Kettlebell 100 swings or 1 hour walk for fat loss?

[Dekapon]

I'm doing S/S every other day. One day S/S, one day rest. Always take a 30min walk before breakfast everyday. Lately I've been taking a 1 hour walk in the evening the days I'm not training.

Been thinking that maybe doing 100 two-hand swings instead of the long walk would be better for fat loss. It might burn fewer calories, but might build more muscle and train more cardio... I don't know.

If fat loss is my goal, which is better? The diet, and I know that's the most important part, would be the same in this scenario.

I don't think I could do both (walk+100 swings), and I don't want to hurt myself, risk losing my motivation or get over trained.
Two-handed swings is quite easy on my limbs and grip. Don't have the stamina or recovery ability to do S/S every day, I've tried before.
The two-handed swings would be done with a 40kg kettlebell.

I weigh 141kg, 37 years old. 180cm.

 

[North Coast Miller]

Some form of interval HIIT that doesn't involve strength movements that might interfere with the S&S, or a 30 minute minimum jog.

I don't think a long walk will do much for body comp unless you throw on a weighted rucksak. 100 swings with a 40 kg will definitely do more than the walk but might put a dent in your regular S&S.

 

[mikhael]

If you can walk for an hour, you can run, and running will be better for fat loss.

 

[Dekapon]

But and hour walk should burn more calories than 100 swings?
Jogging is out, I weigh to much, might hurt my knees. Going to try to run when I've dropped 20kg.

 

[Ian Metz]

My answer would be in the name of this fine school. I’d get strong first, and then the walks should become easier and easier.

 

[Kyle Kowalczuk]

@Dekapon don't forget EPOC that the 100 swings could get you in terms of calories burned. Especially if you are following a protocol such as 6-8 swings in 15 sec followed by 15 sec of rest for roughly 20 min. This is more of a High Intensity Continuous Training protocol (HICT). You will burn calories during the bout but also for up to 2 hours after as your body tries to get back to a level state.

 

[mikhael]

But and hour walk should burn more calories than 100 swings?
Jogging is out, I weigh to much, might hurt my knees. Going to try to run when I've dropped 20kg.

In this case walking would be better option because it'll strengthen your knees. When it comes to reducing weight check your eating habits.

 

[Dekapon]

@Kyle Kowalczuk :
Exercise improves fat metabolism in muscle but does not increase 24-h fat oxidation
EPOC is a bit of a myth or has been exaggerated a lot in popular fitness-media. It's much more the calories burned during the exercise that matters... "they" say...
You also burn more glycogen than fat when doing weight lifting then low impact cardio, like walking. It's a very complex issue.

 

[elli]

I am totally for walking!
another hormonal response, parasympathic, good for digestion and more.
can decrease appetite
fresh air
subshine (vit d is important for fatloss)
and more...

 

[apa]

The 32 kg did way more for my body composition than the 24.

Do both.

 

[North Coast Miller]

@Kyle Kowalczuk :
Exercise improves fat metabolism in muscle but does not increase 24-h fat oxidation
EPOC is a bit of a myth or has been exaggerated a lot in popular fitness-media. It's much more the calories burned during the exercise that matters... "they" say...
You also burn more glycogen than fat when doing weight lifting then low impact cardio, like walking. It's a very complex issue.

You'll get the biggest bang by altering diet, but exercise can definitely have an effect. For regular exercise EPOC is pretty overblown, though it does depend to some extent how far down you burn your glucose reserves - the more depleted they are, the more your body switches over to fat until the stores are replenished. This generally quite a bit more than you would have burned doing low intensity SS, depending...

With higher intensity intervals, the effect is a bit different, elevated post exercise fat burning has been observed often, and I personally found it to help with body comp.

Why you don't burn much fat during HIT, and why it does not matter

High-Intensity Intermittent Exercise and Fat Loss

Subcutaneous (a) and abdominal fat loss (b) after 15 weeks of high-intensity intermittent exercise. HIIE: high-intensity intermittent exercise, SSE: steady state exercise, Cont: control. *Significantly different from control and SSE groups (P < .05). (Adapted from Trapp et al. [5]).

 

[Oscar]

What you are doing already is pretty good: walking every morning, fasted better, and then S&S. Why would you trade the walk for swings if you are already doing swings?

Why are you doing S&S every other day instead of almost every day?

Maybe a good alternative is to switch S&S and walking frequency: do S&S every day before breakfast, and only walk 3/week.

 

[ali]

Doing what you're doing is fine. Steadily increase time on your feet.
However you say you don't recover sufficiently to do S&S everyday but you are using a 40!
What about dropping the weight, get good with that weight and pitch for some consistentcy.
Do your S&S and take a walk after, either right after or later. Almost everyday. Get there and see how you feel.
Establish a load and practice that allows for that.
S&S and walking.....a fine combo.
Plenty people do just that, or variations on a theme of....good for health, strength, movement and fat loss if you eat less than you normally do with some good sleep chucked in.
Outside the walk and training, be more active generally too if possible.

 

[Anna C]

Always take a 30min walk before breakfast everyday.

You might try gradually increasing your fasted walking time in the morning -- steady state aerobics in a fasted state is supposed to be particulary effective.

As for the swings, I'd let that be driven by a training goal (and appropriate progression) rather than a fat loss goal.

BTW, do you know what your HR is while you're walking?

 

[Dekapon]

@North Coast Miller : Wouldn't S/S count as HIIE? 100 "hardstyle" one hand swings in sets of 10... But the effect maybe comes after doing 300 swings or something when the glucose and glycogen is depleted. I'm not someone that has the will power to go to failure and then do 5 reps more. That's what I like about the S/S program, always leave something in the tank...

Why are you doing S&S every other day instead of almost every day?

I tried two months ago doing S/S six times a week... I barley managed, was fatigued and after the first week I was "out" for six days when I didn't exercise at all. Was tired, no motivation and in a foul mood.
I am not a world class athlete! Just an almost 40 year old fat guy who likes video games and gummy bears.
Walking is "easy". 30min walk in the forest before breakfast is a joy. S/S has me sweaty, screaming, panting and is heavy!
Right now I fell like I have the motivation to do either an hours extra walk or 100 two handed swings.

Right now I'm leaning towards the walking and really apply myself in the S/S-sessions.

Or maybe moving to Tibet, shave my head, only eat a handfull of rice a day and take "the stairs" to work everyday.

(And no, I don't eat gummy bears everyday. My diet is as good as I know how to do it at the moment. )

 

[Dekapon]

However you say you don't recover sufficiently to do S&S everyday but you are using a 40!
What about dropping the weight, get good with that weight and pitch for some consistentcy.

Only 40kg on some of the sets of swings and the prying goblet squats, just the 32kg otherwise. But 100 two handed swings with the 40kg is "no problem". What gets me is the get-ups and prying goblet squats. And I think it's mostly a motivational thing, like I said, I can do it six times a week, but then I might get "lazy" or unmotivated for a week. Knowing I get to lay in my bed and be lazy the day after a S/S session is motivation for me, if I know I have to do the same over again tomorrow it stops being fun and feels like forced labor. But I hear you, I could try lighten the load, do it more often and walk afterwards.

As for the swings, I'd let that be driven by a training goal (and appropriate progression) rather than a fat loss goal.

BTW, do you know what your HR is while you're walking?

Thanks for the advice. So if I understand you correctly you vote for more walking for fat loss and if I want to be better at swings, do more swings?
Don't have a heart rate monitor, don't have a scale either. I'm a bit of a minimalist, and also as a fat guy, any time I get moving it is a win. The morning walk is very slow and enjoyable, walking on small forest trails, checking for deer, listening to the birds, jumping over fallen trees, large rocks... that sort of thing, so not really room for a power walk. I do get a bit of a sweat going. The evenings walks are more straight forward out on an old logging road and I try to walk a bit faster, but it's probably not that fast, but I'm moving. I'm not exhausted after an hour, could do 2-3 hours more if I had to.

 

[offwidth]

I have to agree with @ali and @Oscar.
Do S&S every day (0r as close as you can), but use a weight that is better aligned with doing that. One doesn't need to be a world class athlete to apply S&S as written, or to achieve the benefits of it.
There aren't too many world class athletes hanging out here...

 

[offwidth]

And there is nothing at all wrong with walking....
It's what we were designed to do

 

[Anna C]

So if I understand you correctly you vote for more walking for fat loss and if I want to be better at swings, do more swings?

Yes, more walking for fat loss. Sounds like you enjoy it. For your HR, no need for a monitor -- just count your pulse for part of a minute, and calculate, just to get an idea where you are. Maybe re-check once every couple of weeks at the same level of exertion. It's a pretty valuable metric, but sometimes you don't know for what until you've been recording it for a while. At least to start with, you want to get an idea if your walking is mostly aerobic, or are you driving your HR way high (glycolytic). Sometimes heavier people are overexerting themselves while walking for health, though it doesn't sound like you are. Focusing on your breathing is really worthwhile as well... breathe deeper, evenly, diaphragmatically.

As for swings, not more, necessarily... just do what the program recommends, and practice for the points the program prescribes (power, technique, and progression as it describes). Since you're doing S&S, that's all good. You said S&S more than 3x/week is too much to recover from, so it's an unknown whether 100 2H swings on opposite days would be too much. You'd have to try it and see, I suppose. Not a bad idea to try when you get the urge to.... with or without the extra walking time.

 

[North Coast Miller]

@North Coast Miller : Wouldn't S/S count as HIIE? 100 "hardstyle" one hand swings in sets of 10... But the effect maybe comes after doing 300 swings or something when the glucose and glycogen is depleted. I'm not someone that has the will power to go to failure and then do 5 reps more. That's what I like about the S/S program, always leave something in the tank...

It might. I'd have to imagine a lot of it comes down to HR and recovery. I cannot imagine doing enough swings to deplete glucose stores, especially on an off day, so the effect comes from repeated bouts at >80% HR max.