Kettlebell swings are one of the best exercises out there for developing power, flexibility, explosiveness, and cardiovascular conditioning. But a steady diet of just ‘standard’ Swings can be, well, a little bored.

The good news is that there are actually quite a few variations of the standard two-handed kettlebell swing. The DARC Swing is a variation where you switch hands at the top of the movement between each rep. Here are a couple of tips to help you perfect the DARC Swing exercise:

1. As you learn the move, keep your “out” hand (the one you’re about to switch to) up and ready to switch. This makes it easier to “pluck” the kettlebell out of the air when you release it with one hand and grab it with the other.

2. You need to have your Swing hand down cold before attempting the heads-up swing. Everything in kettlebell training starts with the swing, and the two-handed version is exercise #1. #1 you should be looking to dominate. The logical progression is Two-Handed Swing, One-Handed Swing, and later the melee swing.

If you don’t have a hand, turn down before when trying the melee version you usually end up too focused on switching hands and your form gets all lifted: loses hip movement, abdomen brace, ends up swinging the bell to close it against the ground, etc.

If you don’t already include the DARC Swing in your kettlebell workouts, you should add it as soon as possible for variety and bigger gains. I hope this kettlebell training tips article gets you in the right direction with the DARC Kettlebell Swing!