I used to post here years ago, but my account was apparently deleted at some point.
I have just completed phase 2 and started out with a 28kg rep max of 3.I. My rep max at the end of the phase was 9.I may have been able to 10,but I think it would have been ugly. I have decided to go to phase 1 with 32k.So I did a test today and got 3 reps with 32 kg.Then kept going with 9 sets of singles
It felt solid.Does anyone think I will run into trouble with this weight or should I continue with the program?
I would definitely do P3. You have already squeezed a LOT of gains going from 3-9 reps. The gains will (presumably, I suppose it depends how “newbie” you were when you started) come much slower now. You will have very little margin for error on sets of 2, let alone 3. Need to be able to survive bad days, would be my thought.I have just completed phase 2 and started out with a 28kg rep max of 3.I. My rep max at the end of the phase was 9.I may have been able to 10,but I think it would have been ugly. I have decided to go to phase 1 with 32k.So I did a test today and got 3 reps with 32 kg.Then kept going with 9 sets of singles
It felt solid.Does anyone think I will run into trouble with this weight or should I continue with the program?
I really wanted to start Strong with the 32s. I decided to trust Geoff's advice. I decided to run The Giant with the 28s.
I agree with the "newbie " or new to double Kettlebell gains. It took me some time to realize that my initial progress was due to other factors like improvement in technique in ADDITION to strength gains. I initially believed I was only making raw strength gains and the rapid gains would continue at the same pace with the heavier bells.I would definitely do P3. You have already squeezed a LOT of gains going from 3-9 reps. The gains will (presumably, I suppose it depends how “newbie” you were when you started) come much slower now. You will have very little margin for error on sets of 2, let alone 3. Need to be able to survive bad days, would be my thought.
I appreciate all the thoughts and advice ,although I am not exactly a "newbie". I actually did phase 2 with 32s about 5 years ago.I eventually had a severely pinched nerve in my neck which caused my right arm to lose about 20% of its strength and muscles to shrink.I slowly recovered from it ,then I got COVID pneumonia,lost 20 pounds in 5 days and nearly died from it. But the right arm is at least 95% of my left,finally.I did phase 2 with 28s earlier this year,but struggled.Then I did Giant X with 24s.I did phase 2 again with the 28s and did much better this time. I think some of my strength returning is old muscle memory. I now 63 years old and am just being more cautious .I will take my time with it.If I hit a roadblock,just back up a little before charging forward.I agree with the "newbie " or new to double Kettlebell gains. It took me some time to realize that my initial progress was due to other factors like improvement in technique in ADDITION to strength gains. I initially believed I was only making raw strength gains and the rapid gains would continue at the same pace with the heavier bells.
My technique is still improving with the high rep sets of The Giant. I have really learned about how to keep my technique dialed in for the clean portion of the DCP during my late set lifts.
I’ve had times during phase 2 ( long one ) where I had to drop to twice a week. Still made great progress, and when I felt I was able to, jumped back to 3 days a week. Don’t stress, just do twice a week til you feel fine, then go back to 3.I'm in need of some advice. I threw caution to the wind and chose the "Short Course" for phase 2. It was tough, but I was hanging on and thought I could make it through, until I got to week 3.
Monday was hard, but I completed it using the max prescribed rest period. On Wednesday I made a note that I thought I might not have been fully recovered. I got through the Wednesday workout, but the last rep of the last few sets were an ugly grind.
By night time on Wednesday, my lats were on fire. I felt a bit better the next morning, and worked on recovery throughout the day (electrostim, stretching, OS resets, hot shower...). By Friday I was feeling well enough that I could get it done, but failed on the last rep of the 3rd set.
So now I am wondering what to do. FYI, the reason I am doing Strong is because I wanted to run the Giant with double KBs and needed to get trained up on technique first.
It seems like my options are:
What do you guys think?
- Pretend my Friday workout never happened and finish out the Short Course with a 2 day/week schedule.
- Switch over to the same week of "Slow And Steady"
- Switch over to a different week of "Slow And Steady" (since I was doing much higher volume/intensity than the equivalent week)
- Switch to the Giant
- Something else?
Slow and Steady wins the race!So I went with option 3, but I only jumped ahead one week, where the 5s first get introduced. Today was 3s, and I decided to take it as easy as I could by using the maximum prescribed rest periods for Phase 2.
Well, even with "taking it easy", today felt pretty hard. Apparently I have still not fully recovered from last week and it is fortunate I did not try to go with option #1. Even if I had made it all the way through, I could not have kept up with Phase 3.