Thanks
@Paul_Cole9 it was 6 months of practice to get to that point and there is still work to do on form/tech/fitness, my goal is 20's for next year.
To be honest though, 20 mins of one arm long cycle (C&J) with the 32 or the 24, even at an "easy" pace would be grueling and not something to just jump into. I'm not sure where you are "strength/fitness wise" but if your goal is to be able to work for the whole 20 mins, my suggestion would be to spend some time with the 16 or 20, get comfortable with them before moving on. When I first decided that I wanted to compete in GS Long Cycle, ignorance and inexperience were alive and well with me and I registered for the Canadian Nationals in 2 x 24's thinking that I was strong enough and could just train harder......That quickly changed after 3 days of training haha. Patience is a virtue kettlebells demand.
One idea could be, you can start with 20 mins broken up into chunks, say 4 sets of 5 mins, switching hands every min with a good few mins active recovery between sets. once you can get through all sets with the 16 comfortably, you could work the 20 into one set, then two sets, then three and so on. you could also use one session to stick with the 16 and increase the time of each set while reducing the number of sets (3 sets of 6 mins for example). Or increase the time between hand switches (2 mins on each hand for example). Keep in mind though that the C&J is a complex and involved movement so its important to have deloading days/phases to help keep your CNS from getting fried, take rest days as needed. I love the idea of daily practice and do it myself most days of the week at varying intensity, but sometimes the thought of C&Jing is just not appealing, those generally become my mobility/stability days and my body thanks me for them.
If you are interested in training for GS long cycle, there are plenty of good training programs out there (
» Blog Archive » My Murphy-Proof One Arm Long Cycle Kettlebell Progression For example as shared on the longcycle forum post). And the BOLT "system" might be right up your alley!
Gob Sqts and arm bars will be a great idea to start, maybe Halos as well.
I hope that all makes sense.
Does anyone else have any suggestions or feedback? there is so much knowledge in this community!