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Kettlebell Physique Changes?

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I lost weight (mostly body fat) but I attribute it to my dietary changes. I started eating healthier and exercising (S&S) at the same time.

That said, I got some more meat on my upper body (especially once into 32kg getups). That plus losing several inches off my belly, and my face thinning out, made for a pretty start difference.

I don’t know if S&S will get already-buff/ripped people more so.

There are probably better programs to get someone from couch potato to big and strong (such as Starting Strength) or shredded/ripped, but one has to compare the investment to decide if it is worth it compared to a GPP program.

Ultimately I see it as: S&S and healthier eating got me back to how a normal human male adult should look. More specialization is needed to look like an outlier in the bell curve.
 
I think my shoulders got a little wider, based on how my shirts fit now. But I think in terms of appearances the most important improvement from S&S (and Original Strength) was my posture. It is a subtle change, but I feel so much better when walking or even standing now and I think it is the easiest thing one can do to improve the way people see you. Good posture makes you feel confident and relaxed and I think you exude that image.
 
Ultimately I see it as: S&S and healthier eating got me back to how a normal human male adult should look. More specialization is needed to look like an outlier in the bell curve.
I really like how you put that. I feel like many people pick the wrong program for the goals. It's always a great thing to understand why you're following a program and what the program was created to achieve.
Good posture makes you feel confident and relaxed and I think you exude that image.
That is so true. It's amazing how something so simple like posture can bleed into other aspects of life.

Thank you both for your responses.
 
While I don't follow S&S exclusively, it's pretty much the only thing I do consistently and I've noticed a few changes:

The most noticeable growth is in the muscles on the rear of the body, in particular; the muscles of the back, the glutes and hamstrings.

In addition, my forearms are definitely meatier and my abdominal muscles are more defined, even though my weight is pretty much the same as when I started (140-144lbs) and, according to my fancy digital scales at least, my body fat percentage hasn't changed significantly (it sits somewhere between the high 12s and low 14s). I'm not really sure how that works, if I'm honest, and I'm not entirely sure I trust the scales.

There have definitely been postural improvements as well and I as though I 'move better' as well.
 
I'm only now starting with the 32. I've lost about 8 cm waist and returned to my high school weight. Also my posture, forearms and posterior chain have improved.

We all say that weight loss happens in the kitchen, however a training regime can make you hungry or not. S&S is great for that
 
I started S&S to shed 20lb off combined with an "adult" diet and over the course of 1 year, was able to hit the goal, and maintain.

Initially, my shoulders got a little bit of definition, but not that much. Hamstrings visibly got larger, but again, not a lot. For the first time, abs started to peek through in good lighting, but not ripped. If you saw me on the beach, I probably wouldn't turn heads, but I also wouldn't induce people to turn away, ha.

Since S&S I've started cleans/presses and snatches and have started to notice significant shoulder, pec and lat development. I don't need to change sizes, but I'm starting to fill in the shirts.
 
One other thing I noticed -- once I moved to the 24kg bell, TGU's and presses developed the chest a little bit. Not sure if others notice chest development with heavier KB's.
 
I'm still working with a 24kg, but I have noticed increased definition in my arms and shoulders, especially as I've added in heavier TASW, a higher number of goblet squats, and some heavier 1/2 GUs than what my working weight. My midsection still has additional fat mass, but I attribute that more to my food choices. Occasionally I think I don't eat enough and my metabolic set point may have gone lower. I don't have anything to prove this except I don't seem to be losing fat mass even when I think I've got my calories at/below basal metabolic rate. Perhaps I need to eat a little more for a while...
 
Last time when I did S&S - before injury - I didn't lose fat that much, but got some muscle. This time I'm going to follow more proper diet to see if I can lose more weight and gain strenght at the same time.
 
Same here, S&S provided me some mass increase, but the cleans/presses filled out my shoulders & lats a little more...now, I have to address the diet & fat loss.....while chasing Simple.....should be fun!

Since S&S I've started cleans/presses and snatches and have started to notice significant shoulder, pec and lat development. I don't need to change sizes, but I'm starting to fill in the shirts.
 
Densification of the torso, bigger arms, both biceps and triceps, improved grip strength.
 
Recently worked through a program to improve my S&S performance, that focused on the foundational movements of S&S: Swings, TGUs, and Goblet Squats. Increased shoulder and forearm size with more vascularity and definition. Still have flab around the midsection, but my strength increased while bodyweight decreased (5 lbs) so I'm assuming I lost a little fat.
 
Do you think scaling back the number of days would lead to more hypertrophy as the body will be able to completely recuperate as opposed to be going all the time.
 
Do you think scaling back the number of days would lead to more hypertrophy as the body will be able to completely recuperate as opposed to be going all the time.

I don't think so as S&S isn't geared for hypertrophy as a main focus. It fits well for GPP though. Some people see some hypertrophy in certain areas of the body especially if they haven't done much resistance training. I myself lost muscle on the program as I was used to a more hypertrophy based training regimen.

If you want hypertrophy there are many programs/strategies that work very well along with S&S. If you want some size simple 5 x 5 is pretty good to do two or three times weekly. Moving Target, Total Tension, Armor Building Complex and many other 'off the shelf' programs are very good as well. The choices are many, maybe too many. If you keep it simple you'll be better off, especially if you haven't trained for size much as your body will respond provided you feed it enough food and get enough rest. For me S&S or some form of it is always part of my 'base', but is not adequate (for me) as a standalone program.
 
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