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Kettlebell Is this program good for endurance

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krishnab75

krishnab75

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Hey Folks.

So I have been reading Russian Kettlebell Challenge and trying to develop a simple program around Pavel's principles. I am also trying to work on some particular weaknesses as well as train for more endurance. I was hoping that someone could tell me if this plan was consistent with Pavel's ideas, and if I could make any improvements.

Couple areas of weakness:
1. my left shoulder has a bit of pain when I overhead press. I got it checked with the doctor, so no issues. Might just be muscle imbalance that pushes my elbow out, but I am working to strengthen it.
2. I have really flat feet and correspondingly weak ankles. So weak ankles throw off my other leg muscles, like my feet turn out a bit too much which loads quads, adductors, TFL muscles incorrectly.

Endurance wise, I do a lot of hiking. So my goal is to develop strength endurance for long hikes. I like the kettlebell workouts because they have a conditioning aspect as well as strength. So I want to make sure these workouts last about 60 min, so that I get used to longer exertion.

The basic idea I was following was to make sure I don't train to failure, that I train with kettlebells 4 days a week and hike 1-2 days a week, and rest 2 days a week. My basic plan is like this. I also have things setup in sets of 3 for the exercises, but I can always increase that as I get into better condition.

Monday:
Deadlift following wendler 5/3/1. so 3 sets.
Superset:
3x3 kb clean and push press--with a weight that I could probably do 3x6.
1 leg squats with TRX.
Superset:
3x4 kb chest press--with a weight I could probably do 3x6
resistance band monster walks 8-10 steps in each direction--to correct for ankle strength
kb swings--depending on how I feel after deadlifts. May go for 10x10 or 15x10, etc.
5x1 getups.

Tuesday:
Superset:
3x3 kb clean and push press--with a weight that I could probably do 3x6.
1 leg squats with TRX.
Superset:
3x4 kb chest press--with a weight I could probably do 3x6
resistance band monster walks 8-10 steps in each direction
kb snatches--depending on how I feel after deadlifts. May go for 10x10 or 15x10, etc.
5x1 getups.

Wednesday:

Rest.

Thursday:
Barbell front following wendler 5/3/1. so 3 sets.
Superset:
3x3 kb clean and push press--with a weight that I could probably do 3x6.
3x5 kb windmills.
Superset:
3x4 kb chest press--with a weight I could probably do 3x6
resistance band monster walks 8-10 steps in each direction
kb swings--depending on how I feel after deadlifts. May go for 10x10 or 15x10, etc.
5x1 getups.

Friday:
Superset:
3x3 kb clean and push press--with a weight that I could probably do 3x6.
1 leg squats with TRX.
Superset:
3x4 kb chest press--with a weight I could probably do 3x6
resistance band monster walks 8-10 steps in each direction
kb snatches--depending on how I feel after deadlifts. May go for 10x10 or 15x10, etc.
5x1 getups.

Hike in the evening.

Saturday:
Rest

Sunday:
Longer hike -- 7-11 miles.

So far this program is working for me. I am down about 11 pounds and don't feel overtired after training. The chest presses help balance out some cross body strength which was a challenge in my getups. So those feel much more comfortable now.

My only concern was just to make sure that the program was designed correctly. I know that if the program is designed wrong then the consequences often don't show up immediately.

Anything that I should change or correct?
 
Personally I really like the program you have outlined there. It's a LOT like what I do. (recent training log entry). Interested to hear others' inputs.

The effectiveness of the swings depends a lot on how good your swing is, and what weight you are using. But if you can snatch a decent weight, I'd bet your swing is good.

Curious -- Are you using any measures to gauge your progress? Endurance on hikes, weight used in various exercises, physical changes, resting HR, etc?
 
Wouldn't the dead lifts/swings be an either/or rather than both in one work out? I can't imagine doing deadlift then 100 swings after.

Guess some loaded carries might be good to add in making the exercise more specific to your goal.

I like just plain walking too on rest days. Maybe with a little pack on. Sometimes I break up the walks if I'm tired and do 2 X 30 or 3 X 20 minute walks through the the day. Makes it easier on the body to get some miles in.

Good luck.
 
Hey folks. Thanks for the comments so far.

@Anna C , I definitely do measure my progress. The main measure is hiking. I live in Los Angeles, so the Santa Monica Mountains are very close by. So I basically hike the Los Liones trail which is about 7 miles round trip and 1200ft gain. I time myself to see how long it takes to complete the route including breaks--but not include the time I relax at the summit. Right now I am just hiking with a day pack and basic essentials, but soon will put some weight in the pack to increase the challenge.

So that is my main method of evaluation. I am also going to add an additional test, which is to load up the 20lb pack and then time how long it takes to walk 3 miles along the beach. First, this means I get to hang out at the beach, which is always fun. But the sandy terrain is a real challenge for me when backpacking in places like Utah. So practicing walking in sand will give me a good sense of how prepared I am for that kind of work.

@Anna C if you would like more detail, let me know.

@Dan_123 I hear what you are saying about deadlifts and swings on the same day. So far it seems to be okay for me. My deadlift is about 1.5 times my bodyweight. But I am keeping my deadlifts to only once a week, and also with pretty low volume--like 5/3/1 reps in 3 sets. I am also making sure to rest about 5 minutes between sets, which does help. I just hit a new PR today, so continuing to advance. So with that I have not had too much trouble with the swings, though I might generally use a lighter weight on those days. But I think you are totally correct that I should just watch for fatigue on these and make sure I don't overdo it.

I am definitely going to add the loaded carries on my next cycle for my conditioning days. I did some of those in my previous cycle, including those bear hug carries and then overhead carries. That was a workout. I figure I can add those back to the program after I finish this cycle. Really appreciate the tips though. They are great.

On my rest days I am still trying to figure out the best approach. I walk a couple miles most days just to get my basic activity in--I do a lot of computer work. So if I walk on rest days too then my feet start to hurt from just repetitive stress. Perhaps breaking it up like you said might resolve the repetitive stress issue. I have been trying to do some stationary biking on the rest days, which has been good. But I am worried I am using the same muscles as hiking when I do that.
 
In relation to my last mountain trailing which was 6600 ft altitude, I appreciated the economy of movement, in another words freedom in joint mobility in hips, shoulder and thoracic spine saved me from excessive stress to my legs. My gauge of success was little to no strain in legs and mild discomfort in mid back and scapula area.

A fellow SFG said you should climb using hands, whatever that means but for your program I think you can focus on controlling your legs by tensing/applying loads to the upper body.

Adding joint mobility and some sort of stretch is a must. When? When you are awake.
 
@taikei Ahh, excellent points. You are right that one of the challenges in backpacking is the fatigue in the upper and mid-back after carrying a pack for so long. Also the fact that you are carrying the pack over uneven ground and just above your hips really tires out my hip stabilizers, like the glute medius, etc. I think that is one reason I practice carrying a pack along the beach, to really focus on the endurance of the hip stabilizers.

I like doing the bear hug sandbag carries for the thoracic spine. Since the sandbag wants to pull you forward, my mid-back gets a good workout. A rack carry would do the same thing.

But @taikei I was thinking about your comment that success meant " little to no strain in legs and mild discomfort in mid back and scapula area." I was wondering if you can do kettlebell swings with a pack on? Nothing too large, I have a small rucksack in which I can put a 20lb plate. But if you can tigthen the straps down on the pack, etc., has anyone ever heard of doing kettlebell swings with a weighted pack?
 
The point is my scapula and mid back would have been stressed whether having a ruck or not. Had I jogged for miles with no loads it would have been the same.

In my terms, I feel that using arms and scapula as stabilizers work extremely well for lesser energy expenditure. Think of four legged mammal climbing up the slope. We evolved from them but even as a self standing animal we are still structured to stabilize with arms.

Kettlebell swing and snatch for that matter implicitly embeds the movement to drive from hips yet control the force by swinging and punching the arm. These are great ways to shift the pattern of movement or gait mechanism needed for long distance trailing.

So there should be patterning your movement first, then apply load based on the matched reality. Alternate these and you will be on track.
 
@krishnab75
I have spent the better part of my life carrying heavy packs in the mountains.
S.A.I.D
I wouldn't overthink this. Unless you are training to be an elite level alpinist, then it should be pretty simple.
  • Ruck a lot over varied terrain (sounds like you are already doing some of this)
  • Do a bunch of MAF style running / cycling
  • S&S
  • Some mobility work
Doing this alone will more than prepare you for any hiking challenge.

Oh yeah... and have fun....
 
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