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Question about deload weeks: Let's say you've done four weeks of Plan A or B, and you've just finished your deload week. Then, one or two weeks later, you decide that you've plateaued. So, you test your RM and switch to the other plan, B or A, respective to my original example.

My question is: Should you start counting your weeks from week 1 at that point? Then, you would have gone, say, six weeks before the next deload.

Or, should you deload every four weeks, regardless of when you switched plans?

Am I overthinking this? Maybe so... Like, maybe the first week of the new plan could constitute a "deload" of sorts, as you start from the beginning of each plan.

Eh, I'm still curious about what y'all think.
 
Question about deload weeks: Let's say you've done four weeks of Plan A or B, and you've just finished your deload week. Then, one or two weeks later, you decide that you've plateaued. So, you test your RM and switch to the other plan, B or A, respective to my original example.

My question is: Should you start counting your weeks from week 1 at that point? Then, you would have gone, say, six weeks before the next deload.

Or, should you deload every four weeks, regardless of when you switched plans?

Am I overthinking this? Maybe so... Like, maybe the first week of the new plan could constitute a "deload" of sorts, as you start from the beginning of each plan.

Eh, I'm still curious about what y'all think.
Looking back at my log from last year I kept it on an overall four week cycle as I transitioned from Plan A to Plan B.
I have not gone full circle from B back to A but this would seem less necessary as the volume starts low. Particularly if you add in the two week stabilisation recommended in the article.
I felt like i had some training momentum moving into Plan B.
 
@Pete L and @Ryan Johnson , thanks for your feedback. I've been mostly keeping to deloading four weeks after changing plans, but keeping it at every four weeks, overall, makes a little more sense to me. That said, especially when changing back to Plan A, the ramp up from the beginning could also constitute a deload, of sorts.
 
Hey folks, wanted to ask for some advise on the Kettlebells Strongfirst program. Today I began the Beginner to Intermediate Training.
Weight progression on the Swings is clear. I'm unclear how and when to progress the TGU's.

Program states: "Upgrade to heavier kettlebells whenever comfortable. Mix two weights when you are making a gradual transition."

Should I:
A. Adopt a step progression approach and slowly work the Heavy bell into my Medium day.
B. When I can do a full TGU with the Heavy bell, this becomes my Medium bell.
C. None of the above, do it like this: "x'."

Really looking forward to reading the article from @Mike Torres on this one.

Appreciate any help. Thank you forum!
Could you tell
Me what the beginner to immediate programme is please, where I can see it. I am
Newbie too, have bought simple sinister book 3 light bells and trying my best good luck to you
 
Could you tell
Me what the beginner to immediate programme is please, where I can see it. I am
Newbie too, have bought simple sinister book 3 light bells and trying my best good luck to you
Welcome BarryMc.

The program discussed in this thread is not S&S, although it is similar. The first post links to the product.

For now, just stick to the book and make sure to reread a couple of times. There is a lot of relevant info in every chapter.
 
I was working my way up to timeless Simple. The thing is: with my current life of combining a full time job, with a family and a son of 2,5 with autism I don't have the time (or energy) to do near daily training. At the moment 3 sessions a week is my max. Because of this I feel I'm not making the progress I should make. For example I increase weight in 4 kg intervals instead of 8 kg and increase 2 sets every 5 weeks (instead of 2 sets for 8 kg every 4 weeks as stated in the book). This has caused me to lose interest over time and I did some program hopping. But everytime I come back to S&S because I want to reach at least timeless Simple. Over the last 2 years I build up from 16 kg to 4 sets at 28kg and 6 at 24 kg.
Now I've purchased the Kettlebells Strongfrist program. Mainly for interest in the C&J program. But I saw the beginner program, which also contains the Swing en Get-up. This is set up in a different way, that speak to me more because it is 3 times a week and you don't progress every x weeks, but every week you can set a new bar. I like this because I feel like my progress on S&S is not optimal.
My question is: Would it be ok to switch S&S for the beginner program in this course and follow that up to 32 kg? Or do you think it would still be better to do S&S upto timeless Simple?
 
I was working my way up to timeless Simple. The thing is: with my current life of combining a full time job, with a family and a son of 2,5 with autism I don't have the time (or energy) to do near daily training. At the moment 3 sessions a week is my max. Because of this I feel I'm not making the progress I should make. For example I increase weight in 4 kg intervals instead of 8 kg and increase 2 sets every 5 weeks (instead of 2 sets for 8 kg every 4 weeks as stated in the book). This has caused me to lose interest over time and I did some program hopping. But everytime I come back to S&S because I want to reach at least timeless Simple. Over the last 2 years I build up from 16 kg to 4 sets at 28kg and 6 at 24 kg.
Now I've purchased the Kettlebells Strongfrist program. Mainly for interest in the C&J program. But I saw the beginner program, which also contains the Swing en Get-up. This is set up in a different way, that speak to me more because it is 3 times a week and you don't progress every x weeks, but every week you can set a new bar. I like this because I feel like my progress on S&S is not optimal.
My question is: Would it be ok to switch S&S for the beginner program in this course and follow that up to 32 kg? Or do you think it would still be better to do S&S upto timeless Simple?
Yes, fine.
KB-SF is a different protocol to S&S. You may find adding volume is more rewarding and therefore more sustainable.
The alternative is to step cycle time wise by the S&S book but then back off.
You have to overload at some point to adapt, either volume with same bell or volume including that from a heavier bell.
 
I was working my way up to timeless Simple. The thing is: with my current life of combining a full time job, with a family and a son of 2,5 with autism I don't have the time (or energy) to do near daily training. At the moment 3 sessions a week is my max. Because of this I feel I'm not making the progress I should make. For example I increase weight in 4 kg intervals instead of 8 kg and increase 2 sets every 5 weeks (instead of 2 sets for 8 kg every 4 weeks as stated in the book). This has caused me to lose interest over time and I did some program hopping. But everytime I come back to S&S because I want to reach at least timeless Simple. Over the last 2 years I build up from 16 kg to 4 sets at 28kg and 6 at 24 kg.
Now I've purchased the Kettlebells Strongfrist program. Mainly for interest in the C&J program. But I saw the beginner program, which also contains the Swing en Get-up. This is set up in a different way, that speak to me more because it is 3 times a week and you don't progress every x weeks, but every week you can set a new bar. I like this because I feel like my progress on S&S is not optimal.
My question is: Would it be ok to switch S&S for the beginner program in this course and follow that up to 32 kg? Or do you think it would still be better to do S&S upto timeless Simple?
To answer your question, yes, it is a great program, feel free to do it.

To answer your not-question, training S&S 3x a week is perfectly fine as well. I did that for a while as I transitioned from 24kg to 28kg (and then beyond). There is no progress we "should" make. Even the book says if you can only train a couple times a week, great, but don't expect the progress of someone who is able to do it more often.

If you're bored of S&S and feel that KB-SF will help change things up, great, go for it. But in all programs what matters is consistency of applied effort over time. I love both S&S and KB-SF, but there is no shame in saying that you are interested in doing other things and maybe it isn't a good fit for you right now - and that is based off of goals and desires, as well as what you know how to do and have access to.

Best of luck in your training!
 
My question is: Would it be ok to switch S&S for the beginner program in this course and follow that up to 32 kg? Or do you think it would still be better to do S&S upto timeless Simple?
To echo @Pete L and @John K: Yes, that sounds reasonable.

I think there are several advantages for your situation:
The progression is autoregulated, the TGU part can be customized to your circumstances, and recovery might be better with sets of 5 and three sessions per week. You might get less or slower hyertrophy (as mentioned in the FAQ), but that might also be an asset and improve recovery. When you have reached 20x5 with the 32 kg, and have gone through a phase of "every 30 seconds", I think you won't have any problems with a phase of Timeless Simple.

Given that you can do 4x10 with the 28, I would start with that weight. Heavy TGU day with 28 and/or 32. Medium day probably 24 kg (or sometimes or some reps with 20 kg), and easy day probably 16 kg.
 
The start of the programm went well, I think. My plan was to start the swings with 28kg. For the get-ups set the timer for 20 minutes. Then on the heavy day half get-ups with a 28 kg in ladders from 1-3. On the medium day full single get-ups with 24kg and on the light day single get-ups with presses/pauses in between with a 16kg.
Tuesday I started with the heavy day. On the first try I got the full 20 mins with the swings, one set of 5 every minute while meeting the talktest. This was more then I expected, comming from 4 sets of 10 on S&S.
The half get-ups felt great, so yesterday on the medium day is thought: "Lets start the get-ups with the 28kg and see how far I get." Completed 10 single get-ups (5/5) in 20 minutes. Can't say I'm not happy with these results. But also maybe I was a bit conservative with the S&S progressions every 4 /5 weeks.
I plan on keeping the full get-ups at 28kg, until I start the swings at 32 kg (first see how far I get with 5 reps every 30 sec). For the heavy half get-ups I'm toying with the idea to introduce the 32kg.
 
The start of the programm went well, I think. My plan was to start the swings with 28kg. For the get-ups set the timer for 20 minutes. Then on the heavy day half get-ups with a 28 kg in ladders from 1-3. On the medium day full single get-ups with 24kg and on the light day single get-ups with presses/pauses in between with a 16kg.
Tuesday I started with the heavy day. On the first try I got the full 20 mins with the swings, one set of 5 every minute while meeting the talktest. This was more then I expected, comming from 4 sets of 10 on S&S.
The half get-ups felt great, so yesterday on the medium day is thought: "Lets start the get-ups with the 28kg and see how far I get." Completed 10 single get-ups (5/5) in 20 minutes. Can't say I'm not happy with these results. But also maybe I was a bit conservative with the S&S progressions every 4 /5 weeks.
I plan on keeping the full get-ups at 28kg, until I start the swings at 32 kg (first see how far I get with 5 reps every 30 sec). For the heavy half get-ups I'm toying with the idea to introduce the 32kg.
Sounds great!
 
Regarding the one-hand plan C&J, do you think it's possible to replace the C&J with the snatch ?
So it would be between 1 and 3 snatch on the half minute. With a bell you can snatch 10 - 12 times.
 
Regarding the one-hand plan C&J, do you think it's possible to replace the C&J with the snatch ?
So it would be between 1 and 3 snatch on the half minute. With a bell you can snatch 10 - 12 times.
I would rather use Plan B as the template to use.

Well, actually, I would probably start with a version of the Swing plan, that I have outlined in this thread before:
I believe a mix of the Swing and LCCJ plan could work well.

First 5reps OTM from the Swing plan (but up to 30 minutes), and then switching to plan B of LCCJ with 3reps OT30, building up from there.

For the easy day of the OTM phase I would either do sets of 3 for the same time, or cut the sets to 60%.
 
Pavel approved this substitution in the questions to the "Best Ever" article.
Thanks for the tip of checking the Q&A. It is golden not only to understand more about A+A but his general approach to strength and exercise.

Ps: I strained my biceps stupidly while trying to park my KB “gently”, nothing serious, but I can feel it in my biceps. So instead of practicing S&S I have decided to practice swings and get ups KBSF style for a few sessions (I already had the program I love it when I read but did not try, now tought KBSF swings could be easier on my biceps). I have done a session today after re reading the program.

Absolutely lovely. Two programs that have only, Swings, GS, TGUs, could only be programmed this well. There are small differences but amazing different approach both very powerful.

Everyone who has interest in strength programming should try S&S and KBSF only to see what “programming” means and what differences are possible with nuances.
 
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Pre-Competition Training

How long in advance are you guys beginning the peak described in the pre-competition training portion of the KBSF manual? I have a competition in September and will be starting this program in a week so I'm just trying to plan out my schedule.

Thanks for any input. @Mikeperry do you have an opinion?
 
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