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Kettlebell 10000 swings

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Inky

Level 5 Valued Member
Elite Certified Instructor
So, I thought I would try this and started it today. I think I was :
1) Not as fit as I thought I was
2) Too ambitious

I believed I would be able to do the strength exercise in between the swings. But, I now know that doing clean, press squat as the strength is too much - especially with double 24kg!!! Only completed 2 rounds :(

2H swings with 24kg.

Summary:
- 10 swings
- 1 x strength exercise
- 15 swings
- 2 x strength exercise
- 25 swings
- 3 x strength exercise
- 50 swings
Repeat for a total of 5 rounds for 500 swings in total

Moving forward, I am going to do the following:
- next 4 workouts with just swings
- then, 5 workouts with just double presses
- then 5 workouts with double front squats
- last 5 workouts with goblet squats or chin ups

What are other peoples experience with this workout?
 
After successfully coaching several folks through the 10k challenge, I would recommend setting aside the programming for the time being. Focus instead on the ability to consistently perform 300 Hardstyle 2-arm swings with the 24k in 15 minutes or less as a daily task, and being able to approach each training session feeling completely recovered from the last.

The 10k will quickly cause blisters in odd places--after the first session, you will find out where your hot spots are and will be for the month ahead (goes with the territory when regulation-sized males have to cram our mitts into that handle...). I recommend something similar to ACE waterproof sports tape. It reliably stays in place and comes off easily afterwards.
 
Started it, the swing volume was too much for my back pretty early into the attempt, had to abandon it. Pretty humbling.

I still want to take another crack at it, but can't have any lingering pains before starting, I think.
 
@J Petersen - this is the only program I am intending to run at the moment, just using strength exercises in-between the swings. I think I will be OK with what I have planned......

@WhatWouldHulkDo - My aim is to finish it. Might have started badly, but I will go as far as I can with it. I too have some back issues, normally the snatch that does it for me. Will just have to practice that after I have done this challenge!! Good luck with the back issues, I assume you are doing the McGill stuff.
 
I did all TGUs for the strength movement and liked it. It got repetitive but mastering the mundane always is. One week of each strength exercise seems too short duration to get much out of it.
 
After successfully coaching several folks through the 10k challenge, I would recommend setting aside the programming for the time being. Focus instead on the ability to consistently perform 300 Hardstyle 2-arm swings with the 24k in 15 minutes or less as a daily task, and being able to approach each training session feeling completely recovered from the last.

The 10k will quickly cause blisters in odd places--after the first session, you will find out where your hot spots are and will be for the month ahead (goes with the territory when regulation-sized males have to cram our mitts into that handle...). I recommend something similar to ACE waterproof sports tape. It reliably stays in place and comes off easily afterwards.
Just out of curiosity, do most folks that do this challenge do it two-handed?

I did all TGUs for the strength movement and liked it. It got repetitive but mastering the mundane always is. One week of each strength exercise seems too short duration to get much out of it.
Love the idea of the TGU. Did you use the 24kg and just do a single or one each side between sets?

I posted a while back how this program seemed really interesting to try for a month. Reading things like this always grab my attention, but I'm attracted to doing extreme things.
 
Did you use the 24kg and just do a single or one each side between sets?
This is how I decided to do it all with the 24kg:

5 Rounds
10x Two-Hand Swings
1L TGU
1R TGU
15x Two-Hand Swings
1L TGU
1R TGU
25x Two-Hand Swings
1L TGU
1R TGU
50x Two-Hand Swings
1L TGU
1R TGU
 
Im hoping to give this ago next yr, only started with kbs about 4 weeks ago so now where near ready at the moment
 
I did all TGUs for the strength movement and liked it. It got repetitive but mastering the mundane always is. One week of each strength exercise seems too short duration to get much out of it.

In the original article, Dan John mentions he changes the strength exercise every session, rotating between presses, dips, squats and chin ups. I think the aim of the strength exercise is there for variety and to keep the muscle you have built up. Probably a better way of doing it than mine of sticking with one exercise for 5 workouts......

Just out of curiosity, do most folks that do this challenge do it two-handed?
I think it is meant to be a heavy bell and 2H swings
 
In the original article, Dan John mentions he changes the strength exercise every session, rotating between presses, dips, squats and chin ups. I think the aim of the strength exercise is there for variety and to keep the muscle you have built up. Probably a better way of doing it than mine of sticking with one exercise for 5 workouts......


I think it is meant to be a heavy bell and 2H swings
Here's what I had thought to do when I was considering it. There was a second protocol that DJ mentions which is 15-35-15-35 rep scheme. I thought that might be able to keep the power production up. I think it would have been a good way to do it. Four days a week seemed like it would be better for recovery than the 5x per week option.
10,000 Swing challange (4 days x 5 weeks)
Pros
: Tons of conditioning interspersed with strength work. Strength work would rotate between 8-10 RM (16 kg for me) double press, squat, TGUs and chin ups. I'm interested to see if I've got the mental fortitude to do something like this and be smart about it. Short in duration.
Cons: Might be too extreme (for me) and training sessions can be very long. Hard to balance personal commitments and stick to the program. Would have to train fasted in the AM which might be really good for fat loss but could it impact strength gains? Although seems like there have been plenty of people that have benefited from the challenge, there is a risk to increase cortisol too much and throw hormonal balance (too much cortisol) for fat loss and muscle gain?
 
I'm on the 7th day of the program (i.e., 3,500 swings into it). I'm doing it exactly as written except my gym uses kettlebells measured in pounds not kg so I'm using 50 lbs rather than 24 kg (53 lbs). My two strength moves are the 1-arm KB press (50# each arm, i.e., first left then right = 1 rep) and the double KB front squat (2 x 50#).

These are not equal; the FSQ is much more taxing. I selected them basically for reasons of convenience; it's very quick to move from the swings to the strength moves with minimal time wasted in between. (For obvious reasons, the 1-arm press includes two 1a 50# cleans, and the FSQ includes a 100# double KB clean.) I do them on alternating days, i.e.:

Day 1 - swings w/1a presses
Day 2 - swings w/FSQ
Day 3 - off
Day 4 - swings w/1a presses
Day 5 - swings w/FSQ
Day 6 - swings only
Day 7 - off

So when I say I'm on the 7th day of the program I mean I did 1-7 above, then repeated 1 and 2; tomorrow will be an off day.

I'm also doing something inspired by a separate blog post I found where Dan suggests that on each round of 10, you focus your attention on the eccentric overspeed downswing; on each round of 15, you focus on the up swing; and on the 25, you focus on the plank. (On the 50, I just focus on getting through it!)

The program contains two ambiguities, but for both, I think I know what Dan meant. First, the text of the article, he says you take the 30-60 second rest after each round of 10, 15, and 25, then a 3+ min rest after each round of 50. But when he actually lists examples of how it would work, he puts the 30-60 sec rest after the 50 (and no rest after the 10, 15, and 25!). I'm doing it per the text. Second, he doesn't specify whether to take the 30-60 sec rest *before* the strength move (i.e., 25 reps, then 30 sec rest, then 3 reps of strength move) or *after* it (i.e., 25 reps, then 3 reps of strength move, then 30 sec rest). I've been doing the latter since it makes more sense.

Here are my results so far after 1/3 of the program:

- My time-to-complete has decreased. (That said, it takes me longer on the FSQ days than the press days.) I sometimes take less than 30sec rest after the short sets, and for the first few clusters, even after the 25 I often just need 30sec rest. By the last cluster I definitely need 60sec after the 25. Also, whereas on the first few days I would often take more than 3 min for the inter-cluster rest, now I just do 3 min each time.
- Cardio: My resting heart rate has definitely decreased (from 58bpm to 50). Also, whereas on the first few days my HR would spike very high (for me, at age 46: as high as 168bpm) during/after the set of 50 and I'd basically collapse in a puddle on the floor for most of the inter-cluster rest, now it just spikes "moderately high" (150s) and I take the rest periods standing and/or stretch as Dan suggests.
- Haven't had any obvious body composition changes yet.
- Haven't seen any major strength changes yet; the strength moves are still hard.
- Grip seems to have improved. (See next item.)
- The hardest part is of course the 50. The first two days I did it, I could only get through 50 consecutive on the first cluster and then had to break it up into pieces. Starting on the third day, I was able to get through all 50 all 5 times. A good mental trick is to count *down* from 50 to 1; it seems to help me not lose hope. The main difficulty is the grip.
- The 25 is a different type of difficulty. Whereas the 10 and 15 are pretty easy, and the 50 is a mental slog that you will apply your full mental strength to surviving, the 25 is in-between and hard to find the right mental state. (Sort of like how it's hard to pace a middle-distance run.)

I should also note that I do a pretty extensive (20-25 minute) warmup because I train at 5:30am and at 46 my body's a little creaky that early.

This is not something I would want to do for the long haul but I'm glad to be doing it as a one-time challenge.
 
Day 8 and everything changed!!
The first 7 days into the program I changing the rep scheme daily, mostly planned and a little based on the first cluster.. I dropped the 50 reps and focused on drilling down my form on the smaller rep ranges..

Today I did 10,15,25 with 44kg,40kg, 32kg respectfully.. drilling down on eccentric and vertical plank.. and sweat baby Jesus did it kick my but.. oddly enough my grip lasted longer than the rest of me..

For the first time my hamstrings were cooked early on and I was soup halfway through and had to cut out the presses in order to finish..
Strength work has mainly been Presses with the 32kg 5,3,2. I plan on incorporating chin-ups once my grip improves

my breaks are based upon feel and breathe control.. If I can control my breathing and the bell I’m good to go..

So far my main takeaway is that my hip hinge form is not as good as I thought it was and my core needs some work

Im down from 239 lbs to 232 lbs on the week which is great but some of that might be cutting out the nightly Mai Tai’s
 
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