Barbell Critique my routine and questions about Kettlebells

[Chris Wayne]

Hi guys, first time poster here.
My friend send me here, because according to him it is the best forum for my question

First, I'm starting a new routine next week and would like to have some opinions about it. Second, I recently went to a kettlebell course with my friend, who has trained with them for years and now I want to start introducing them to my training.
For at least another year I will focus on the barbell, but most likely make the switch to full kettlebells after I finish college, because once I get to work in a job it is nice to be able to train in a small area at home or on the road. My friend and our instructor told me that the tgu and the swing are the foundation for any kettlebell work and that I should perfect them before I introduce any of the other exercises (clean, snatch etc.). Since I have a whole year to do that I want to know how to add them to my routine.

First my routine.
It is the Zulu template from Tactical Barbell 2nd edition. The goals are strength and mass with a focus on upper body mass.
Clusters are weighted pullup/squat and overhead press/deadlift.
For those of you that are not familiar with TB, the Zulu template has you lift 3x5 or 4x3 at loads varying from 70-90% in a waved periodization.
Rest for the Zulu sets will be 2-3min and rest for the other exercises 60-90sec.

Monday:
Pullups - Zulu
Squat - Zulu
Dumbbell OHP - 3x8-12
Row Variation - 3x8-12

Tuesday:
OHP - Zulu
Deadlift - Zulu
Close Grip Bench Press - 3x8-12
Curl Variation - 3x8-12

Wednesday:
OFF

Thursday:
Pullups - Zulu
Squat - Zulu
Incline DB Bench Press - 3x8-12
Face Pull - 3x20

Friday:
OHP - Zulu
Deadlift - Zulu
Floor Press - 3x8-12
Rear Delt Flys - 3x20

Saturday+Sunday:
OFF

That is my routine.
Should I maybe alter it to a version where I don't press 4x a week but only 2x? As example switch the DB OHP with the Curl and Incline DB Bench with the Rear Delt Flys.
For anyone wondering about the lack of bench presses, I always disliked the traditional bench and after I hit 225 I got rid of it in favor of its shoulder-friendly variations (CGBP, Incline & Floor).

I thought about using the tgu and swings as my warmup.
3 rounds of 15-20swings + 1 tgu l&r
Would that be ok or too much overall volume, especially with deadlifting 2x per week?
I only have a 24Kg kettlebell, which for me feels relatively light for both exercises, so it would be more like skill work and not strength.

Chris

 

[Steve Freides]

If you're doing another routine, _practice_ your swing and your getup. That means work on them as skills, not as a "workout" or even a "warmup." Just do them with a focus on doing them correctly.

Your routine is, I'm sure, designed to be complete by itself. Don't add anything to it that would change how taxing it is unless the program itself specifically allows you to do this and, if it does, follow those guidelines. Just common sense here - do the program as it was written.

If you wish to incorporate your kettlebell skills in a more significant way, then _don't_ start that routine next week; instead, take a month and work on Simple and Sinister, our swings + getups program. Then switch to your barbell routine knowing that you've given yourself a much more solid foundation on kettlebells than you otherwise might have.

JMO.

-S-