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Kettlebell Muscle imbalance form Simple and Sinister

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Andrej SK

Andrej SK

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Hello guys, I need your help.

I am a S & S beginner, however, recently I read about possibility to develop muscle imbalances from exercising limited number of exercises. Is it possible that through working out S & S program on a long term basis one can develop the muscle imbalance since it is only 2 excercises that are being worked out ?

I also wanted to ask whether S & S targets chest and lats, biceps and triceps. It seems to me that not. Isn't it missing ?

Thank you a lot for your help !

Andrej
 
@Andrej SK, is SK for Slovakia? Just curious, as I live there. :)

You should not think of muscle, but movement. As Dan John often states in his writing, "the body is one piece". And a heavy getup will teach you that...
If you really still worry about muscles, you have to floor press the KB (chest), keep your shoulders down (lats), sit from a lying position (abs), lunge, stand up (legs). And reverse while keeping a cannonball above your head.

What are your goals?
 
You will get a muscle imbalance if you do two isolation exercises! Like just biceps and abs.

The two exercises in S&S are a nearly total body workout.

Simple.

But remember, Simple is not easy.
 
@jef and @Will Moore covered this pretty well, but I would like to make the point that the efficacy of S&S is connected to the practitioner's technique. You can cover all your bases with a lot of low skill moves, or you can (more effectively) cover all your bases with a small number of moderate or high skill moves, which is what S&S does.

Specific to your question:
Chest: Initial press and upward facing portion of TGU
Lats: Used to pack the shoulders during the entirety of both the KBS and TGU. Contacted harder during down swing of an overspeed KBS.
Biceps: Used to stabilize the bell during TGU.
Triceps: Used to lock out the elbow during the entirety of the TGU

You will notice that if someone doesn't know how to pack their shoulders, among other things, the movements become less effective. I don't know if you've had a chance to read PTTP or NW, but a common theme is using high tension techniques for maximum safety and efficacy. If you're still not convinced, test your bench press (chest, triceps, and lats) and your pull ups (lats and biceps) this week, do S&S diligently for 2-3 months, and test them again. You'll have your answer.
 
Snowman said:
You will notice that if someone doesn't know how to pack their shoulders, among other things, the movements become less effective.
Click to expand...
As has been said and I have noticed quite clearly in my own practice, as you increase bell weight, any form issues will be highlighted, quite possibly in red (of inflammation) and you will have to correct them in order to progress
 
S&S leaves no muscle untrained. Swings work your hands, forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, traps, entire back, glutes, quads, hams, calves, tibialis anterior, feet. TGUs work the hands, forearms, biceps, triceps, shoulders, traps, chest, entire back, all abdominals, glutes, hams, quads, calves, feet.
Heavy swings are literally (for a split second) trying to tear your body apart and you end up using every muscle in a highly coordinated manner to maintain posture, fluidity of movement, power, tension, and joint integrity. S&S has resulted in the reshaping of my musculature and the development of dense, strong muscle. I was athletic and strong before I started the program, but 32 consecutive weeks of dedicated S&S has highlighted and begun fixing my strength and muscular development gaps. No amount of curls I did in the past developed my brachialis and forearm extensors and flexors like S&S. My quads look more like they did when I spent a year bodybuilding. My chest may not have the same size as when I benched 400+, but it looks stronger and much tighter. S&S has not created muscle imbalances for me... it has pointed out previous imbalances to me and is still in the process of fixing them.
 
Gentlemen, think "movement", not just "muscle". S&S: Roll, press, sit, kneel, split squat, hinge, squat... Sounds better to me than a gym full of machines for all body parts.

“The Turkish Get Up is the perfect example of training primitive movement patterns – from rolling over, to kneeling, to standing and reaching. If I were limited to choosing only one exercise to do, it’d be the Turkish Get Up.”

- Gray Cook, physical therapist extraordinaire

And we have 2 exercise, get-up and swing. Scratch that, we have 3 full body exercises, goblet squat, get-up and swing.
 
S&S won't lead to imbalances, as everyone has already said - it works the whole body. However, if perhaps you wanted to put more EMPHASIS on particular muscle groups (I say EMPHASIS because all muscle groups are already playing a role), you might, like myself, want to add a full depth squat and an upper body pull. For me it's pistols and pull-ups (this might not be for everyone, it's just what I find to be effective given my training goals). I'm aware that S&S already has the goblet squat, although if you're like me you'll view it more as a means of prying the hips open in prep for the Swings/TGUs, rather than an exercise to progressively add more and more weight to in order to really load the squatting movement ('movement', not 'muscles').

Just my thoughts.
 
Hey Guys !

Thank you a lot for all of your contributions ! It helped me to get rid of that fear of being "imbalanced" or looking "imbalanced" :)

My main goal for choosing S & S was to be generally healthy and fit for life. As I have a family, full time job and a lot of duties and responsibilities, I don't have much time left to spend in the gym or set myself apart for much time, thus S & S program was very appealing to me. I personnaly like simplicity so I inclined to this program.

The questions I raised were my only concerned - I didn't want to create what's called muscle imbalance and I didn't want to look "unnatural" ommiting certain muscle groups and focusing on other muscle groups only, if you know what I mean.

But you managed to explain me the issue very well. Thank you once again !!

To Jef: Yes, I'm from Slovakia. Live in Kosice :)
 
+ 1 what all other contributors said on the physical aspects. And do not overlook the chapter on breathing (and breath to reps ratio). It will work literally work (blow) the mind. I have only two years of a bit of experience on S&S, and I am far from being tired of it, and I like the statement of @Benedictine Monk : even simple is sinister.
@Andrej SK : Good decision.
 
@Andrej SK : pozdrav z Bratislavy!
In your case, S&S seems like a good choice.
It is the program I am following at the moment, close to reach the simple goal. It fits well with the family, even though I have a nearly daily practice. Keep us informed on how it is going.
 
@Andrej SK pozdrav z Prahy!

Just for fun I have tested my tactical pull-ups max today. I didn't do any pull-ups for over 5 months, "just" S&S.

Result? 16 tactical pull-ups (super strict - no kipping, from a dead hang, chest to the bar, no thumb overhand grip). Nothing to brag about, but - still good, right? Give me 2 weeks and would be able to do 25+.

I expect the same results in my benchpress, deadlift, snatch, etc. S&S rocks!
 
@Pavel Macek I mean no disrespect in asking this, but do you swear this is the truth...? 16 strict tactical pull-ups having not trained them for over 5 months? That's insane..... :O Hahaha. Might I ask your height, weight and the bell sizes you've been using?
I felt that as someone who didn't want to become 'weak' at pull-ups (i.e. I always want to be able to comfortably do at least 10 - last time I maxed I did 14 I believe, and I also always really wanted to be able to do pull-ups with a respectable amount of weight), that I needed to add pull-ups to my routine. As such 2/3 days per week I've been replacing the TGUs from my daily S&S session with Easy Strength pull-ups, but now I'm wondering if that's really necessary... (I'm after a really minimalist approach here).

Having said that, do you think that your max strength for weighted pull-ups would also have increased? I understand this is probably a tough one to call if you only tested your bodyweight pull-ups, but I just wondered if you could take a guess based on how 'light' you felt? If that makes sense haha.

Anyway, power to you! Keep up the awesome work!
 
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