The Kettlebell Swing Simulator
There are various grips you can use to with a dumbbell for swinging, but I was never super comfortable with any of them. Mainly because if I loose my grip, the dumbbell is going to go flying threw the nearest wall of my apartment! While I would love to have a set of real kettlebell's (and Clubbells© for that matter), I never seem to have the funds.
This idea belongs to Dan John. If you haven't already check out his site, you have a treat coming. I highly recommend it. I got this idea from one of his Get Up! articles. I suggest checking out all of this Get Up! newsletters, and don't miss his Opus book. He has a wealth of information, and all the downloads are FREE.
Instructions on the basics of the simulator are in his Get Up volume 2 issue 7. It can be downloaded here. The only modification I made were to change the handles to 3" pipe. This makes it easier to miss the legs and when you grab the T and the handle, more closely resembles what a kettlebell grip would be. If you have really large hands, you might go a bit larger. For safety I recommend have the hand go over the edge just a bit. Be sure you grab as much of the T as possible. You could add tape, if needed. I also made the upright a 10" instead of 12" pipe. This makes the overall height very close to an actual kettlebell. I also added a pipe clamp to the top of the weight stack. That allows the performance of the full Crossfit swing technique. A video of the swing and a lot of other Crossfit exercises can be found here.
Happy Swinging!