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Kettlebell Giant + King-sized Killer Review

JamesPTA

JamesPTA

Level 6 Valued Member
My journey started on 4/11/2022 with alternating blocks of the Giant Series and King-Sized Killer programs as recommended by one of Geoff's recommendation earlier this year. There were some weeks where I was on vacation or dealing with colds, but I would resume right where I would leave off, and finally completed the journey this morning. Here is my experience:

Goals: They are simple. My goal has always been to wake up every morning to move and do something active. I am only given one body, and it's best to keep it well maintained. I am the father of 2 boys ages 8 and 10. As I push 40, I want to be able to keep up with them but also make sure that they have to keep up with me. Lastly, I've dedicated my hard-earned money to purchase KBs of all sizes and I want to make sure that I put them and the purchased programs to good use.

Layout:
  • Giant 1.0 with 2x24kg​
  • KSK 1.0 Phase 1 with 28kg​
  • Giant 2.0 with 2x24kg​
  • KSK 1.0 Phase 2 with 28kg​
  • Giant 1.1 with 2x24kg​
  • KSK 1.0 Phase 1 with 32kg​
  • Giant 3.0 with 2x28​

Off-program days for the Giant was filled with mobility and crawling. Off days for KSK included Bent Presses similar to how Pavel M. organizes them.

Performance Improvements:
​
Pre Testing​
Post Testing​
DCL+MP 2x28kg​
6RM​
8-9RM​
Snatch 32kg​
3RM​
12-13RM​
Bent Press 1RM​
32kg​
36kg​

Body Improvements: No skin calipers, no Bod Pod, so this is purely subjective. My shirts are officially a size bigger (XL). My arms need more room, but also mainly because of the width of my upper back. You could project a Hollywood movie on the thing now. The waist on my pants go looser, the belt had to get pulled tighter. However, as some may remember, I ripped a pair of pants this summer because my gluts and quads had no room. It's now a necessity for me to wear stretch pants for work. We also had few "coat & tie" events, and I could not get any of my top buttons remotely close to closing. All new button up shirts had to be purchased.

I never really watched the scale. my calorie intake fluctuated over the last 6 months, so I suspect my weight did as well.

Overall: This whole experience has been significantly enjoyable. My favorite phases with Giant 2.0 and phase 2 of KSK1. I am also happy with the overall progress and how my body feels. With auto-regulation and changing the exercises ever 3-4 weeks, I still saw the daily and weekly rep counts increase. The last 6 months have definitely been worth it. If anyone is on the fence about these 2 programs and performing them in blocks, they deliver above expectations.

My deepest thanks @Geoff Neupert!
 
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JamesPTA

JamesPTA

Level 6 Valued Member
Sam Goldner said:
Nice job.

How did you pick which phases and versions you alternated?

Thanks,
Sam Goldner, DPT
Click to expand...

Thanks for the question. It was suggested (I can't remember where) that 2.0 is a good transition into the higher-rep versions of The Giant, and that's why I chose 2.0 before the 1.1 block. Why did I skip Giant 1.2 and KSK1 Phase 3? No rhyme or reason. I think it comes from my natural dislike of higher rep sets. I wanted to make each day enjoyable and the closer I got to those protocols, enjoyment was the furthest thing from my mind.

For me, it's about the journey more than it is about the destination.
 
JamesPTA

JamesPTA

Level 6 Valued Member
@SUOMI-PUKU I attribute this observation with my lack of skills initially with snatching a heavy bell. Prior to KSK, I hadn't even thought of snatching the 32kg before, so it was my first time with it.

With the DC+MP, I had just finished STRONG! Phase 1 in January, so my skills with heavier bells were already pretty solid. At that point, the progress I gained, I attribute to my body finding more muscle fibers to recruit to get the job done, a much slower process. I was finding tension in my calves that helped me press the bells more.
 

TobyC

Level 2 Valued Member
Just wondering, can the "Giant" programs be run as single bell? I've only got one kettlebell at the moment but would love to run a cycle after hearing all the good talk about it.
 

Hrungnir

Level 6 Valued Member
TobyC said:
Just wondering, can the "Giant" programs be run as single bell? I've only got one kettlebell at the moment but would love to run a cycle after hearing all the good talk about it.
Click to expand...
Don’t run just four weeks, 1.1 and 1.2 are the payoff of the program. I see all these people posting about how happy they are with 1.0, then never see what running all the way through does.
 

guardian7

Level 6 Valued Member
TobyC said:
Just wondering, can the "Giant" programs be run as single bell? I've only got one kettlebell at the moment but would love to run a cycle after hearing all the good talk about it.
Click to expand...
Hrungnir said:
Don’t run just four weeks, 1.1 and 1.2 are the payoff of the program. I see all these people posting about how happy they are with 1.0, then never see what running all the way through does.
Click to expand...

Exactly right. When the weight you started 1.0 with seems like a toy after 1.2 is when you really go, wow this works.
 
JamesPTA

JamesPTA

Level 6 Valued Member
Matt_lux said:
Just got Geoff's mail with a link to your results, congrats!
I'm impressed by how your legs grow without squatting. Have you tested your squats before / after ?
Click to expand...
I appreciate it! I had never tested my squats mainly because with my heaviest pair of bells at the time (I don’t have a barbell), my RM is somewhere in the low teens and my legs usually are not the limiting factor at that point.
 
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