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Kettlebell Do you do any sports alongside Kettlebells?

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I trained Judo to the brown belt level as a juvenile/young adult. started BJJ then took a long break (Got Married, Kids, etcetera). Im back at BJJ (Blue belt) for almost a year now. I have always been been into barbell training but found that it just takes to much time and leaves me to depleted for BJJ if I strength train more than two days a week.

So about a month ago i dropped my barbell work down to one full body session a week, and kettle bell training + gymnastic ring body weight work 3 or 4 days a week. It has been a huge time saver as i can get it in with 30 minutes or less and still be effective on the mats on the same day. My compound lift numbers have actually improved just a little. Thinking about dropping barbells all together.

Anyway the main benefit ive found with KB training is in just a couple months of turkish get ups my shoulder health has improved DRAMATICALLY.

All that being said. I encourage you to try some judo AND BJJ gyms. You might get lucky with a BJJ gym that trains a good amount of standing (A good gym will). Its been my experience that Judo gets me way more banged up even at my younger age when I still trained it then BJJ ever has at 33 years old. I am not saying one is better than the other or some nonsense, as arts they are brothers as sports they are totally different animals, both are beautiful.
 
Mitch.w124 said:
I trained Judo to the brown belt level as a juvenile/young adult. started BJJ then took a long break (Got Married, Kids, etcetera). Im back at BJJ (Blue belt) for almost a year now. I have always been been into barbell training but found that it just takes to much time and leaves me to depleted for BJJ if I strength train more than two days a week.

So about a month ago i dropped my barbell work down to one full body session a week, and kettle bell training + gymnastic ring body weight work 3 or 4 days a week. It has been a huge time saver as i can get it in with 30 minutes or less and still be effective on the mats on the same day. My compound lift numbers have actually improved just a little. Thinking about dropping barbells all together.

Anyway the main benefit ive found with KB training is in just a couple months of turkish get ups my shoulder health has improved DRAMATICALLY.

All that being said. I encourage you to try some judo AND BJJ gyms. You might get lucky with a BJJ gym that trains a good amount of standing (A good gym will). Its been my experience that Judo gets me way more banged up even at my younger age when I still trained it then BJJ ever has at 33 years old. I am not saying one is better than the other or some nonsense, as arts they are brothers as sports they are totally different animals, both are beautiful.
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It depends how it's trained. BJJ can overuse your elbows and shoulders. So yes, you aren't going to get banged up in BJJ, and BJJ is wonderful for this among many other reasons, but you have to be careful not to overdo the arm strain as it has taken its toll on a number of my friends. One of them is currently having to sit out for 3-6 months! He has tennis elbow in both elbows! I notice when doing BJJ with some intensity that my shoulders take a lot of strain.

Regarding judo, breakfalling is the "Secret Art" that makes it all work. It's a unique skill like gymnastics tumbling and it isn't for everyone, nor does everyone master it.
 
Judo is a great sport - pay attention to the basics and don't let your ego get you injured. That last part would apply to whatever grappling art you take part in. You probably won't do any stand up sparring for at least 3 months or even 6 months so plenty of time to learn your breakfalls and make them instinctive. In BJJ they throw you into specific training early on (which is both a positive and negative for beginners I feel... but too long to write about here).

As for leg locks in Judo, yes they are not in the ruleset but a LOT of judokas do both BJJ + Judo nowadays and vice versa so during groundwork randori at the judo dojo i train, people are ok with you doing more BJJ type stuff as long as 1) your sensei is ok with it. ask, because respect is a positive word. 2) your opponent and you agree to do it. I have seen people throw on heelhooks on white belts in a bjj gi class and I think that's a real un-classy thing to do.
 
Also, for any combat sport, yes throws/falls a risk but also joint locks. By far the BIG danger is from beginners and also from anyone caught up in machismo I'm so tough" mentality. Any time you can roll with someone advanced, you will learn huge amounts by osmosis but also be safer! At least that was my experience in both Aikido and a mixed Gong Fu dojo
 
Mitch.w124 said:
I trained Judo to the brown belt level as a juvenile/young adult. started BJJ then took a long break (Got Married, Kids, etcetera). Im back at BJJ (Blue belt) for almost a year now. I have always been been into barbell training but found that it just takes to much time and leaves me to depleted for BJJ if I strength train more than two days a week.

So about a month ago i dropped my barbell work down to one full body session a week, and kettle bell training + gymnastic ring body weight work 3 or 4 days a week. It has been a huge time saver as i can get it in with 30 minutes or less and still be effective on the mats on the same day. My compound lift numbers have actually improved just a little. Thinking about dropping barbells all together.

Anyway the main benefit ive found with KB training is in just a couple months of turkish get ups my shoulder health has improved DRAMATICALLY.

All that being said. I encourage you to try some judo AND BJJ gyms. You might get lucky with a BJJ gym that trains a good amount of standing (A good gym will). Its been my experience that Judo gets me way more banged up even at my younger age when I still trained it then BJJ ever has at 33 years old. I am not saying one is better than the other or some nonsense, as arts they are brothers as sports they are totally different animals, both are beautiful.
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I tried BJJ last year for a couple of months a injures my neck getting stacked by a newbie. I didn’t like the ‘game’ of it to be honest.

The getting people in half guard, passing guard, getting to full mount, etc. It boring to me and it was only when I rolled with high belts that I enjoyed it because they would ‘have fun’ with me a try all kinds of different positions.

I tried judo shortly before I quit BJJ and was amazed by the top pressure of some light dudes. It felt so much more practical to me, being able to pin people and essentially ‘have your way’ with someone on the ground using only the bare basics. The fact some judoka can tape people from top pressure is amazing!

Anyway I went once to twice but didn’t go back because my neck was already crumby.

Thank you for your response!
 
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I mainly do bouldering, swimming and training legs with lighter weights (kb)/bw/bands and aquajogging. Here I am more aspirational than wanting to use a heavier bell.
Swings became additional (about 1/week??) during the last weeks/months.
I guess it depends on wether I like to train at home (kb) or want to meet people/go outside and 'compete' or keep up with better climbers in the boulder gym. So the social aspect seems to play quite a role for me...I am surprised by that actually...;)
 
Antti said:
Does powerlifting count for the topic?
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Why wouldn't it? I am trying to get back into Olympic weightlifting. My first meet is planned for July so I am still well into the preparatory period. I purchased a program from Aleksey Torokhtiy who won the gold medal in 2012 for Ukraine in the 105 class. This program is based on more of a Russian/Soviet system which includes many different assistance exercises and lots of volume. It's a good deal of work, and what I have noticed is that I am literally not fit enough to do this program yet. I need to first "get in shape" to be able to do the training. So I am doing lots of conditioning and KBs are a big part of that.

According to this article there is some transfer from kettlebells to the lifts, which I thought was interesting.

Transference Of Kettlebell Training To Traditional Olympic... : The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research


Stuart Elliott said:
I still play Cricket
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You are the first person I have "met" (if an online discussion counts as "meeting" someone, and I think it does in a way) who plays cricket.
 
godjira1 said:
Judo is a great sport - pay attention to the basics and don't let your ego get you injured. That last part would apply to whatever grappling art you take part in. You probably won't do any stand up sparring for at least 3 months or even 6 months so plenty of time to learn your breakfalls and make them instinctive. In BJJ they throw you into specific training early on (which is both a positive and negative for beginners I feel... but too long to write about here).

As for leg locks in Judo, yes they are not in the ruleset but a LOT of judokas do both BJJ + Judo nowadays and vice versa so during groundwork randori at the judo dojo i train, people are ok with you doing more BJJ type stuff as long as 1) your sensei is ok with it. ask, because respect is a positive word. 2) your opponent and you agree to do it. I have seen people throw on heelhooks on white belts in a bjj gi class and I think that's a real un-classy thing to do.
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We've always done leglocks at my judo club. Be slow and careful though!
 
Opiaswing said:
I tried BJJ last year for a couple of months a injures my neck getting stacked by a newbie. I didn’t like the ‘game’ of it to be honest.

The getting people in half guard, passing guard, getting to full mount, etc. It boring to me and it was only when I rolled with high belts that I enjoyed it because they would ‘have fun’ with me a try all kinds of different positions.

I tried judo shortly before I quit BJJ and was amazed by the top pressure of some light dudes. It felt so much more practical to me, being able to pin people and essentially ‘have your way’ with someone on the ground using only the bare basics. The fact some judoka can tape people from top pressure is amazing!

Anyway I went once to twice but didn’t go back because my neck was already crumby.

Thank you for your response!
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My experience as a judoka rolling with BJJers is that if I can get to top position which is the case 99% of the time, then I can keep it, and I'm not in much real danger. I've heard quite sensible sounding arguments that you have to know both top and bottom game to play top game better, and I'm sure this is true to some extent, but in practical experience me not being any kind of bottom-position guard player at all makes no real difference. I suppose it's a case of the BJJ folks also not being used to someone so aggressively "top" focussed like juodka are, so the advantages and disadvantages even themselves out. Lots of other factors involved too of course like strength, hahaha, which is kind of the point of these forums isn't it? Having said all of this, regardless of who "wins" under whatever rule set, the BJJ guys are hands down without a doubt the guys you want to befriend and roll/train with to learn as much as possible about ground fighting. With very slight adaptations you can make the stuff work brilliantly for your judo. When I do play bottom position in BJJ, I take on the "turtle guard" posture, which I will be the first to admit is not ideal for self-defence, hahaha! It's a posture though, and can be used as a guard in BJJ providing you don't get flattened out nor get your back formally "taken" with both "hooks" (heels) in. Definitely I'd like to over time learn how to play a proper guard better (not like I know nothing though, but I mean to the level of it being truly viable against skilled and strong opponents with competitive experience.)

But yes, I find it a bit dull just staying on the ground all day long, and regarding self-defence I think it's important, in fact MORE important to be able to be able to fight while still standing up - it's very dangerous to lie on the ground in a fight: knives, buddies, loss of mobility, getting stuck there tangled up with the opponent when you might want to get out! Know how to do it, how to get out of it, improve at it, but don't spend all your time training for ground fighting is the judo philosophy.
 
Bret S. said:
BTW does the KB conditioning prep include lots of snatching
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I am thinking of doing a more "structured" prep and I am considering using Geoff Neupert's Kettlebell Burn Extreme Reloaded. The "Reloaded" version differs from the original in that the ballistics day uses high rep one-arm swings and snatches with a lighter KB (the original used double KB ballistics so were on the heavier side). The "grind" days still use front squats and overhead presses as in the original version. The exercises on the grind days are a bit more specific to OL, so that's good. The snatches are there because KB snatches are just a brutal form of conditioning. I don't expect to improve my barbell snatch by doing them simply because the weight will be very light, but that's okay because the point of the prep work is to get in shape. I also hope the Reloaded plan will allow me to lose some weight to get down a weight class or two. The IWF came out with new weight classes and sadly I am still a "super heavy" which is greater than 109 kg (old class was 105+). I could get down to 102 kg (another new weight class), which will still mean I'll be fat but it's a weight I can get to easily without too much "starvation." Getting to 96 kg would be ideal and may be possible. I am in a new masters age bracket (50-54), so that'll help.

Okay, way more info that you wanted. I should probably start a training log to keep me honest. If I don't post for a few days people can be like "Go get your fat a$$ in the gym!"

TL;DR

The short answer to your question is yes, I will be doing a good amount of high rep one-arm KB snatches.
 
MikeTheBear said:
You are the first person I have "met" (if an online discussion counts as "meeting" someone, and I think it does in a way) who plays cricket.
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Haha it sure does...cricket is generally played in the UK, couple of other European countries,south Asia, Africa and Australasia. It's making a comeback in the North America (my mate plays in canada), but still very much a minority sport there.
 
Stuart Elliott said:
Haha it sure does...cricket is generally played in the UK, couple of other European countries,south Asia, Africa and Australasia. It's making a comeback in the North America (my mate plays in canada), but still very much a minority sport there.
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How about the West Indies, I hear they're a great nation of cricketers?
 
MikeTheBear said:
I am thinking of doing a more "structured" prep and I am considering using Geoff Neupert's Kettlebell Burn Extreme Reloaded. The "Reloaded" version differs from the original in that the ballistics day uses high rep one-arm swings and snatches with a lighter KB (the original used double KB ballistics so were on the heavier side). The "grind" days still use front squats and overhead presses as in the original version. The exercises on the grind days are a bit more specific to OL, so that's good. The snatches are there because KB snatches are just a brutal form of conditioning. I don't expect to improve my barbell snatch by doing them simply because the weight will be very light, but that's okay because the point of the prep work is to get in shape. I also hope the Reloaded plan will allow me to lose some weight to get down a weight class or two. The IWF came out with new weight classes and sadly I am still a "super heavy" which is greater than 109 kg (old class was 105+). I could get down to 102 kg (another new weight class), which will still mean I'll be fat but it's a weight I can get to easily without too much "starvation." Getting to 96 kg would be ideal and may be possible. I am in a new masters age bracket (50-54), so that'll help.

Okay, way more info that you wanted. I should probably start a training log to keep me honest. If I don't post for a few days people can be like "Go get your fat a$$ in the gym!"

TL;DR

The short answer to your question is yes, I will be doing a good amount of high rep one-arm KB snatches.
Click to expand...

I have lots of GN stuff but not his 'burn extreme', although I did get some of the 'burn vault' months, it's an internet based monthly program.

His stuff is very good, @Anna C was doing Plan 060 I believe, forgive me if that's not the right name. It seems to be a VWC light version where you do 5 reps with 16k at the top of the 30 second mark for 40 mins. It could also be a good fat incinerator like VWC.

It's a really good thing you're doing this now, believe it or not there's a big difference between early and late 50's age, it'll be critical to start the very athletic OL now while your body is better able to handle it, then down the road you'll be used to the more violent moves and not tweak stuff as much. Anything fairly new to me has to start slow these days or there's a price to pay.

Do you subscribe to IF or similar? It's a pretty effective weight controller for me. Also blood sugar, I'm prone to spikes if I eat carbs in a stand alone mode, slow burners with some fat and I'm good. If you start a log I'll follow it, I love seeing 'older' guys going for it. :D
 
Bret S. said:
His stuff is very good, @Anna C was doing Plan 060 I believe, forgive me if that's not the right name. It seems to be a VWC light version where you do 5 reps with 16k at the top of the 30 second mark for 40 mins. It could also be a good fat incinerator like VWC.
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It's a great plan but I wouldn't say it's great as a fat incinerator the way Burn and VWC are. Plan 060 is better for base aerobic conditioning and easy-ish light volume building.
 
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