Greetings. I'm enjoying a book, Pillars of Wellness, by Dr. Matt Chalmers, which has some great advice regarding health, nutrition, and fitness except for one thing: attributing to the kettlebell swing a high risk of disc degeneration. I will paste his quote below, and I invite everyone's help in debunking
this reasoning. My guess is that he's basing his theory on what can happen when swings are performed improperly. Since I'm not conversant enough in biomechanics to identify the flaw in the reasoning, though, I wanted to invite comments from experts here on the forum, as well as from those who have been doing swings for decades and can speak from personal experience about the condition of their spine.
"Kettlebell Swing. There is probably no other exercise I tell people to avoid more than this one. This exercise violates the rules of lifting, which are that you must be slow and controlled. If your reps are slow and controlled, you can stop whenever you want. You cannot stop a kettlebell swing. In fact, I often tell people that the number one way to know if you’re not lifting properly is if you are swinging the weight instead of lifting it. If you do a hip pop and then let go of the weight, it would be less of an issue. When you catch the weight, too much force goes into the lower spine and pelvis, which can cause discs to wear down over time and develop issues. Just because you don’t “feel the pop” when you are doing this exercise does not mean that it can’t contribute to an injury or degeneration."--Dr. Matt Chalmers, Pillars of Wellness.