sandman2142
First Post
Hello, everyone. I'm a long-time (3 years) lurker here writing my first post. I really appreciate everyone's insights over the years. To make a long story short, I've been trying for years to get into a habit of training, but my hectic work schedule always got in the way. I tried S&S once upon a time and was working with the 24kg for a while, and even starting to work in the 32kg. But work has prevented me from logging more than a session or two per week, and often no sessions at all for several weeks at a time, for the past several months.
Now, given the pandemic, I'm working from home and trying to develop that habit once and for all. I finally have time to devote. But I'm detrained and feeling incredibly weak, and my hip hinge is garbage. So I wanted to ease into things, be conservative with volume, and focus on the kettlebell deadlift before making my way back to the swing. However, at 6'6" and 220 pounds, I can manhandle the 32kg bell (my largest); I can easily cheat on form such that it doesn't do me any good as true practice for the swing. So I've opted, instead, for double kettlebell deadlifts, holding a 32kg in one hand and a 24kg in the other. Given that this is still only 123 pounds to my 220, I figured I could get away with a moderate amount of volume. In lieu of 5x5 I'm doing 6x5, alternating hands every set. I've been starting a set at the top of every five minutes to ensure plenty of rest. This is my session, completed every other day:
Warmup: at the top of every 5 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes (3x):
- 1x16kg prying goblet squat (about 10 deep breaths at the bottom, 30-60 seconds)
- 4x16kg goblet squat at normal down/up pace
Meat: at the top of every 5 minutes, for a total of 30 minutes (6x):
- 5x(32+24)kg double kettlebell deadlift; slow and steady eccentric, tap the ground, brace, moderately explosive concentric (5 reps takes about 30 seconds)
The deadlifts feel great. The weight is just heavy enough to force core and lat engagement, and when I'm done with my session I feel it in my glutes, upper hamstrings, abs, and upper back. My posture is effortless and my hip hinge is rapidly improving. All good, right? But the next day I feel positively trashed. I'm not talking about DOMS; I'm not sore, and I have my full range of motion. I just feel this deep bodily fatigue that almost reminds me of the precursor to a fever. I just want to lie down.
I'm 29 years old. I've been getting 8-9 hours of sleep per night and eating my usual (not great but not horrible, think Chipotle-esque) diet. I've also been doing presses on my other days, working at Soju and Tuba with a 24kg bell (~2 RM). I'm only on week two of that program, and honestly it doesn't seem to be the problem (though I'm open to input). On those days I warm up with 12-16kg arm bars, pullovers, and bent arm bars, then hit my reps (still singles) with 3 minutes rest in between. The fatigue hits me after the deadlift days, though. It's been forcing a lot of unintended rest days. I had been planning on a 6-on, 1-off schedule, but the past two weeks have looked like this:
Press, Deadlift, Press, Deadlift, Rest, Press, Deadlift
Rest, Press, Deadlift, Rest, Press, Deadlift, Rest
So I guess my question is, what are the chances this is just too much volume for me? I know the answer will differ from person to person, but I so thoroughly believed that I was being conservative in designing this plan that I'm a bit in disbelief. None of the weight is particularly heavy, none of the volume is outrageous on paper, and the rest times are quite long. Should I rethink my approach of preparing for swings using the deadlift? Is the deadlift just not compatible with moderate volume? I don't have any barbell experience on which to draw. Thank you and apologies for the lengthy post!
Now, given the pandemic, I'm working from home and trying to develop that habit once and for all. I finally have time to devote. But I'm detrained and feeling incredibly weak, and my hip hinge is garbage. So I wanted to ease into things, be conservative with volume, and focus on the kettlebell deadlift before making my way back to the swing. However, at 6'6" and 220 pounds, I can manhandle the 32kg bell (my largest); I can easily cheat on form such that it doesn't do me any good as true practice for the swing. So I've opted, instead, for double kettlebell deadlifts, holding a 32kg in one hand and a 24kg in the other. Given that this is still only 123 pounds to my 220, I figured I could get away with a moderate amount of volume. In lieu of 5x5 I'm doing 6x5, alternating hands every set. I've been starting a set at the top of every five minutes to ensure plenty of rest. This is my session, completed every other day:
Warmup: at the top of every 5 minutes, for a total of 15 minutes (3x):
- 1x16kg prying goblet squat (about 10 deep breaths at the bottom, 30-60 seconds)
- 4x16kg goblet squat at normal down/up pace
Meat: at the top of every 5 minutes, for a total of 30 minutes (6x):
- 5x(32+24)kg double kettlebell deadlift; slow and steady eccentric, tap the ground, brace, moderately explosive concentric (5 reps takes about 30 seconds)
The deadlifts feel great. The weight is just heavy enough to force core and lat engagement, and when I'm done with my session I feel it in my glutes, upper hamstrings, abs, and upper back. My posture is effortless and my hip hinge is rapidly improving. All good, right? But the next day I feel positively trashed. I'm not talking about DOMS; I'm not sore, and I have my full range of motion. I just feel this deep bodily fatigue that almost reminds me of the precursor to a fever. I just want to lie down.
I'm 29 years old. I've been getting 8-9 hours of sleep per night and eating my usual (not great but not horrible, think Chipotle-esque) diet. I've also been doing presses on my other days, working at Soju and Tuba with a 24kg bell (~2 RM). I'm only on week two of that program, and honestly it doesn't seem to be the problem (though I'm open to input). On those days I warm up with 12-16kg arm bars, pullovers, and bent arm bars, then hit my reps (still singles) with 3 minutes rest in between. The fatigue hits me after the deadlift days, though. It's been forcing a lot of unintended rest days. I had been planning on a 6-on, 1-off schedule, but the past two weeks have looked like this:
Press, Deadlift, Press, Deadlift, Rest, Press, Deadlift
Rest, Press, Deadlift, Rest, Press, Deadlift, Rest
So I guess my question is, what are the chances this is just too much volume for me? I know the answer will differ from person to person, but I so thoroughly believed that I was being conservative in designing this plan that I'm a bit in disbelief. None of the weight is particularly heavy, none of the volume is outrageous on paper, and the rest times are quite long. Should I rethink my approach of preparing for swings using the deadlift? Is the deadlift just not compatible with moderate volume? I don't have any barbell experience on which to draw. Thank you and apologies for the lengthy post!
