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Kettlebell A.X.E. - Recovery and appetite?

Quincyh_SFG

Quincyh_SFG

Level 2 Valued Member
Certified Instructor
Hey guys...3rd week running the AXE Protocol with H2H swings. Settled on the 48kg for sets of 4 up to 30 rounds and I am training only the AXE Swings 3x/ week. I coach full time so, this is working well for me on its own.

2 things I have noticed and would like to know if anyone else is experiencing anything similar.

1. ) Recovery has been amazing. Previously when pursuing sinister...I would be absolutely drained the next several days even though typically my volume would be well under the 100+ reps with the 48kg I am now doing following AXE. For some reason, I am feeling fresher than ever on the days following my AXE sessions with the 48kg , so fresh in fact that it's hard to stop myself from doing more than the suggested 2-3 sessions per week.

2.) I noticed even prior to making the jump up to the 48kg ...when I did a session with the 32kg 4/30 , then a couple @ 36kg 6/20 , and 40kg 6/30 my appetite in the following days were absolutely voracious!! I want to eat everything in site and I am indulging that appetite within reason. Even still I am down 3 pounds from where I started. Find it very interesting...Definitely seems to be some true body re-comp potential built into this simple protocol.

Anyway, absolutely loving this protocol and looking to get everything I can out of it,..so I'll be sticking with it for a while!

Love to hear about some other experiences!
 
Hey Quicyh,
I'm doing AXE 2x/week, 1H swing 36kg for 5 reps, 30 minutes, and 2x/week press + front squats ladders.
I'm slightly more hungry. But it's been a long time since I felt so well recovered. I sleep less and feel better than ever.
 
Quincyh_SFG said:
Hey guys...3rd week running the AXE Protocol with H2H swings. Settled on the 48kg for sets of 4 up to 30 rounds and I am training only the AXE Swings 3x/ week. I coach full time so, this is working well for me on its own.

2 things I have noticed and would like to know if anyone else is experiencing anything similar.

1. ) Recovery has been amazing. Previously when pursuing sinister...I would be absolutely drained the next several days even though typically my volume would be well under the 100+ reps with the 48kg I am now doing following AXE. For some reason, I am feeling fresher than ever on the days following my AXE sessions with the 48kg , so fresh in fact that it's hard to stop myself from doing more than the suggested 2-3 sessions per week.

2.) I noticed even prior to making the jump up to the 48kg ...when I did a session with the 32kg 4/30 , then a couple @ 36kg 6/20 , and 40kg 6/30 my appetite in the following days were absolutely voracious!! I want to eat everything in site and I am indulging that appetite within reason. Even still I am down 3 pounds from where I started. Find it very interesting...Definitely seems to be some true body re-comp potential built into this simple protocol.

Anyway, absolutely loving this protocol and looking to get everything I can out of it,..so I'll be sticking with it for a while!

Love to hear about some other experiences!
Click to expand...
Awesome work!

I actually seem to respond really well to AXE type training in terms of hypertrophy and fatloss, especially when factoring in the low recovery cost. There is a section on this in AXE, so there seems to be something going on under the hood.
 
Matt_lux said:
Hey Quicyh,
I'm doing AXE 2x/week, 1H swing 36kg for 5 reps, 30 minutes, and 2x/week press + front squats ladders.
I'm slightly more hungry. But it's been a long time since I felt so well recovered. I sleep less and feel better than ever.
Click to expand...
Hey Matt...glad to hear you're finding the same as far as recovery goes. Considering the amount of volume you wind up accumulating , it is quite illuminating to see that the combination of low reps coupled with generous rest is money for recovery! I've been dreaming of a program like this! I certainly like your idea of getting some front squats in with this as well. Doing them on the same day?
 
Bauer said:
Awesome work!

I actually seem to respond really well to AXE type training in terms of hypertrophy and fatloss, especially when factoring in the low recovery cost. There is a section on this in AXE, so there seems to be something going on under the hood.
Click to expand...
Hey Bauer... Agreed, I too have found that hypertrophy in particular seems to be optimized for me when I keep the reps at 5 or below and my body really loves rest :) Don't really have a whole lot of fat which is why that surprised me, to realize how much leaner I was getting while eating like a pig because of the reeved-up appetite. I read the book and was excited to get going on it. Prentiss Rhodes's experience detailed in it especially led me to believe that this program could answer many questions I had with my own training lately, namely how to get back to 1ASW w/ the Beast and not be taxed for days afterward. Glad to see that it's delivering even better than expected.
 
Quincyh_SFG said:
Hey Matt...glad to hear you're finding the same as far as recovery goes. Considering the amount of volume you wind up accumulating , it is quite illuminating to see that the combination of low reps coupled with generous rest is money for recovery! I've been dreaming of a program like this! I certainly like your idea of getting some front squats in with this as well. Doing them on the same day?
Click to expand...
Quicyh, I've also been looking for what Axe is offering, but didnt dare to dream I would find it! That's why what it's worth to remain curious and keep looking :)

I'm separating conditioning (axe) and strength:

Monday - axe
Tuesday - double KB press & front squats
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - axe
Friday - double KB press & front squats
Week-end rest

I'm doing press & squats with ladders 2 3 5. Might introduce 1 2 3 soon.
So far, it's a perfect for me. I just pressed the 36kg with both hands for the first time, yesterday.
 
Awesome brother! Congrats on the 36kg press! I think this plan will be providing a lot of “what the heck” effects

I like your schedule here…Probably go ahead and try something similar this week and see if recovery is still feels good.
 
On the topic of AXE and recovery, specifically double press/squat, would something like:
Matt_lux said:
Hey Quicyh,
I'm doing AXE 2x/week, 1H swing 36kg for 5 reps, 30 minutes, and 2x/week press + front squats ladders.
I'm slightly more hungry. But it's been a long time since I felt so well recovered. I sleep less and feel better than ever.
Click to expand...
...work with doubles or maybe ~alternating AXE swings with Dry Fighting Weight days for a 5-6 day a week schedule?
 
I haven’t noticed much change in recovery but not running standard axe. I’m doing the powerlifting version from the axe thread.

Just 20 minutes 2x a week with the 32kg. Every third week taking it easier (those are the heavy week in my strength programming).

I did notice my intra-set recovery improving… but also fell off the conditioning for a while before starting AXE.
 
@lais817 @HarryBergers
For the ladders, I'm using 2 3 5 with my 8/10 RM and I'm going to use 1 2 3 with my 5/6 RM.
I took inspiration from this post, written by SF instructors a while ago.
Just sticking to the basics and repeat until strong. I feel there is a nice synergy effect with the AXE swings.
AXE for conditioning (and a bit of strength / hypertrophy), 1H swings for the anti rotational effects.
Double KB work for strength / hypertrophy (and a bit of conditioning). I picked press, not clean & press because the posterior chain gets enough work from AXE days (in my opinion). Nevertheless, you'll get a nice dose of cleans just by doing them before each sets of press / squats.

Regarding Dry Fighting Weight, I would do it twice instead of three times a week if alternating with AXE... But that would not be DFW anymore ;]
 
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