Not at all. A kettlebell swing is a fucking bitch of a motion and when you do 50 of them in a row, it is an incredible cardio and muscular endurance exercise. I did 206 KB snatches in 10 minutes this past summer and I was completely gassed. Doing sets of 50 would get you up to around 2-4 minutes, depending on the exercise, so sets like that can be used for VO2Max training.

I think my body is completely fucked up or something because squatting hurts my back more than deadlifts. My center of mass/gravity gets thrown off doing squats so I have to lean forward a bit in order to stay balanced and my squat ends up turning into a Good Morning. It caused more wonkyness in my back doing 135 pounds than doing 265 pound deadlifts did, both at the time and the day after. I did that yesterday, another PR. I'm going to have to start plateauing soon.

I've been skipping rope a lot lately for cardio. I'm hoping to be able to get up to pace soon enough to use it as an intense form of cardio but it's hard to do that when you can only skip for like 2 minutes straight before your feet stop hopping. mahalo
~Chach~

I disagree, there are definite exercise that doing high reps for provide real benefits are not pointless. Running is such an overrated form of cardio. Running is great if it is actually apart of the activity you are preparing for. Having kettlebell swings as the main form of cardio is not going to be a great fit for someone trying to train for a triathlon (although I have read articles recently saying that swings can improve your running time) but likewise, jogging is not always the best fit either. Jogging/running trains your body to become as efficient as possible when it comes to energy output. I shaved almost three minutes off of my 5k time from last October because I improve my technique, lost a few pounds, and was in better shape. And now when I run, unless I all out spirt, I have a hard time getting my pulse over 130. Today I was doing sets of 25 KB swings and they REALLY taking a cardio toll when you do them correctly. My pulse would hit 150 after just 25 so you're looking at a good cardio work-out if you are doing sets of 25 or 50 swings a piece. Plus you still get a strength training element out of it as well. Two years ago when I stopped going to the gym, I was deadlifting 135 pounds. I probably could have done 150 if I had shitty technique. Saturday I did a full set at 265 pounds with strict form. There is no way that training deadlifts the last three weeks is what caused that double bump. Almost all my strength training the past years has been kettlebells and mostly high rep exercises as well. They played a bit role in getting me into the physical shape I am in and the strength I am in. All of those swings and cleans and snatches have produced some powerful hips. I'm not saying all exercises are suited for this. Raft is absolutely right that doing high reps on something like a bicep curl is simply pumping lactic acid. But if you are doing multi-plane, explosive exercises like swings, cleans, and snatches, high reps can improve your strength and give you a cardio work-out that beats running. Unless you love running or it is a main component of your sport or game, it shouldn't be the main focus of your conditioning. mahalo
~Chach~