Kettlebell Swings

Ok this post isn't exactly about kettlebell swings but just about swings in general. I started doing swings intermittently with my athletes about a year ago but I never really gave them much of a chance myself. We used dumbbells with our athletes because it was all we had. They were ok but I didn't think that much of them. Fast forward to January 13th, 2017 at the GSCA Strength clinic. Sherman Ledford of quest-nutrition.com gives me a loading pin to try out. I was going to use it for carries much like you do for stones in strongman. I have used broken barbell sleeves before in the same manner and really liked doing the carries for conditioning and abdominal strength. But then I had an idea. I attached a D handle from one of my blast straps and started swinging. It felt ok although I didn't really know if it was ok or not. For the record, Sherman didn't endorse using the loading pin in that manner. I started over a week ago doing 100 swings per day with different rep schemes and weights. I've gone up to 100lbs for 20 reps and although there is some hand discomfort (more on that in a minute), you can really feel it working the glutes. In fact, I didn't feel it anywhere else other than my lungs. The hand discomfort was something that was going to be a limiting factor though. The D handle isn't quite big enough for my hands so the pain of it pushing against my fingers was annoying. And this is coming from a guy who deadlifts with a hook grip and has the thumbs to prove it. So I started looking around the weight room for an alternative. I never throw anything away for just such an occasion. I have some old reactor sled belts that are absolutely awful for pulling sleds. In fact, they are so awful that when I googled a picture to put on here, I couldn't find one. If you are in a program that squats and cleans, you have no shot at getting them over your butt in order to pull the sled. Each of the belts is basically a thick seat belt that loops through a metal ring. I got the idea to use this from the Spud Kettlebell Strap. I know at some point I will buy one of these but in the meantime I wanted to see if this would work since I already have 10 that are just sitting around. Turns out they work quite well and are much more comfortable on my hands. I worked up to 75lbs for 20 reps and had no discomfort at all. Here is a video from the loading pin. https://youtu.be/dfPuaklTeeU?t=3s The thing that has me really excited is doing them for conditioning and fat loss. As a former offensive lineman and long time offensive line coach, I despise just about all types of running. This allows me to do my conditioning without going anywhere. I've set a goal of 100 swings per day for the foreseeable future. I am hoping for an increase in my deadlift and the shedding of some body fat. After a week of doing these everyday, I am now convinced that they will become a staple in training my athletes.

Update-I finally made a copy of the Hungarian Core Blaster.