blad51
Level 8 Valued Member
I began Simple and Sinister the last week of June 2014. I thought it would be helpful to share my experience after one year on this excellent program.
I have posted before about my experiences. IF you are interested in reading my background posts here are links to the other posts:
http://www.strongfirst.com/topic/my-familys-journey-with-kettlebells-so-far/
http://www.strongfirst.com/topic/my-girls-and-the-what-the-heck-effect/
STRENGTH:
I feel like I have gained a lot of strength over this year. I am currently practicing with the 32kg KB every session. I could pass the timing requirements any session I choose to time myself. I am very proud of my progress.
Though if I were to critique myself, I would say that I was too anxious to progress to heavier weights before I was ready and my form was dialed in.
I began with the 24Kg KB. I "quickly" progressed to the 32 kg KB. I had the goal of completely working the 40kg KB in by the end of this school year. According to my plan, I would now be working the 48KG Bell in to my practice.
Last August I posted that I achieved the Simple goal. However, while I could muscle my way through the Simple standards, my form was not proper Hardstyle form.
Get some SFG coaching.
I have been very fortunate to have SFG Paul Lyngso as a coach. I practice at home but meet with Paul semi-regularly. Last fall, we met a couple of times from the beginning of the school year to the Holidays.
We really dialed in the mechanics of my Swing and Getup. For example, in our December meeting, Paul noted that I wasn't reaching back far enough with my rear-end during the bottom hip hinge of the swing. This was preventing me from being as explosive in the up-swing to the standing plank.
In January, I decided to go back and commit myself to the 24kg KB and really own it with perfect from. Initially, I was surprised by how much effort the proper form took compared to what I was doing originally. It took me until April to "truly" accomplish the Simple goal.
BODY COMPOSITION:
The muscles in my chest, upper back and are arms are beginning to show nice definition.
I still need to lose fat.
It is not the fault of Simple and Sinister.
Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, I still believed that I could keep many of my bad habits and the Kettlebells would some how "magically" torch my beer belly away.
Get my diet under control.
My next battle is to get my diet under control. Now that I have truly accomplished the Simple goal, I am going to take a short hiatus from Simple and Sinister and complete Geoff Neupert's Kettlebell Burn.
I begin KB Burn on August 3. I have been practicing the diet that comes with the training program. I have programed my macros and nutrient requirements into My Fitness Pal app. I have learned so much about my diet (and my bad habits) during my practice with the diet plan. Prior to learning about the macros, the only metric I was using was calories in and calories out.
I also bought Josh Hillis and Dan John's Fat Loss Happens on Monday. This is also a great book. I finally feel like I have a path to get to my fat loss goals.
THE FUTURE:
I plan to return to Simple and Sinister often. After I complete KB Burn, I plan to return to Simple and Sinister and complete the standards with a 40Kg Bell.
One day, I plan to accomplish the Sinister goal.
I have posted before about my experiences. IF you are interested in reading my background posts here are links to the other posts:
http://www.strongfirst.com/topic/my-familys-journey-with-kettlebells-so-far/
http://www.strongfirst.com/topic/my-girls-and-the-what-the-heck-effect/
STRENGTH:
I feel like I have gained a lot of strength over this year. I am currently practicing with the 32kg KB every session. I could pass the timing requirements any session I choose to time myself. I am very proud of my progress.
Though if I were to critique myself, I would say that I was too anxious to progress to heavier weights before I was ready and my form was dialed in.
I began with the 24Kg KB. I "quickly" progressed to the 32 kg KB. I had the goal of completely working the 40kg KB in by the end of this school year. According to my plan, I would now be working the 48KG Bell in to my practice.
Last August I posted that I achieved the Simple goal. However, while I could muscle my way through the Simple standards, my form was not proper Hardstyle form.
Get some SFG coaching.
I have been very fortunate to have SFG Paul Lyngso as a coach. I practice at home but meet with Paul semi-regularly. Last fall, we met a couple of times from the beginning of the school year to the Holidays.
We really dialed in the mechanics of my Swing and Getup. For example, in our December meeting, Paul noted that I wasn't reaching back far enough with my rear-end during the bottom hip hinge of the swing. This was preventing me from being as explosive in the up-swing to the standing plank.
In January, I decided to go back and commit myself to the 24kg KB and really own it with perfect from. Initially, I was surprised by how much effort the proper form took compared to what I was doing originally. It took me until April to "truly" accomplish the Simple goal.
BODY COMPOSITION:
The muscles in my chest, upper back and are arms are beginning to show nice definition.
I still need to lose fat.
It is not the fault of Simple and Sinister.
Despite all of the evidence to the contrary, I still believed that I could keep many of my bad habits and the Kettlebells would some how "magically" torch my beer belly away.
Get my diet under control.
My next battle is to get my diet under control. Now that I have truly accomplished the Simple goal, I am going to take a short hiatus from Simple and Sinister and complete Geoff Neupert's Kettlebell Burn.
I begin KB Burn on August 3. I have been practicing the diet that comes with the training program. I have programed my macros and nutrient requirements into My Fitness Pal app. I have learned so much about my diet (and my bad habits) during my practice with the diet plan. Prior to learning about the macros, the only metric I was using was calories in and calories out.
I also bought Josh Hillis and Dan John's Fat Loss Happens on Monday. This is also a great book. I finally feel like I have a path to get to my fat loss goals.
THE FUTURE:
I plan to return to Simple and Sinister often. After I complete KB Burn, I plan to return to Simple and Sinister and complete the standards with a 40Kg Bell.
One day, I plan to accomplish the Sinister goal.