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Kettlebell 75.000 reps later...

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Lehrskov

Lehrskov

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Yesterday, suddenly, around rep #300, I suddenly learned how to swing a kettlebell.

The fun thing is that I thought that I already knew how. I have, after all, been training with KB's for 4-5 years now. I've completed the Simple goals, and even the 'Serious' goals. I've done the SFG lvl1.

Now I'm not strong by the standards of this forum. I'm not a fitness professional. My approach has been to use the KB's to get the maximum effect out of a relatively minimum input. 3 workouts a week of less than 40mins - that sort of thing. 100 swings. 10 getups. Done. Rinse and repeat. Perfect for my busy life.

Then, after 1.5 months of no training due to a new child and some property renovation, I decided to kickstart my training again with the 10.000 swing challenge. I'd never done more than maybe 200 reps in a single session so going for 500 reps was daunting. But I found it easy (I have been 1H swinging the 40kg after all) and the 5 weeks went by as an enjoyable passtime. I completed the 20th workout in 22.5 minutes, with a 88% RPM. I lost 4kgs and a waist size and had hands of leather. I even found my glutes in there somewhere around workout #12. Best results on a program I've had ever.

Then I went to Boston and ate Pizza and lobster rolls for three weeks.

Returning Sunday, absolutely bloated from air travel and jetlagged, I decided to go train. Having done the 10K in 5 weeks easily I wanted to ramp it up and have decided to do 10.000 swings in the next two weeks, so I was in for a 1000-swing session.

And then the magic happened: suddenly my hip hinged! I don't know how else to describe this.

@Fabio Zonin can testify that for some reason or another I've just had a hard time getting my but back enough in the bottom of the swing. Despite great effort from my teachers I've simply never dialed it in properly. I always thought that I was missing the last 5-10% of proper technique, but as it turned out I was missing more like 50%!!

Without even trying to do anything special my but just suddenly went back and - it felt - UP! Like my Lombardic spine made an 'U' shape. Had I stood next to myself I'm betting it looked flat, but the body-feel was back and UP.

And the kettlebell floated so easily it felt like I was cheating. Even on rep #1000 power generation was an absolute non-issue and I can't wait to go to work on heavier swings and snatches.

--
So what do I think of this?

First thought is that my previous years have been so minimalistic that I haven't actually done more than maybe 15.000 swings a year. Maybe only 60.000 swings in my whole KB 'career' total. Not that many when you think about it.

Then pumping the intensity up to 10.000 swings for a month suddenly allowed me to learn a lot of things. Whether this is only true for a balistic exercise like the swing I don't know. I've gone from a 16kg to a 48kg TGU in 150 sessions of 10 reps and feel like that is very solidly dialed in. Maybe swings needed more.

Second: the breakthrough came AFTER the vacation and not during the swing challenge. Had I gone back and started something completely different like a deadlift+presses program I'm not sure the hip hinge would have revealed itself.

Third: the body perception of the 'U' shaped lombardic was a surprise. I have tremendous (!) respect for my Fabio as a coach, but the cue to 'Get your but back!' just didn't compute with me. I felt puzzled. Like: any further back and I'm going to f***** sit down!! He tried seven more ways and then left me to practice. I just wasn't going to get it then.

The thing is that it never occurred to me that 'back' might not be what I thought it was and that in reality I was 'tugging' my Lombar at the bottom, preventing the full extension and backswing. Right now I feel like I've heard the sound of one hand clapping. But it's also a lesson for me in terms of how cues work (or doesn't). The 'back' was incomprehensible to me because I FELT like I was already moving back. I needed to move UP.

So for me, at least, it was a good thing to venture into 'high volume' territory. There were lots and lots of invaluable learning there that I don't think I would have found with 5 more years of 15.000 swings.

Not sure exactly what kind of response I'm expecting to writing this, so instead: Thanks for reading!

Power to all of you!
/Ulrik
 
Great post! Enjoyed reading it. I've heard people like Brett Jones say they're still looking for that perfect swing. I've always thought I had a decent swing but if folks like yourself and Brett can continually find improvement I think it's safe to say mine needs a LOT of improvement. Still waiting for my "ah ha" moment. Thanks for the inspiration.
 
@Lehrskov Awesome post! Congrats...

I guess this incubation phase (2 week break) is often really valuable. It's like with creative problem solving: One of the best methods I know is simply to push push push for some time and then let go for some time... And the solution will appear by itself.

Maybe there is something similar going on with motor learning.

Anyway, consoling to hear that you don't need perfection to get to simple and beyond :D
 
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Bauer said:
@Lehrskov
I guess this incubation phase (2 week break) is often really valuable. It's like with creativite problem solving: One of the best methods I know is simply to push push push for some time and then let go for some time... And the solution will appear by itself.
Maybe there is something similar going on with motor learning.
Click to expand...

I've experienced that same effect with music. Often when trying to learn a passage on the violin I'll play it over and over everyday for weeks or sometimes months with no success then I'll get busy and go a week or two without playing. Nearly every time when I pick it up again I play the passage easily without error. It always blows me away. Never thought about it applying to strength training. I think you're exactly right.
 
Bauer said:
Maybe there is something similar going on with motor learning.
Click to expand...
Hasbro said:
I've experienced that same effect with music.
Click to expand...

Motor learning is just a private case of cognitive learning. The basic governing mechanisms of learning are the same - deliberate mindful (challenging) practice, sufficient frequency and sufficient recovery. It's all come down to simple homeostasis and survival instincts.

Simple concept, unfortunately not so easy to do :)
 
Hello,

The 10k swings is a an excellent way to work on cardio and strength endurance. Plus, this gain is very sustainable.

Once we did it, we are go to go for almost any kind of training.

You can maintain a big part of these gains with 300 or 400 swing session, 3x a week.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
@Lehrskov
Great story. Thanks for sharing it.

The phenomonon of improved performance after a break from practicing is a known/studied phenomenon called a reminiscence effect. Pavel Tsatsouline has discussed it on a number of occasions, although I don't recall the specific contexts.

More than that, I think this is just an example of mindful practice -- doing lots of reps, paying attention to the "happy accidents," figuring out what you did differently and how to replicate it. Doing the high rep challenges where you are doing a more concentrated volume may have helped, but lightning strikes are unpredictable.

Your experience also shows that even after you have a high level of competency in the swing, there is still often a lot that can be refined. I've been swinging KBs since 2001 and every rep is sill a learning experience -- that's a big part of what keeps it fun and interesting (and sometimes frustrating too).

A last thing your experience illustrates to me is how different people respond to different cues...uh, dfferently. And how even cues that seem like literal instructions or descriptions ("sit back"} function more metaphorically and conceptually, as ways of understanding and thinking about a movement. "A-ha moments" are often not just those times when your performance of a movement takes a leap forward, but when you make a connection between a cue you've heard a million times and how it actually "feels" in practice.
 
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@Lehrskov, I have similar experiences with all the musical instruments I play. Sometimes, I don't practice one instrument for a few months, and then when I pick it up again, I'm better than when I stopped.

It's magic - don't question, just enjoy! :)

-S-
 
can you show us your swing in video? i would see , i enjoy great swing technique to improve myself
 
Steve Freides said:
It's magic - don't question, just enjoy!
Click to expand...

I'm not going to question it but I do have a "theory" about what went on. You noted that this happened after the 1.5 month layoff. I've experienced an analogous situation. Back when I was really trying to get good at the Olympic lifts I decided to train "Bulgarian style." My snatch was especially bad so I practiced it every day. After a few days I noticed my technique just wasn't right. I was confused because daily practice is supposed to make technique better. That's the whole point of the "Bulgarian system." So I took a day or two off, and when I started training again my technique was "better." So I'd do daily training again and same thing - technique felt off, took a day off, technique was better.

Around this time I was also avidly reading every article I could find on Olympic lifting. An article by Olympic lifting coach Wil Fleming addressed this phenomenon I was experiencing because he had also seen this in his lifters as well. Wil said that when training the Olympic lifts daily, the nervous system can build up "static" as he called it. Take a day or two off and the static goes away and technique improves.

So perhaps in your case you had built up some static and the 1.5 months cleared it away.
 
MikeTheBear said:
Wil said that when training the Olympic lifts daily, the nervous system can build up "static" as he called it. Take a day or two off and the static goes away and technique improves.
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This is very similar to how Pavel explains the theory behind this phenomenon (the "reminscence effect").
 
Interesting discussion.

So how much input (volume or sessions) is needed for proper learning? And how much rest is needed to "let the dirt be flushed away"?

My guess is that you need to get to a point of "safe struggle". Where you're still mindfull of what you're doing and yet your technique starts to deteriorate.

At least that's how I improved juggling, playing piano, playing ukulele etc. But those are fine motor skills and there might be difference - especially considering safety. Maybe for strength skills it's enough to shake up your routine every now and then and to sometimes include a hibernation month where you do something completely different.
 
Hello,

@Bauer
The 10k challenge is something you do "once", meaning only between two other programs for instance, or after end of year parties and big meals :) IMO, this is not designed to be done all year long.

Regarding to the weight, it is done with a moderately heavy one to endure a significant volume without burning out while allowing endurance effort (aerobic).

Rest and volume can be highly "personal" variables because some folks can recover faster than other, and some other can do an heavy swing with more ease.

Related to safety, the first thing is to learn the move correctly. I am not sure I do good but I stop when form is not correct anymore, even after a longer rest. The more you progress (strength / endurance) the more volume you can safely add.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Thanks @pet'

To clarify: I was thinking about a general statement and not so much about the specific context of the 10k swing challenge. Maybe it's just a good example of the benefits of a "bus bench" program in relation to a "park bench" routine.
 
Hi guys - thanks for all the positive comments. This is just a great community to check into!

And thanks for the concept of the reminiscence effect.

I've been noticing the effect (like many other posters here) in many areas of life. As an aside I've also noted that it seems there is a sweet spot around 6 weeks of intensity followed by at least a week of recovery before work starts again. Six weeks is roughly 40 days, with maps well onto the Easy Strength framework as well as the 'trimesters' used at Oxford University for centuries, the 40 day christian fast before easter and so on. Veeeery unscientific and veeeery prone to confirmation bias, but nonetheless: 40 days seems like a common stretch of time chosen for strenuous activity (at least in some contexts).

Cheers everyone!
 
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