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Kettlebell OLAD

Bkb

Level 6 Valued Member
Just wanted to share my thoughts after two weeks of OLAD’in… I injured my shoulder in September (too much, too heavy, too soon, stupid) after falling in love with pressing for too long and stupidly chasing numbers. Mentally I’ve suffered since then, as I’d take 1 step forward and two backwards, constantly aware I wasn’t patient enough and rigid enough with the recovery plan… fortunately I was in another country on vacation for 3 weeks and wasn’t able to be stupid for that time. In that time, I rested, and came up with a plan for the year. I decided to start with OLAD for 8 weeks to focus on technique, and build strength while emphasizing the eccentric on every lift to reacquaint myself with and be mindful of all the little fibres and tendons that help me move.

Anyways, two weeks in, I really love the protocol… I can practice everyday (I take 1 day off though!) for 20 minutes, which gives me enough time to warm-up and still fits inside a 30 minute window… I feel refreshed and energized after each session, and my muscles are getting ample rest. I have been keeping the RPE at 6/7 so far, and the reps will stay the same for 4 week blocks. I get the feeling already that I’ll be PR’ing weekly without really trying to. My shoulder feels excellent and is tolerating the volume of HS Jerks since it gets 5 or 6 days to recover. This was my ultimate goal.. being able to still put weight overhead and ramp up very slowly in hopes of starting my RMF or LCOD journey in mid April.

For those interested, I’m using GN’s loading parameters -60%of rm in month 1, 80% in month 2, and 100% of original rm in month 3 (in the event I go 3 months instead of 2).

Each session is 20 minutes timed, sets/reps with tally marks, never looking at the clock.

D1- DBL FSQ
D2-SA HS Jerks (with slow eccentric to rack)
D3-Pull Ups
D4- Swings
*D5- SA Rows + Crush Grip Chest Press

*D5 is still 20 minutes, and it’s the only day I do a 1a+1b superset.

Anyways, for those who have never tried it, its great for those who like to exercise daily, it’s very rewarding to see numbers increase with ease, great for technique polishing and mindful lifting, minimizes ‘junk volume’/overtraining and it leaves you with a full gas tank.
 
I loved doing OLAD when I did it 2 years ago. I was working in landscaping and had a hard time with recovery but liked working out often so OLAD was perfect for that.

I wanted to increase my push-up numbers but nothing seemed to work besides ladders and those took way too much time to include in a regular session so I cycled between push-up days, pull-up days and DLs. I also did some core work daily and took one day off a week. I never timed my sessions though.

EDIT: I didn't know this referred to a specific program, I just like the general idea of OLAD
 
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I think I’m going to try this program starting Monday. I may be missing it when I’m reading the program, but are there any deload weeks in it? I have banged my head against the deload wall many times(forgetting to deload) and pay for it.
 
Just wanted to share my thoughts after two weeks of OLAD’in… I injured my shoulder in September (too much, too heavy, too soon, stupid) after falling in love with pressing for too long and stupidly chasing numbers. Mentally I’ve suffered since then, as I’d take 1 step forward and two backwards, constantly aware I wasn’t patient enough and rigid enough with the recovery plan… fortunately I was in another country on vacation for 3 weeks and wasn’t able to be stupid for that time. In that time, I rested, and came up with a plan for the year. I decided to start with OLAD for 8 weeks to focus on technique, and build strength while emphasizing the eccentric on every lift to reacquaint myself with and be mindful of all the little fibres and tendons that help me move.

Anyways, two weeks in, I really love the protocol… I can practice everyday (I take 1 day off though!) for 20 minutes, which gives me enough time to warm-up and still fits inside a 30 minute window… I feel refreshed and energized after each session, and my muscles are getting ample rest. I have been keeping the RPE at 6/7 so far, and the reps will stay the same for 4 week blocks. I get the feeling already that I’ll be PR’ing weekly without really trying to. My shoulder feels excellent and is tolerating the volume of HS Jerks since it gets 5 or 6 days to recover. This was my ultimate goal.. being able to still put weight overhead and ramp up very slowly in hopes of starting my RMF or LCOD journey in mid April.

For those interested, I’m using GN’s loading parameters -60%of rm in month 1, 80% in month 2, and 100% of original rm in month 3 (in the event I go 3 months instead of 2).

Each session is 20 minutes timed, sets/reps with tally marks, never looking at the clock.

D1- DBL FSQ
D2-SA HS Jerks (with slow eccentric to rack)
D3-Pull Ups
D4- Swings
*D5- SA Rows + Crush Grip Chest Press

*D5 is still 20 minutes, and it’s the only day I do a 1a+1b superset.

Anyways, for those who have never tried it, its great for those who like to exercise daily, it’s very rewarding to see numbers increase with ease, great for technique polishing and mindful lifting, minimizes ‘junk volume’/overtraining and it leaves you with a full gas tank.
Why did you select those exercises? And, does anyone know if there is guidance for which exercises to pick? Or is it fine to just pick exercies that you like?
 
Why did you select those exercises? And, does anyone know if there is guidance for which exercises to pick? Or is it fine to just pick exercies that you like?
He outlines the exact exercises in Express
 
For those interested, I’m using GN’s loading parameters -60%of rm in month 1, 80% in month 2, and 100% of original rm in month 3 (in the event I go 3 months instead of 2).
Where can I get information about this? I have probably five of his books but I can’t remember which ones.
 
Why did you select those exercises? And, does anyone know if there is guidance for which exercises to pick? Or is it fine to just pick exercies that you like?
He provides a template that is different than this.

I swapped a few exercises out due to not being proficient in them.

OLAD is not a new protocol or even one GN developed, it’s been around forever and ever. Pick 3-5 lifts.
 
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