Isn't the deadlift one of the most CNS exercises? As such, the deadlift should also raise basal metabolic rate quite a bit. Even if you don't burn that much during the exercise, you'll burn quite a bit more the rest of the day. In my personal experience, I always lose quite a bit of weight on weeks when I deadlift heavy.
KB swings are a high rep exercise. The goal is to keep working for minutes at a time without rest. No-one does only 5-8 swings.
But there's no reason why it can'be a low rep exercise, right? Although I sometimes go high reps when I've hit a plateau, I never do any lifts for more than 12 reps, unless I'm working the tibialis anterior or calves.
Deadlifts promote muscle building, provided you feed yourself sufficiently make that muscle. If you attempt to treat it as a weight loss exercise, you'll just be breaking down the muscle and not repairing it. You won't go very far down this road before you see the inanity of it. If you think you lost weight, fine...observational data with a bazillion other factors involved that you're not telling us about.
The data on the whole 'higher resting metabolism after working out' thing is solid but it points to a fairly minuscule effect. A few more calories burned per hour, which doesn't add up to a whole lot of fat loss. Of course what typically happens is people go home after working out and sit on the sofa longer than they normally would have, and reward themselves with a bag of chips so it cancels out anyway. I know you like to believe in this of course so don't let me burst your bubble! When it gets you to your 6 pack, do let us know!
(anyway, stop thinking about exercising your way to being lean. It helps but it's nothing compared to what diet can do as we've been over ad nauseum. For most people, anything they can by exercising they undo by eating too much of the wrong stuff...a tendency you certainly seem no more immune than anyone else to)
Yeah, KBs can be a low rep exercise, just like deadlifts can be a high rep exercise. IF YOU LIVE IN STUPID LAND. Ok, that's harsh. But think about why we designed these pieces of equipment. Think of how large a kettlebell would need to be for you to use it to build muscle for low reps. Think of how little weight there would have to be on a barbell for you to deadlift it non-stop for 5 minutes. Everyone who has thought about either of those approaches has deemed it counterproductive...if you can come up with a good reason I'd like to hear it. Kettlebells are for conditioning and stabilization/balance work with some strength thrown in, deadlifts are for strength only.
Front box-squats? Why not. They load up the quads rather than the glutes but in the short-term (i.e. while your shoulder recovers) there is probably no harm in that. Box squats should only be part of your squatting routine of course, not the whole thing. Go look at Louie Simmons' Westside barbell for programming tips there.
