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Kettlebell Good goals for front squat

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Anders

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Hi.

I am 189 centimeters tall and 86 kilo. I am 34 years old and have been training with kettlebells for 5 years. I am currently doing the simple and sinister program and are approaching untimed simple.

Anyway. I am curious as to what would be a good standard for someone like me in terms of the kettlebell front squat ? I have no intention of having super strong legs or super big legs, I am just curious as to what you would consider descent strength in this exercise.

I am also curious as to the transfer value of being strong in this exercise. Would that lead to better improvements in swings, TGU, military press ?


Would be grateful for all answers.


Anders
 
Hi.

I am 189 centimeters tall and 86 kilo. I am 34 years old and have been training with kettlebells for 5 years. I am currently doing the simple and sinister program and are approaching untimed simple.

Anyway. I am curious as to what would be a good standard for someone like me in terms of the kettlebell front squat ? I have no intention of having super strong legs or super big legs, I am just curious as to what you would consider descent strength in this exercise.

I am also curious as to the transfer value of being strong in this exercise. Would that lead to better improvements in swings, TGU, military press ?


Would be grateful for all answers.


Anders

One rep with 100% of your own bodyweight would be the bare minimum.
Using between 125% and 150% of your own bodyweight and doing a bunch of strict, crisp reps would be way more than enough (unless you are pursuing maximal strength goals).
 
One rep with 100% of your own bodyweight would be the bare minimum.
Using between 125% and 150% of your own bodyweight and doing a bunch of strict, crisp reps would be way more than enough (unless you are pursuing maximal strength goals).
OMG?

I used to do one leg squats with my 45kg kettlebell, and I can't imagine the power it would take to clean and rack two of them!

This is someone doing double 48 kg front squats: this man is amazing!
 
OMG?

I used to do one leg squats with my 45kg kettlebell, and I can't imagine the power it would take to clean and rack two of them!

This is someone doing double 48 kg front squats: this man is amazing!


I totally misread your post. I was talking about barbell front squats. My mistake.

Using KBs, I'd say doing between 5-10 reps with double 32s is a nice starting point.

Doing 5-10 reps with double 48s would be more than enough.

And one of my long term goals is being able to do at least five reps using double 48s... while wearing a 160 lbs. Mir weighted vest (372 lbs. total).
 
I propose the Porcupine Standard. When one is talking squats in general (and not kettlebell front squats in particular), here is what many gym goers do. They begin the descent of the squat but part-way down, they act like they suddenly realize there is a giant porcupine underneath their butt so they quickly reverse directions and rise back up before they have a chance to get porcupine quills in their butt. A good standard would be to recognize: there is no porcupine. See what weight what can get to while descending as deep as one can and being able to pause at least momentarily at the bottom.

If you think this porcupine standard is ridiculous, perhaps you are right. But many people have their form break down as they focus on heavier weights. So for myself, I do try to maintain the porcupine standard.
 
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Interesting. I tend to agree with the 32+32 kilo. 32 seem to be like a magical number for a lot of kettlebell exercises, and indicates descent strength. (kettlebell swing, kettlebell TGU, military press).

I think maybe 32+32 5*5 would be a good and realistic goal.

Anyone who has reached that goal and who noticed any significant differences ?
 
I am curious as to what would be a good standard for someone like me in terms of the kettlebell front squat ?
The pair of kettlebells nearest your bodyweight but under your bodyweight, and performed like a kettlebell front squat. Taking nothing away from the video earlier in this thread, that is using the bells more like a bar than is our preferred way to perform this exercise. As mentioned elsewhere, the 2003 video of Pavel's More Russian Kettlebell Challenges seem to be on YouTube - while the language we use has changed (no more "Comrade") the teaching has not, and from about 9:30 to 17:30 in that video, you will find an excellent tutorial on how to perform this movement.

-S-
 
Interesting. I tend to agree with the 32+32 kilo. 32 seem to be like a magical number for a lot of kettlebell exercises, and indicates descent strength. (kettlebell swing, kettlebell TGU, military press).

I think maybe 32+32 5*5 would be a good and realistic goal.

Anyone who has reached that goal and who noticed any significant differences ?

I've done exactly that: 5x5@2x32 front squats , with minimal rest (60-90 seconds).

It was a nice goal, but no game changer. Curiously enough, I squeezed way more benefits from doing 5x5@2x32 cleans. This had a significant impact on my game on the mat.

For me, the goldilocks KB front squat is double 40s.
 
A pair of 40’s might be where the ability to keep the bells in the rack maxes out. A pair of 48’s is absolute max, regardless of body weight IMO. Forget the vest.

-S-
 
I think double 32s for sets of 5 is a good benchmark for someone of your description. If you can't, maybe you should work on it. If you can do a lot more, good for you but I wouldn't worry too much about improving it.

2KB squats are definitely not the most efficient way to build top-end leg strength, that is what barbells are for.
They ARE great for improving the quality of your squat. They force you to maintain a high degree of tension and keep a good upright posture. But then again so do heavy goblet squats.
When it comes to 1RM, the limiting factor for most folks is the clean. Increasing your 2KB clean is a measure of your power and your technical proficiency in the clean.
When it comes to higher rep maxes, the limiting factor is structural integrity/ability to hold the rack.

A simple way to improve both of these at once (power and structural integrity) is heavy 2KB rack carries. Clean a heavy pair of bells and then go for a walk. Otherwise, I would focus my squatting on barbell work and/or heavy goblets.

Blake Nelson
 

this is my double-kettlebell-paused-one-rep-shoulder-squat @ 85kg. I think I got five reps with in this style without pause quickly then once the bells were kind of stable on the shoulders.

from two years ago a more hardstyle approved with interlaced fingers and comp bells which are easier to keep in the rack:


I am also curious as to the transfer value of being strong in this exercise. Would that lead to better improvements in swings, TGU, military press ?
I never trained a front squat program but sometimes do a few for short periods of time. But what heavy kb frontsquats provide is hip mobility, lots of abs, strong erectors on the backside and lats, t-spine extension. Heavy Kb front squat has usually two camps: the pros like it especially for the reason to withstand to let them go and the "barbell con's" usually laugh at the "low load".

A nice longer time aim would be a proper clean and frontsquat with bodyweight equivalent, not weak...
 
Hi.

I am 189 centimeters tall and 86 kilo. I am 34 years old and have been training with kettlebells for 5 years. I am currently doing the simple and sinister program and are approaching untimed simple.

Anyway. I am curious as to what would be a good standard for someone like me in terms of the kettlebell front squat ? I have no intention of having super strong legs or super big legs, I am just curious as to what you would consider descent strength in this exercise.

I am also curious as to the transfer value of being strong in this exercise. Would that lead to better improvements in swings, TGU, military press ?


Would be grateful for all answers.


Anders
Back to original post. If you are serious about hitting your S&S goals, I wouldn't get sidetracked too much. I've fallen prey to adding in this or that because S&S might be missing something. All I did was compromise the energy or recovery I could have used to improve on my swings and get ups. Just make sure you are taking advantage of the goblet squats included in the program. Do things like using your swing weight (or higher), use 5 second pauses at the bottom. All of this will help carry over into front squats when you start a new program. If you are comfortable with the movement pattern and have good form, it may not hurt to replace a couple of your goblet sets with lighter double front squats (double 20's) just to groove the pattern, but I wouldn't go much beyond that while working on simple. Don't discount the single (racked) front squat. Try it with your 32kg. Not a lot of weight, but the imbalance really challenges your rack hold.

As far as what's respectable for double front squats? Well look at Cert requirements. You have to be able to demonstrate 5 good reps at a certain weight. If you can do 8-10 reps with the cert size bells, or 5 reps with the next higher bell, you are probably in good company.

As far as being pure awesomeness, it would be hard to surpass @Harald Motz . That's a whole other level. He makes everything look easy.
 
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