all posts post new thread

Kettlebell Kettlebell for aesthetics program

Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
@Kettlebelephant, aside from being able to keep muscle, are they progressing well with s&s? Or is the additional work affecting negatively?
Smooth progress so far, one working with the 36 the other with 32.

I don't think 8 extra sets, even something more demanding like a rest-pause set, of a relatively small exercise like curls or DB bench has any negative effect on S&S.
Honestly IMO e.g. just one 1-2 hour pickup game of football/soccer/basketball with your friends and a couple of beers after that on the weekends will cut into your recovery a lot more than those curls and presses.
We have some people here on the forum who work in physically very demanding jobs and still progress well on S&S 5-6 days per week.
If you can do S&S while up-/unloading trucks 8 hours per day, some added vanity exercises are nothing compared to that.

I wouldn't do something like 5x5 squats/bench/DL as "assistance" to S&S, but some curls, tricep extentions or calf raises won't do anything negative to your progress on 99% of the strength routines out there.
Personally I don't need that, but I'm not judging people for wanting some parts of their body to look a certain way.
 
I took inspiration from this thread and here is my attempt to butcher S&S for a little size.

Why S&S isn't boring

Monday - S&S with TGU Heavy day from (How to Properly Program the Get-up for 3 Different Goals), Pike PU's 3 sets for max reps, dumbell lateral raises with light resistance band 3x8-12
Tuesday - 50 2 hand swings, Pull up program "Routine B" from Beyond Bodybuilding, Airborne lunge alternated with L-sit for 3 sets, reverse curl 3x8-12
Wednesday - Light S&S with TGU Light day
Thursday - 50 2 hand swings, Pull up program "Routine B" from Beyond Bodybuilding, Airborne lunge alternated with L-sit for 3 sets, reverse curl 3x8-12
Friday - S&S with TGU Medium day, Pike PU's 3 sets for max reps, dumbell lateral raises with light resistance band 3x8-12

Edit: Forgot to add this. I do these later in the day.

Calf training - Excellent Results
 
Last edited:
We have some people here on the forum who work in physically very demanding jobs and still progress well on S&S 5-6 days per week.
If you can do S&S while up-/unloading trucks 8 hours per day, some added vanity exercises are nothing compared to that.
thats true, makes sense to me.
 
To be a direct, if the goal is S&S, then keep the goal the goal.

Bodybuilding style results respond well to volume which risks your goal. Desired hypertrophy without adequate stimulus is like spinning your wheels without getting anywhere.

How about looking for opportunities to clean up your diet? You can't see your true filet mignon when it's wrapped in bacon. I've had several students improve their body composition with a S&S approach to food who then realized they liked their leaner body as it was. Then we added 4 weeks of bodybuilding style programming in between actual S&S cycles.
 
@Martine Kerr thats a great view point ,something to consider for sure. Losing body fat that I have I would be skin and bones. That might be true for a guy 5,7 and 220lbs .Im at my ideal bf % around 12 % or so at 6,2 180lbs . I need to see a little bit more meat around chest lats and biceps. Not much mind you but a little. Thanks for the ideas and youre probably right about spinning wheels. Cycles might be the way to go. Edit : after some thought, probably cycles of 2 blocks s-s / 1 block targeted muscle groups will probably be perfect for me thanks for the suggestion. I think I will use the kb4a program above for this isololation/hypertrophy-ish block.
 
Last edited:
I am really into Kettlebell training for aesthetics and here is my hypertrophy program. In a nutshell you have to do S&S everyday, and on top of that rotate an extra push or pull movement every second day eg: Monday S&S plus 10 x 5 (sets x reps)Double KB clean squat and press (Make sure you squeeze elbows together for extra contraction of pectorals when in rack position). Tuesday: S&S plus 10 sets pogo jumps for calfs, and 5 sets abdominal work . Wednesday S&S plus 10 sets pull ups or 10 sets bent over row with Kb's. Keep repeating , take a day of when you feel you have to. I work on a timer set to 20sec / 60 sec intervals when doing the push /pull movements to keep out of the glycolytic zone. Best results I have ever had come from this.
 
My recommendation would be to drop S&S down to two days a week and follow a hypertrophy specific program. That's what Pavel recommends in S&S. Another good option would be to incorporate training seasons, 12 weeks of hypertrophy followed by 12 weeks of strength etc.

Also, if mass and hypertrophy is your primary goal, I think everyone would agree that the barbell is the preferred tool of choice. That's not to say you can't get results with kettlebells though.

Good luck and keep it simple/sustainable!
 
Geoff Neuperts stuff is good but off the market. @Hector G has Double Kettlebell manifesto also free workouts on his youtube page that you could take a look at. Oh and Workout Snacks which is free with short but sweet programs. his programs are just effective and from my brief experience smoother.
 
Last edited:
@MarkSch Hector creates more waviness within his programs. week one medium, week two heavy, etc. this is also seen within the week. my experience with Neupert is its waviness but still elements of linear progression.
 
@Maine-ah KB --That makes sense, thank you. I have done some of Geoff's programs, and have Hector's KB snacks, but have not yet had a chance to try Hector's programs.
 
I feel when it comes to aesthetics many miss the boat, I know I have. Take a look at a lot of the better built old-time guys, their chests were nothing to brag about, but they were just enough. I think one should focus on calves, forearms, side delts, lats and a tight muscular waist line. I would maybe even throw neck work in if you have a really thin neck. These are the muscles that are on display and what truly catches peoples eyes. These things can be worked hard without a lot of detriment to recovery.
 
I think one should focus on calves, forearms, side delts, lats and a tight muscular waist line. I would maybe even throw neck work in if you have a really thin neck.
A heavy pull and press should take care of all of those (apart from calves). Maybe just carry your kettlebells up and down stairs for calf work? If you carry a single heavy KB on one side, it'll also sort out a lot of the muscles of your waist line.

I feel that the neck muscles tend to take care of themselves: I don't think I've ever seen a heavily-built lifter with a skinny neck, but that might just be me. If you're an absolute beast, KB presses while in a wrestler's bridge could fit the bill. I found a youtube vid of an old Soviet film about a wrestler who does just this as part of his training:



Disclaimer: Don't even think of trying this unless you already have a very strong neck and practise wrestler's bridges regularly. If you absolutely must, start with the lightest bells you can find: I will not be held responsible for anyone snapping their neck like a twig.
 
Upper pecs, rear delts, quads and calves.

Most programs or routines that will get you into good shape can be tweaked toward aesthetics by increasing time under tension and supplementing those areas that tend to fall by the wayside.

Upper pecs, rear delts, quads and calves. Of these, more work on the upper pecs pays off for more than aesthetics as this is useful strength day to day that is not improved much by many overhead or flat pressing.

Rear delts are almost always proportionately underdeveloped in exercising people relative to an untrained person - anterior and middle heads become much larger but rear delts languish. This says that specific strengthening is probably also warranted but gets less stimulation simply because most exercise movements (as opposed to day to day movements) don't hit it very well.
 
A. If a little bench work is all you're wanting to add, why not add floor press and press/ push press/ jerk to each get up? that's a lot of time under tension.
B. KBs frequently are said to have limited value for hypertrophy. I don't know if the people pictured in the SF articles and posts got that way from kbs or not but they're frequently pretty jacked. like a Marine or an nfl athlete vs. a bodybuilder. Not a bad aesthetic...
 
Muscle is not tool specific. Kettlebells are very usefull for high reps. And high reps are the best way to build muscle.
Work up to 20 reps in dbl front squats with dbl 32kg, press those 10+ times, do twenty pullups and do one arm pushups.
If you don't build muscle I'll buy you a beer.
 
I may get voted off the island for this comment, but here it goes anyway...

If your goals are primarily aesthetic, kettlebells may not be the best tool for you. You'd be better off following a traditional bodybuilding program utilizing Barbells, Dumbells, cables and *gasp* machines. You can certainly build a great physique with kettlebells, but there's no reason to limit yourself to just one implement.

Kettlebell Kings sells kettlebells and that's really the purpose of this article.
 
Status
Closed Thread. (Continue Discussion of This Topic by Starting a New Thread.)
Back
Top Bottom