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Kettlebell 300 Swings a day Challenge

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Hello all.

I've recently stumbled upon (and trying my hands at) the 300 swings a day challenge by pat flynn.

I read some posts about it on here but it would seem that no one finished it.

I've heard of the 10000 swing challenge by Dan John and I'm not interested.

This one is a bit different, 300 swings every day, broken up however you want, for 30 days. Males done with 24kg, women with 16kg.

Has anyone tried this challenge, or a similar kettlbell swing challenge?

I'm looking to improve my endurance, my grip, and my overall level of fitness (including, but not rushing towards, strength). After just a few days of the challenge I noticed more power in my legs, heart, lung, and grip

I've been doing OAPU and Pistols per NW for a while not, but swings have recently stole my heart as my favorite lift and I would like to do something less stressful on my joints for at least a month

So what's up with these challenges? Do they just burn you out or at they worthwhile for building strength and endurance?
 
I have tried 300 swings a day. After 10 days my weight had dropped by 4 kg.

I litterally saw the bodyfat melt away.
My abs got visible.... and then my immunesystem shut down :)

I couldnt sleep for 3 full days. wouldnt hold food or water. I barely had energy to walk from my bed to the sofa. I thought I was going to die... Spend 3 days after that stacking my face with fruit until i could finally stand a solid meal.

Dont be a fool as a novice by starting a challenge. They are for advanced Gireviks. You're not advanced and neither am I.

I highly recommend doing Dan John's challenge because it has REST days. In fact I consider doing it myself after reaching Simple from S&S before ROP.

Good Luck.
 
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I have tried 300 swings a day. After 10 days my weight had dropped by 4 kg.

I litterally saw the bodyfat melt away.
My abs got visible.... and then my immunesystem shut down :)

I couldnt sleep for 3 full days. wouldnt hold food or water. I barely had energy to walk from my bed to the sofa. I thought I was going to die... Spend 3 days after that stacking my face with fruit until i could finally stand a solid meal.

Dont be a fool as a novice by starting a challenge. They are for advanced Gireviks. You're not advanced and neither am I.

I highly recommend doing Dan John's challenge because it has REST days. In fact I consider doing it myself after reaching Simple from S&S before ROP.

Good Luck.

advice well given and taken, I'm not surprised you had immune troubles. that was my chief concern
 
Hello,

Whether we go for PF's challenge, whether we go for DJ's challenge, massive amount of swings remain very taxing and most of the time, are "short term stand alone program". Body barely has time to adapt to the volume. I think this is good to take day(s) off if we need. When I did DJ, the first week was...tough. Walking was hard, running was impossible. This is crucial to dial technique because it has to be near perfect.

Of course, they give an incredible work capacity once we did them.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Hello,

Whether we go for PF's challenge, whether we go for DJ's challenge, massive amount of swings remain very taxing and most of the time, are "short term stand alone program". Body barely has time to adapt to the volume. I think this is good to take day(s) off if we need. When I did DJ, the first week was...tough. Walking was hard, running was impossible. This is crucial to dial technique because it has to be near perfect.

Of course, they give an incredible work capacity once we did them.

Kind regards,

Pet'

that's a very realistic take on the swings challenge thank you pet'

now I know that these challenges are not for me personally! I want my training to improve my daily activities, not stifle them..

maybe one day when I am more experienced with swings, more conditioned to the 24kg, and not working in physical labor I will try a challenge like this
 
Here is my suggestion:

A Science-Based Plan to Prepare You for the SFG Level I and SFG Level II
Try that program (the conditioning part) for your swings (1H or 2H).
I ran that program twice and after the second time through (1H with 40kg) I hit 100 snatches with 28 in 5 mins. It is extremely powerful, yet very enjoyable and not draining.
Also it pairs perfectly with NW:
You could do 3x/week OAPU & Pistols
and 3x/week that program. That way you are covered all over and you sessions are pretty brief.
 
Thank you @pet' , @Marc , and @Kettlebelephant for the excellent suggestions on improving my endurance and conditioning. The SFG preparation is particularly interesting.

Would still like to hear from those who have tried these sorts of swing challenges, though i am not planning on participating any longer.

Would be curious to hear from someone who wasn't burnt by these sorts of challenges.
 
Hello,

@Jak Nieuwenhuis
I did the 10K challenge some time ago.

This is a very good challenge, but this is clearly a stand alone program. It is barely impossible to follow it simultaneously with another routine (excepted stretching and mobility). Otherwise, several risk appear: overtraining, injury, etc... The 10k manages some days off, this is good news to be honest, above all at the beginning.

Basically, it is very difficult to run, or even walk fast the first week. You feel really sore. After 1,5 or 2 week(s), body gets adapted and things go better. However, you still can not "lift heavy" or walk / run for too long distances while running it.

I did it with both 24 and 28kg. After the 28, I passed simple with easy. This is the advantage of high volume training. It gives plenty of endurance, but also permit to increase strength. It also gave me a huge "work capacity". Even if I am skinny, I lost about 2kg. I also got visible abs right after. Nonetheless, this is very short-term oriented.

I did not get injured, but at the beginning, I got some calluses.

If you have other questions, feel free to ask.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
Have done the 10k swings 3 x. First time was 500 swings over 20 workouts. Last 2 times did the 10k in 10 days.

The 10k in 10 days is tedious, however, it works. I put on muscle doing it, lost weight and felt awesome from a cardio perspective. Used 25 kg, 28 kg, 32, and a 40. Mostly with the 25 and 28. Hands get hot and gnarly. At times, I put a towel over the handle.

I'm advanced in kettlebell lifting. I would not recommend doing any challenge until your form is perfect. You also have to take care of your hands.

The 300/day can be done grease the groove style. You're really not going to hurt yourself doing a set of 25 crisp swings once an hour for 12 hours.

I know people love the Simple and Sinister protocol., a good idea would be to work up from 5 minutes to 10-15 minutes. 1 hand swings every 30 seconds. There is your 300 swings.
 
I would like to underline the word challenge. Dan John has this concept of park bench and bus bench programs. When you are sitting on a park bench you are happy when a squirrel shows up to be fed, but if it doesn't you still enjoy your time. Simple and Sinister is a park bench program.
When you wait for the bus you get already nervous if there is a delay by a minute or two. Bus bench programs are peaking programs or challenges. Imagine your wedding day is in two months. You have to look good on that day. Not a week or day later. It only counts on that day. Having such a deadline can push someone to make enormous progress, but as everyone who has gotten through a wedding preparation will confirm you don't want to do this all the time. Dan John suggests twice a year. Therefore the 10k is ment to push you beyond what you would usually do. But it is also only ment to be done once in a while .
In that regard I'd like another Dan John's principles, namely the traffic light system. Have a look at your calendar or your schedule and decide whether it is a green phase (no issues with recovery time), yellow (still ok, but better be careful) or red (stop or else!). I find when this is not considered sickness or injury are waiting around the corner.
 
300 swings every day is mid-range between doing 500 swings 4 days a week and 500 swings 5 days a week (2100, 2000, and 2500 respectively). As @BrianCF mentioned, you can spread the 300 swings out throughout the day. The 10,000 swing challenge has you doing the 500 swings in one session. If you're smart, the 300 swings will be easier on the body (and the hands!) than the 10,000 swing program. I have mostly completed the 10,000 swing program (shy a day or two), and I can safely say that doing swings Grease the Groove style would have been far easier (i.e. nearly identical volume but with less effort and chance of injury).
 
Based on blood tests, there was no overtraining.
The fitness world is still discussing whether a thing like overtraining actually exists or not. Some argue there is no overtraining just under-recovery.
What I'm trying to say is there's still a debate going on.
Now even if we acknowledge overtraining exists, does anybody really think it will happen within just 10 days?
Especially if you go into this 10 days after a weekend (or more days) of rest and as an individual that's clearly not new to weighttraining (like the guys & girls from the article)?

I'm not dismissing the challenge, but saying that you shouldn't fear something like overtraining on a routine that's not even 2 weeks long.
 
The fitness world is still discussing whether a thing like overtraining actually exists or not. Some argue there is no overtraining just under-recovery.

I know of this debate. Christian Thibaudeau discussed this in an article. I believe his conclusion was that for an elite athlete who is training many hours a day and pushing the intensity, "true" overtraining can occur. And once it does it can take days or even weeks to recover. The nervous system is shot, adrenal glands are fatigued, muscle is lost, immune system is compromised. For us mere mortals, I would say that there is no such thing as overtraining. Under-recovery sure. But under-recovery is easy to bounce back from. I big "comfort" meal (think fast food or pizza), a good night's sleep, and maybe some ibuprofen, and in two days you're good.
 
I couldnt sleep for 3 full days. wouldnt hold food or water. I barely had energy to walk from my bed to the sofa. I thought I was going to die... Spend 3 days after that stacking my face with fruit until i could finally stand a solid meal.

No offense, but this sounds like you caught a virus of some kind. The fact that this happened right after you did the swing program does not mean it was caused by the swing program. The argument that since event Y followed event X, event Y must have been caused by event X is a logical fallacy.
 
I would like to underline the word challenge. Dan John has this concept of park bench and bus bench programs. When you are sitting on a park bench you are happy when a squirrel shows up to be fed, but if it doesn't you still enjoy your time. Simple and Sinister is a park bench program.
When you wait for the bus you get already nervous if there is a delay by a minute or two. Bus bench programs are peaking programs or challenges. Imagine your wedding day is in two months. You have to look good on that day. Not a week or day later. It only counts on that day. Having such a deadline can push someone to make enormous progress, but as everyone who has gotten through a wedding preparation will confirm you don't want to do this all the time. Dan John suggests twice a year. Therefore the 10k is ment to push you beyond what you would usually do. But it is also only ment to be done once in a while .
In that regard I'd like another Dan John's principles, namely the traffic light system. Have a look at your calendar or your schedule and decide whether it is a green phase (no issues with recovery time), yellow (still ok, but better be careful) or red (stop or else!). I find when this is not considered sickness or injury are waiting around the corner.

I'm not the biggest fan of Dan John, but I think this is a great distillation of what he was saying there. thank you for the warning as well

I know of this debate. Christian Thibaudeau discussed this in an article. I believe his conclusion was that for an elite athlete who is training many hours a day and pushing the intensity, "true" overtraining can occur. And once it does it can take days or even weeks to recover. The nervous system is shot, adrenal glands are fatigued, muscle is lost, immune system is compromised. For us mere mortals, I would say that there is no such thing as overtraining. Under-recovery sure. But under-recovery is easy to bounce back from. I big "comfort" meal (think fast food or pizza), a good night's sleep, and maybe some ibuprofen, and in two days you're good.

I think with proper recovery, including big comfort meals and a few naps per week, then I could do the challenge without diving too deep into my resources. Still, the challenge doesn't exactly align with my goals.
 
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I will chime in and say that I did do the 300 swings a day challenge for a whopping 3 days before posting this.

I did not feel like I was overtraining, but I found that my glutes were becoming very tired of clamping at the top of every swing.

That being said I really enjoyed the training style of "basically nothing but swings whenever you want till you hit 300".
 
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