Legs · Kettlebell
Kettlebell Side Swing
How to do the kettlebell side swing, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Kettlebell
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Hinge
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand with feet shoulder-width, holding a kettlebell in one hand in front of your hips. Hinge at the hips to let the bell swing back between your legs, then snap your hips forward to drive it out and up toward the side at shoulder height before letting it fall back into the next rep.
- 1Your hips and glutes powering the bell through the arc
- 2A tight core and packed shoulder as you hinge and snap
- 3The bell floating at the top with a relaxed arm
Common mistakes
- Squatting the movement instead of hinging at the hips
- Lifting with the arm rather than the hip drive
- Overextending the back at the top of the swing
Muscles worked
The kettlebell side swing mainly works the glutes and hamstrings, with the lower back, obliques, forearms, upper abs, lower abs, quads, and side delts assisting.
- GlutesPrimary
- HamstringsPrimary
- Lower BackSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- ForearmsSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- QuadsSupport
- Side DeltsSupport
- LatsMinor
- Front DeltsMinor
Kovo programs the kettlebell side 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.