Kettlebell Thread

Didn't see a kettlebell thread. I haven't done barbell lifts since the Rona Times started but have amassed a decent collection of kettlebells. Currently working on heavy double sets of presses and front squats. Over the summer I got my 5RM up from 24kg to 32kg. For back and grips I am just doing 100 1-hand swings of the heaviest bell I can with good form for time at the end of each workout.

Anyone else using kettlebells for strength? Any tips on how I can round out this workout/program? I'm trying to follow the Texas Method for my programming.

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  1. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I'm doing snatches with a 16kg and clean & jerks with a 24kg.

  2. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I am following simple stuff based on Dan John. Push/pull/hinge/squat/loaded carry.
    Week looks like this: 12121xx
    1)
    Clean&press
    Press variations (Seesaw press, Z press, half kneeling press, floor press, bent press)
    Snatch as a finisher
    2)
    One arm row
    Towel rows
    Farmer/suitcase/overhead/racked carry
    Deadlifts
    Swings

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Forgot double front squats at workout 1)

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Jeez, I would do snatch first. You know, the most technically demanding exercise first when you're fresh. Just my 2 cent

  3. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I just like swinging them. I do 200 swings at 16-24 kg 5 sets after a barbell workout.

  4. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    You checked out the Armour Building Complex? If you're doing double KB work, the ABC might be right up your street if it's not what you're doing already.

    Always worth mixing in your dips and chin-ups with kettlebell work if you're working out at home as well - the cost of a door frame bar and a couple of dip stands is definitely worth it, and you can also grab a belt to hang a KB off you as well.

    My current workout is simple as frick because I want to build my chin-ups; chin-ups following the Russian fighter progression program, and then half hour of either dips and swings (super-setting 5 and 15 respectively), or just clean & press. Had originally planned on doing every workout with just the chins and then dips/swings, but holy monotony batman.

  5. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Anyone here do Simple and Sinister? How were your results?

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      I would but I hate turkish get ups. People are generally happy with it because it’s effective and simple for what it is.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      I just got better at one handed swings and get-ups - might seem like a trite answer, but there it is. My endurance definitely increased from the swings, but I found TGUs have diminishing returns after a certain point, especially when you consider that pushing failure is a 100% no-no if you don't want to drop a kettlebell on your face. I'd absolutely do light TGUs as a warm-up if I didn't have to move furniture to find the floorspace, but I don't bother with them otherwise.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      I have and achieved Simple, and then Simple with a 36 and 40kg. I did it after my first round of Rite of Passage. My shoulders/press strength stayed as strong. My grip strength improved. It was very easy to stay consistent. Good program for BJJ and for just changing things up with the caveat I think you should be doing some form of heavy squat 2/3x per week, not only warm up squats like it says in the book.

      I probably wouldn’t do this program if I had access to a barbell though. I did it during Corona.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      I'll share my own results. It's quite good general s&c, so a good option for martial artists etc. I personally made it to the timed simple standard. Now I use an untimed simple as a warm up before my other lifts.

  6. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    Doing jump squats, one arm swings, and lateral swings

  7. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    They're a great finisher or a great warmup. Have never tried them on their own bc I have a full home gym so I don't really need to. I also find that when I do them too often I get sprains in my upper back. It might be because
    each time it happened I was doing 200+ swings 6 or 7 days a week on top of my normal lifting which already has a lot of upper back work.

    That said I'll be moving cross country soon so I'll need to pack up my gym for a little while. Whats a good routine/split with kettlebells and oly rings that'll let me keep as much strength as possible for when I get back to normal lifting?
    I have
    >2x16kg
    >1x20kg
    >1x24kg
    >2x32kg
    As far as explosive movements, I can currently only use the 32 for 1H swings but can press, clean, and snatch the 24

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Well from my experience (limited), I have done Simple and Sinister, Rite of Passage, Swing Swing Other Thing and also many cycles of Starting Strength and StrongLifts in the past.

      If you’re already strong the heavy double kettlebell front squats and clean and presses really seem like the bread and butter for strength training with heavy swings and pull-ups mixed in for conditioning and back work. IMO most other KB exercises are fads or not as good.

      To build overhead press strength you should do Rite of Passage. It’s in Pavel’s book “Enter the Kettlebell.” Or you can find it online. The goal is to use ladders/volume training to increase your clean and press strength a full kettlebell size (8kg) in 2-3 months.

      • 2 years ago
        Anonymous

        Here is ROP in case anyone wants to try it out. This is copy and pasted from: https://oaklandsmostpowerful.com/the-rite-of-passage-preview

        "The Rite of Passage Program"

        This is a well-known press program presented by Pavel in "Enter The Kettlebell!".

        Generally, start training with a kettlebell you can press 5-8 times, re-cleaning before each press. If you rest generously and as much as needed, you will be focusing on pure strength and neural adaptations. If you compress your rest intervals, you will focus more on hypertrophy (muscle-building).

        Day 1 (Heavy Day)
        Re-clean the kettlebell before each press.

        Start with 3 ladders of (1, 2, 3) reps. The second week, do 4 ladders. The third week, do 5 ladders. Stay with 5 ladders from now on.

        When you can do 5 x (1, 2, 3), keep the number of ladders at 5 and work up to 4 reps over the next 2-5 weeks. Rest as needed to keep every rep as crispy as the first. Typically, rest more before longer sets.

        When you can do 5 x (1, 2, 3, 4), keep the number of ladders at 5 and work up to 5 reps over the next 2-5 weeks. Rest as needed to keep every rep as crispy as the first. Typically, rest more before longer sets.

        When you can do 5 x (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), advance to a heavier kettlebell.

        Day 2 (Light Day)
        Re-clean the kettlebell before each press in the beginning. When you have developed solid technique in the clean, do one clean and multiple military presses from the shoulder.

        Do 5 ladders, 2 rungs shorter than on Day 1.

        Day 3 (Medium Day)
        Re-clean the kettlebell before each press.

        Do 5 ladders, 1 rung shorter than on Day 1.

        NOTE** you can also do pull-up ladders of equal number in between your presses; I did it this way, and it was pretty fun. By the end of the program you're doing 75 clean and presses and 75 pull-ups.

        • 2 years ago
          Anonymous

          This looks really good actually. Do you do it with one or two KBs? And if one, how do you balance the workload?
          Also, having run this yourself, how feasible do you think it would be to do additional upper body work on training days? Something like cycling through dips and rows alongside the pullups to balance out all the vertical movement?

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            I did it with one kettlebell and switched arms after every “rung” or set of every ladder. So 1 right, 1 left. 2 right, 2 left. Etc.

            Doubles would be harder due but will give you more gainz. Totally possible.

            I don’t think you’re going to have anything left for other training tbh. Maybe the first few weeks. But once you get into 5 ladders of 3,4&5 it gets absolutely brutal. And the workouts get pretty long if you’re lifting heavy enough and taking adequate rest. By the end of my cycle I was hitting almost two hours on heavy day.

            Again, starting with a few sets of heavy squats before the main workout, and mixing in pull-ups in between your clean and press sets, does make it much longer/harder but that’s how I recommend doing it.

            • 2 years ago
              Anonymous

              Ok, so with one bell you're basically doing twice as many ladders since you're doing each side. Sounds hellish.
              What weight did you start with and where did you end up? Right now I can C&P the 24 but can barely clean, much less press, the 32.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Hellish is a good way to describe it. But… it works. I began being able to press 28kg for 5 reps with difficulty. IMO this is the sweet spot. You want to start with a bell that you can lift (but not easily) for five. My one-rep max was the 32kg bell. At this weight, that is usually the case: if you can do 5 decent reps with one bell, the next 4kg size up will be your 1RM.

                After eight weeks I was able to easily press the 32kg decently for 5 reps. So I replaced my old working weight (28kg) with a new working weight of 32kg, and my new 1-rep max became 36kg (barely).

                If you’re trying to jump the full old school size gap if 8kg, the program is meant to make you strong enough so that when you take that big leap at the end you will be able to press the heavier bell for 1,2 or maybe 3 reps. This is enough to start a new cycle of the program with the heavier bell although it will take longer obviously

                tbh I think it is much easier to press one kettlebell than two. Two requires more whole body stabilization and strength. But I’m 100% sure you can do the program with either.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                Ty anon- super helpful. Last question- what do you do when you can't make the reps? Say you jump the full 8kg and now you can only press the bell once. Does that mean you would start at 3 rounds of 1, 1, 1? Then next week shoot for 4 ladders of 1, 2, 2? And so on?

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                I think you just do ladders of low reps until you get stronger… but honestly if you can do a full ROP workout of 5x(1,2,3,4,5) that probably isn’t going to happen.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                I mean, I'm a bit out of practice with KB presses but I just gave it a shot and I can do the 24 for about 8 clean reps. 10 if I grind the last few out. The 32 meanwhile doesn't budge from the rack position after I clean it. That said it isn't a huge obstacle- I'll just order a 28kg when I arrive at my new place and start from there.

                How do you guys deal with the kettlebells slamming smashing into your forearms when you do like a snatch or a clean? I always end up with hugr bruises from the rotating bell hitting more forearm. I may be moronic though

                Look up some yt videos for form. Essentially you slide your hand up into the handle once the kb is about the right height. It'll wrap around your wrist and the momentum will dissipate without smacking into you. It also helps, especially on cleans to pretent your upper arm is velcroed to your torso. You want it to be as close in as possible for the time the KB is above your hips since a closer bell is easier to manipulate.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                I think there's definitely something to be said for doing 4kg jumps instead of the 8kg. It's more money for the extra kettlebells, but the 8kg jump is pretty obnoxious. I tried it from 20kg to 28kg and straight couldn't press the new weight. Picked up a 24kg and was able to get things moving again.

              • 2 years ago
                Anonymous

                I know this very well. Tried to jump from 24Kg to 32Kg in press. Eventually I got there but it was pain in the ass at least.

          • 2 years ago
            Anonymous

            >Do you do it with one or two KBs?
            If you want to do double KB clean and press, try Geoff Neupert’s STRONG! It’s basically just ladders of double cleans and press + double front squats.
            https://www.strongfirst.com/brutally-strong-with-double-kettlebells/

  8. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >SPLAT
    >SPLAT
    >SPLAT

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Wish I had a workshop to cast kettlebells of different shapes myself.

  9. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    I did them for a while to reset after doing heavy barbell exercises for years. It was a nice reset. I did Turkish get ups with 54lbs, swings with 70lbs, and cleans/presses whenever I felt like it. I enjoyed it very much, and will probably switch to them once I'm done with barbell lifts. Maybe in my early to mid 30s. Either way, I love them.

  10. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    What's your favorite ressource about kettlebell? Asking for my noob self.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Used to be Valery Fedorenko but he seems to have deleted most of his old instructional stuff. Anyways that guy is golden.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Mark Wildman has good regressions
      Lebe Stark has good times girevoy style workouts
      Kats Kettlebell Dojo is good too
      Swing This Kettlebell Club

  11. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    >was working on the 10k swing challenge last year
    >got sick
    >couldn't exercise for like three months due to respiratory infection
    >start slow after the holidays
    >get heart scare immediately after
    >turns out I got a bunch of fluid around my heart due to the infection, have to take it easy while it drains
    >am finally at the point where mild physical activity doesn't turn me into a zombie
    >can't do a TGU with the 24kg bell on both sides anymore
    Starting over today with the light bell lads. Wish me luck.

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Get after it bro you will be back in like two or three weeks max

  12. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    How do you guys deal with the kettlebells slamming smashing into your forearms when you do like a snatch or a clean? I always end up with hugr bruises from the rotating bell hitting more forearm. I may be moronic though

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      You need to move your hand around the kettlebell, not the other way around. Clean the kettlebell up in its arc and put yourself where you need to be for a smooth landing. I never smack my arms when I clean.

  13. 2 years ago
    Anonymous

    > literally less functional non-adjustable dumbbell
    > no functions exclusive to it
    > worst option for every single kind of training
    > literal meme
    Good choice OP

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      >adjustable
      nyet kettlebell is fine

    • 2 years ago
      Anonymous

      Adjustable kettlebells are quite good these days. Kettlebell Kings/Bells of Steel make a good one (pretty sure they're from the same factory in Chinar).
      Incremental loading is cool but so is volume training with big leaps of faith, both work, as they do with barbells if you don't have a nice airconned gym with tons of little itty bitty 1 lb plates.
      OHP is absolutely superior with a kettlebell. So are front squats. Swings. TGUs. Most other exercises (bench or curls) can be done although not as well as with a barbell.
      Stop trollan

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