all posts post new thread

Kettlebell "Giant 1.0"

Hey all,

I recently purchased both the Giant and KB STRONG from Geoff and have been cleaning and pressing my way through 1.0 for three weeks now. Just wanted to share my experience and give some additional praise for the programming (as if there isn't enough of it already in this thread). For those that haven't bought them yet, I felt that owing both The Giant and STRONG is very beneficial and would recommend getting both. KB STRONG is worth it just for the video instructional alone.

I am still somewhat new to double bells. I have practiced the double clean and press quite a bit after other sessions and I had run Dry fighting weight (DFW) in the past. However, the volume of squats in DFW was a bit much for me at the time and I wound up stopping due to extreme muscle tightness in my glute which persisted for about 3 weeks. I decided then to build a greater base strength before doing double bells again. I had been performing a few blocks (~12 wks) from Tactical Barbell's Operator and Base Building plan prior to starting this. I feel like the new stimulus has already begun creating some gains in muscle mass which is interesting coming from a barbell block.

For my initial testing for 1.0 I was able to do 10 solid reps and a shaky 11th rep with the 16 and 20 KG bells. Unfortunately I don't have any matched doubles at home other than 8s and 12s. However, I haven't noticed any big issues with doing the program with mismatched sizes. I just switch every set and if I happen to do an odd number of sets I make a note to start on the opposite side next session. I have been running pretty steady around 30 - 50 reps and I can tell that the RPE is lowering. My goal is weight maintenance/recomp and to eventually work up to using double 24 KGs as my working bells.

Overall I am really enjoying it so far. I feel like it's a very forgiving/flexible program and I can get in and get it done quickly which is great since I am pretty time constrained. I am planning on running 1.0 -> 1.1 -> 1.2 in order and then reassessing from there. I will be sure to report back with my progress and results.
 
Hey all,

I recently purchased both the Giant and KB STRONG from Geoff and have been cleaning and pressing my way through 1.0 for three weeks now. Just wanted to share my experience and give some additional praise for the programming (as if there isn't enough of it already in this thread). For those that haven't bought them yet, I felt that owing both The Giant and STRONG is very beneficial and would recommend getting both. KB STRONG is worth it just for the video instructional alone.

I am still somewhat new to double bells. I have practiced the double clean and press quite a bit after other sessions and I had run Dry fighting weight (DFW) in the past. However, the volume of squats in DFW was a bit much for me at the time and I wound up stopping due to extreme muscle tightness in my glute which persisted for about 3 weeks. I decided then to build a greater base strength before doing double bells again. I had been performing a few blocks (~12 wks) from Tactical Barbell's Operator and Base Building plan prior to starting this. I feel like the new stimulus has already begun creating some gains in muscle mass which is interesting coming from a barbell block.

For my initial testing for 1.0 I was able to do 10 solid reps and a shaky 11th rep with the 16 and 20 KG bells. Unfortunately I don't have any matched doubles at home other than 8s and 12s. However, I haven't noticed any big issues with doing the program with mismatched sizes. I just switch every set and if I happen to do an odd number of sets I make a note to start on the opposite side next session. I have been running pretty steady around 30 - 50 reps and I can tell that the RPE is lowering. My goal is weight maintenance/recomp and to eventually work up to using double 24 KGs as my working bells.

Overall I am really enjoying it so far. I feel like it's a very forgiving/flexible program and I can get in and get it done quickly which is great since I am pretty time constrained. I am planning on running 1.0 -> 1.1 -> 1.2 in order and then reassessing from there. I will be sure to report back with my progress and results.

There is no problem with using unequal weights, I did. You might want to even consider not worrying about having the sets match up perfectly between workouts. An additional set for your weaker (less strong) arm is fine and could even be planned.

I do my uneven front squats with the heavier bell on my left side until I a sense a bit of fatigue relative to my right arm and then I switch. This also hits the obliques even harder.
 
Hit a benchmark I am pretty proud of today, already annoyed my wife and employees with it so it’s everyone here’s turn. I tied my 60# rounds in Giant 1.0 Day 3, with 30kgs!! If that isn’t a testament to Geoff’s programming that I can jump 6 pounds per hand and still hit 92 reps idk what is.

No deload since mid December, no undulation of intensity/effort/time, just running it as written. Perfectly healthy, no injuries, just steady progress.
 
Hit a benchmark I am pretty proud of today, already annoyed my wife and employees with it so it’s everyone here’s turn. I tied my 60# rounds in Giant 1.0 Day 3, with 30kgs!! If that isn’t a testament to Geoff’s programming that I can jump 6 pounds per hand and still hit 92 reps idk what is.

No deload since mid December, no undulation of intensity/effort/time, just running it as written. Perfectly healthy, no injuries, just steady progress.
Nice work!! Congrats!
 
Hit a benchmark I am pretty proud of today, already annoyed my wife and employees with it so it’s everyone here’s turn. I tied my 60# rounds in Giant 1.0 Day 3, with 30kgs!! If that isn’t a testament to Geoff’s programming that I can jump 6 pounds per hand and still hit 92 reps idk what is.

No deload since mid December, no undulation of intensity/effort/time, just running it as written. Perfectly healthy, no injuries, just steady progress.
Great work!
 
Hit a benchmark I am pretty proud of today, already annoyed my wife and employees with it so it’s everyone here’s turn. I tied my 60# rounds in Giant 1.0 Day 3, with 30kgs!! If that isn’t a testament to Geoff’s programming that I can jump 6 pounds per hand and still hit 92 reps idk what is.

No deload since mid December, no undulation of intensity/effort/time, just running it as written. Perfectly healthy, no injuries, just steady progress.
Meaning 60 sets of 4? If so, that is insanity. Not even sure if it’s possible in 30 minutes lol
 
Hit a benchmark I am pretty proud of today, already annoyed my wife and employees with it so it’s everyone here’s turn. I tied my 60# rounds in Giant 1.0 Day 3, with 30kgs!! If that isn’t a testament to Geoff’s programming that I can jump 6 pounds per hand and still hit 92 reps idk what is.

No deload since mid December, no undulation of intensity/effort/time, just running it as written. Perfectly healthy, no injuries, just steady progress.

Not only a great result but no program modification or injuries is even more so. The total body engagement of the C &P vs only press programs is a significant for long-term adherence and building work capacity I guess.
 
Today was the last day of 3.0 for me. Really enjoyed this short stint with The Giant. The amount of strength you gain in a short amount of time is amazing. Weeks 1 and 2 went really good and was making progress. Week 3 came and life/work got busy so I had to adjust my days around that. The last week went really well for me and noticed a big change in my strength and stamina in regards to the clean and press.

I'm looking forward to a full run with The Giant in the near future. But I'll be jumping back into King-Sized Killer next week.

Edit: I snuck in a rep test this afternoon. Before 3.0 I was at a 6 rep max with the 6th being grindy. Today I 10 reps of the clean and press with the 10th being slightly grindy. Reps 1-6 felt like a breeze. I was starting to feel reps 8-10.
 
Last edited:
Hit a benchmark I am pretty proud of today, already annoyed my wife and employees with it so it’s everyone here’s turn. I tied my 60# rounds in Giant 1.0 Day 3, with 30kgs!! If that isn’t a testament to Geoff’s programming that I can jump 6 pounds per hand and still hit 92 reps idk what is.

No deload since mid December, no undulation of intensity/effort/time, just running it as written. Perfectly healthy, no injuries, just steady progress.
How do you recover? How is your speed when doing the presses?
 
I’ve skimmed through most parts of this thread now and it’s very inspiring seeing the progress that have been made and the different ideas on how to approach the giant, additional work and so on and so forth. I will be finishing the giant 1.0 with 2x24 on friday, and as people have recommended continue with 2.0 to get accustomed to the higher rep ranges. Thanks for all the ideas you all have put into this thread
 
Howdy,

I am new here and have been posting in the GIANT + KSK thread but I wrapped up GIANT 1.0 earlier today and wanted to report results. Running double 28Kgs. I followed a 20,25,30,30 min weekly setup.

Week 1 98 total reps
Week 2 139 total reps
Week 3 176 total reps
Week 4 196 total reps.

No change in body weight and I have been eating a lot. I do feel like I have noticed some shoulder and upper back hypertrophy though. I feel strong and much better conditioned. This is my first true double bell program I have ran after starting with single bell about 18 months ago. I have been extremely pleased with the results and very much look forward to continuing these programs next week. I think Geoff might be a wizard.
 
Hello everyone
The Giant is the first program that I used for my kettlebell training and I have used single kettlebells because I only have double 16s, single 20, single 24, single 32. I started training with the 20 KG and Giant 1.0, 1.1 and finally 1.2 (Beware when doing Giant 1.2 I had strained my muscles because I was chasing reps and not sticking with doing as much as I can I learned my lesson). After that I wanted to do Giant 1.0 with the single 24 but when I tested my rep max it was only 5 reps so I ran 2 rounds of Giant 3.0 with the 24 KG. After that I didn't test my max but I knew it wasn't anywhere near 10 so I did Rite of passage with the 24 KG which took me 13 weeks. After the ROP program I tested my rep max and it was 10 so I did Giant 1.0 with the 24KG and now I just completed week 3! Going to travel soon so would most probably going to train in a gym 2 times a week so gonna do my best to maintain my strength. After that looking to purchase pairs and going to start either Kettlebell Strong or Giant! This is a great program just remember 4 weeks is a very short time so take it easy and don't rush your results because after 6 months the kettlebell your training with now is gonna be your warm up kettlebell!
 
This time with the Giant 1.0 (single 24KG) I decided instead of training 30 minutes for 4 weeks I would train 20:00, 25:00, 30:00, 20:00 for each week.
Here are my results so far and I enjoy this more than doing 30 minutes throughout because I know when I increase the time gradually I will also increase my reps.
Week 1: 30 , 30 , 28 = 88 Each side
Week 2: 35, 36, 32= 103 Each side
Week 3: 40, 42, 36 = 118 Each Side

For whatever reason day 1 and day 2 which are 5 and 6 reps are easier for me to accumulate reps than Day 3! Maybe a mental thing though but nevertheless I am so happy with my results and going to take it easy in week 4 and do 20:00 instead of 30:00 for week 3 and will also do less than I can manage to give my body some rest.
 
I just wanted to give an update as I just finished Giant 1.0 with double 20s. Previously I have done Giant 1.0, 1 week of Giant 2.0 and Giant 1.1 with double 16s and Giant 3.0 with double 20s. Giant 1.0 always gives me amazing upper body (especially shoulders and upper back) and quad/hamstring development.

I also noticed I was only able to double snatch 20s for one rep before Giant 1.0 but after running my own workouts and then Giant 1.0 I can do 5 reps pretty comfortably. The double 20s also don’t feel as heavy anymore compared to my first clean and press and the double 16s feel like a joke now.

I also went from struggling with even the single clean and and press in rhe beginning of Giant 3.0 to doing 8 sets of 5 in Giant 1.0. The strength and size gains are undeniable but it’s also expected as it’s a stupidly simple program of just clean and press for an entire month with rep variations built in. Although I can barely doing 5 reps of clean and press with a single 24kg I cannot imagine the strength and muscle gains if I ever get to run Giant 1.0 with the doubles. And I realize I am nowhere near as strong as some of the people in this thread.
 
2nd cycle of Giant 3.0 with 2x24kg completed. First cycle was mix of push press and strict press and second cycle all clean and press. Rep counts:

W1: 36 W2: 43 W3: 52 W4: 59
W5: 50 W6: 54 W7: 63 W8: 69

Weight down from 187lbs to 178lbs and strength continuing to rocket with noticeable improvements to shoulders and upper back. The Giant is so, so good.

Not going to do a rep max test at this point as I've 3 weeks left till I go on holiday. Focus will be shifting a few more lbs of fat and I'm going to do 3 weeks of 3.0 but with an additional rep on each set. Rep max test when I get back fully rested and see if I'm ready for 1.0. Probably do some squats on rest days in the run in too, 3 x 5 or something just to keep my metabolism fired up.
 
Thought experiment (please don't roast me for not following the program): I was just reading this article and felt inspired. Since it maxes out at 3 consecutive reps, I wondered, could the Giant 3.0 template be applied to Turkish get-ups?

Disclosures: I really like get-ups and will look for any excuse to feature them heavily in a program. I also really like the Giant, so these two are sort of at odds.

Potential issues I can think of:
  • The TGU is not nearly as demanding as the DC+P, so this is probably not enough work in a week. Can it be adapted to 5 days instead?
  • The TGU does not quite hit the full body as much as the DC+P, so supplementation is probably necessary. Could this be done more like Easy Muscle Schedule B, where TGUs are performed first and followed by another movement?
It probably just doesn't work, but I'm curious to hear any thoughts.
 
Back
Top Bottom