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Kettlebell Geoff Neupert's 12 Week Muscle-Building Plan

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Week 2 completed, that ladder day is no joke.

Yes it is a gut check. But by way of encouragement, I just finished Week 6, where sets of four is now the "light" day . . . I think you will be surprised and impressed by how fast your capacity increases.
 
Good to know:)
I also just finished week 2 and it feels good.
I am curious to see the next press and squat set, which is sets of 3 reps. I can imagine that the volume will increase quite a bit compared to the ladders of previous workout.
But so far really liking the programm.
Definitely going for it again when this one is finished. Now using a pair of 24s, but will revisit it again with 28s next time.
 
One month of the program down. I’ll be working off of a rep max of 8 for both the press and the front squat with the, 32’s. I’ll let you know how it goes.
 
One month of the program down. I’ll be working off of a rep max of 8 for both the press and the front squat with the, 32’s. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Rep max of 8 with 32's......nice.
Good luck with the second phase.

I will be testing my rep max tomorrow (finished week 4 yesterday), but using 24's in this run.
 
The A/B split is simple, but the progression programming seems complex.

I had to read some of the rep / set / time descriptions a few times to grok it, and I'm still not 100% sure I get it.
 
How so? I’ve found it pretty easy to
Follow

Example for the Mechanical Tension focus:

"Start the program with a pair of matching kettlebells you can press approximately 4-6 times"

"Set your timer for 30 minutes. Your goal is to do as many sets of each exercise, with perfect form, as you can in that time. In terms of rest, don't rush it. Use as much as you need."

I mean, yes, from a reading comprehension POV, it's obvious.

But from a "how much weight is that", it's not so obvious to me.

Because the weight I might use for a standard 3 x 5 sets is going to be a *lot* heavier than what I would pick if I have to keep doing it for n sets over 30 minutes.
 
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It’s based off, a weight you can press 4-6 times. It’s fairly spot on. For me it was 32KG Bells and I’ve followed the program and the rep charts. I’ve enjoyed the program, I’ll be starting the final phase, so I’ll see if their ha been any improvement. I’m confident it will
 
It’s based off, a weight you can press 4-6 times. It’s fairly spot on. For me it was 32KG Bells and I’ve followed the program and the rep charts. I’ve enjoyed the program, I’ll be starting the final phase, so I’ll see if their ha been any improvement. I’m confident it will

How many sets are you doing in 30 min / how much rest between sets?
 
How many sets are you doing in 30 min / how much rest between sets?
The point is it doesn’t matter how many sets other people do. You do a set and rest however long it will take you to complete another set. Quit when 30 minutes is over. Some days you may complete more or less than other days depending on how you feel, doesn’t really matter as long as you do your best
 
The point is it doesn’t matter how many sets other people do. You do a set and rest however long it will take you to complete another set. Quit when 30 minutes is over. Some days you may complete more or less than other days depending on how you feel, doesn’t really matter as long as you do your best

I admit it's not a mental model I'm used to.

I'm used to calculated periodization programs working back from 1 RM values.
 
I have completed phase 2 (week 5 to 9) and switched to a preparation guide for kb instructor course, mainly focussing on the snatch (for the snatch test).
In the beginnen I have tried to combine it with this programm. But after week 5 to 9 I discovered that this was not smart (risk of over training), since the programm gets quite demanding.
But I really liked it. So after the instructor cert I will give it a new go

Good luck with the final phase:)
 
Wrapped up the program. With 32 KG bells.Started phase 2 being able to do 8 for press and 8 for front squat. Ended with 11 reps for press and 10 for front squat. Was easily do 12 sets of 10 for double swings. Def got stronger on this program. Going to do a Deload and if I can ever find a pair of 36KG bells, go to give the strong and one program a run. Def a fan of double bell work. Curios to see what happens next time I deadlift.
 
I just finished this program last night. Strength wise, I went from 4 reps with 24s to 9 reps. I'll take it. For the swings, I hadn't swung double 24s before, and it took a little getting used to, but at the beginning, 5 reps was uncomfortable. At the end, 10x10 in less than 20 minutes wasn't trivial, but I currently feel like I could do that on any given day without prep. It's a hypertrophy program first, so I probably should've measured, but I'm satisfied with my wife yelling at me that my shirts shrunk and my pants grew. There is some noticable new meat on the back of my legs too. Weight didn't change, but I wasn't eating to change my weight, I wanted some recomp from this.

I didn't have too much trouble with recovery and was able to get some easy running in throughout, but that needed to be heavily reduced for the last four weeks. The swings were actually slightly easier there, I pushed decently hard in the preceding phase. The press and squat days completely tapped me out however, which is probably the point. When I first looked at the program, I thought the 3 superset with 2 minutes rest day would be the easiest, but man, those were easily the most difficult days of the program.

Overall, I got what I wanted from this, enjoyed the process, and would recommend it if you're on the fence about what next and this one interests you.
 
I dug this program out recently and really wanted to do it with my son. However, I can no longer do squats. I tried to add them back into my programming recently and ended up at the doctor's office getting a cortisone shot.

So, if Geoff or anyone else has a good recommendation for an exercise to replace the the squats I would love to hear it.

Thanks.
 
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