Rico,
Very interesting reading all these posts. Here is my opinion, keep in mind I'm not a trainer or in the military, I'm a nobody that just enjoys throwing around iron.
When it comes to kettlebells, specifically, I would do nothing more than 1 arm swings and getups until you are comfortably working with a 70 lb (32kg) bell on both exercises, 4-7 days per week. The fastest way from point A to B is a straight line, so just get strong as fast as possible. Throwing in some pull ups and pushups might be good too, but I would take it easy, really really easy. I am personally not a fan of sit ups. I m flexion intolerant in my lower back, doing 82 sit ups would be torture for me, and I would probably face repercussions for days. I would minimise sit ups and only train them before a test. But that may not be an option for you if they are required to be trained in the military.
Here is how I approached S&S, hopefully this helps you. I did it for almost 1 year and started right when the book was released a few years ago (I think it was 2013, I can't remember). I was in my mid thirties in age. I always did a couple warm up reps with a light bell (halos, goblet squats, and that other exercises where you hinge laying on the ground (I forget the name)).
I started with the 20kg or 24 kg bell, and did 100 1 arm swings followed by 10 getups. I never cared about the time and most workouts lasted at most 30 minutes. I did this almost everyday for the first few months. I will admit I never really gave the recommended stretches (QL and Straddle, I believe they were called) enough focus. Most of the time I skipped the stretches or did other stretches I thought were more relevant to my issues. This was probably a mistake but that is the truth of it.
As time progresses I got stronger and better at 1 arm swings and getups. I eventually got comfortable working with an 88 lb bell (40kg). At the time this was the largest bell I owned. Again, I never pushed the time. The book recommends 10min and 5 min for the exercises, but it usually took me almost twice as long.
Towards the end, the last few months, my weekly practice dropped in frequency. This was a little bit because of boredom, I will admit, but I never quit. Instead of 6 or 7 days a week I did 3-5 days, never planned, just based on how I felt. Instead, on the other days, I did one of the following: A) long walk with 75 lb weight vest with my 3 large dogs pulling me, B) short walk carrying 125 lb sand bag (this was a killer and another game changer for strength and conditioning for me!), C) do nothing / drink a beer / take a nap / be lazy / ha ha that is the truth.
I eventually transitioned from S&S back into barbell training (it had been a couple years since I touched a barbell, I had a back injury, long story...), and I quickly exceeded my previous best lifts, by a real lot. S&S made me very strong! Do not underestimate it. The key is to do nothing else (or little else), until the 7olb bell feels somewhere between somewhat easy and not hard.
I hope this helps you and your team, and thanks for your service.
Regards,
Eric
