Kettlebell A "What the Hell" moment

[Bunn]

I have had a couple of "WTH" experiences since I began working with kettlebells, but this one really did come as a surprise. While at the All Terrain Conditioning course last weekend we learned and practiced the SF Tactical Pullup. I had not done a pullup since June of 2010, not a single one. When the time came to jump up on the bar and execute, I was a bit nervous, I had no idea if I could even get my face to the bar, let alone well above it. To my great surprise, I did so easily. I only did a few sets of one, and have no idea what my max might be, but I was extremely happy that I was actually able to execute a strict dead hang pullup having not done a single rep in the preceding 9 years. It is good to see that the kettlebell and my training still has a few surprises left for me.

 

[Gravytrain]

Awesome what programs do you use

 

[mikhael]

Good work, stay strong, and practice pull-up more often.

 

[Bunn]

@piratebum primary work is done with heavy (for me) two handed swings and TGU's, I also cycle in double clean and press and am now getting way more into snatching. I would have to give most of the pullup credit to the swings and TGU's.

@Mikael Gentili I may, I will be testing my actual max reps this weekend, we will see how that goes and then decide if I want to add pullups as a regular part of my practice.

 

[Brett Jones]

Excellent

 

[Nate]

A friend came to me for help since he'd stagnated. Few weeks later he messaged me:

"I think I'm getting stronger..."
"That's the point, isn't it? "
"Out of nowhere, I can not only do a muscle up, but 3; and before I couldn't press the 70 at all & now can do a single with ease!"
"Its called the What the Hell Effect."

Good things.

 

[freeflowme]

Nice! I had a similar experience recently, though it was with deadlifts. Compared to how heavy my body used to feel (I could grind out 1 pretty good pull-up), I felt light as a feather and really strong in my pulling ability. I think this was due in large part to my grip strength improving so much. I feel like when you can really crush the bar you can generate so much more irradiation to your arms and lats. Obviously, the isometric contraction of the upper back throughout lower body pulls is huge, too, which I think is true of kettlebell swings and even the stabilization by the lat in TGUs. In any case, glad you're experiencing these WTHs! They're among the best part of these "easy strength" programs, imho.

 

[Kozushi]

After doing S&S for a while I tried deadlifting and found I could pick up 1.5 times my bodyweight no problem for reps.

 

[LightningFast]

I only had one such moment, and it's not related to kettlebells. I was doing Tai Chi for about a year and one day went for a run with my wife, who is a pretty good runner. I was really surprised at my ability to hold the pace and last the distance, even though I am a pretty bad runner and haven't ran for months that time.

With kettlebells many things lifting get better, but that is kind of expected. You train with weights you get better at lifting weights.

 

[Steve Freides]

Nice! I had a similar experience recently, though it was with deadlifts. ... I felt light as a feather and really strong in my pulling ability. I think this was due in large part to my grip strength improving so much.

+1. When grip gets better, often lots of WTH things happen.

-S-