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Kettlebell Viking Warrior Conditioning

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Adam R Mundorf

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Hey Everybody,

Is anyone still running the old Viking Warrior Conditioning VO2 Max protocols?

Any opinions, results or experiences they'd be willing to share?

Thank you, Adam
 
Hey,
I do. Currentlu 24kg 15:15, minimum 30 sets per sesion, 2/3 sesion per week. I did it before - completed 15:15 with 16 and 20kg but I've never finished 36:36. In general this is very good program. It allow me accomplish SSST and get better result in ST.

Do you train this program? On what purpose?
 
I use the :15/:15 protocol and combine it with running. I really like it. I feel I have more energy. Only drawback, I have not a single trouser left that fits well. They are all too big. I did not need to lose weight. But very happy with it. I have not yet pushed it to 80 rounds but maybe I will and continue with the :35/:35 protocoll.
 
@Adam R Mundorf
Adam are you thinking of doing some VWC work?
I just recently purchased a bunch of Pavel's older material and VWC was included. I am definitely considering giving the program a run, once I get my kettlebells back. I am wary of the snatch though because of how technical it is.

I remember back in the day, it was the bees knees but just wondered if overtime, some opinions have changed.
 
I just recently purchased a bunch of Pavel's older material and VWC was included. I am definitely considering giving the program a run, once I get my kettlebells back. I am wary of the snatch though because of how technical it is.

I remember back in the day, it was the bees knees but just wondered if overtime, some opinions have changed.
You'll get thousands of chances to improve your snatch technique with VWC. It served me well as a tool to get to A+A, my shoulder healed enough to snatch the 24k without inflammation.

On the program itself, I loved what it did for my overall strength and fitness but it comes with a very high recovery cost. I think @Al Ciampa said it best, KJ had some goods ideas but the implementation was lacking, I think that's why he later went on to the rower as the main implementation vehicle.

If you give it a go beware of fatigue creep (it revs the engine into the red zone), and it sneaks up on you, especially when summer temps heat up.

These days I'm doing A+A work mostly and running (niko-niko slow jogging), with it I get the same benefits of VWC and then some.. sustainable aerobic and strength base building is what it provides, and it's repeatable with manageable recoveries.

I'll be happy to help if you decide to do it and have questions, there's also others around with more experience than I have with the program.
 
I kinda sorta did VWC a few year ago. Can't remember exactly, but I got somewhere just over 20 minutes/40 sets. I enjoyed it, but I was using the 16kg, and when I went to start TSC prep with a heavier bell, I felt like my snatch hadn't really gotten any better. That's why I didn't progress it any further.

Funny, I was just asking someone a few weeks ago whether they thought VWC still had any validity now that we have StrongEndurance protocols.
 
I kinda sorta did VWC a few year ago. Can't remember exactly, but I got somewhere just over 20 minutes/40 sets. I enjoyed it, but I was using the 16kg, and when I went to start TSC prep with a heavier bell, I felt like my snatch hadn't really gotten any better. That's why I didn't progress it any further.

Funny, I was just asking someone a few weeks ago whether they thought VWC still had any validity now that we have StrongEndurance protocols.
Yes! For sure it won't prep you for ST or SSST, those must be trained for specifically, I didn't try it but I imagine a short peaking protocol would get you there provided you had a solid VWC base.

@Steve W. progressed to the 24k bell if memory serves.. I imagine from that jumping off point a short peak strategy would do the trick.

With that said I did go to 80 sets @8 reps using the 16k bell, from there I planned on 20k @6 reps per effort, then the opportunity to join an A+A protocol came along (lucky for me!)

I noticed an overall strength increase from doing the 15:15 protocol VWC.. But as I said earlier, the recovery costs were too high and for me it was unsustainable.
 
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I know it's not vwc or exactly optimal, but wasn't it pretty much ok'd that you could use the swing instead of the snatch if need be?
 
I've been experimenting with the 15:15 protocol recently, and the recovery costs are serious if you're doing anything else for training. I've found that 1x/week is an adequate frequency if you want to train anything else, any more and I haven't been able to recover. When it's the main dish at 2-3x/week, the volume is so high it makes up for not doing anything else.
 
Hey Everybody,

Is anyone still running the old Viking Warrior Conditioning VO2 Max protocols?

Any opinions, results or experiences they'd be willing to share?

Thank you, Adam
Opinions huh, well I guess that opens the discussion for broad participation. I suppose it depends on why someone is considering the program. If it is to improve your aerobic capacity in some way there are probably better ways to do it. If it is for the specific purpose of improving your VO2 Max, there are probably better ways to do it. This would include most activities that would normally be considered aerobic or "cardio" training.
I base this opinion on the reading I have done on the topic, as well as the statements of the author of VWC Kenneth Jay, who earned a Ph.D. in sports science.

No doubt the program would give someone results, it's just a matter of what the trainee is trying to accomplish.

Pavel has the antiglycolytic protocols he teaches in Strong Endurance. If I were going to use kettlebells I think his book Simple and Sinister would be a good place to start for "strength endurance". One could adapt that approach to kettlebell snatches very easily.

One of the great things about the kettlebell is its adaptability. A trainee can put it to work in many ways. No doubt Kenneth Jay's approach would provide good results for many people.
 
I know it's not vwc or exactly optimal, but wasn't it pretty much ok'd that you could use the swing instead of the snatch if need be?
Maybe.. but it wouldn't be VWC at all according to the book, when doing snatches in the program you have to go fast & furious, like one arm wallpaper hanging fast..
Swings are better suited to A&A or S&S IMHO
 
Too much volume for me, that has elbow tendonitis written all over it. Rough to do snatching in the summer.
 
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