport
- Side DeltsSupport
Kovo programs the bodyweight swing for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More glutes exercises
- How to do the agility ladder drill
- How to do the airdyne bike
- How to do the arc trainer
- How to do the assault bike
- How to do the medicine ball atlas stone lift
- How to do the b stance hip thrust
Last reviewed June 2026.