Steve W.
Level 8 Valued Member
My main experience with Geoff's complexes is the Kettlebell Muscle program (the standalone book), and I found that I maintained my pressing strength very well, even working with much lighter weights.I second KB Strong! as an excellent foundational curriculum for double kettlebell work. That said, I've finished testing myself on DMP and DSN, and I'm about to dive into my first cycle of Geoff's complexes. After a cycle of KB Strong! Phase One, I did two cycles with a pair of 24's in The Giant 3.0. My RM got up to 8. So far, so good on that. But, I was starting to feel some wear and tear from the heavy work.
I'm a little nervous that I'll lose some of that DCP strength, but I want to try a bit of a different stimulus. I'm dropping the training weights and heading into one or two cycles of KB Hard. I've also never done complexes before, so I don't know what to expect on difficulty. Given my tests, and the newness of the double snatch to me, I plan on a cycle of Clean 'Em Up with a pair of 16s. Then, depending on my subsequent strength, I'd like to try a cycle of The Wolf with a pair of 20s. (I've read earlier comments that I should err on the light side, especially if I'm just starting out on complexes.)
After that, I don't know whether I'll do a third cycle from KB Hard, go back to The Giant, or head back to KB Strong!. I don't want to lose sight of my ever-increasing DCP strength goals. When I first got my second 24kg a few years ago, I could barely eke out a shaky double. I'll test the DCP at that point, and make the call from there.
With double bell complexes you accumulate a lot of time under tension, zipped up in the rack and with the bells overhead. I did KB Muscle with a pair of 16s and didn't touch a heavier bell for 12 weeks. When I tested myself afterward, I was at least as strong as I was before the program with 32kg double MPs and 36kg single MPs.
YMMV, but even if you lose a little top end strength, it won't be much and I'd expect you to be able to recover it very quickly.