Kettlebell "Giant 1.0"

[barrak]

I asked out of curiosity.
For the set:
Rep Max
<8
= 8
> 8
No offense, gentlemen.
Thank you for answer.

The underlying issue is that some people use body English to push their RM by a count or two, then use that number to make programming choices. I was certainly guilty of that during my ROP days. If you are as well then 3.0 with your 8RM is a safer bet, Otherwise, 1.0 might be worth a week's experiment as @Geoff Neupert and @John Grahill reluctantly suggested.

By the way, mixed doubles is a great option and has added values of its own. Say, 1.0 with 16K+20K.

PS. I'm speaking from my general ROP/ROTK experiences. I haven't tried The Giant yet.

 

[karol]

Hi Guys,
Happy Easter ?

First 4 Days of G1.1 done. 54, 56, 56, 60.
So far so good.
But the longer reps are killing me. I feel like not having easy days at all. I am trying convince myself that 6's are easy but they are not?.
When doing 8's I have a constant feeling I will not finish the training. I feel like maybe one more series and I am done. But surprisingly I keep pushing to the end.
And the cardio is harder! It has to pump! But I feel the body is adapting. Hope the rest will go with some progress. Fingers crossed.

 

[guardian7]

24 KGs is the winner. Did good 10 reps this afternoon, might have been able to eek out an 11th rep but it would have had some english on it. The 10 was a lot easier today than the 8 I got with the 24s two weeks ago. About 30ish mins later I tried 28s and got 6 good ones. Then did grease the groove sets of 6 with the 24s for a couple hours, lots of time between sets, just getting some practice with the heavy rep scheme. I'll do sets of 4 on Fri and look at that as the last day of a prep program and restart 1.0 Monday.

Thanks for all the input gentlemen.

That is great news but not surprising give your previous rep count. You hit the 10RM sweet spot which is supposed to be the TRM anyway and can expect some great results.

 

[guardian7]

24 KGs is the winner. Did good 10 reps this afternoon, might have been able to eek out an 11th rep but it would have had some english on it. The 10 was a lot easier today than the 8 I got with the 24s two weeks ago. About 30ish mins later I tried 28s and got 6 good ones. Then did grease the groove sets of 6 with the 24s for a couple hours, lots of time between sets, just getting some practice with the heavy rep scheme. I'll do sets of 4 on Fri and look at that as the last day of a prep program and restart 1.0 Monday.

Thanks for all the input gentlemen.

I would be curious whether you could take on KB Strong with 32s after doing a few programs of the Giant.

 

[guardian7]

Thanks John! I don't know, if I'd have a double pair I would run the Giant with them for sure! It's just that with Covid it's not easy to get an extra, good quality 40kg bell without paying ridiculous shipping costs to Belgium. But I'm still gaining in strength and size with this single bell work and there's still room for more with my 48 ! I think (and hope) that when I'm at the point of running the Giant with the beast, I'll have all the musclemass and strength I'd ever need. (Still a looong road to that one though ?)

Uneven bells are fine and really challenge the core.

 

[guardian7]

I must be an idiot...or not looking in the right places... where can I find “The Giant”?

For me at least, the use of the 10RM kettlebells was something I felt I wanted to try. I had been doing low rep work for a long time. What surprised was the impact the 10RM work had on me overall including my wind, body composition and strength. After going through 4 months of the 2.0 and the 1 series of programs with 32s my my rep max with them obviously improved but so did my rep max with the 36s! I really don't feel like I lost any max strength by dropping the heavier lower rep work.

That is a very interesting observation. I think one of Geoff's newsletter articles may point to the answer. He stresses the role of the metabolic effect on the overall system as do others but he includes body composition as well. The systemic "shock" of medium heavy-medium rep work may produce more stimulation than strength-practiced training. It is like natural growth hormone effect like Steroids, it impacts all muscles regardless of direct training. This may be more of a factor in someone experienced like yourself who already has made the neurological gains or grooved the patterns (as your bells show!) compared to someone like me who needed some time to clean up their form.

 

[guardian7]

Yup. Even 10 seconds less time to complete the same amount of work you did last week on any given workout day is a victory! Today I reached the reps I got last week and shaved off 2 minutes. I had enough recovery time to add another set before the 30 minute buzzer. Last week I didn't. So overall a great day even though I didn't add that much!

Hmm, I should pay more attention to how much time I have left on the clock. I stop when I can't get another set in either physically or running out of time, but looking at it this way means I shaved 50 seconds off my last time.

 

[guardian7]

Hi Guys,
Happy Easter ?

First 4 Days of G1.1 done. 54, 56, 56, 60.
So far so good.
But the longer reps are killing me. I feel like not having easy days at all. I am trying convince myself that 6's are easy but they are not?.
When doing 8's I have a constant feeling I will not finish the training. I feel like maybe one more series and I am done. But surprisingly I keep pushing to the end.
And the cardio is harder! It has to pump! But I feel the body is adapting. Hope the rest will go with some progress. Fingers crossed.

Eight is the money rep day. Eight burns.

 

[Dayz]

Current life goal: complete the Giant with double 32s.

Can't even reliably press a SINGLE 32 for 1 yet

 

[karol]

Current life goal: complete the Giant with double 32s.

Can't even reliably press a SINGLE 32 for 1 yet

2*32! That's a big thing! Good luck??

I would like to do Giant 1.0 with 2*32 but I am not ready yet for G 3.0.
I will test after G 1.1. but I think I will go G 1.2 before jumping up the weight. Also I used to do short series only and I think longer ones are good for my overall fitness especially the cardio.
Hope to do G 1.0 with 2*32 this year.

 

[karol]

I would be curious whether you could take on KB Strong with 32s after doing a few programs of the Giant.

We will see but the plan is to go g1.2 with 2*24 and hopefully I will be ready for g3.0 with 2*32.

 

[barrak]

Uneven bells are fine and really challenge the core.

Even equal weights with uneven shapes can get your attention to a degree; for example a comp and a cast iron, or a kettlebell and a dumbbell.

One of those days I'll try a barbell on one side and a kettlebell on the other... put them on the ground and see how it feels looking at them! I can dream, can't I? (Still nursing a right shoulder with 12K presses and 20K jerks.)

 

[Cearball]

Even equal weights with uneven shapes can get your attention to a degree; for example a comp and a cast iron, or a kettlebell and a dumbbell.

One of those days I'll try a barbell on one side and a kettlebell on the other... put them on the ground and see how it feels looking at them! I can dream, can't I? (Still nursing a right shoulder with 12K presses and 20K jerks.)

I have a mix of comp/cast & different brand bells all shaped a little different & you really gotta think in terms of how to have uneven alignment like with the wrists in order to evenly press them...... If that makes sense ??

 

[Oaks]

Alright. Just finished 1.0. Results below. TL; DR. Great program -- highly recommended. But my data may be flawed.

As a reminder, I used the program to help rehab after surgery to plate a broken collarbone (after clearance to lift from docs, jeez, mom). The program quickly restored a lot the strength and muscle mass I lost over the few months of recovery. I'm feeling like my old self (sorry, world), and mostly looking like my old self (again, sorry, world). Delts, traps, bis and tris bounced right back in the atrophied arm -- they had all but disappeared, it was gross. I'll weigh in tomorrow am. I probably dropped a couple pounds, but I'm carrying an extra 15 or so lbs from the inactivity associated with recovery, and was already on the decline (from about 20) when I started 1.0 due to resuming more or less normal activity levels.

The data is not perfect; I get it. I increased the time as the weeks went on (largely because I was too smoked to continue in the earlier weeks). I was coming back from an injury, so that brings a host of variables into the analysis. I rearranged the training in week 4 (life happens). All valid criticisms if that's what one chooses to do. Nevertheless, my progress is staggering. I'll keep lifting for even a fraction of this progress while the critics tear apart the data, thank you much.

After a week off for family vacation, I'd like to pick up another 24 and run 1.0 with dbl 24s. But, as much as I'd love to have two 24s, I'll prob continue with the 16+24 through 1.1 and 1.2. It's probably a bit light for me now, and the higher reps do wear on me, but I definitely need the endurance and conditioning work right now, and I hate spending money. After that, I'll retest with 24+28 to see if I qualify for 1.0 with the higher weight (I suspect I will), with an eye toward 28+32 after that. If I end up having to buy another 32 afterwards, I think I could forgive myself

Also, I will likely do, as others have done, the 3 weeks up 1 week down thing if running these back to back. Four consecutive weeks of increase is a lot to ask of my body in my experience, especially with no end in sight.

Thanks, Neupert. Nice work. And thanks to the forum for all it brings.

-Oaks

 

[barrak]

Alright. Just finished 1.0. Results below. TL; DR. Great program -- highly recommended. But my data may be flawed.

As a reminder, I used the program to help rehab after surgery to plate a broken collarbone (after clearance to lift from docs, jeez, mom). The program quickly restored a lot the strength and muscle mass I lost over the few months of recovery. I'm feeling like my old self (sorry, world), and mostly looking like my old self (again, sorry, world). Delts, traps, bis and tris bounced right back in the atrophied arm -- they had all but disappeared, it was gross. I'll weigh in tomorrow am. I probably dropped a couple pounds, but I'm carrying an extra 15 or so lbs from the inactivity associated with recovery, and was already on the decline (from about 20) when I started 1.0 due to resuming more or less normal activity levels.

The data is not perfect; I get it. I increased the time as the weeks went on (largely because I was too smoked to continue in the earlier weeks). I was coming back from an injury, so that brings a host of variables into the analysis. I rearranged the training in week 4 (life happens). All valid criticisms if that's what one chooses to do. Nevertheless, my progress is staggering. I'll keep lifting for even a fraction of this progress while the critics tear apart the data, thank you much.

After a week off for family vacation, I'd like to pick up another 24 and run 1.0 with dbl 24s. But, as much as I'd love to have two 24s, I'll prob continue with the 16+24 through 1.1 and 1.2. It's probably a bit light for me now, and the higher reps do wear on me, but I definitely need the endurance and conditioning work right now, and I hate spending money. After that, I'll retest with 24+28 to see if I qualify for 1.0 with the higher weight (I suspect I will), with an eye toward 28+32 after that. If I end up having to buy another 32 afterwards, I think I could forgive myself

Also, I will likely do, as others have done, the 3 weeks up 1 week down thing if running these back to back. Four consecutive weeks of increase is a lot to ask of my body in my experience, especially with no end in sight.

Thanks, Neupert. Nice work. And thanks to the forum for all it brings.

-Oaks

View attachment 13378

I like your cautious progression for an advanced rehab cycle. Wouldn't a repeated full cycle of 1.0 be a more reasonable next step... maybe with C+P this time around, if manageable?

I'm also rehabbing a shoulder, so I'm interested in your choices/experiences moving forward.

 

[PaulAllen]

All, just finished my second 4 week block of 3.0 with a single 24kg bell. Went from 6 on left to a solid 9 reps and from 8 on right with an ugly 8th rep to 10 solid ones. Really working on Geoffs tension pointers and breathing tips really helped me. Loving this series and heading to 1.0 next.

 

[Stefan Olsson]

All, just finished my second 4 week block of 3.0 with a single 24kg bell. Went from 6 on left to a solid 9 reps and from 8 on right with an ugly 8th rep to 10 solid ones. Really working on Geoffs tension pointers and breathing tips really helped me. Loving this series and heading to 1.0 next.

See bolded text. Where can I read about them?

 

[John Grahill]

@Stefan Olsson I think he's referring to Geoff's "Kettlebell Strong" book and videos.

 

[kitsu]

Figured that I'd share my results from 1.0. My volume increased quite a bit between weeks 1 and 2. I finally got around to watching the KB Strong videos, and was able to become a lot more efficient in the movements. Hand positioning for the clean and breathing were key takeaways for me. I still need to work on keeping tension in my core throughout the movement. So far I feel leaner in the waist and broader in the shoulders, maybe a little thicker in the hamstrings. But take note, that I have been doing Zonin's "Don't Fear the Heavy Weight" deadlift protocol as well. My deadlift weights are starting to feel easier. Overall this past month, I am down 1 lb. I'm not really trying to lose weight, more so maintain. I eat pretty clean Mon-Fri, but it's beer and burgers on the weekend. I'm typically 3-4 lbs lighter on Friday than on Monday, it's mostly just water weight. Can't wait to start 1.1 this evening!

 

[ntapsak]

Just started Giant 1.0 today - doing double C&J with 40lb bells for the month of April.

I got 12x5 (60 reps, I was impressed with myself!) in 30 minutes. This should be fun.