Steve, agree wholeheartedly about double cleans. Many times I have tweaked my shoulders here or there and have had to cut back on overhead work for brief periods and have done both single and double kettlebell cleans. They were/are quite effective and as the reps climb up, gassers. Often overlooked imho as an effective movement!IMO, it almost always makes sense to do double cleans instead of double swings, especially when choosing between them as the only drill in a session, as in the program in the article linked above.
I find double swings to be awkward and unpleasant and generally just don't do them. Double swings were a tested exercise when I did my RKC cert and recert back in the day when Pavel was still there, so I practiced them plenty to dial in my technique, but have mostly avoided them since my last cert in 2009. The main exception has been as part of one of the complexes in Geoff Neupert's Kettlebell Muscle (phase 1 light day).
However, double cleans are one of my favorite exercises. To me, the groove feels very natural, and there is a satisfying sense of completion in catching each rep in the rack (just as there is for the snatch).
Yes you're probably right, but I was thinking that since Geoff refers to "upper body pulling" since ypu are cleaning the kettlebells before the press and squat.
Another option to add some pulling is to actively pull the kettlebells down on the eccentric part of the press (as Pavel mentions in ROTK). That option would perhaps be better than replacing the swings......
IMO, it almost always makes sense to do double cleans instead of double swings, especially when choosing between them as the only drill in a session, as in the program in the article linked above.
I find double swings to be awkward and unpleasant and generally just don't do them. Double swings were a tested exercise when I did my RKC cert and recert back in the day when Pavel was still there, so I practiced them plenty to dial in my technique, but have mostly avoided them since my last cert in 2009. The main exception has been as part of one of the complexes in Geoff Neupert's Kettlebell Muscle (phase 1 light day).
However, double cleans are one of my favorite exercises. To me, the groove feels very natural, and there is a satisfying sense of completion in catching each rep in the rack (just as there is for the snatch).
What do you do to deload on these kinds of programs?After the prescribed cycles of "the wolf" and a few weeks deloading I am going to give it a try.
Very curious to start with this.
Thanks for the replies!
2. Questions regarding the program. How are the swing days for conditioning? Also, I’m confused but the last phase and the 3,4 and 5RM. Are you just doing that many reps with the bells you started with or are you using heavier bells? Considering starting this program with two 28KGs. Thanks
Since I'm planning to start this programm soon, I had a closer read yesterday, and now I see the confusion indeed, regarding the 5RM part of the final phase.
To be honest, I'm also not sure how to apply this in practice. Since it is mentioned in the beginning that you will be using one pair of bells the complete programm, I assume it is done with the same pair. But what does 5RM (or 4RM and 3RM) mean in this case, if you will use the same pair of bells (which was the 5RM in the beginning of the programm, but possibly not anymore since you need to test your RM with the same pair of bells before starting this phase).
So forget about my answer above regarding this part. IMO a good question.
Somebody else who can share their thought about this?
Thanks!
I never really paid attention to this program before. It looks quite interesting/effective. I think doing double cleans instead of double swings would really make this just "that much more" of a winner. Has anyone seen this program through?
@Huls,
This is a typo. It should read "5X RM..." In other words, do a Rep Max set, rest, do another one, and so on until you've done 5 Rep Max sets. Obviously, the reps will decrease due to fatigue. Same holds true for 4X RM and 3X RM...
Hope that helps.
Dear Geoff, thank you for your reply. This clear things up for sure!
One thing though, would you or wouldn't you recommend to do double cleans in stead of double swings? (Since it was mentioned before in this thread).
Thanks again!