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Kettlebell "Giant 1.0"

That's an interesting idea and I know I felt the same about week 3 in both cycles I've done. I worked to the 20-25-30-25 time limits on each week but wonder if there is a way to rearrange them to hit peak reps in W4 instead of 3. 25-25-20-30?
Yes, I’ve done this accidentally before. I did 30-30-20-30 - first week was max rest, second week was pushing it, third week I just felt drained so I took it easy, 4th week I came back and hit my bests. Two hard weeks followed by one down followed by another hard has worked well for me, but more often than not it’s a thing that happens versus a plan.
 
Week 1 of my second run through of 1.0 finished and managed 131 reps in 20 minute sessions compared to 118 last time so feel like that's pretty good progress.

Thinking of adding in some rows. Would be very minimal as Geoff advises (2-3 x 3-5 once or twice a week) as my job involves sitting at a desk all day and my upper back feels weak from it. Has anyone else done this and if so would you advise doing the rows on the same training days or on off days?
 
Hi guys, I bought the Giant and Strong and I haven't really started the programs yet, just done some casual sets-of-3 for 25 mins workouts, and I can already tell this is the program for me. I've been messing around with KBs for several years, but never had any goal oriented training.

I'm wondering how you macro-plan in this program. Let's say I can get 1.0 with the 20's currently, and my long term goal is to do that with the 32's, over say a year or so (longer is fine too). After running 1.0-1.2 with the 20s, would I be able to jump into 3.0 with the 24s? Or should I switch to the strength block from Strong (I'm assuming the hypertrophy/conditioning block in strong is not necessary with the giant 1.x's)? Or mix in RoP?

I see some people saying 3.1, 3.2, I assume they just added +1 and +2 reps to all of the sets in 3.0 to bridge the gap between that and 1.0? That makes sense. So can you just go 3.0 3.1 3.2 1.0 1.1 1.2 with each set of bells? That would be pretty sweet.

Would there be any deficiencies or injury risk to running this program for a long period of time? Currently I have very strong legs and posterior chain, very weak upper body. I am hoping to balance that out a little bit. I probably have a lot of newbie gain potential.

The only thing that I would want to add to the program is a very minimalistic mobility routine, any suggestions there? I am thinking just the S&S warmup for now.
When you're done with 1.0-1.1-1.2 why not test your rep max one size up then go from there?
 
Hi guys, I bought the Giant and Strong and I haven't really started the programs yet, just done some casual sets-of-3 for 25 mins workouts, and I can already tell this is the program for me. I've been messing around with KBs for several years, but never had any goal oriented training.

I'm wondering how you macro-plan in this program. Let's say I can get 1.0 with the 20's currently, and my long term goal is to do that with the 32's, over say a year or so (longer is fine too). After running 1.0-1.2 with the 20s, would I be able to jump into 3.0 with the 24s? Or should I switch to the strength block from Strong (I'm assuming the hypertrophy/conditioning block in strong is not necessary with the giant 1.x's)? Or mix in RoP?

I see some people saying 3.1, 3.2, I assume they just added +1 and +2 reps to all of the sets in 3.0 to bridge the gap between that and 1.0? That makes sense. So can you just go 3.0 3.1 3.2 1.0 1.1 1.2 with each set of bells? That would be pretty sweet.

Would there be any deficiencies or injury risk to running this program for a long period of time? Currently I have very strong legs and posterior chain, very weak upper body. I am hoping to balance that out a little bit. I probably have a lot of newbie gain potential.

The only thing that I would want to add to the program is a very minimalistic mobility routine, any suggestions there? I am thinking just the S&S warmup for now.
Hey man. You got the best content one can have to get started. Now all that is left is for you to get started. Someone told me that the best thing one can do is to get started and then calibrate it as you go along. I started THE WOLF conservatively with double 16s, and after 1st week I was confident I could do it with double 20s, so I switched. I'm sure I gained a whole lot from that program even if I wasn't doing it optimally for the first week. As Mark mentions above, just get started with 1.0 conservatively and in the first cycle calibrate it. Once you have the base line calibrate it you can pick and choose which version you would like to go with. The only thing I missed when I did GIANT was some squat work. I would add it as a separate block after the main workout. Mix it up between goblet squats, front squats, and single KB rack squats on different days, and I think you would have most of the main movements covered. Add in some loaded carries and high rep KB deadlifts and I think you have a comprehensive strength program !!
 
Thinking of adding in some rows. Would be very minimal as Geoff advises (2-3 x 3-5 once or twice a week) as my job involves sitting at a desk all day and my upper back feels weak from it. Has anyone else done this and if so would you advise doing the rows on the same training days or on off days?
I do bent over DB rows as part of the cool down and it is going well/not impacting giant. My posture has felt noticeably better since starting Geoff’s programming as well, before I mixed the light rows in.
 
I think that 3.0 and 1.0 do not have to be your only options, since it sounds like you are really close to hitting a 10RM with your 24s. You could do a 3.1 or a 3.2 as well (which are not canon but you just add a rep for 3.1 and an additional rep for 3.2).

I did a 3.1 after DFW (which like 3.0 starts are 5RM) when my 24s were a 7RM and now I'm continuing with 3.2. I recall some members of the forum also doing that but I'll leave it at a hunch since I don't feel like going through 118 pages to find a quote :)
Thanks, @ImMrAdam . Those are all solid options.
I tested yesterday my 10 rep max and was able to do 10 double C&Ps with the 24s.
I may have been able to eek out 2 more, but with poor form.
I am going to launch into another cycle of 1.0 but this time with the 24s.
It's really going to feel like a whole different ball game this go-around.
 
Week 1 of my second run through of 1.0 finished and managed 131 reps in 20 minute sessions compared to 118 last time so feel like that's pretty good progress.

Thinking of adding in some rows. Would be very minimal as Geoff advises (2-3 x 3-5 once or twice a week) as my job involves sitting at a desk all day and my upper back feels weak from it. Has anyone else done this and if so would you advise doing the rows on the same training days or on off days?
Nice work.

You can add them in. Do them the same training days - 2x week.
 
Excellent work!

Let us know how you get on with the 24s.
Finished 1.0 with the 24s
Totals
Week 1 - 101
Week 2 - 114
Week 3 - 129
Week 4 - about 60% of week 3

My arms and shoulders feel decidedly thick and my trunk sturdy.

Going to do some more Giant but travel is tricky for the next 2 weeks, so the plan is to do timeless Simple for 2 weeks and then another 4 weeks of The Giant (which one is yet to be determined).

Thanks for the great program!
 
Finished 1.0 with the 24s
Totals
Week 1 - 101
Week 2 - 114
Week 3 - 129
Week 4 - about 60% of week 3

My arms and shoulders feel decidedly thick and my trunk sturdy.

Going to do some more Giant but travel is tricky for the next 2 weeks, so the plan is to do timeless Simple for 2 weeks and then another 4 weeks of The Giant (which one is yet to be determined).

Thanks for the great program!
Now have a shot of snatching a heavy bell. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.
 
I've been reading back on old threads and comments, particularly about the press and push presses. The push press can set you up for a heavier press, so I get running the Giant for a cycle of push presses to hopefully allow you to use heavier bells next time around for the press. Now after a full run through with the push press, should one still start on 3.0 or just start at 1.0 for the press cycle?
 
I've been reading back on old threads and comments, particularly about the press and push presses. The push press can set you up for a heavier press, so I get running the Giant for a cycle of push presses to hopefully allow you to use heavier bells next time around for the press. Now after a full run through with the push press, should one still start on 3.0 or just start at 1.0 for the press cycle?
I would test the DCP RM with the target weight. If the RM is closer to 5, I'd go with 3.0. If the RM is, say, 8-12, go with 1.0. Just remember that an 8 RM will make 1.0 tougher. You might want to give 1.0 a second run before going into 1.1.
 
I've been reading back on old threads and comments, particularly about the press and push presses. The push press can set you up for a heavier press, so I get running the Giant for a cycle of push presses to hopefully allow you to use heavier bells next time around for the press. Now after a full run through with the push press, should one still start on 3.0 or just start at 1.0 for the press cycle?
Personally I would just run starting at 3.0, dial in your technique and improve your work capacity.
 
After fighting a back injury the last 2 months that would not go away due to my constant commute lol. I’m starting to miss the Giant. I’ve been doing a strong first chin up program and also doing push-ups as well. After a week of committing to some serious trigger point releasing and hours of yoga I’m finally starting to feel good. I want to finish this chin-up program over the next few weeks and then restart the Giant. Not sure where I’ll start. Maybe ease back in with 1.0 with the 24s and then jump back to 3.0 with the 32s. We’ll see. I did some clean and presses with the 20s yesterday just to ease back into the groove.
 
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