Kozushi
Level 7 Valued Member
I started S&S I think back in February of 2016 after buying some kettlebells and the S&S book. I soon thereafter found the website and have been obsessed ever since. I missed about a year and a half total of regular S&S training however due to some injuries; the 16kg kettlebell was critical in recovering from the injuries. Every year-ish I write some kind of update on the forum of what I've learned and where I am now in my thoughts about S&S, kettlebells and fitness. I've gotten some new ideas so I'm writing this one now. In no specific order:
1. The Simple target with the 32kg bell is a target for a reason! If you are doing this regularly then you are VERY STRONG! The virtual weight of the 32kg bell is about 100kg! That means you're swinging your own bodyweight in just one arm! That's ridiculous! Going past Simple to 36kg or 40 or even 48 for some few blessed individuals is super impressive, but nobody should feel anything but exhilaration and pride at attaining and maintaining S&S with the 32kg bell! Simple is STRONG! With Simple I can do crazy things I could never handle before without hurting myself!
2. I finally broke down and purchased a "mid-way" bell (the 28kg) yesterday. I really liked my S&S workout with it today. It is obviously going to be smoother and easier if you progress by 4kg increments rather than by 8kg, and you might find your ultimate "maintenance weight" to be one of those increments (I might discover the 36kg for instance as my eventual "workhorse" S&S bell.) Nothing wrong with 4kg increments! This shouldn't be an issue. They're in the new S&S 2.0 book too!
3. Everything is indeed in the S&S 2.0 book. They've worked on this in some way or another for over 20 years. The S&S programme has been under huge public scrutiny for about a decade also, let alone Pavel's work in general since the start. The book has it all. Trust the book! 2.0 though... The first book is far surpassed by the second. If you don't have it yet you HAVE TO get it if you love S&S!
4. 1 handed swings make a very fine primary exercise to base my training around! They cover almost everything in the body. What they miss the TGU fills in the gaps for (and to some lesser extent the warmup goblet squats). It's the 1h swings though that are by far the more important of the two moves.
5. The goblet squats are important! They are exactly what the book says they are - a warmup. However, the goblet curls are strength building moves, explicitly said so in the book. If you can't or won't do 3 sets of 5 goblet squats then why not? I had to ask myself this question and got no satisfactory answer from myself. I'll trust Pavel and do the goblet squats! Keep in mind that they are the one fully symmetrical exercise out of the three! This is again a nice "warmup" to balance the body with before challenging it to separate itself apart with the anti-twist qualities of the 1 handed swings and getups!
6. The strength and conditioning carry over of S&S to other athletic pursuits is remarkable!
7. Don't be afraid to go light when you're not feeling strong! Going light is still progress. Going nothing is not progress.
8. The TGU is more about filling in the gaps in your strength than anything else. It strengthens the awkward natural movements we make when turning, shifting, angling. The TGU strengthens especially the weak links in your strength chain! While it's worth 20% of your strength only, without this 20% you could collapse given the wrong angle of force!
9. If you are finding S&S boring or annoying then GO DOWN A WEIGHT LEVEL! Do not fear light weights!
10. You don't need other moves. However, I think it is sensible and good to train other moves (like chinups, dips, presses etc...) to some extent because an athlete should be able to do anything needed. Even if S&S is the base, it needs to be the base of SOMETHING, and if you never train anything else, what is it the base for, what is that SOMETHING? The book is all about pursuing other forms of supplementary athletics - hiking, combat arts, barbell lifting etc... I go for several hikes/walks a week of at least 75 minutes a session, train kendo and judo...
11. The TGU is so important to grapplers because we are going to take you apart based on the weak links in your strength chain, and the TGU seals them for you leaving us nowhere to exploit!
12. I think both heavy and light days are sensible for S&S, as the book says. What weights you use for these can vary. 32kg is the target to maintain once acquired. For right now my heavy days are with the 32 and my light ones are going to be with the 28 (the 24 was just too light for me, I weigh 105 kg.)
13. S&S DOES give you a model-like physique! Strong is strong and strong is beautiful!
14. Keep your very light kettlebells! I've used the 16kg bells a lot while recovering from injuries! Without them I would never have gotten my strength back!
15. S&S makes your legs strong and well-conditioned. I'm someone who relies on his legs for my combat sports and for hiking. I definitely lost strength in my legs when taking time off S&S. While training S&S I feel like I'm gliding along doing kendo or judo footwork, or speedwalking. S&S makes leg work feel more like flying than anything else!
1. The Simple target with the 32kg bell is a target for a reason! If you are doing this regularly then you are VERY STRONG! The virtual weight of the 32kg bell is about 100kg! That means you're swinging your own bodyweight in just one arm! That's ridiculous! Going past Simple to 36kg or 40 or even 48 for some few blessed individuals is super impressive, but nobody should feel anything but exhilaration and pride at attaining and maintaining S&S with the 32kg bell! Simple is STRONG! With Simple I can do crazy things I could never handle before without hurting myself!
2. I finally broke down and purchased a "mid-way" bell (the 28kg) yesterday. I really liked my S&S workout with it today. It is obviously going to be smoother and easier if you progress by 4kg increments rather than by 8kg, and you might find your ultimate "maintenance weight" to be one of those increments (I might discover the 36kg for instance as my eventual "workhorse" S&S bell.) Nothing wrong with 4kg increments! This shouldn't be an issue. They're in the new S&S 2.0 book too!
3. Everything is indeed in the S&S 2.0 book. They've worked on this in some way or another for over 20 years. The S&S programme has been under huge public scrutiny for about a decade also, let alone Pavel's work in general since the start. The book has it all. Trust the book! 2.0 though... The first book is far surpassed by the second. If you don't have it yet you HAVE TO get it if you love S&S!
4. 1 handed swings make a very fine primary exercise to base my training around! They cover almost everything in the body. What they miss the TGU fills in the gaps for (and to some lesser extent the warmup goblet squats). It's the 1h swings though that are by far the more important of the two moves.
5. The goblet squats are important! They are exactly what the book says they are - a warmup. However, the goblet curls are strength building moves, explicitly said so in the book. If you can't or won't do 3 sets of 5 goblet squats then why not? I had to ask myself this question and got no satisfactory answer from myself. I'll trust Pavel and do the goblet squats! Keep in mind that they are the one fully symmetrical exercise out of the three! This is again a nice "warmup" to balance the body with before challenging it to separate itself apart with the anti-twist qualities of the 1 handed swings and getups!
6. The strength and conditioning carry over of S&S to other athletic pursuits is remarkable!
7. Don't be afraid to go light when you're not feeling strong! Going light is still progress. Going nothing is not progress.
8. The TGU is more about filling in the gaps in your strength than anything else. It strengthens the awkward natural movements we make when turning, shifting, angling. The TGU strengthens especially the weak links in your strength chain! While it's worth 20% of your strength only, without this 20% you could collapse given the wrong angle of force!
9. If you are finding S&S boring or annoying then GO DOWN A WEIGHT LEVEL! Do not fear light weights!
10. You don't need other moves. However, I think it is sensible and good to train other moves (like chinups, dips, presses etc...) to some extent because an athlete should be able to do anything needed. Even if S&S is the base, it needs to be the base of SOMETHING, and if you never train anything else, what is it the base for, what is that SOMETHING? The book is all about pursuing other forms of supplementary athletics - hiking, combat arts, barbell lifting etc... I go for several hikes/walks a week of at least 75 minutes a session, train kendo and judo...
11. The TGU is so important to grapplers because we are going to take you apart based on the weak links in your strength chain, and the TGU seals them for you leaving us nowhere to exploit!
12. I think both heavy and light days are sensible for S&S, as the book says. What weights you use for these can vary. 32kg is the target to maintain once acquired. For right now my heavy days are with the 32 and my light ones are going to be with the 28 (the 24 was just too light for me, I weigh 105 kg.)
13. S&S DOES give you a model-like physique! Strong is strong and strong is beautiful!
14. Keep your very light kettlebells! I've used the 16kg bells a lot while recovering from injuries! Without them I would never have gotten my strength back!
15. S&S makes your legs strong and well-conditioned. I'm someone who relies on his legs for my combat sports and for hiking. I definitely lost strength in my legs when taking time off S&S. While training S&S I feel like I'm gliding along doing kendo or judo footwork, or speedwalking. S&S makes leg work feel more like flying than anything else!
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