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Kettlebell "I Achieved S & S Simple! Here's My Story"

krg said:
42 year-old bloke. I've been big all my life but by two years ago I was up at 140 kg, at 1.85 m not a good place to be at all.

Six months of dieting, jogging and going to the gym got me to 125 kg and left me realising: 1) I prefer my own company when exercising 2) I cannot stand waiting for resistance training machines 3) I can't plan or log a workout.

Internet research led me to kettlebells by Easter 2014 and 'Enter the Kettlebell' - I still think this is the clearest description of remedial exercises for learning the swing.

I bought a 12 kg kettlebell initially (no confidence, should have started heavier) and set to work learning how to swing and get-up. I bought S+S and the simple everyday programme really clicked for me and I began doing it by the book at least 5 nights a week in my garden or garage. The jump from 16 to 24 kg was a massive shock and I scared myself once or twice with the get-ups. I went from 24 kg to 32 kg via 28 kg as a result.

Springtime this year I got interested in the writings of Phil Maffetone (someone in this forum called him the godfather of easy-running so I looked him up) and gradually tried to turn my S+S practice into a more aerobic event by using a heart rate monitor and longer rests. I still don't know if this helps at all with strength development but I do feel very good working like this. End of July 2015 I tested myself and ignored heart rate and nailed the simple goals every night of a week then took a two week holiday.

Bodyweight is currently at 102 kg with a resting heart rate of 48-50. On a good day I feel indestructible, and most days are good - swings, get-ups and not eating crap has completely transformed my life, although there is clearly some way to go. Only regret is that I should have done it 20 years ago!

I've switched to the Rite of Passage from ETK now as my press is weak (20 kg) and I have a long term goal of an unassisted pull-up (currently doing band assisted with the RoP). I am unsure yet if I will stay on this programme to a half body weight press - it feels frankly impossible to me and so far snatches are beating my hands up. But I will progress to ladders with 32 kg and see how I feel. I will come back to S+S and try to achieve the sinister goals.

Apologies for the long post but S+S is a great programme and I feel passionately about it (and yes, I have reviewed it on Amazon UK). This is also a great forum and as a KB novice I appreciate the advice (and attitude) of the community.
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I just joined, and, similarly am a complete novice. But also discovered this. Just got S and S, and going from there.
 
I had some experience in lifting before but nothing serious, so I like to think that I started my kettlebells journey from zero. I begin Simple & Sinister on October 2016 with 16kg get up and 24kg 2h swing. I quickly progressed to 32kg in get up, but swinging with 32kg was hard for me, got some grip and technique issues. I got little bored and in December 2016 my S&S sessions was rare and I was exploring double kettlebell and bodyweight programs. Big mistake. I catch a few minor injuries quickly and decided that I have to get back to basics. Swing never was my favourite exercise, and I like to challenge myself sometimes, so I decided to begin 300 Swings a Day Challenge with 24kg in January 2017. I made it and finally swing became one of my favourite movements. After challenge my grip and technique issues were gone and I focused entirely on S&S. Dedicating most of your energy into program brings great results - today I achieved Simple. I am very happy right now and want to thank this wonderful community! You are fantastic!

I still want to practice basic movements and will continue doing S&S for some time. After that I want to do Rite of Passage and see where it will leads me.

Thanks for reading and your help everyone! Stay Strong!
 
I've never been one for gym work. It bores me senseless. I've tried it numerous times in the past and always got bored within a couple of weeks. I was introduced to kettlebells around early 2014 and got myself a 16kg and a 20kg. Found S&S not long after and tried to work my way up to Simple. My log for that first attempt says 11m41 for the swings with a 20kg bell, 10m39 for the tgu with a 16kg bell. I built up to using the 32kg bell but never got close to Simple in a single session.
After a few long, enforced lay offs, (the longest being tennis elbow stopping me doing any bell work between April 2016 and Jan 17) my weight hit 300lbs at nearly 40% bf. At the end of September 16 I completely changed the way I eat and started working on figuring out how to get rid of the tennis elbow. I did a lot of grip, reverse grip and flexbar work and eventually started back with an 8kg and 12kg bell in January. Just doing some light presses and swings.

This morning I hit the Simple goal for the first time ever. I'm over the moon! Weight is around 250lbs with 30% bf. Still a way to go but I'll be concentrating on strength gain rather than weight loss. Sinister seems a long way off but there's definitely a glow growing at the end of the tunnel.
 
Steve Carter said:
I've never been one for gym work. It bores me senseless. I've tried it numerous times in the past and always got bored within a couple of weeks. I was introduced to kettlebells around early 2014 and got myself a 16kg and a 20kg. Found S&S not long after and tried to work my way up to Simple. My log for that first attempt says 11m41 for the swings with a 20kg bell, 10m39 for the tgu with a 16kg bell. I built up to using the 32kg bell but never got close to Simple in a single session.
After a few long, enforced lay offs, (the longest being tennis elbow stopping me doing any bell work between April 2016 and Jan 17) my weight hit 300lbs at nearly 40% bf. At the end of September 16 I completely changed the way I eat and started working on figuring out how to get rid of the tennis elbow. I did a lot of grip, reverse grip and flexbar work and eventually started back with an 8kg and 12kg bell in January. Just doing some light presses and swings.

This morning I hit the Simple goal for the first time ever. I'm over the moon! Weight is around 250lbs with 30% bf. Still a way to go but I'll be concentrating on strength gain rather than weight loss. Sinister seems a long way off but there's definitely a glow growing at the end of the tunnel.
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Just "Wow!" ... Congratulations! Persistence pays off and again happy to see that S&S works if one follows through. Very inspiring and motivating story indeed @Steve Carter !
 
To start. I just want to congratulate everyone that decided to stick with the program and meet their goal. I wish I would have found this program and style of training years ago.

My story thus far. I'm almost 35 and living in Colorado. I first started working out when I was nine. However I seldom did more that bench press until I was nineteen. I have had moderate success with many programs and great success with a few. Over time I fell out of love with the gym and started working out from home, following more minimalist programs. Lucky for me I injured my neck doing a set of 20 rep squats with horrible form. After years of not working out, I decided to really learn how to squat and stumbled upon a Dan John video. One thing lead to another and here I am today.

I played around with several Dan John and Pavel programs while I was learning to give up cross fit. After reading easy strength I decided to give "block cycling" a try. I perform two weeks of S&S followed by two weeks of PTTP. I love this style of training. I does take time and there is no rush, but progress has been steady despite sickness and injury (sport related). I started S&S in the middle of January with a 50lb kb and achieved Simple a few days ago. I feel like I am hardly working and I always have energy to spare.

I hope to stick with the program until I reach my deadlift goal. If my shoulder heals properly I plan to move on to ROP and if it is still bugging me I might try Justa's singles routine.
 
Ivan Merl said:
I decided to give "block cycling" a try. I perform two weeks of S&S followed by two weeks of PTTP. I love this style of training. I does take time and there is no rush, but progress has been steady
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Very interesting, @Ivan Merl, and thank you for the report.

If you did anything other than S&S and PTTP, e.g., you added swings during your PTTP block, please start a new thread in Training -> Other, call it "Block Cycling S&S and PTTP" or something along those lines, and detail what you've been doing.

Thank you.

-S-
 
Hello!

I do S & S since the beginning of this year.
Today was 33. workout. I train 2-4 times a week.

I had not planned test because I only started to do all the exercises with a 32kg ball.
It was the fourth training with only 32 .. I planned to practice slowly.

The first series of swings left hand - OK
A few seconds break and series on the other hand - OK.
And so on.
10reps/30sec.
10x10 1H Swings 4:55
1 min break.
TGU was a formality, because I've done a few times 10TGU of 32kg in 10 minutes.
1TGU/1min. TGU=30s / rest=30s. =9:30
Whole = 15:25

Now I want to stabilize at this level, so I will continue to perform S & S, but without looking at his watch and time.
I will also test lower level of exercise, which recently did not do - push-ups, military press, front squat, pullups.

Many thanks for @Pavel Macek, for his training log, articles and any advice :)
 
Congratulations, @taro! Another Simple in the books. :)
 
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