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Old Forum Kettlebell Muscle--Any experience with this?

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Hey all,

I wanted to thank everyone for their feedback on this post. I am starting week 5 and I am glad I listened to all of you. Had I not checked my ego at the door, I would have started with a far too heavy weight and not gotten to this point. I went with 16kg bells (got the Chimps through Onnit) and I feel the burn each and every workout. The hardest part has been eating enough to keep up with the workout. I am looking forward to the next 7 weeks, especially in regards to strength and size. Hope everyone has a happy new year!

 

Kevin
 
Week 5 on KBM was pretty rough. Suppose to start week 6 today but I have a cold so I will wait till next week. It works as my arms and upper back have blown up big time!!
 
Kevin and Mike, you won't be disappointed with your conditioning gains either!  Amazing what a couple of lighter than you usually use kettlebells and 10 to 15 minutes can do to you!
 
Wim, sorry I never got back to you about the rest days! I have found, as I am almost at the end of week 6, that the rest days are immensly important. I would VERY lightly train on the rest days, most of the time doing walk throughs or 50% effort. One day a week I would go hard at class, but I would feel the fatigue in my legs and shoulders pretty quickly. It has gotten a little more manageable as the program has gone on, but you will be tired.

John, you couldn't be more on point with that statement. Each week I wonder how I will do the additional round at the lower rest period. Somehow that last round sucks just as much as the week before, when it was one round less--good sign of progress in strength and conditioning!
 
I've just finish Heavy Day from week 7 with 2x24kg kettlebell. It's very challenging.
 
Hey Kevin, you still talking about Kb muscle I assume?

If the rest is so important I think its not for me. I have to do my martial arts workouts otherwise I get mad :)

Maybay Kb Strong is indeed a better plan or Simple and sinister.
 
Yes, Wim, I am still talking about KB Muscle. I am in the midst of week six, which is the toughest of the first six weeks (IMHO), and it has left me quite taxed. The rest is imperitive. I understand the need to do the martial arts workouts for the safety of yourself and those around you, believe me, which is why I put mine during the two days of rest I get. There was very little effect on my martial arts workouts when I was doing S&S--the only time I felt anything is when I increased a bell size or put more emphasis on the one hand swings too soon or for the first few times with a new weight.
 
Kevin, I am chuckling to myself remembering my first time through it.  The first week seems like nothing, then it adds up.  If you don't take it easy on the off days you'll just collapse trying to get through the week.

The results will be there though as it doesn't just build muscle, it gives good GPP conditioning too.
 
John, Week One was most certainly trickery in its finest. I have, which is hard for me, actually allowed myself the rest days. Normally I feel guilty about not doing get-ups, swings, pull-ups, and such but I just don’t have it in me to do the program and then anything else.

I do have to say I am excited at the strength and conditioning gains, as they are quite noticeable, but I am still waiting for the muscle gain. Increased my eating, hydrating well, taking the rest, but nothing yet (or at least what I have been able to see). Hoping something happens in the next 6 weeks!

Awesome program and appreciate that at some point I will be able to chuckle again!
 
Week 6 KBM Heavy Day was today. By the last set I was so glad to be done and then I ate the biggest Breakfast I have had in a long long time. :D
 
Nice work, Mike. I just finished Week 6 KBM Heavy Day this evening and couldn't have been happier that it was finished. Felt a ton of muscle fatigue towards the last set and had some muscle failure at the beginning of the final push presses. Loved it and hated it at the same time. Looking forward to the next 6 weeks!!! Got to love kettle bells :). Very happy I did this with 16kg bells--would never have made it with 24's at this point in time.
 
Yeah I am on 2 x 16kg as well. Same for me that last set the push presses were barely nudged out and I counted down the last 5 squat reps as if I was gonna escape certain death!

 

 
 
You guys aren't exaggerating about the 16kgs being intense. I've been using the Strength and Hypertrophy portions of KB Strong from 16kg to 20kg to 24kg for the past several months. I'm at the point after 3x10 24kg presses with lots of rest in between. I've also been doing various swings and front squat practice along the way.

I thought it might be good to take a break from all the military presses and try something new for a bit. I tried the first workout from KB Muscle with two 16kg and it was the other kind of WTH effect. Not used to being under load that long or combining movements into a larger set. What should have been easy snatches were iffy due to misremembering technique, and I've never felt that feeling in my shoulders before when started the MP phase. Ugh. I had to forgo the prescribed rest periods completely and wait until I recovered. I'll try again day after tomorrow and see how it goes.

I do have a silly question though. Will I gain the same amount of muscle gradually working up with an increasing bell size, or is the 16kg laying the groundwork for the heavier bells that will provide the the substantial increase in muscle? Or is it a combination of the two? I come from a background of inactivity, so I've never been clear on if I'm rehabilitating myself to the point where I hit an exponential curve, or if it's just a long positive slope.

 
 
I am on week 9 and its getting easier and harder at the same time. I have noticed my power output has increased a lot! Went to the store the other day and picked up a 40kg KB to start doing Get UPs with it when KBM is done. :D
 
I am starting week 10 today and have been experiencing the same results as Mike--it is easier and harder at the same time. The heavy days have been really pushing me almost past failure, especially over the last two weeks. My power output and endurance have never been better. I am excited to see where I am with heavy clean and presses as well as get ups when this is all over. There is no way you can get to this point in the program and not be stronger.

IMHO, Thomas, it would be best to follow this program exactly and use the 16kg bells. I had to buy all new shirts the other week, which is something I truly was not expecting or have ever done in the past due to lifting. My shoulders and upper back have noticeably increased in size.
 
Those results rock.  I noticed when I was done that my pullups increased, this after not doing them for 12 weeks.

Mike, I'll also assume your punching power has increased too (don't know if that's the right term, I'm not a martial art guy, lol)
 
@John

Overall power output and endurance is way up on the mat. I can literally run circles around most of the guys now and even some that are "better" than me don't last as long. ;-)

Very happy. waist is way smaller,shoulders,lats, way way bigger. :-D
 
@Kevin: thank you for starting this awesome thread
@Steve & John: thank you for the amazing insights in this and other threads on KBM
@Mike & Kevin: thanks for the updates along the way

I just went through the thread again in preparation of starting KBM on the 23rd of March. I'll be finishing KB Strong with a pair of 28kgs next week, then a week off before starting KBM.

I was thinking of using 20s before going through the thread again but will settle on using the 16s.

@Mike: have you been practicing Eat Stop Eat during KBM, if so were you still able to gain muscle?

I am keen on gaining size so think I'll just eat and not stop :)
 
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