Welcome to Day 1 of MX SWING
Building from the fitness, movement skills and results you achieved in MX URBAN & SAHARA, this is a more Intensive and technical workout and the first MX that uses ‘weights’. In this 6 week challenge you’ll end up leaner, more toned and athletic… but also more explosive and functionally strong. In addition, you will build your kettlebell confidence by learning all the major Kettlebell moves you see people do.. along with whole bunch you’ve never seen before!
I want you to feel empowered and confident. The best way to do that is not just to give you great results, but to help you learn how to be your own trainer.. I had this in mind when I created MX SWING back in the summer of 2025 so expect to learn as well as to sweat. Also, please note no Models where used/harmed during the making of this workout – i just filmed it myself in my back garden.. 🙂
Why Kettlebells
MX SWING uses Kettlebells for every single exercise. I love kettlebells. I authored a nationally accredited Kettlebell Instructor qualification for personal trainers over 15 years ago and they are my favorourite piece of gym kit. You can use them for weight loss, strength, endurance, cardio, power and coordination. They lend themselves to working movements rare than just muscles – so are highly functional, help with injury prevention and athletic prowess. As Methodology X™ expands and evolves (this is the 3rd MX program) I want you to be exposed to more equipment and build your exercise knowledge and training repertoire. This program saves as an opportunity for me to teach you new stuff and for you to treat your body to fantastic results.
A short history of the Kettlebell
Technically- we will never know! Artifacts from ancient Greece suggest that Kettebells have longer history than we realise. We do know that farmers in Germany, Russia and Scotland used Kettleell shaped objects to help weighing crops as well as for fitness… But it’s really Russia who took Kettlebells to their heart.. and for the last 300 years or so Kettelbells have been slowly growing into Soviet Physical culture. In 1948 the first Kettlebell competition was run in Moscow and heavy Kettlebell Snatches and Swings have became a standardised training drills for Soviet armed forces ever since.
I used my first kettlebell in the late 90’s when I was working as a Strength & Conditioning coach in New York… but I had no idea what to do with it! In the early 2000’s the Soviet Special Forces physical training instructor & fitness expert Pavel Tsatsouline became somewhat instrumental in the popularity in the West thanks to his popular Kettlebell books and DVD’s. Now Kettlebells are everywhere. I have no data on this but my hunch is with so many of us training at home during the pandemic, I’m sure Kettekeblls are now more used than ever in history.
There are many different types of kettlebells out there. (FYI For many years in USSR/Russia only came in 16, 24 or 32kg variations. Over there they are often referred to as Poods which is unit of measurement for Kettlebells . One Pood was 16kg(ish). So if you really want to be pretentious.. rather than telling people you did a 24kg kettlebell Swing – you can say you did a 1.5 Pood Swing). Nowadays you can get anything from 2kg to 96kg Kettlebells. For reference, I have around bunch of kettlebells, including plate loaded one that goes up to 70kg which I never use. The heaviest one I use regularly is 40kg, but my 16’s and 24’s get by far the most usage.
There 3 main types are ‘Competition’ Kettlebells which tend to be the most expensive but are all the same dimensions regardless of weight and are usually better made), you have iron ones with nickel coated handles, which are cheaper but can actually be easier on the wrist than competition bells. (These are the ones I use for the animated demonstrations in this program) and you have ‘Soft’ ones made of iron fillings or sand – these are the most forgiving and are great if training on unprotected floors. However it’s hard to find ones above 10kg. You can also buy adjustable kettlebells which are fantastic for saving space & money – however they often don’t feel as good to hold.
What size Kettlebell should you use?
You need you to have two Kettelbells of the same weight to use this program. You will need a range of weights as you’ll probably be able to do much more with your lower body than upper body. If you’re doing this workout at a decent gym then this is no issue. For those training at home, I would ether get two adjustable Kettelbells or get a pair of 8kg and a pair of 12’s. For those of you that can deadlift your bodyweight or above then I would also invest in a pair of 16’s for lower body stuff and a 20-24kg for the Swings variations.
If you are familiar with Kettelbell training already then you can trust your on judgement . If you can get youth hands on Kettlebell during a particular day or when travelling, then you can use Dumbbells, Tribells and Sandbells. This should be a very temporary measure though as many of the combo moves will feel awkward and you’ll definitely miss out on results when we do any of the ballistic exercises.
FYI – You may want to use ‘Kettlebell Guards’ which are wrist supports with added plastic protection – these can very useful for beginners, particularly when doing ‘Cleans’. For any questions regarding brands and equipment, just ask me inside the Fitness Hub.
Todays Assignment
Please take you time to fill in the form below. Your only actual physical training today is to do four exercises so as to prepare your body for what lies ahead!
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MX SWING is an intensive 6 week fitness plan. Training gets harder, more frequent and more intense as time goes on.
You must stick to the order of exercises and the order of the entire program if you want to maximise results. The real art and science of creating a safe, effective program lies in program design. Thanks to YouTube and Insta, we can all see fun new exercises to try out, but it’s only through following a progressive, intelligently designed program do we get real results.
For every exercise in MX SWING there are two levels of difficulty: standard and advanced, which determines how many sets & reps you are asked to do as well as recommended modifications if the technique feels too hard (or too easy) to perform. Therefore each exercise has four variations in total. This mirrors the anti-bordeom design of my MX Sahaha workout. Information on the aesthetic and athletic benefits, performance techniques and recommended modifications are all accessible by clicking the appropriate button below the exercise video (or next to it, if you are reading this on a computer). As with any exercise program, take your time and really try to master each move. Like with other MX programs, please progress in your time and at your own pace. Please be patient with yourself, there are many new exercises in here and it’s more complex than MX URBAN and MX SAHARA. Most days will take 50-60 minutes or so to complete.
Please always stay hydrated, neither starving or full up and clear some space. Turn up the volume of your curated MX Spotify playlists and have fun!.
All Methodology X™ workouts have a clear philosophy and a defined goal: to marry achieving specific aesthetic results in an athletic and empowering way. Doing any MX workout will help you fall in love with exercise and your body. Kettlebells are unique training tool that can be used like dumbbells for all matter of moves, thus adding more traditional strength training into the mix.. but more importantly you can also do explosive and ballistic movements similar to that of Olympic weight lifting. As the weight sits below the you grip, where you do fast movements the weight kind of drags you with it! so you’ll develop your core and the relevant muscles to quickly decelerate, hold positions isometrically and use muscles you’ve rarely used before as anti-rotators.
Aside from plethora of athletic benfits t, this program is designed as to optimise weight loss while also building lean muscle. I have received focus on quads as with all other MX programs (I fin women wads grow vert quickly and having big legs while fun is not the fashion model aesthetic MX strives towards. I’ve put emvpohas on oblique, flutes, hamstrings, arms and back.. You will not get big with this program. (if you want that than a traditional bodybuilding program, will be better for you) but you will get stringer and get a leaner , more defined and firmer physique.
Am a treating you just exaclty the same as fashion model client who’s preparing for global swimwear campaign. I tested all the elements of this program out for the last 12 month with some of the worlds most recognisable Models. I’d like to thanks my friends Fran Summers (represented by Elite) and Dasha Angelova (Represented by Storm) for being such bad-ass clients and whose progress directly inspired my writing of MX Swing.
Me! (as usual)
Dan x
Day 1's Assignment: Do these four drills
LET'S GET GOING.
Seesaw Row
3 sets of 20 reps (Alternating)
Take 30 seconds rest between sets. ‘Rest between sets’ will be referred to as ‘rbs’ from now on.
Athletic Benefits
- Develops strength and endurance in core and lower body.
- Improves coordination and balance.
Beauty Benefits
- Reduces overall body fat.
- Tones glutes, hamstrings and quads (without bulking).
Starting Position
- Start in a standing position with one foot on a glider. Push the ball of the foot in middle of the gliding disk.
Technique
- Slide back into a reverse lunge and sink that back knee towards the floor.
- Maintain an upright posture, then slide back and all the way through into a front lunge.
- Repeat. One rep is counted as a complete back-forward movement. Aim for fluidity and grace…and breathe.
Easier: Slow down the movement to 50% of the normal speed and reduce range of movement to 80% of your max.
Harder: Close your eyes! Make sure no one is around you as you’ll probably slide off somewhere. This makes the move more about balance, improving your kinaesthetic awareness and is a perfect way of practicing mindfulness.
REST 30 SECONDS
Advanced Glider Pikes
3 sets of 15 reps | 45s rbs
Athletic Benefits
- The ball pike exercises in MX Urban are always cited as being tough, so here’s an even harder version for you.(Yes, you are welcome!)
- Strengthens your abs, chest, shoulders, core and glutes.
- Direct performance application for sprinting, cycling and gymnastics (I use it to help me teach handstands).
- Improves your coordination, muscular control & hamstring flexibility.
Beauty Benefits
- Abs and hamstrings develop more tone and definition – they are the key accessory muscles of the booty!
- As so many muscles are working, this is great for fat burning.
Starting Position
- Begin in a press up position with both feet on a glider.
Technique
- This is very challenging, so just do your best.
- Do the press up as low as you can and maintain a flat back.
- Then slide in with straight legs while driving your hips up.
- Get as high as possible, ideally so the torso is above your shoulders.
- Hold for a second up there and then slide back down and repeat.
- Breathe steadily throughout the movement.
- Easier: Eliminate the press-up component.
- Harder: Really! Well, if you need a bigger challenge then when you get into the top position, lift your legs off into a handstand, hold for 3 seconds and then control drop down onto gliders, slide back and repeat. If you can do this, then please share it with our social team on Insta @methodology_x as that’s seriously difficult and we simply must celebrate you!
Muay Thai Knee Strikes
Standard: 2 sets of 12 reps (swap sides after each set) | 30s rbs
Advanced: 2 sets of 20 reps | 10 rbs
Athletic Benefits
- Develops lower body power and cardiovascular health.
- Strengthens core, ab and glutes.
- Improves coordination.
- Teaches real fighting skills! Aim for thighs, groin or ribs in a self-defense situation.
Beauty Benefits
- Burns fat
- Tones glutes
Starting Position
- Stand upright with left leg forward and hands up in fighting stance.
Technique
- Jump up and swap feet so left foot is now backwards.
- Drive hips & knee up and forward into an imaginary target.
- As you do this throw your upper body backwards while driving arms diagonally down in unison (this replicates grabbing an opponents head/neck in the martial art of Muay Thai)
- After striking, bring foot back to starting position.
- Jump, and repeat on other side and then repeat.
- Please note that one rep is one strike.
Easier: Step between strikes rather than jump.
Harder: Add in one deep body squat after every strike. This is so hard, but great for building endurance.
Yoga Flow
Standard: 3 sets of 8 reps | 30s rbs (rest between sets)
Advanced: 3 sets of 10 reps | 10 rbs
Athletic Benefits
- Stretches out back of legs, back and abs.
- Improves core.
- Develops movement grace.
- Mildly strengthens core, abs, wrists and shoulders.
- Serves as a cool down for today’s workout.
Beauty Benefits
- Very mild toning of abs and shoulders.
Starting Position
- Cobra position with head back.
- Arms locked so chest off floor and abs stretched out.
Technique
- Float hips up into a pike position.
- Flow into (half) Child’s Pose by bending knees.
- Flow back into Pike position.
- Sink hips down into Cobra starting position.
Easier: Loose the flow. Hold each position for 3 seconds.
Harder: When in the childs pose position, jump back then jump in (so basically adding squat thrust into the mix) but maintain the fluid vibe of this move please as it still needs to be cool down style drill.
Well done!
Tomorrow you’ll be doing the first themed workout from our repertoire: the Be Sassy Workout. Aside from being longer, from tomorrow onwards you will notice curated Spotify playlists helping you stay motivated and there is also an ‘advanced’ option for every exercise. This is perfect for when you are doing multiple cycles of MX SAHARA.