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Old Forum Kettlebell Muscle

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Over the summer I completed 6 weeks with KB Muscle and I did notice a nice little drop in body fat percentage. Granted it probably would have been better if I was eating cleaner and let my body recover better

 

I would think that if you are using a challenging weight with your bells throughout the whole program  and keep the food intake pretty clean you should expect great results all around.
 
Hello All...

I am currently on week 10 of Kettelbell Muscle, I LOVE THIS PROGRAM!!!  Incredible results, I can not say enough about it.   I would like to focus on fat loss for the next 12 weeks before repeating KM for another 12 weeks with a bell one size up.  Starting to think about what is next?  Geoff says not to do anything like this program for the next 12 weeks.  Does this mean no more complexes and chains???  I purchased More Kettlebell Muscle yesterday, which is geared for fat loss using complexes and chains and it looks just good as KM with a diff focus.  I also have Kettbell Express Ultra,  Kettlebell Burn Extreme and a couple of Geoff's other programs, but have not used them yet.  Did I say this man is THE MAN, he knows his stuff and I really appreciate all he is doing to help all of us.  Burn looks really extreme and I want to try it, but maybe after something else first.  Does anyone have any experience or suggestions on what should be next in this case?
 
Sonny,

Having completed one cycle of KB Muscle, here are some of my observations:

Moving up a bell size for KBM can be a big step. The bell size test is 10 solid double MPs. Can you currently pass this test with the next size bells? If not, you might want to focus on this as a goal in your training for the interim between your next KBM cycle. An Easy Strength style program would be good for this, or the Fighter Pullup program done with double MP (with your target bell size or one size up) and starting with your current "comfortable" rep max.

Another option for adapting to the next bell size is to expand KM by 6 weeks, and do the following (this is from one of Geoff's emails addressing this issue):

"Keep the sets of KM the same for the

first 5-6 weeks.

Use the following rep scheme:

Week 1: 3 reps

Week 2: 4 reps

Week 3: 5 reps

Week 4: 4 reps

Week 5: 5 reps

Week 6: Off

Week 7: Break into true KM."

Geoff's complex/chain programs can be effective for muscle building or fat loss, depending on how you eat. So doing another one, with a more restrictive diet strikes me as basically more of the same.

You could still probably get away with it -- I do think these kinds of programs are sustainable if you are smart about rotating the specific programs, and Geoff is very smart about waving the workload within each program. But if you specifically want to hit KBM again with heavier bells, I'd do a change of pace strength-oriented program, with a focus on meeting the pressing standard for KBM with your target size bells.

Finally, I think you can return to KBM in less than 12 weeks, especially if you are not necessarily focused on packing on the maximum amount of muscle possible, and if you have a little bit of a "strength cushion" with the bell size you are using.

 
 
Sonny,

A while back I chased a long cycle of ROTK  with  Kettlebell Muscle.  Looking back I think I would have done things differently. ROTK is a demanding program, Kettlebell Muscle is a demanding program.  If I were to do this again I would have taken at least 6 weeks to do something like easy strength, or just focus on the program minimum for a bit. Although I had success with Kettlebell Muscle, I think I would have improved even more so if I wouldn't have followed an ultra demanding program with another.
 
Is the Kettlebell Muscle program for matched pairs of same size kettlebells only or are unmatched pairs acceptable?
 
Just finished my first week of KB Muscle.  It's an a#@ kicker and maybe Geoff can rename the medium, light, heavy days more appropriately in the next edition as harder, hard and hardest.  :)  Interested to know what some of you on this program are doing on your off days for active recovery.
 
Thank you for your responses...

Steve - Right there with you on the getting stronger aspect, forgot to mention another option I was thinking of was Kettlebell Strong.  Since “Strong fixes almost everything”  that may address any strength and fat loss concerns at the same time.

Dan - I did the opposite, ROTK long cycle then KM, really enjoyed Double Long Cycle very effective and can be brutal.  I personally saw more positive progress with KM, but I will be revisiting Double Long Cycle / ROTK again in the future.

Thomas - Geoff addresses this question in the book.  Yes you can use different-sized bells, but this program is designed to be used with the same sized bell.  You really need to maintain your focus, I lost my focus for a moment in week 7 and tweaked my shoulder a little bit with double snatches, not fun.  Dealing with the stabilization demands of diff sized bells would be very distracting when doing the program as designed.

 

What about the question of following up KM with another complex type of program like More Kettlebell Muscle or Kettlebell Express Ultra?  Geoff said to pick another program, either for strength or size, but don't return to this type of program for at least three months.  Does that mean no complexes / chains for 3 months or just not this program for building muscle???  Thank you all again for your input and guidance
 
Phil - Becoming Bulletproof as often as possible, good luck with your program.  I completely agree wtih renaming the days, you would think the "Light Day" would be easier, but it's not, just diff, traps always feel really worked after light days.
 
Sonny, a good approach is after KBM, do something less taxing like PTTP or easy strength then probably do an ROP or ROTK next then after completing those, do another round of kbm, for sure you can use a heavier pair of bells by then :)
 
Sonny - Thanks for your kind words.

If you have "Kettlebell STRONG!" that would be a nice contrast to KM. If not, something from "ULTRA" that's not complex related would be good. Also, switching to a single bell program like "Burn" would work too, just be careful of the volume there. PTTP would also be good if you own a barbell. Then break into some of your MKM programs.

Hope that helps.
 
So Geoff, where is your new home? You mentioned something about getting up to altitude. If you're coming to Colorado then I welcome you. Yes, I get the emails and I'll buy MKM. I think I own most of your other products. I'm very interested in the bonus stuff.
 
Thank you Geoff...  I was kinda leaning that way already, so I ordered Kettlebell Strong a few days ago. The phrase that just kept going through my head over and over was “Strong fixes almost everything”, also I think I could benefit from your "personal" instruction with my form.  My wife is not going to be happy with me giving you so much of my money here lately, but that's ok she likes the results also.  Really appreciate all you do...
 
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