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Old Forum KETTLEBELL STRONG! - first reflections

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Telegramsam

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Can't call it a 'review' as I haven't been through the entire program to appraise it.

As stated on here, the DVDs are phenomenally detailed and golden. The book is more of am aide memoire, in some aspects, when it comes to the technicalities of the lifts as the DVDs are SO detailed.

I followed STRONG! for about 2 weeks and the 24s I was working with have started to feel lighter. But I won't be following the program all the way through - yet. Which is down to me, rather than down to the program.

It starts off with very low volume of C & Ps 3x per week. As being as I am at least as equally concerned about fat loss, and it will take me at least 12 wks to get to the fat loss portion of the program, it doesn't fir my needs at THIS stage. When I am leaner, STRONG! will be ideal as I am not one for long, convoluted programs.

"Why don't you just do the ONE program alongside STRONG!?" those of you familar with the work may ask. Because it would kill me!! :-D That is a hell of a hardcore routine.  I doubt I could get past the 2nd workout with 24s and dropping down a size or two to do ONE! seems, I dunno, like cheating.

I think that BURN! will be out for me at this stage, as well, it would be just too hard for my meagre conditioning level. And I much, much prefer grinds to ballistics.

I would love to hear from anyone who has worked through ONE!. Their conditioning levels must be absolutely insane, not to mention hip snap power.

I think I will drop down to my 20s and do double C & Ps for high volume to kickstart the fat loss and hypertrophy I desire (then again, don;t we all?!). I know that ladders are not recommended for doubles due to the volume/systemic overload. But I think I will ladder my C & Ps with the 20s before assessing where I'm at, at the end of it. With a bit of luck, I'll possibly even be in a position to commit to STRONG as I wont be as much of a fatty (yes, diet is very much in check).

If your goal is simply strength and you are prepared to be patient I think STRONG! is ideal - particularly if you're time constrained.
 
Yes STRONG is great!!

I did the STRONG/ONE hybrid and it was tough. My conditioning was awesome. I also torched fat like butter on that one. I plan to revisit both but in separate instances.(either seperately or doing the 3 day a/b split) The 4 days was too much a week for me along with my Karate training. 3 is better for me.
 
You could also just cut the rest for the C&P sets and that will get you a better metabolic effect. For what it's worth, I have started Strong and am using lighter bells for One. I have no shame in this, nor do I consider it cheating. I consider it starting where I am and trying to improve each session. Since I use a HR monitor to determine when I start my next Strong set (I wait until my Hr is back down to 105), I've noticed a quicker return to 105 after my sets even on days when i'm increasing volume. That shows progress to me and I've realized that I no longer worry about getting to the end quickly. I will get to where I need to slowly and without injury, which to me is a much better way to arrive.
 
Sorry to be blunt, but your thinking is entirely wrong.  Get over the light weights for high-reps for fat loss thinking, because it doesn't work.  Well, it can work but getting strong also works for fat loss plus it has the added benefit of making you strong. So why do the equivalent of the elliptical when something far more impactful, fast, and broadly effective is at your fingertips?


Do the program, as-written, now.  There is no magic program out there that's going to make you lean.  Lean is made in the kitchen whether kettlebell marketing hype wants to admit that or not.  Plus, there's the simple facts that "strong" takes a very long time, is a much more useful adaptation than "lean", and that lean comes more quickly and more easily when you are more muscular.

Last but not least:  getting strong IS a hypertrophy program.  The best hypertrophy program as a matter of fact. Just go get strong and watch your food intake. Eat the green stuff and the stuff that eats the green stuff.  Get 8 hours of sleep a night.  Stress your body with heavy weights through a building volume of a Big Bang exercise as directed in "Strong!", eat, sleep, and watch things change.
 
Some interesting inputs. Bill, no offence taken at all, Sir.

@Joe - a few questions about implementing ONE with lighter bells:

1. How much lighter?

2. How are you progressing through the program? (I will need to be vague in my question as I need to protect Geoff's intellectual property, forgive me.) I honestly doubt I could progress through thw workouts as detailed on p82 of the STRONG! book even with my 16kg bells. Do you just stick with a particular workout until you feel able to move on?

3. Will you drop ONE to focus on the conditioning/fat loss portion of STRONG (p.83)?

3. Has Geoff himself ever commented (here or elsewhere) on using lighter bells for ONE and/or your way of progressing through the ONE workouts?

 

 
 
Another stupid Q - whilst just working through the three STRONG programs, okay to jump rope on the non-lifting days?
 
Sam,

Have you tried the ONE modification?  I am currently using it with 24's, and it is a great way to work up to the full routine.  Essentially you cut the working time in half, and add one minute every 15 workouts...I highly recommend it.
 
I'm doing One with 16s and yes, it is kicking my a$$. I have not tried the modification, but I think I need to. I've been sticking with the same timing until I can move to the next level, but I feel like the conditioning is taking too much prominence in my training. I had forgotten about the One Modifications and dug out that email from Geoff. I think I need to give one of them a try so I can sneak up on the full 10 minutes. I thought about just decreasing the rest on Strong, but feel that using both programs gives my shoulders time to recover and keeps me painfree.  It's probably worth noting that I'm using Option 1 of Strong. I went through 20s as a ramp up and just started with 24s. I think 2x/week on that program mixed with One will work best for me for where I am. We'll see what happens when I hit 32s. I may need to switch to option 2 at that point, but I would imagine that with all those cleans and swings, I should see some pretty significant changes this year.

 
 
Joe, thanks for this. Is there any way you could summarise those emails from Geoff without without compromising his commercial interests?

I have had a look back through my emails and it looks like I only started subscribing to Geoff from late March so I don't know what the modifications to ONE are.

Also, by 'Option 1' of strong, do you mean just the basic strength-improving program on 78 of the book?

Thanks again for your insight into your experience with KBS.
 
Hi Sam,

It's an email he sent to whomever ordered it with a link to the PDF. Basically you do all 15 workouts for only 5 minutes each session, then start over the whole cycle for 6 minutes and so on. When I say Option 1 for Strong, I mean the shorter version that is done in 12 sessions and is recommended for those with no recovery issues. I think once you go to twice a week, the recovery seems to be fine on that program. I don't have the book in front of me to say which page that info is from.
 
Saying that, I don't need to, you have summarised it for me.

I only bought the basic package, not the one with all the additional extras, just book and DVD.
 
I am doing the Slow and Steady with the 24's, combined with One. Great programme, definitely gained strength. Doing it pretty much as written (Strong at least), though as soon as I have less than 20 seconds rest on One, I find it impossible to complete it. I ended up going by reps rather than time and I'm simply aiming to do 1 more rep per minute the next session. Worked my way up to 240 reps per minute with the 24's, and now building it up again with a 28kg and 32kg (60kg total, using bells at my disposal). Still have a month or so to go on Strong and I'm thinking of starting to use 32 + 40 kg for the One part, obviously for fewer reps.

As for the OP: I suggest you have a look at Geoff's Burn Extreme! programme, which also uses doubles. Agree with Bill, there is no magic programme. I gained and lost and then gained fat again while being on different programmes, the only variable being what I eat. Extreme is useful in that respect as it tells you exactly what to eat and how to recover (plan to do this once I finish Strong).
 
Two suggestions from Geoff that you can apply

Template 1

Day 1 Strong

Day 2 rest

Day 3 ONE

Day 4 rest

Day 5 Strong

Day 6 and 7 rest

 

Template 2 same as template 1 but alternate between Strong and ONE

 

and yea you can use the modified ONE for this
 
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