Hey all,
I did the 10,000 swing challenge this past month and thought I'd post about it.
500 swings/day
2 days on, 1 day off for 20 total workouts
I alternated between 1-arm, 2-arm, and double swings almost randomly. I also used bells ranging from 16-18kg. For sets and reps I usually did clusters of 100, say 5x20, with generous rest between said clusters. Some days I did more A+A style. About half of the time I sandwiched singles of a grind movement (usually back squat or bench) with a 5rm weight in between sets of swings. The other half of the time I just did the swings.
Total tonnage for the month: 263, 280kg
Average swing tonnage per training session: 13,164kg
Average bell weight: 26kg
Example workout 1: (A+A sandwich)
16kg x100
rest
32kg x5 otm x60 minutes
rest
16kg x100
Example workout 2: (sandwiching in squat singles @315lbs
24kg x30, one squat
Double 16kg x25, one squat
Double 20kg x15, one squat
24kg x20, one squat
Double 24kg x10
full rest
x5
Example workout 3: (light day, or more accurately, "I'm so over this" day)
16kg x100
rest
x5
As you can see, I switched it up a lot. While the swings were all up to SFG standard, they were definitely a lot less powerful than I normally swing. Maintaining high levels of power for so many reps just seemed impossible. It is amazing the exponential difference in fatigue created from a high powered swing vs a "good enough" swing.
I wouldn't say it was "fun" , but it was a positive experience. The best way I can describe the gains would be: It never got easier, but as the month went on doing longer sets, bigger weights, or shorter rests became "not harder". Before the challenge, I did timed simple swings and it was near max effort. On the last day of the challenge, I beat the simple swing test with 40kg which is a huge PR.
Obviously this is not a sustainable program to do long term, but I do think theres some serious utility to doing such an aggressive short term "homeostasis buster" once in a while if you are in a place where you can handle it mentally and physically. Theres no way I would have PR'd by 2 bells on my simple swings in 30 days by just doing 100/day, but now that I have, my plan is to start doing 10x10 heavy swings every day using a HR monitor to stay aerobic (plus a timed test 2x/month). This will feel so easy compared to my past month, even though I'll be using a bell that would have completely smoked me just a mere 4 weeks ago.
It was a great experience, but I am sure glad to be done!
I did the 10,000 swing challenge this past month and thought I'd post about it.
500 swings/day
2 days on, 1 day off for 20 total workouts
I alternated between 1-arm, 2-arm, and double swings almost randomly. I also used bells ranging from 16-18kg. For sets and reps I usually did clusters of 100, say 5x20, with generous rest between said clusters. Some days I did more A+A style. About half of the time I sandwiched singles of a grind movement (usually back squat or bench) with a 5rm weight in between sets of swings. The other half of the time I just did the swings.
Total tonnage for the month: 263, 280kg
Average swing tonnage per training session: 13,164kg
Average bell weight: 26kg
Example workout 1: (A+A sandwich)
16kg x100
rest
32kg x5 otm x60 minutes
rest
16kg x100
Example workout 2: (sandwiching in squat singles @315lbs
24kg x30, one squat
Double 16kg x25, one squat
Double 20kg x15, one squat
24kg x20, one squat
Double 24kg x10
full rest
x5
Example workout 3: (light day, or more accurately, "I'm so over this" day)
16kg x100
rest
x5
As you can see, I switched it up a lot. While the swings were all up to SFG standard, they were definitely a lot less powerful than I normally swing. Maintaining high levels of power for so many reps just seemed impossible. It is amazing the exponential difference in fatigue created from a high powered swing vs a "good enough" swing.
I wouldn't say it was "fun" , but it was a positive experience. The best way I can describe the gains would be: It never got easier, but as the month went on doing longer sets, bigger weights, or shorter rests became "not harder". Before the challenge, I did timed simple swings and it was near max effort. On the last day of the challenge, I beat the simple swing test with 40kg which is a huge PR.
Obviously this is not a sustainable program to do long term, but I do think theres some serious utility to doing such an aggressive short term "homeostasis buster" once in a while if you are in a place where you can handle it mentally and physically. Theres no way I would have PR'd by 2 bells on my simple swings in 30 days by just doing 100/day, but now that I have, my plan is to start doing 10x10 heavy swings every day using a HR monitor to stay aerobic (plus a timed test 2x/month). This will feel so easy compared to my past month, even though I'll be using a bell that would have completely smoked me just a mere 4 weeks ago.
It was a great experience, but I am sure glad to be done!