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Old Forum Article: From Two- to One-Hand Swings

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Steve Freides

Steve Freides

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Senior Certified Instructor Emeritus
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Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an excellent articles section on this web site - just click on Articles at the top of the screen.   I am honored that an article I wrote has just been added to the collection - it's about progressing from two- to one-handed swings.  Here is a direct link:

http://www.strongfirst.com/simple-sinister-progressing-from-two-to-one-handed-swings

I hope some of you find it helpful.  The approach described in the article is something I have used myself for years so I can vouch first-hand for its effectiveness.

-S-
 
Steve,

Great article. That's no surprise - your comments are always helpful.

My SFG II (Mike Lindner) forwarded it to me because we had been discussing my struggles with transitioning to a heavier bell.

I had invented a transition plan very similar but different in that I was doing entire sets as follows: T,L,R,T,L,R,T,LR,T. In other words, I did a full set two-handed, then a set left-handed, then a set right -handed, etc.

Looking back, I suspect making the hand switches during the set makes more sense.  My transition plan has worked, however. I'll be  using only the heavier bell after about a month of transition.

Again, thanks for your contribution to this forum and the SF community.

Jim
 
Steve, Thank you for contributing this article.  When the simple plans related a PM or OAPU and Pistol seem to progress so well it can be easy to screw up by not breaking down the next progression on the horizon.  You're perspective is really helpful.
 
Thanks for the kind words, everyone - they are always very much appreciated.

Matt H, I hold a Doctor of Musical Arts degree – when I teach at an educational institution, they call me Doctor or Professor. (In music, you can earn a Ph.D. in an academic discipline like music theory or music history, or you can earn a performing degree, which is what mine is - my degree is in Choral Conducting. For a D.Ma degree, the equivalent of your doctoral thesis is a concert. Mine was a performance of this work - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unicorn,_the_Gorgon,_and_the_Manticore - for chorus, chamber orchestra, and ballet dancers.)

Jim, what I like better about the approach in the article is that the immediate move between one- and two-handed swings seems to work better to teach the body how to preserve the explosiveness in the one-handed swing. I don’t most people get that transfer as much by doing them as separate sets.
 
Steve,

I agree. Your "within the set" transfer teaches better than my approach. I am switching to your methodology this week.

Thanks for the help.

S&S: There's a lot to learn in that seemingly simple program. An inch wide and a mile deep.

Jim
 
I appreciate this article very much.  I was doing as Jim was, trying to add in full sets of one handed at a time.  They felt lousy and my left shoulder pain came back.  I had given up on one handed until after I take the KB course in August but now I'm switching to this method right away.  Thank you.
 
Great article Steve. Very clear, to the point, and excellent layout of the progressions. Hope to see more!

-Andy
 
Very practical and concise pathway --I had a tendency to rush into one arm swings too quickly and would develop epicondilitis.This approach is slow and intelligent--thank you for sharing.
 
Steve, good article.  Let first say that no one should be doing an exercise they do not know how to do correctly.  If you know how to do two handed swings and want to know how to do one handed swings then you either need to read the instruction in Simple & Sinister or seek out  a Strongfirst Instructor for instruction, or both.  Please allow me to be the devil's advocate here.  I am doing Simple and Sinister (S&S). I have ask several questions on the forum regarding the program.  The program is the program, S&S is ONE handed swings and Turkish Get-ups, it is not two handed swings and Turkish Get-ups.  Pavel explains this in the book very well and I paraphrase "for all-terrain strength you need a disorderly setting, enter the one-arm swing".

Kettlebells come in a variety of sizes.  I would have to believe that someone could find a KB in a size that they could handle for one arm for swings.  To progress to heavier KB's the book has explicit examples on how to progress to a heavier bell on page 82 and 83 by using the heavier bell for only one or two reps per set.  Personally I liked progressing by using the heavier bell for only one set and then two and then three, so on and so forth.

 

Having a fairly good background in lifting I was skeptical of the program even as I saw results.  No benching, no presses, what will happen to my other lifts?  I ask others about this and consistently when I ask about adding benches and then doing S&S , or doing anything different with the program I was told, "sure, you can do that, but then it's not S&S".  So, and I say this respectfully, yea, two arm swings could be done, but then it's not S&S.
 
Steve, good article.  Let me first say that no one should be doing an exercise they do not know how to do correctly.  If you know how to do two handed swings and want to know how to do one handed swings then you either need to read the instruction in Simple & Sinister or seek out  a Strongfirst Instructor for instruction, or both.  Please allow me to be the devil's advocate here.  I am doing Simple and Sinister (S&S). I have ask several questions on the forum regarding the program.  The program is the program, S&S is ONE handed swings and Turkish Get-ups, it is not two handed swings and Turkish Get-ups.  Pavel explains this in the book very well and I paraphrase "for all-terrain strength you need a disorderly setting, enter the one-arm swing".

Kettlebells come in a variety of sizes.  I would have to believe that someone could find a KB in a size that they could handle for one arm for swings.  To progress to heavier KB's the book has explicit examples on how to progress to a heavier bell on page 82 and 83 by using the heavier bell for only one or two reps per set.  Personally I liked progressing by using the heavier bell for only one set and then two and then three, so on and so forth.

 

Having a fairly good background in lifting I was skeptical of the program even as I saw results.  No benching, no presses, what will happen to my other lifts?  I ask others about this and consistently when I ask about adding benches and then doing S&S , or doing anything different with the program I was told, "sure, you can do that, but then it's not S&S".  So, and I say this respectfully, yea, two arm swings could be done, but then it's not S&S.
 
banzeiengr, thank you for your reply.  The book gives many examples; I sought only to provide a few more.

There are things one can learn from making the transition from two- to one-handed swings that you might not learn if performing the two different swing versions with two different weights - or might not learn as easily.  The opportunity to compare your two- and your one-handed swing in immediate succession is a good and useful thing.

The book says on page 32, "two-arm swings generate more power ... with reduced stabilization demands, you can really let it rip.  Hence, do both types of swings."

S&S is a complete program, but it is also adaptable to being an adjunct to another program.  Page 90, "If you follow a serious strength training program, reduce the S&S frequency to twice a week."  IOW, you don't want to add benches to S&S, but you can add S&S to a powerlifting program.
 I am not following S&S now, but when I do swings, which is still several times a week, my typical mix is 40 kg 2-handed and 24 kg 1-handed - as you mention, it's a fine idea.  Some of the time, though, I do all my swings with a 24 or 28 kg bell because I like the 'learning" that happens from mixing the two styles with a single weight.
Two arm swings are less "anti fragile" than one arm swings but they're still pretty good exercise. :)
 
Steve, thanks, I tried it this morning with my 5x10 (A bodysurfing accident where I was slammed head first into the beach sustained last month put the brakes on weight training for about two weeks), getting the following at 24 KG:

10T - 10L - 10R (the first three sets are how I've often trained) followed by one set of 2T-2L-2T-2R-2T then 10T.

Before your article I was curious how to progress on adding more one arm swings to my S&S, without doing two complete sets per add on to prevent asymmetric development.
 
Anyone else notice snatches to be easier to keep shoulder packed than OA swings?  Just curious if it's a scapular control issue I uniquely have or if others noticed anything similar.
 
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