all posts post new thread

Kettlebell 'Jolt'

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)

Adam R Mundorf

Level 6 Valued Member
Hello Everybody,

In Simple and Sinister 2.0, Pavel recommends once or twice a month to do a challenge (jolt) that doesn't break your body.

What have you guys done for a jolt?

My plan is to do the press test and the Snatch test from Enter the Kettlebell.

Thank you, Adam
 
Here is a short discussion of the topic, but more theoretical than empirical
 
I think of the jolts as a nice way to diversify. Too many adult athletes can summarize their activities in a single sentence, such as “I run long distances on concrete, lots of concrete, and nothing but concrete” or “I do circuits that alternate between bicep curls and staring intensely at my phone.”

But with the jolts, I help make the range of my activities more diverse. I might run up and down a hill while carrying a moderately heavy object while having to jump over uneven patches in the hill. I might work on forward rolls, etc. extensively, even if I am not studying a martial art. (I just want to be able to meet the ground in an effective manner.). Etc. Kettlebells are an important training tool to me, but I do not want to sum up my activities in the single sentence of “I move kettlebells around, then I move other kettlebells around.”
 
I think of the jolts as a nice way to diversify.

This lines up with my reading of the book. Pavel gives a lot of examples of what he is talking about and none of them involve sets and reps:

Challenge yourself once or twice a month in a variety of ways. Help a friend move. Shovel snow for the entire block. Take out your dusty boxing gloves and call up your old sparring partner. Run up a mountain with a backpack. Enter a 10K race. Farmer carry your kettlebells for distance. Take on any physical challenge that will test your body without breaking your body.

– Simple and Sinister Revised Edition, p. 72

Personally, I have really picked up on the strength as service aspect of this. Life can't just be about training.
 
Last edited:
Personally, I have really picked up on the strength as service aspect of this. Life can't just be about training.

You've picked up an a useful point that isn't part of the typical strength training program, but this program is not typical. It's always hard to tease out cause and effect, but I think this strength as service played a role in my going through CPR / First Aid training at a time in my life when no one is making me. (Adjusting some people into a position where they can breathe more easily or be in a safer position can require strength.)
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom