Old Forum Keeping the KB Press Groove While Using Barbells

[BrianBinVA]

The question:  how does one keep the KB press "grooved" while training with another tool (in this case, a barbell).
Background:  I am in the midst of a year of kettlebell training.  When I finish in the fall, I will have been through the RoP (to five ladders of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 C&Ps) with 24 and 32k bells, and will ideally have completed the prescribed 14 weeks of the "total tension" complex with the 32s as well.

Then indoor track season starts, and I plan to use a minimalist barbell training template to allow for more sprint work.  The particulars are not especially important, I don't think, but I will be bench pressing, front squatting and deadlifting.

After indoor track season ends in February, I plan to return to the KB, ideally to the RoP with a 40k bell, so back to the question at the beginning -- what is the best way to maintain that overhead kb efficiency and strength while training another way for awhile?

FWIW, my thought was to do one high-ish rep set of presses per arm with a single 32k bell on the days I bench, but that could be very, very wrong or counter-productive.  Thoughts appreciated.

 

[Steve Freides]

Don't try to do this.  Find your groove for each movement.  It's OK if your kettlebell press loses something while you're not working on it - you'll get it back.   Consider something I've mentioned here before, which is a preparatory ROP with a weight you've already done.  The concept is simple enough - you would use the 32 kg, and each week on heavy day, you would do as much as you could.  I would expect, based on what you've said, that your heavy days might look something like this:

Week 1: 3 x (1-2-3)

Week 2: 5 x (1-2-3)

Week 3: 2 x (1-2-3-4), 3 x (1-2-3)

Week 4: 5 x (1-2-3-4)

Week 5: 2 x (1-2-3-4-5)

Week 6: 5 x (1-2-3-4-5)

That's basically the ROP in half the normal time.  I've done prep ROP cycles in 4 weeks with a lighter weight - the idea is that you push as hard as you reasonably can on every heavy day without going to failure.  Then take a week off and hit it with the 40 kg and you'll be ready for the heavier weight.

-S-

 

[BrianBinVA]

Thanks Steve -- maybe I will just let it go for a bit.