Kettlebell No swings attached?

[Cochran]

I’ve been devouring Brett Jones’ new Iron Cardio program, and it very much appeals to me.

I’ve been doing S&S for so long, and this seems like a great change of pace, with a bit of a different focus.

If I do cleans, presses, and squats, would I miss out if I don’t do anymore swings?

 

[Halfakneecap]

Kind of the same, I didn’t do swings for a few months when I started The Giant ( clean and press ) and when i recently went back to swings, I had to go straight to my 36kg. I didn’t lose any strength at all. Probably gained a little if anything. Conditioning was less, but from a strength point of view I lost nothing.

 

[watchnerd]

I'll go 6 months or more every year where I don't do any swings, but am doing other barbell strength/power/hypertrophy work + rowing.

It's never been an issue for me to resume swinging at a level approximately the same as where I left off -- sometimes 4 kg lighter, sometimes.4 kg heavier.

I wouldn't worry about it, and in fact, a change can allow for novel stimulus and more progress.

 

[Don Fairbanks]

I’ve been devouring Brett Jones’ new Iron Cardio program, and it very much appeals to me.

I’ve been doing S&S for so long, and this seems like a great change of pace, with a bit of a different focus.

If I do cleans, presses, and squats, would I miss out if I don’t do anymore swings?

Nope, you'll be fine.

 

[Deleted 20758]

I cant remember if its from Geoff or Pavel i have heard it. But i got a recommendation like this: "if you can do CP you dont need Sqings. CP is some kind of Swing level 2".

 

[Singlecoilquack]

I cant remember if its from Geoff or Pavel i have heard it. But i got a recommendation like this: "if you can do CP you dont need Sqings. CP is some kind of Swing level 2".

I thought this was said about snatches.

 

[Adachi]

I believe this may've been said about Swings and Getups - with respect to C+P and snatches at different times.

I will say - there's some truth to it.

after a few years with my bells, I found a gradient in bell size and movement selection.

40kg > 32kg > 24kg
Swing > Press> Snatch
the clean probably fits somewhere between the swing and the press for me, but still.

REPS per SET​

​	48kg​	40kg​	32kg​	24kg​
Snatch​	​	​	1-3​	5-10​
Press​	​	1-2​	5-10​	10-20​
Swing​	3-5​	5-10​	10-20​	20-50​

so - for a given bell size - I think it's very true that a lot of great things lie beyond only swings and getups, but at heavier bell sizes - I think that may be mitigated. I've done some 40kg getups and they are brutal for me right now; especially on the abs.

swinging the 48kg bell for 5x5 (with plentiful rest), with cheat clean to a jerk for 3-5 singles is a good day.
cleaning and pressing the 40kg bell for singles across an Iron cardio session is also a great day.
S&S with a 32kg bell is also a fine amount of work and the getups are still quite challenging.

and I will say - that to some extent they overlap with each other. there's a hip hinge and some overhead work.
and no matter how you cut it that covers a lot of ground.
a little squatting, and prying - some mobility and stretching ( to keep things greased at the hinges) and I think that's about everything.

 

[MikeMoran]

Kind of the same, I didn’t do swings for a few months when I started The Giant ( clean and press ) and when i recently went back to swings, I had to go straight to my 36kg. I didn’t lose any strength at all. Probably gained a little if anything. Conditioning was less, but from a strength point of view I lost nothing.

Same. Been on the Giant for about 5 months now and I can 2H swing the 48kg bell pretty easily. Good stuff.

 

[Singlecoilquack]

REPS per SET​

​	48kg​	40kg​	32kg​	24kg​
Snatch​	​	​	1-3​	5-10​
Press​	​	1-2​	5-10​	10-20​
Swing​	3-5​	5-10​	10-20​	20-50​

It's very interesting to me that your pressing strength is so much greater than your snatch. For myself, roughly those same numbers would apply to the opposite movement (i.e., snatch strength greater than press).

 

[Adachi]

It's very interesting to me that your pressing strength is so much greater than your snatch. For myself, roughly those same numbers would apply to the opposite movement (i.e., snatch strength greater than press).

I have been in pursuit of pressing the beast as a long-term goal
I've definitely set aside a good bit of time focusing on increasing that strength.

 

[MikeL]

It's very interesting to me that your pressing strength is so much greater than your snatch. For myself, roughly those same numbers would apply to the opposite movement (i.e., snatch strength greater than press).

I’m also stronger in press than snatch. Stabilising a larger weight overhead after a ballistic move is not easy! Much happier pressing it up.