Kettlebell OS Bulletproofing-inspired summer training ideas

[Training for Life]

Hi,

Might not be the right forum for this, but kettlebells are included, so...

This is especially for the crew who have read ”Becoming Bulletproof”, which is a book in the Original Strength-series, but even if you have not please give your thoughts.

For most of this year I have been training S&S combined with working on fixing mobility and activation issues, and have gotten to the point where I can do 2H Swings and some Get-ups & 1H Swings with a 28kg bell. Recently I (re-)read ETK and the aforementioned Becoming Bulletproof-book, which incorporates building strength and work capacity by mostly doing things for a duration of time. The same type of idea as with Program Minimum. This got me thinking about a program around this idea for the summer, mainly because of the variety it brings:


D1. A
D2. B
D3. C
D4. A
D5. B
D6. C
D7. -

A
- 10min OS Resets
- 10min Swings
- 10min Carry

B
- 10min OS Resets
- 10min Get-ups
- 10min Carry

C
- 10min OS Resets
- 10min Crawling
- 10min Carry


For the Swings and Get-ups, you do as many heavy sets as possible in the time period with proper rest periods. Some days you go heavier, some days you go more sets.

Crawling is done 10 sustained minutes, meaning when you need to rest, you stop the clock until you can go again. When you can do 10 minutes of Leopard Crawl non-stop, then change to a harder variation or add load (drag something attached to you, do not use a weighted backpack as that leads to back problems as stated by Tim Anderson and Geoff Neupert). If this takes more than 20min to complete, then skip carries for the day.

Some days carries are done 10 minutes non-stop, where you pick up the bell, walk for 10 meters, put the bell down, turn around and repeat. Other days you do heavier carries and take rest breaks. Go by feel. Cycling of different carries is done from session to session (suitcase, farmers, chest carry, overhead, rack).

What do you think of a program like this? Would one get stronger and move to heavier bells over time? Would there be enough work? Or too much?

Edit 19th of June: Modified to match some excellent advice received from this thread.

 

[Alan Mackey]

I like this.

My own program is nearly identical, but I'm "sandwiching" lifts between resets and carries.

 

[Bauer]

Hi,

Might not be the right forum for this, but kettlebells are included, so...

This is especially for the crew who have read ”Becoming Bulletproof”, which is a book in the Original Strength-series, but even if you have not please give your thoughts.

For most of this year I have been training S&S combined with working on fixing mobility and activation issues, and have gotten to the point where I can do 2H Swings and some Get-ups & 1H Swings with a 28kg bell. Recently I (re-)read ETK and the aforementioned Becoming Bulletproof-book, which incorporates building strength and work capacity by mostly doing things for a duration of time. The same type of idea as with Program Minimum. This got me thinking about a program around this idea for the summer, mainly because of the variety it brings:


D1. A
D2. B
D3. C
D4. A
D5. B
D6. C
D7. -

A
- 10min OS Resets
- 10min Swings
- 10min Carry

B
- 10min OS Resets
- 10min Get-ups
- 10min Carry

C
- 10min OS Resets
- 10min Crawling
- 10min Carry


For the Swings and Get-ups, you do as many heavy sets as possible in the time period with proper rest periods. Some days you go heavier, some days you go more sets.

Crawling is done 10 sustained minutes, meaning when you need to rest, you stop the clock until you can go again. When you can do 10 minutes of Leopard Crawl non-stop, then maybe add a weighted vest.

Carries are done 10 minutes non-stop, where you pick up the bell, walk for 10 meters, put the bell down, turn around and repeat. Cycling of different carries is done from session to session (suitcase, chest carry, overhead, rack).

What do you think of a program like this? Would one get stronger and move to heavier bells over time? Would there be enough work? Or too much?

Sounds awesome! Very simple and well rounded, I think. I am going to save it

Depending on your crawling abilities and difficulty level you might want to skip the carries on that day. (if the accumulated crawling takes you more than 20 minutes to complete)

 

[Bauer]

And another thought: This should improve work capacity, endurance and tie the body together for real life strength.

But if you would like to improve limit strength, maybe one carry session could be non-continuous, with more rest, and heavier. Or some deadlifts before crawling and then no carries.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

I like the idea of sandwiching a kettlebell lift with a reset

 

[Alan Mackey]

Sounds awesome! Very simple and well rounded, I think. I am going to save it

Depending on your crawling abilities and difficulty level you might want to skip the carries on that day. (if the accumulated crawling takes you more than 20 minutes to complete)

That's the exact reason why I rotate movements.

O.S. Reset (anything but crawling), or some Sonnon stuff or even Yoga movements. Then some non-ballistic lift. Then rotate between crawl, clean or carry.

 

[Training for Life]

Depending on your crawling abilities and difficulty level you might want to skip the carries on that day. (if the accumulated crawling takes you more than 20 minutes to complete)

Ah, forgot to list this. Good point, as by the book ?

But if you would like to improve limit strength, maybe one carry session could be non-continuous, with more rest, and heavier. Or some deadlifts before crawling and then no carries.

This sounds interesting. What would you consider ”heavy”, in terms of % of bodyweight? I have read about 1/2 bw, which would mean I would have to carry a 16kg and a 28kg at the same time, while in these sessions I have only done one-handed carries so far. Would uneven two-handed carries make sense?

 

[Bauer]

This sounds interesting. What would you consider ”heavy”, in terms of % of bodyweight? I have read about 1/2 bw, which would mean I would have to carry a 16kg and a 28kg at the same time, while in these sessions I have only done one-handed carries so far. Would uneven two-handed carries make sense?

I guess it depends. You could just pick up a weight and do your work until you're done

Seriously, I think it is trial and error.

 

[wespom9]

I like the idea of sandwiching a kettlebell lift with a reset

I like this too, using a reset as an "active rest" between sets. It's great for the everyday client to keep moving and limit the amount of rest time.

 

[Alan Mackey]

Ah, forgot to list this. Good point, as by the book ?



This sounds interesting. What would you consider ”heavy”, in terms of % of bodyweight? I have read about 1/2 bw, which would mean I would have to carry a 16kg and a 28kg at the same time, while in these sessions I have only done one-handed carries so far. Would uneven two-handed carries make sense?

@Boris Bachmann

He knows a thing or two about that.

 

[watchnerd]

I don't mean to sound mean, but can you clarify the purposes of crawling for 10 minutes?

I understand crawling as a mobility drill / warm up.

But given we don't need to crawl for locomotion, especially in a loaded fashion, I don't understand the purpose in long duration loaded crawls.

Granted, I practice loaded carries, but I do that upright on my feet, which maps to real life.

I haven't read the OS books, so I'm ignorant of the whole matter.

 

[Training for Life]

I don't mean to sound mean, but can you clarify the purposes of crawling for 10 minutes?

I understand crawling as a mobility drill / warm up.

But given we don't need to crawl for locomotion, especially in a loaded fashion, I don't understand the purpose in long duration loaded crawls.

Granted, I practice loaded carries, but I do that upright on my feet, which maps to real life.

I haven't read the OS books, so I'm ignorant of the whole matter.

I do not remember the exact purposes stated in OS, but for me personally a prolonged leopard crawling session makes my body feel stronger, more nimble and more ”electric” in a way. Doing carries or marching does not quite make me feel the same - good nonetheless, but different type of good. I have no idea why and in honesty I cannot prove it. Might also be that I have been working on fixing some muscle chain activation problems, so the effect is just big for me personally. Or might just be placebo, but as of now I’ll take it. Also, in the Bulletproof-book Tim Anderson states that he re-passed the RKC certitication after only doing resets, loaded crawling and loaded carries exclusively for a long time.

 

[cmerrow]

I like the idea of sandwiching a kettlebell lift with a reset

I found this free PDF online: https://originalstrength.net/files/OSR_TraditionalLifts_final.pdf

 

[Pete S]

I have been preceding and following KB sets with OS resets and/or Fast and Loose for years. They take very little from recovery and stimulate the body. The resets seem to help keep my body loose and focused.

When crawling, I do them Fore and Aft, i.e., forwards half the time and backwards half the time plus a little bit of lateral crawling. When continuous Superman or Leopard crawling for at least 5 or 10 minutes or more is when strength really starts to build. Loaded crawling involves dragging weight Fore or Aft and really makes one strong. I would liken it to the benefits of rucking vice walking. Note: Tim and Geoff experimented with weighted back packs while crawling and found that practice detrimental to back health, hence the harness and drag option. Without investing in a harness, an improvised strap around the waist long enough to attach to a weight can work although not as comfortable as a harness.

Geoff Neupert credited crawling for enabling him to do OAOL PU without training for them.

 

[Bauer]

Geoff Neupert credited crawling for enabling him to do OAOL PU without training for them

And for finally giving him a strong and visible VMO (tear drop muscle above the knees), which is important for knee stabilization.

It is full body strength endurance and keeps a lot of layers of performance aligned (prime movers, stabilizers, soft tissues, bones, motor patterns, breathing) and can therefore act like the missing link and provide what you need.

 

[Mark Limbaga]

I have been preceding and following KB sets with OS resets and/or Fast and Loose for years. They take very little from recovery and stimulate the body. The resets seem to help keep my body loose and focused.

When crawling, I do them Fore and Aft, i.e., forwards half the time and backwards half the time plus a little bit of lateral crawling. When continuous Superman or Leopard crawling for at least 5 or 10 minutes or more is when strength really starts to build. Loaded crawling involves dragging weight Fore or Aft and really makes one strong. I would liken it to the benefits of rucking vice walking. Note: Tim and Geoff experimented with weighted back packs while crawling and found that practice detrimental to back health, hence the harness and drag option. Without investing in a harness, an improvised strap around the waist long enough to attach to a weight can work although not as comfortable as a harness.

Geoff Neupert credited crawling for enabling him to do OAOL PU without training for them.

That's also basically how I trained for the SFB before and for my recert.. Although to be specific, I trained various regressions and progressions of crawling depending on how I felt that day

 

[Alan Mackey]

Granted, I practice loaded carries, but I do that upright on my feet, which maps to real life.

During my almost fifty trips around the Sun, I can't recall a single occasion when I had to change levels with a big load resting on my traps. That must mean squats don't map to real life either. ?

Even deadlifts aren't that "functional". Lifting an Atlas stone is much closer to real life application.

And don't get me started on bench presses or TGUs.

It doesn't matter that certain exercises don't exactly mimic real life movements. The purpose is getting stronger all around and experience some degree of transference to other activities.

Loaded carries, moving planks (crawling) and, to a lesser extent, overhead squats teach that your body is one piece (Dan John dixit) and kind of bind together everything else in your training.

 

[watchnerd]

During my almost fifty trips around the Sun, I can't recall a single occasion when I had to change levels with a big load resting on my traps. That must mean squats don't map to real life either. ?

Even deadlifts aren't that "functional". Lifting an Atlas stone is much closer to real life application.

And don't get me started on bench presses or TGUs.

It doesn't matter that certain exercises don't exactly mimic real life movements. The purpose is getting stronger all around and experience some degree of transference to other activities.

Loaded carries, moving planks (crawling) and, to a lesser extent, overhead squats teach that your body is one piece (Dan John dixit) and kind of bind together everything else in your training.

I'll agree on a fair amount of that.

I'll also agree that squats don't map to real life, but, in my case, they do map to my sport (weightlifting).

But I still don't get the point of 10 minutes of loaded crawling vs other options.

I mean, yeah, it's exercise.

But what's it training you for?

If y'all like loaded crawling, that's cool, I just don't quite get the destination it's leading you towards.

 

[watchnerd]

I do not remember the exact purposes stated in OS, but for me personally a prolonged leopard crawling session makes my body feel stronger, more nimble and more ”electric” in a way. Doing carries or marching does not quite make me feel the same - good nonetheless, but different type of good. I have no idea why and in honesty I cannot prove it. Might also be that I have been working on fixing some muscle chain activation problems, so the effect is just big for me personally. Or might just be placebo, but as of now I’ll take it. Also, in the Bulletproof-book Tim Anderson states that he re-passed the RKC certitication after only doing resets, loaded crawling and loaded carries exclusively for a long time.

Well, movement variety is good.

That's why I have 'variety' days to do whatever I feel like - rowing, yoga, clubs, gymnastic skills, whatever the season / weather / mood calls for.

How do you progress crawling?

Or do you not worry about progressing it?

(I don't worry about progressing most of my variety activities very much....if it happens, it happens)

 

[Kettlebelephant]

I don't mean to sound mean, but can you clarify the purposes of crawling for 10 minutes?

I understand crawling as a mobility drill / warm up.

But given we don't need to crawl for locomotion, especially in a loaded fashion, I don't understand the purpose in long duration loaded crawls.

Granted, I practice loaded carries, but I do that upright on my feet, which maps to real life.

I haven't read the OS books, so I'm ignorant of the whole matter.

Read the book/books. They are cheap and worth every cent.
Tim (the Author) gives 10min continouos crawling as one goal, because he thinks if you can make 10min easy, you can go for 20, 30 or 40min, which is serious work capacity.
Just read what John Odden (achieved Beast Tamer & Sinister and holds world records in Highland Games events) and @Pavel Macek (Master SFG) have to say about crawling:

Crawling like a Baby: How to Break Records and Restore Your Body. | Empowered Strength

By John Odden, Owner & Head Coach of Empowered Strength — When was the last time you crawled on the ground? Now, you’re probably thinking: “Crawling … seriously? That’s for babies!” Yes, crawling is for babies. And, it may be one of the best things you can ever do for your bodily health and...

www.empoweredstrength.com