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Kettlebell Programming the Armor Building Complex/Grad Workout

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Dan John has stated how he program his ABC. See quote below;




Other than that I know Pat Flynn has a few versions of the ABC like The “Cardio” Muscle-Builder and Armor Building + Snatches. They are found in his free E-book Racked and Loaded, a great source of workouts.


Hope that helps!

Thanks! BLUF I probably need rest more on my heavy days and focus my mind on the individual movement instead of the complex.

I was thinking that but my ADHD goes crazy when I’m sitting there staring at the bells.

Thank you, always helps to get another voice of reason
 
If you train in combat sports, work heavy construction, and are just looking for all around badassery what would serve you better three days of S&S or the aba baby split of S&S and ABC? I guess as a third option would be Pavels suggestion of S&S with push presses alternating days.
 
Hey Sean! I think the ABC could be used as a program for someone looking for a simple daily routine to get strong.

I worked on the ABC exclusively for 3-4 months last summer. I started with it because I was working full time and going to school full time so I wanted something that was ultra simple and quick to finish. I completed it 3x per week. It got to the point where it was just a part of the flow of my day so I kept going with it - I did not have to think about it very much, just punch the training clock and move on with the day.

I started with 24's. When I was easily banging out 10+ rounds in 15 min, I made a jump to 32's. It was a rough jump. I started with working through 5 sets in 15 min. I could not strict press the 32's at the time so I would hit the cleans then push press the bells up and then work the eccentric hard (3-5 sec lower) then do the FS. I stuck with 5 sets until I could strict press all 5. Then I started progressively adding sets. I got to the point where I could bang out 10 rounds in under 15 min with the 32's using a fairly linear progression. I did not undulate my load that much during each week. I probably should have. I would go lighter 1x per week.

Prior to working on ABC, I would still work on get-ups for about 10-15 min. Nothing super heavy, but enough to get my attention. I actually did most of the get-ups with a sandbag on my shoulder rather than overhead hold so my shoulders would not get too tired.

-David
 
Hey Sean! I think the ABC could be used as a program for someone looking for a simple daily routine to get strong.

I worked on the ABC exclusively for 3-4 months last summer. I started with it because I was working full time and going to school full time so I wanted something that was ultra simple and quick to finish. I completed it 3x per week. It got to the point where it was just a part of the flow of my day so I kept going with it - I did not have to think about it very much, just punch the training clock and move on with the day.

I started with 24's. When I was easily banging out 10+ rounds in 15 min, I made a jump to 32's. It was a rough jump. I started with working through 5 sets in 15 min. I could not strict press the 32's at the time so I would hit the cleans then push press the bells up and then work the eccentric hard (3-5 sec lower) then do the FS. I stuck with 5 sets until I could strict press all 5. Then I started progressively adding sets. I got to the point where I could bang out 10 rounds in under 15 min with the 32's using a fairly linear progression. I did not undulate my load that much during each week. I probably should have. I would go lighter 1x per week.

Prior to working on ABC, I would still work on get-ups for about 10-15 min. Nothing super heavy, but enough to get my attention. I actually did most of the get-ups with a sandbag on my shoulder rather than overhead hold so my shoulders would not get too tired.

-David


Impressive David!
 
Hi guys sorry to bump a really old thread

I've been doing the armour complex with two 16 bells, my problem is doing 2 13 is very easy with this weight and I can't afford to buy another 24 at the moment

I've been doing it 3 days a week every minute on the minute for 15 minutes

My question is how can I make this work out a bit more challenging and do you think I would need a heavy medium light day as mentioned in this thread?

I can press the 16 about 12 to 15 easily
 
Hi guys sorry to bump a really old thread

I've been doing the armour complex with two 16 bells, my problem is doing 2 13 is very easy with this weight and I can't afford to buy another 24 at the moment

I've been doing it 3 days a week every minute on the minute for 15 minutes

My question is how can I make this work out a bit more challenging and do you think I would need a heavy medium light day as mentioned in this thread?

I can press the 16 about 12 to 15 easily
I've had good results using uneven bells. So if you buy a 20, you could do 16 and 20 and then progress to 20 and 24. It makes the jumps very doable
 
I have got a 24, currently using it for S&S.

I might try 16 and 24 making sure i do even sets.

Another question regarding armour complex is i never know if i should do 15mins, 20mins, EMOM sets of 8 sets of 10...
Whats too much and whats not enough! I find it very confusing not having a structured layout!
 
I have got a 24, currently using it for S&S.

I might try 16 and 24 making sure i do even sets.

Another question regarding armour complex is i never know if i should do 15mins, 20mins, EMOM sets of 8 sets of 10...
Whats too much and whats not enough! I find it very confusing not having a structured layout!

Fifteen sets on the minute is plenty (those forty five squats are no joke).
 
It could and it should.

Borrowing my own stuff from another forum...

- Choose a *VERY* light KB: one you can strict press it at least five times. I would be even more conservative and choose my 8-10RM.

- Do five iterations of the 2-1-3 sequence and call it a day.

- Don't rush the reps, take your time between movements, make sure they all are beautiful, crisp reps. I also tend to rest between one minute and ninety seconds.

- Keep doing five sequences until it gets almost too easy.

- Then work your way up to ten sequences in the same manner.

- When it gets too easy again, try to get fifteen sequences (that's fifteen presses, thirty cleans and forty five squats total).

Once you can do those fifteen "easy" sets, there are two possible ways to progress:

- Bump the load a bit and start all over again at five sequences.

- Or do 4-2-6 instead of 3-1-2 and begin at five sequences. The ultimate goal would be being able to do fifteen sequences of 6-3-9 reps (ninety cleans, forty five presses and one hundred and thirty five squats). That would be complete KB ownage.

Aaaaaaand... if you are really, really, really a masochist, add some rack walks to the end of each sequence.

Dan John's "Left of Passage" is another workout worth exploring and, maybe, morphing into a full program.

Sorry to bump an old thread but im think id like to do the ABC as a full program 3 days a week, i like this idea of starting with 5 sets and working towards 10 then 15, nice and simple to follow.

Question is would this be ok 3 days a week once you get to 10/15 sets or should i add one light day with say the same sets but the next bell down?
 
Sorry to bump an old thread but im think id like to do the ABC as a full program 3 days a week, i like this idea of starting with 5 sets and working towards 10 then 15, nice and simple to follow.

Question is would this be ok 3 days a week once you get to 10/15 sets or should i add one light day with say the same sets but the next bell down?

I would try to wave the load/volume a bit.
 
I was thinking something like

Monday ABC doube 24s (heavy for me)

Wednesday ABC with next bell size down (16kg) same amount of sets as mon and fri, maybe some getups too

Friday ABC with 24s

How would that look?
 
I saw Dan on a podcast or some such recently. He actually doesn't recommend the ABC as a program. He feels and I'm basically paraphrasing here, that once a week or so and vary the reps like week to week.
 
Do you know why?
I struggle to understand when you have programs like total tension and DFW which are clean press squat too?

It all gets s bit confusing for me!
 
I seem to recall that DJ said the guys doing the program got too beat up by the bells flying around. It might be that closer attention to technique in the clean could help, or maybe he meant that it was too much pounding when the athletes had other training to attend to.

It looks good as a program to me too.
 
I was thinking something like

Monday ABC doube 24s (heavy for me)

Wednesday ABC with next bell size down (16kg) same amount of sets as mon and fri, maybe some getups too

Friday ABC with 24s

How would that look?

It would be even better to cap the sets a bit on Friday, so you follow a HLM pattern.

And, once you really own the weight, you can use heavier bells or go a little crazy and bump the reps (4-2-6) a bit.
 
It would be even better to cap the sets a bit on Friday, so you follow a HLM pattern.

And, once you really own the weight, you can use heavier bells or go a little crazy and bump the reps (4-2-6) a bit.

Thanks

So for example
Monday work up to 15 sets
Wednesday keep at 5 sets + (getups) ?
Friday work up to and stay at 10 sets

The thing i like about it is its not super high reps on my legs, with TT or DFW im worried it will interfere with my running or cycling
 
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Thanks

So for example
Monday work up to 15 sets
Wednesday keep at 5 sets + (getups) ?
Friday work up to and stay at 10 sets

The thing i like about it is its not super high reps on my legs, with TT or DFW im worried it will interfere with my running or cycling

Sure, why not?
 
Hello,

Here is an interesting video about a variation of the Armor Building:


Kind regards,

Pet'

My first thought was to ladder the squat reps instead of sticking with 3s.

So, 2/1/1 (L/R), 2/1/2 (L/R), 2/1/3 (L/R).
 
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