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Kettlebell Kettlebell Training after Stronglifts 5x5??

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Recoba

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Hi,

I have been strength training for a few years and am firmly in "intermediate" strength levels for my weight class in deadlift, back squat, front squat, shoulder press, bench press, and pullups.
I also work on my flexibility with Yoga once a week. I have recently become interested in Kettllebell training as means to work on my stability. (Turkish Get up)

If I wanted to incorporate more Kettlebell training into my regime, what would you guys recommend? I am concerned with starting S&S and losing all my strength gains. Is S&S something I can add on my off days and not interfere with my recovery? Basically, it sounds to me like S&S is a newbie program and not for more intermediate strength athletes like myself. At the same time, I recognize that I need to start with very little weight and practice the progressions until I nail the technique.
thanks for any insights.
 
Hi Recoba - the short answer is to begin S&S as a daily practice with introductory loads to get the movements down in addition to your current routine. the initial S&S practice should not inhibit your recuperation and will more likely provide you with a charge.

longer answer below:
S&S is applicable to beginners as an intro to the strength and movement game, intermediates who wish to get to the next level and advanced strength athletes who wish to supplement their program with a daily practice that will add ballistics, and balance under load without taking away from specific sport training.

As a daily practice, S&S offers the practitioner a refresh by putting the body through important movement patterns atypical to normally prescribed barbell power programs. The movements will provide strength, flexibility and power to grip, hips and abs in a different manner than you are currently working with your push, pull, squat routine. Everything is relative of course, but utilizing S&S with very manageable load will act more as a daily refresh, without taking away from your other training, whereas working through the S&S program under challenging load would most likely require an adjustment to your current protocol.

By no means is this program for newbies only - i started in the weight game in 1977 and trained consistently through high school and college sports, doing mainly power and olympic movements, then trained and taught as an instructor for a number of years, before taking a desk job. i did take a number of years off from training in my late 30s early 40s, but i have been back at it for a while and have approx 35 years of lifting experience, and i would call S&S one of the best programs i have ever used. will heavy getups ever be as taxing as heavy squats and deadlifts? - no, but they can be quite formidable with a heavy bell, and in fact can be extremely therapeutic with a 32kg bell. you will be surprised what heavy getups will do for your pressing. Swings will tax you in a much different and important manner than any of the exercises you are currently doing and will go a long way towards improving your finish in both the squat and the deadlift.

You will learn a lot about your body doing these movements and most importantly these movements, done properly, will start to patch up any strength leaks throughout your body.

Get at it and be patient. It seems many trainees on this forum aim to stick with it up to the Simple Standards before pausing to see if they want to tackle the Sinister challenge or move on to something else. Putting in the time to reach the simple Standards will teach you a lot about yourself. enjoy the ride.
 
S&S can be done twice a week in order to not interfere with your lifting. In the beginning you could simply practice the exercises before your lifts until you get a hang of it and the progress to do the program. Once you do both programs it might be good to cut back on the lifting to give your body the time to recover. Assuming you train three times per week 5*5 cut it down to two trainings and add two easy S&S sessions. Over time you can increase the volume again.
 
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