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Kettlebell Coming Back after a Long Lay Off

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A2B

A2B

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Hello Everybody,

I'm coming back to the teachings of Pavel after a friend of mine lent me a copy of Simple and Sinister. Decided to dust off the old heavy bells and get back to work. For the record, I've been fairly active these last 8 years but have been doing mainly calisthenics while treating the kettlebells as variety/playing around.

I've read the book a couple times and took notes but I made the "mistake" of searching Simple and Sinister on the forum. There are allot of tips and options for progressing or optimizing the program. It's a little overwhelming to say the least.

Can someone here help me make a list of worthwhile tips and tricks that aren't included in the book? Trying to figure out how to make the best of my Simple and Sinister practice.

Thank you, A2B
 
+1 to what @Steve Freides said already. I recommend staying on S&S, the way it's written, for 3+ months before looking for alternative plans. That is unless you have specific strength or endurance goals that are misaligned from what S&S can do for you.
 
Arryn Grogan said:
+1 to what @Steve Freides said already. I recommend staying on S&S, the way it's written, for 3+ months before looking for alternative plans. That is unless you have specific strength or endurance goals that are misaligned from what S&S can do for you.
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This is key for anyone. I've struggled in the past with program hopping and wish I just stuck with a proven program.
 
The book is enough. You can still do other forms of exercise alongside it if you want to, like callisthenics.
 
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@A2B
Welcome!

Good suggestions so far. I would also add, just follow the book. S&S is often described here as "An inch wide and a mile deep", which I think is accurate. You'll get all kinds of general benefits as you progress, so that inch applies in a lot of places.
If I could start it over again, I would really focus more on owning each weight, and on powerful, excellent technique on each swing, and not on chasing the times. It's far better to have crisp power and take more time, than to rush through sloppy or less-than-strong sets.
 
MarkSch said:
@A2B
Welcome!

Good suggestions so far. I would also add, just follow the book. S&S is often described here as "An inch wide and a mile deep", which I think is accurate. You'll get all kinds of general benefits as you progress, so that inch applies in a lot of places.
If I could start it over again, I would really focus more on owning each weight, and on powerful, excellent technique on each swing, and not on chasing the times. It's far better to have crisp power and take more time, than to rush through sloppy or less-than-strong sets.
Click to expand...
Awesome, thank you. There's something nice about just having a set in stone path to follow. It's funny because I originally started with Enter the Kettlebell and back then people on the old forum spoke about how people would foolishly rush past the program minimum into the rite of passage. They then got injured because they didn't build the base.......

As soon as I saw the chapter : "Program Minimum Remastered", I knew I was in the right place. It's gotten me excited again, like a fresh start. It's familiar but refined.
 
A2B said:
Awesome, thank you. There's something nice about just having a set in stone path to follow. It's funny because I originally started with Enter the Kettlebell and back then people on the old forum spoke about how people would foolishly rush past the program minimum into the rite of passage. They then got injured because they didn't build the base.......

As soon as I saw the chapter : "Program Minimum Remastered", I knew I was in the right place. It's gotten me excited again, like a fresh start. It's familiar but refined.
Click to expand...
I wish I understood the relative merits of the two programs. I'm an S&S guy, by the way.
 
A2B said:
Hello Everybody,

I'm coming back to the teachings of Pavel after a friend of mine lent me a copy of Simple and Sinister. Decided to dust off the old heavy bells and get back to work. For the record, I've been fairly active these last 8 years but have been doing mainly calisthenics while treating the kettlebells as variety/playing around.

I've read the book a couple times and took notes but I made the "mistake" of searching Simple and Sinister on the forum. There are allot of tips and options for progressing or optimizing the program. It's a little overwhelming to say the least.

Can someone here help me make a list of worthwhile tips and tricks that aren't included in the book? Trying to figure out how to make the best of my Simple and Sinister practice.

Thank you, A2B
Click to expand...

I would consider not even counting reps but totally concentrating on the quality of each rep and the quality of your breathing pattern. Stop when you feel the quality slightly drop which is likely to be 7-12 reps or so or even less for those starting out. This tends to remove the ego a bit. I take the same approach to pushups now and it helps. My pushup ability will vary slightly day to day depending on my sleep, stress, fatigue, etc. The most important thing is to keep the quality that is possible for that day. I got this tip from this community and it was a good one. Use the time limit and suggested reps as a testing day. If you take this approach I bet you will surpass the basic standard more quickly as you will learn to tense and use power more efficiently and regulate your breathing.
 
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A2B said:
Can you elaborate? Like why one would use the RoP over S&S?
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That's my point. I don't understand why if someone had both programs in front of him, what factors he'd have to consider to choose one over the other. In my case I started S&S first and quite liked it and never stopped.
 
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