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Getting Stronger with just a 16kg Kettlebell

Just for perspective (and where the original quote came from)—really interesting to go back and look at a 15 year old blog....

From my old blog (appliedstrength.blogspot.com)
Oct. 8, 2008
Carryover...
While at the Hungarian RKC I pressed the Beast 3 or 4 times (singles) with my right arm without having picked up a beast in quite a while and without training my MP at all. To what do I attribute this increase in pressing strength without having pressed = GET-UPs!!
And light ones too - mainly 16 and 24 kg with occasional 32 or 40 kg sessions but just grooving the Get-ups and bringing my "stabilizers" and coordination up with this one move.

I also have to say that the VO2 Max protocol played a role here as well - (16 and 20kg)

Sept. 24th 2008
Revisiting Lighter KBs...
A question on the forum and my recent training has me using "lighter" KBs and loving it.
I used to be of the mind of heavier and heavier work with the KBs - go heavy with a single bell and then progress on to the double bells and keep going heavier - no wonder Powerlifting appealed to me ;-)
But along came Kenneth Jay's VO2 Max protocol and I was reintroduced to the 16kg KB and learned a lot about what "heavy" means. Actively accelerating the Kettlebell with the Lat and the Hike pass and the very quick "turn around" after the hike is nothing short of magic. My hips are quicker and more powerful than ever and my conditioning is on the way up.
Now I make it a point to have a regular rotation from the 16kg up to the 32kg (sometimes the 40kg).
Now to put this in some perspective - I have completed the Beast Challenge, won the first Tactical Strength Challenge, have belt only competition bests of 518 in the Squat and 573 in the deadlift, and I am on the RED nail roster with various other grip feats "under my belt" and I find the 16kg KB to be a very useful tool. The 24kg is what I would call the "sweet spot" for me and the 32 and 40 work my strength just fine.
Light is relative of course and these numbers will need to be adjusted for the individual but don't be afraid to go "light".
 
Joel the Savage said:
Can you guys actually do 30 non stop strict one arm presses with 16kg?
30 strict front raises? Side raises? Reverse flyes?

Then hats off to you. Way stronger than I am.
Click to expand...
This is good. There are a lot of things you can do with a kettlebell that are outside that main exercises. Joe Daniels has a ton of incredibly challenging variations, chiefly designed to build muscle, but are great for training when you only have "light" kettlebells.

Personally, I would dive into snatch walking, secret service snatch test, weighted pull-ups, weighted pushups, and pike/handstand pushups. For the ol' leggies, I'd work on my pistol/weighted pistol, and really hammer weighted lunges and step ups. I might also include a day of high rep presses and see if I could use tempo to hit failure 15-20 reps.
 
I would add things I haven't seen mentioned in this thread yet:

SFG Level 2 athletic drills. Because you're moving your body in addition to moving the kettlebell, these could be thought of as "weighted bodyweight drills" in much the same way we sometimes talk about weighted mobility work.

Getups with a press at each position and in both directions.

For some people and movements, the weight isn't important, e.g., the contralateral one-legged kettlebell deadlift is quite challenging for many people, and if that's you, a 16 kg and working up to some volume will definitely make you stronger.

-S-
 
Presses- Sots or Z Press (including BU variations), Arm bar presses, windmills, tricep extensions

Squats - Pistols ( freestanding or box, one hand or goblet), SLDL (switching hands), Hack squats

Pulls - snatches, renegade row (other hand on box), straight arm rows, juggling

You can really manipulate a weight by decreasing your leverages, as I try to show in the examples provided. For example, doing a pistol holding the weight in the front rack of the opposite foot, changing where you grip the kettlebell to offset the weight, or using a straight arm for rows.

Straight arm work such as crucifixes, flies in multiple directions (standing or supine) or raises in multiple directions can build unreal strength that is typically only found in gymnast ring experts….those guys are stroooong.

When I had a 20 kg kettlebell, I used to play around by practicing disadvantaged movements, such as pressing the ketttlebell straight in front of me from standing (as opposed to overhead). Okay that’s easy? Do it with one arm….

And I didn’t even mention the obvious weighted moves like dips, pull-ups with the kettlebell attached.

Get creative.

Bodyweight training is unlimited.

Adding a kettlebell, despite being “only” 16 kgs can open a new galaxy of options.
 
Brett Jones said:
Just for perspective (and where the original quote came from)—really interesting to go back and look at a 15 year old blog....

From my old blog (appliedstrength.blogspot.com)
Oct. 8, 2008
Carryover...
While at the Hungarian RKC I pressed the Beast 3 or 4 times (singles) with my right arm without having picked up a beast in quite a while and without training my MP at all. To what do I attribute this increase in pressing strength without having pressed = GET-UPs!!
And light ones too - mainly 16 and 24 kg with occasional 32 or 40 kg sessions but just grooving the Get-ups and bringing my "stabilizers" and coordination up with this one move.

I also have to say that the VO2 Max protocol played a role here as well - (16 and 20kg)

Sept. 24th 2008
Revisiting Lighter KBs...
A question on the forum and my recent training has me using "lighter" KBs and loving it.
I used to be of the mind of heavier and heavier work with the KBs - go heavy with a single bell and then progress on to the double bells and keep going heavier - no wonder Powerlifting appealed to me ;-)
But along came Kenneth Jay's VO2 Max protocol and I was reintroduced to the 16kg KB and learned a lot about what "heavy" means. Actively accelerating the Kettlebell with the Lat and the Hike pass and the very quick "turn around" after the hike is nothing short of magic. My hips are quicker and more powerful than ever and my conditioning is on the way up.
Now I make it a point to have a regular rotation from the 16kg up to the 32kg (sometimes the 40kg).
Now to put this in some perspective - I have completed the Beast Challenge, won the first Tactical Strength Challenge, have belt only competition bests of 518 in the Squat and 573 in the deadlift, and I am on the RED nail roster with various other grip feats "under my belt" and I find the 16kg KB to be a very useful tool. The 24kg is what I would call the "sweet spot" for me and the 32 and 40 work my strength just fine.
Light is relative of course and these numbers will need to be adjusted for the individual but don't be afraid to go "light".
Click to expand...
Wow that’s amazing. Very counter intuitive
 
So when working with a lighter weight do you try to configure the programme and exercises in a way that encourage you to stick to the recommended 3-5 rep range to build strength? Or is it just that 1-5 reps is optimal for strength but larger rep ranges will still build it? Or are we building it in different ways eg using power exercises/ballistics to build strength indirectly etc
 
Joel the Savage said:
Can you guys actually do 30 non stop strict one arm presses with 16kg?
30 strict front raises? Side raises? Reverse flyes?

Then hats off to you. Way stronger than I am.
Click to expand...

1 arm raises last time I tried with a 16 kg I tapped out at about 20-something, and it's not something I train for.

But why waste all that time doing more reps with a bell that is too light instead of picking something heavier to begin with?

As for front raises or lateral raises?

Of course not.

But why are we doing bodybuilding isolation moves?

Is this for strength or hypertrophy?

If you're going to start including bodybuilding isolation moves, you're going to need a lot more variety in weight than a single KB can provide.

If that's the goal, and you want to be minimalist, get a pair of plate loaded adjustable dumbbells.
 
silveraw said:
Has anyone said sell the bell and use the money to buy a heavy rock?

Or is that not the kind of answer OP is looking for?
Click to expand...
Not what the OP is looking for.

It is a hypothetical question on how you would program or what exercise selection you would use IF limited to a 16kg bell.

People are taking this WAY to seriously IMO
 
Summerhouse said:
So when working with a lighter weight do you try to configure the programme and exercises in a way that encourage you to stick to the recommended 3-5 rep range to build strength? Or is it just that 1-5 reps is optimal for strength but larger rep ranges will still build it? Or are we building it in different ways eg using power exercises/ballistics to build strength indirectly etc
Click to expand...
The two main aspects (for me) were snatches and moving the reps up a bit on the Get-up (5 reps in a row on each side for example).
 
Philippe Geoffrion said:
You can really manipulate a weight by decreasing your leverages
Click to expand...
Steve Freides said:
SFG Level 2 athletic drills. Because you're moving your body in addition to moving the kettlebell, these could be thought of as "weighted bodyweight drills"
Click to expand...

Yes, some key elements here:
  • use leverages to make the weight "heavier"
    • either adds bodyweight into the "weight" being moved, or
    • puts the focus on a smaller muscle group, therefore training it with a heavier weight relative to the muscle, or
    • adds a neural component such as balance or grip (bottom-up) to "train" more than just the muscle
  • use more fast twitch (and more muscle fiber in total) by moving the weight faster
  • use rep ranges to get closer to failure, thereby recruiting more motor units
 
Brett Jones said:
A few ideas:
Snatches (lots)—VWC, Snatch walking, Secret Service snatch test style etc.
Get-ups—bottom-up, with presses, multiple reps each side
Goblet squat and swing ladder (ascending one—decending the other)
Windmill and half kneeling variations (including half kneeling bent press) etc.
SLDL, Pistol or Airborne Lunge.
Click to expand...
I can definitely vouch for this. After doing VWC for a few months (did it for shoulder rehab) my getup max went from 40 to 44k, without doing getups at all (this surprised me greatly), on top of that I felt 'springier', more durable and stronger overall. It's a real thing. Eventually I crashed and burned on the program due to overtraining and weather heating up, VWC is very potent medicine, IMHO.
 
Kayodoubleu said:
Or an adjustable Kettlebell from Kettlebell Kings or so which goes from 12-32kg. Great for the Price.
Click to expand...

Also a good option if you're favoring ballistics.

Also not as good for bodybuilding, where you want to do things like side lateral raises with super light weights (5-7 kg)
 
watchnerd said:
1 arm raises last time I tried with a 16 kg I tapped out at about 20-something, and it's not something I train for.

But why waste all that time doing more reps with a bell that is too light instead of picking something heavier to begin with?
Click to expand...
Because I thought the question was if we could train for strength with just a 16kg kettlebell...?
Which I answered with define what you mean with strength... Then I wrote FOR HYPERTROPHY on the other hand...
watchnerd said:
As for front raises or lateral raises?

Of course not.

But why are we doing bodybuilding isolation moves?
Click to expand...
Because I thought the question was if we could train for strength with just a 16kg kettlebell...? And muscle size is linked to maximal muscle size up to a point.
watchnerd said:
Is this for strength or hypertrophy?
Click to expand...
Yes, my first post in the thread.
watchnerd said:
If you're going to start including bodybuilding isolation moves, you're going to need a lot more variety in weight than a single KB can provide.
Click to expand...
Why? I even linked a Scientific paper on the effective rep-range for hypertrophy above. Why would you need lot more weight variation?
watchnerd said:
If that's the goal, and you want to be minimalist, get a pair of plate loaded adjustable dumbbells.
Click to expand...
Yes. But that was not the question in the thread
 
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