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Kettlebell "Giant 1.0"

Week 2 of Giant 1.2 is complete.

I took a week off from the Giant 1.2 for a vacation. I was wondering if I should repeat Week 1. So I approached the week carefully to see how I felt. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that I didn't lose any ground... in fact I felt great. So I decided to do the Week 2 timing instead of repeating Week 1.

This is a great program.
 
Hi,

ok, that's a GIANT thread and not GIANTX but...

I just finished 8 weeks of GIANT X1 today.

Still 30 minutes, 3 sessions a week with double 16kg because 24s were too much for the ladders and I don't have 20s (Santa, if you can hear me...).

Week 1, total 325 reps

Week 8, total 500 reps

I know I should have done it before, but I did not test my max reps first. I'll give myself a little rest before doing it with 24s.

But I still see a 53% fraking progression over the 8 weeks.
 
End of just over a year of Strong! (2 times a week, phases 1 and 2) then Giant 1.0, 1.1, 1.2 (3 times a week) with 2x24. I went from a 5RM with 2x24 to a 4RM with 2x32!
I'm going to go through the same process again with 2x32, slowly but surely.
 
I finished Week 3 of Giant 1.2 today.

This has been a strange week for me. Monday was my light day and I cranked out 8 sets with the 28k bells. (I felt great!)

Wednesday was my heavy day. I woke up Wednesday morning and I wasn't feeling it. I always have a little bit of trepidation on heavy day mornings. This morning was different. I felt a little congested but that's not unusual for me to congested in the morning. I started the 30 minute session and the last rep of the second set was tough. Then the 3rd set I had to push press the last rep of the set. I had no idea what was going on. I rested much longer than usual for the 4th set and I had to push press the last two reps of the set. I was not happy. I just figured out I was having a really bad morning and I called the session.

By the end of the day on Wednesday...I was sick. I had a cold. I felt terrible. So that's why my Wednesday morning was terrible. (DUH!)

I felt better this morning and I decided to go ahead with the medium session. I took it easy because I was not recovering like I normally do during a session. I still got 5 sets of the medium day rep scheme...but it was the same amount of sets as the previous week's 25 minute session. Oh well. I still persevered.

Bring on Week 4!
 
Just started the last week of 3.0 with 2x24kg. Amazing what a difference a few weeks makes, feels so much easier than when I started.
After today’s session I had a bit of time and played with a single 32kg. Managed one push press with right arm, first time, genuinely surprised myself and let out a mighty “YES!”. Goodness knows what my neighbours think I was doing.
 
Anja said:
Could it work doing The Giant 6 days a week 10-15 minutes instead of 3 days a week 20-30 minutes?
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Actually, I agree with @Hrungnir in that if you can do 15, why not 5 more minutes but I think that you could still make gains with 15 minutes. Maybe on days without a lot of spare time try 15 minutes and do 20 to 30 in other days.

Also Hector G has a free e book called "workout snacks" which had several 10-15 minute workouts in it. There was a clean and press workout listed in it so yes, 10 to 15 minutes can work. I did his clean and jerk version like 4 years ago to help lose some pudge and it worked.

I guess I'm going to sound like a"hit" guy here but it's really all about the effort you make, not necessarily the time. Maybe on those 10 to 15 minute days you try shortening your rest periods, less autoregulation. On longer training days utilize more autoregulation and go for more overall work sets.

Just do it.
 
Anja said:
Could it work doing The Giant 6 days a week 10-15 minutes instead of 3 days a week 20-30 minutes?
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I personally would try 15 min 3x/wk for your first 4 weeks and then check in with yourself. It'll certainly be helpful, even if you won't see the gains with the full program.
I think the recovery time is important, and you're much better off going slow & steady and taking a longer term perspective.

In the end, as has been said so many times, the best program is one you'll stay with.

If it takes 6 months to improve your 10RM- so what? You'll accrue tremendous benefit along the way in terms of strength. And by putting the timer to 10 or 15 and keeping to the same disciplined auto regulation- you'll also reduce the chance of injury.
 
Hrungnir said:
I think three days a week at 15 minutes would be more beneficial…but if you’re doing 15 minutes can you really not spare another 5 minutes?
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I agree. I would be most concerned about recovering from 6 days a week. You need to go heavy enough that if you can recover you probably aren’t going heavy enough. At least I’m a 3 day a week guy with these kettlebell strength programs. Also I start at 20 minutes with Giant. Then move up the time as I can.
 
Did my last heavy day of 3.0 yesterday.
Normally these posts are very positive, this was my worst workout for some time!
Started ok, good warm up, first set in and it started to rain, so quickly moved indoors to the kitchen. Greeted by my family eating breakfast. Continued but my concentration was thrown off. Got really hot working out indoors. Struggled through to the end, but was really finding hard. Then found whilst moving indoors I had messed up my timer and accidentally added 10 minutes on, but didn’t notice until the end.
Positives? I finished an extra long session with injury.
 
Essexman said:
Did my last heavy day of 3.0 yesterday.
Normally these posts are very positive, this was my worst workout for some time!
Started ok, good warm up, first set in and it started to rain, so quickly moved indoors to the kitchen. Greeted by my family eating breakfast. Continued but my concentration was thrown off. Got really hot working out indoors. Struggled through to the end, but was really finding hard. Then found whilst moving indoors I had messed up my timer and accidentally added 10 minutes on, but didn’t notice until the end.
Positives? I finished an extra long session with injury.
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Nothing worse than an interruption when working to time. I enjoyed an outdoor practice this week and hadn't thought to check whether or not it might rain...!
 
Pete L said:
Nothing worse than an interruption when working to time. I enjoyed an outdoor practice this week and hadn't thought to check whether or not it might rain...!
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Annoyingly I had checked the weather, it should have been dry, that’s the problem with living in the UK
 
I finished OG Giant this morning!! I really loved this program. I plan to run it again sometime in the future.

1.2 has been a strange journey for me. (That has nothing to do with the program.) I took a week off between weeks one and two for a dive vacation. I came back from the trip and began week 2. Week 2 felt great. I was happy to get back to the program. Light Day of Week 3 was great. I felt strong and I got eight sets. I woke up on Heavy Day and I wasn't feeling it. Much more than the usual dread I feel on Heavy Day mornings. I ended up calling the set after the 4th set because I had to push press the last two reps. I was very discouraged. But by the end of the day I was sick. (No wonder I wasn't feeling it.) I thought it was a cold. I felt a little better on Friday. Good enough to lift. I noticed I wasn't recovering between sets like I normally do, so I did not push myself. I finished Week 3.

Then my cold got worse over last weekend. (Maybe it was the flu.) Anyway, I did not feel that I was recovered enough to begin Week 4 on Monday. I took Tuesday off too. I began Week 4 on Wednesday. I wasn't fully recovered. But I felt good enough to lift. During the sessions, I took it easy and only started a set when I felt FULLY recovered.

I begin the Beta Test on Kettlebell ICT on Tuesday. Looking forward to a new program for a change of pace.

Happy New Year to all of you!
 
blad51 said:
I finished OG Giant this morning!! I really loved this program. I plan to run it again sometime in the future.

1.2 has been a strange journey for me. (That has nothing to do with the program.) I took a week off between weeks one and two for a dive vacation. I came back from the trip and began week 2. Week 2 felt great. I was happy to get back to the program. Light Day of Week 3 was great. I felt strong and I got eight sets. I woke up on Heavy Day and I wasn't feeling it. Much more than the usual dread I feel on Heavy Day mornings. I ended up calling the set after the 4th set because I had to push press the last two reps. I was very discouraged. But by the end of the day I was sick. (No wonder I wasn't feeling it.) I thought it was a cold. I felt a little better on Friday. Good enough to lift. I noticed I wasn't recovering between sets like I normally do, so I did not push myself. I finished Week 3.

Then my cold got worse over last weekend. (Maybe it was the flu.) Anyway, I did not feel that I was recovered enough to begin Week 4 on Monday. I took Tuesday off too. I began Week 4 on Wednesday. I wasn't fully recovered. But I felt good enough to lift. During the sessions, I took it easy and only started a set when I felt FULLY recovered.

I begin the Beta Test on Kettlebell ICT on Tuesday. Looking forward to a new program for a change of pace.

Happy New Year to all of you!
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Did you do any before/after measurements or pictures? What results did you get?
 
Bkb said:
Did you do any before/after measurements or pictures? What results did you get?
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I didn't do any measurement or pictures. I was doing this program more as a pure strength program. I retired from my job on July 31st and started a new job on August 14th. I have had a very difficult time getting back into a routine with my diet. So I decided to stay in my KB routine and worry about my diet after the Holidays.

As far as progress with my strength goes, I got stronger during the Giant. When I started OG Giant, I got 10 solid reps with the 28s and one UGLY rep. I was planning on doing a max rep test with the 2x28s to check where I was. With this stupid cold, I don't physically feel up to attempting a rep max test. I plan to try a max rep test after Kettlebell ICT. I plan to run Strong with 2x32k bells after KB ICT.

The other benefit to the Giant is that my DC&P technique has improved significantly. With the Giant's high reps sets, you really have to concentrate on technique. I think with programs with lower rep counts, I was able to get by with less than perfect technique. I could always just muscle up the last rep or two and get away with it. With the Giant's high reps sets, any deficiencies in your technique will be exposed. For instance, landing a perfect clean determines whether I will have a strong press or if I will struggle to lift the bells. Likewise, if my drop or hike is sloppy and the bells hit each other, it can be a struggle to land the bells in a good clean position, and I will be wrestling the bells during the press.
 
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A question abut the Giant that I have never fully understood. I seem to always do about the same number of reps on each day of the week, whether it's a 5 rep day, 6 rep or 4 rep. My total reps each week do increase as the weeks go on.

For the three workouts during the week, however, each time I naturally do about the same number of reps, for example 45 on the 5, 6 and 4 rep days. Is this the way the program is supposed to be or is one of the day supped to be a lighter day, one a medium day and one a heavy day with a difference in total reps?

The program works fantastic for me, so this is a bit more of a philosophical question now, but I can see it become more important as the bells get heavier.
 
Greg H said:
A question abut the Giant that I have never fully understood. I seem to always do about the same number of reps on each day of the week, whether it's a 5 rep day, 6 rep or 4 rep. My total reps each week do increase as the weeks go on.

For the three workouts during the week, however, each time I naturally do about the same number of reps, for example 45 on the 5, 6 and 4 rep days. Is this the way the program is supposed to be or is one of the day supped to be a lighter day, one a medium day and one a heavy day with a difference in total reps?

The program works fantastic for me, so this is a bit more of a philosophical question now, but I can see it become more important as the bells get heavier.
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This is how it works out for me quite a lot of the time. 50 reps in sets of 6 is inherently harder than 50 reps in sets of 4. I think Geoff had an email where he explicitly said not to compare reps for days with different set lengths because it's an apples to oranges comparison. For example, only compare your total reps done on a 4-rep day to another 4-rep day. That seems to be a better way to measure progress across the weeks.
 
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