Kettlebell ROP support group
- Thread starter gibbertron
- Start date
Duct tape a pair of 5 lb., 1" plates to the bottom of your 24.
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Andrew Duncan
Level 4 Valued Member
@Steve Freides, @aciampa, thank you for your responses gentlemen.
Steve, unfortunately I only have access to single bells at the moment; obtaining a second 24 has been on the cards for some time though. I'm only doing the ROP at present, no heavy barbell work or anything of that nature so I don't see double bell exercises being an interference.
I have recently incorporated bottom's up presses into my program with the 24 for sets of 3-5 (depending on how much sweat my palms generate; it's the middle of summer where I am) and windmills with the 16/24 on my variety days. Get ups with the 40 was something I did in order to work up to pressing it so that might be worth revisiting.
How would you suggest I include these drills in my program? I'm thinking pressing the 40 for singles on my heavy day, and focussing on one of the exercises you suggested on light/medium days.
Al, I am able to complete (1,2,3,4,5) x 5 with the 32 reasonably comfortably, and I apparently "make it look light" (as a mate of mine put it). I did this for three consecutive weeks prior to attempting pressing the 40 and I feel ready to progress to a heavier weight; it's just a shame a 36 is not available to me. I really don't think I'll benefit too much from repeating the 5 rung ladder with the 32 any more.
Steve, unfortunately I only have access to single bells at the moment; obtaining a second 24 has been on the cards for some time though. I'm only doing the ROP at present, no heavy barbell work or anything of that nature so I don't see double bell exercises being an interference.
I have recently incorporated bottom's up presses into my program with the 24 for sets of 3-5 (depending on how much sweat my palms generate; it's the middle of summer where I am) and windmills with the 16/24 on my variety days. Get ups with the 40 was something I did in order to work up to pressing it so that might be worth revisiting.
How would you suggest I include these drills in my program? I'm thinking pressing the 40 for singles on my heavy day, and focussing on one of the exercises you suggested on light/medium days.
Al, I am able to complete (1,2,3,4,5) x 5 with the 32 reasonably comfortably, and I apparently "make it look light" (as a mate of mine put it). I did this for three consecutive weeks prior to attempting pressing the 40 and I feel ready to progress to a heavier weight; it's just a shame a 36 is not available to me. I really don't think I'll benefit too much from repeating the 5 rung ladder with the 32 any more.
krg
Level 7 Valued Member
@Andrew Duncan
You could try doing singles with the 40kg as the first rung of your ladders and then using the 32 for the rest of the rungs. I've been doing that split between 28 and 24 kg - it built up my confidence and volume with the 28 such that I can now do at least doubles with my 'strong arm' - hopefully full three rung ladders next heavy day.
I also like the bottom-up presses on variety days. Anything feels light after a BUP.
You could try doing singles with the 40kg as the first rung of your ladders and then using the 32 for the rest of the rungs. I've been doing that split between 28 and 24 kg - it built up my confidence and volume with the 28 such that I can now do at least doubles with my 'strong arm' - hopefully full three rung ladders next heavy day.
I also like the bottom-up presses on variety days. Anything feels light after a BUP.
@Andrew Duncan, if you look at several of the suggestions made recently on this thread, you'll find a common theme - try to keep some pressing volume while incorporating the 40 kg to the extent you can.
The other approach, while might or might not work for you, is switch gears entirely, going to very low volume with the 40 kg and adding volume from there. I have had some success with this in the past; what I did was take a bell I could press for only a single and take a GTG approach to it. I started with one single, once a day, rest days as needed; then one single two or three times per day, rest days as needed. When I got to the point where I could consistently do several singles throughout the course of a day, I took a day off then tried a double the next day, and got it, but just barely. So it was back to GTG, trying to build up to as many singles as I could to increase my pressing volume but without burnout.
If this approach goes well, then what happens is eventually you can start to GTG with doubles some of the time. Another approach, rather than try doubles, is to play with the timing by doing two or more singles on only a few minutes rest and GTG'ing with _that_ approach, e.g., in the morning you press x 1, wait 5 minutes, press x 1 again, and then you're off for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours.
The downside of this approach is its lack of volume - if it doesn't work out for you, you'll simply go backwards and find even singles with the heavier weight start to become more difficult and, if that's the case, it's not a good approach for you. But, if your schedule allows GTG, it might be worth a try.
A further word about GTG - some people talking about doing sets on the hour throughout the day but that has never worked well for me. I find a maximum of about 5 sessions per day suits me best, e.g., morning, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon, and before dinner. It's one thing to be doing 5 pullups all day long when you can do 10, but quite another, IMHO, when you are pressing a weight that's your current 1RM.
Maybe this is worth writing up in a little more detail ...
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The other approach, while might or might not work for you, is switch gears entirely, going to very low volume with the 40 kg and adding volume from there. I have had some success with this in the past; what I did was take a bell I could press for only a single and take a GTG approach to it. I started with one single, once a day, rest days as needed; then one single two or three times per day, rest days as needed. When I got to the point where I could consistently do several singles throughout the course of a day, I took a day off then tried a double the next day, and got it, but just barely. So it was back to GTG, trying to build up to as many singles as I could to increase my pressing volume but without burnout.
If this approach goes well, then what happens is eventually you can start to GTG with doubles some of the time. Another approach, rather than try doubles, is to play with the timing by doing two or more singles on only a few minutes rest and GTG'ing with _that_ approach, e.g., in the morning you press x 1, wait 5 minutes, press x 1 again, and then you're off for at least 30 minutes and up to several hours.
The downside of this approach is its lack of volume - if it doesn't work out for you, you'll simply go backwards and find even singles with the heavier weight start to become more difficult and, if that's the case, it's not a good approach for you. But, if your schedule allows GTG, it might be worth a try.
A further word about GTG - some people talking about doing sets on the hour throughout the day but that has never worked well for me. I find a maximum of about 5 sessions per day suits me best, e.g., morning, mid-morning, noon, mid-afternoon, and before dinner. It's one thing to be doing 5 pullups all day long when you can do 10, but quite another, IMHO, when you are pressing a weight that's your current 1RM.
Maybe this is worth writing up in a little more detail ...
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Andrew Duncan
Level 4 Valued Member
@krg, that's not a bad idea, might give that a go. I'm already doing bottom up presses with the 24 and one arm swings with an oven mitt, both have really improved my grip strength (and the latter got some interesting comments from my neighbours).
@Steve Freides, a GTG approach sounds like it might be worth a shot, my schedule certainly allows it for the next two to three months. I am a bit cautious of the lower volume though; would you recommend pressing ladders with the 32 on separate days as well to maintain volume?
I am actually able to do multiple singles with relatively short breaks at the moment; is there any reason why I cannot do singles equivalent to the reps I would be doing in a ladder (ie, (1,1,1) instead of (1,2)), or simply do as many singles as I can manage on my heavy day?
@Steve Freides, a GTG approach sounds like it might be worth a shot, my schedule certainly allows it for the next two to three months. I am a bit cautious of the lower volume though; would you recommend pressing ladders with the 32 on separate days as well to maintain volume?
I am actually able to do multiple singles with relatively short breaks at the moment; is there any reason why I cannot do singles equivalent to the reps I would be doing in a ladder (ie, (1,1,1) instead of (1,2)), or simply do as many singles as I can manage on my heavy day?
@Andrew Duncan, GTG is definitely _not_ a low-volume approach. Although the volume will start low for you, given the weight is your 1RM, it will definitely increase.
You could try GTG'ing with a 40 kg single each side followed by a single set of 32 kg presses each side. I haven't tried that and I wouldn't recommend it as a general course of action - better to focus on getting the 40 kg press to happen more often.
GTG's goal is to keep you as fresh as possible, but don't forget that we want you doing upwards of 20 of these singles in a single day sometimes, so you will get your volume in. The ideal scenario is something like this - please don't try to follow this, it's just a guideline.
Day 1: 40 kg x 5 singles
Day 2: 40 kg x 7 singles
Day 3: 40 kg x 10 singles
Day 4: 40 kg x 5 singles
Day 5: 40 kg x 7 singles
Day 6: 40 kg x 3 singles
Day 7: off
Day 8: 40 kg x 1 (felt good, so ..), 2 - new PR, done for the day, or maybe some single later.
Day 9: 40 kg x 10 singles
Day 10: 40 kg x 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1
Day 11: You're missing volume, so you grab a pair of 32's and near-limit set, and that's it for the day.
Day 12: Off
Day 13: Back to the 40.
Now, having said all that, could you GTG with your "set" being more than 1 single on short rest - yes, you could. Just stick to the spirit of GTG - stay far away from a max effort, build up as much volume as you can while remaining as fresh as you can.
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You could try GTG'ing with a 40 kg single each side followed by a single set of 32 kg presses each side. I haven't tried that and I wouldn't recommend it as a general course of action - better to focus on getting the 40 kg press to happen more often.
GTG's goal is to keep you as fresh as possible, but don't forget that we want you doing upwards of 20 of these singles in a single day sometimes, so you will get your volume in. The ideal scenario is something like this - please don't try to follow this, it's just a guideline.
Day 1: 40 kg x 5 singles
Day 2: 40 kg x 7 singles
Day 3: 40 kg x 10 singles
Day 4: 40 kg x 5 singles
Day 5: 40 kg x 7 singles
Day 6: 40 kg x 3 singles
Day 7: off
Day 8: 40 kg x 1 (felt good, so ..), 2 - new PR, done for the day, or maybe some single later.
Day 9: 40 kg x 10 singles
Day 10: 40 kg x 1, 2, 1, 2, 1, 1
Day 11: You're missing volume, so you grab a pair of 32's and near-limit set, and that's it for the day.
Day 12: Off
Day 13: Back to the 40.
Now, having said all that, could you GTG with your "set" being more than 1 single on short rest - yes, you could. Just stick to the spirit of GTG - stay far away from a max effort, build up as much volume as you can while remaining as fresh as you can.
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LoganMurphy
Level 2 Valued Member
Little update on my progress. Last night I had an impromptu variety day and played around with the 32. It felt super light(like the 24!) so I pressed it for a single. Then I snatched it because it was so dang light in my hands, and I'd never done that before! Had to hold myself back as I was getting excited, but I'm going to start low rep snatching the 32 on variety days and I have a feeling it'll help with my next snatch test. Can't wait for my next test day at the end of the mont! Also, due to my crazy work schedule I have started to gtg my press ladders with a rung every ten minutes or so. It's paying of BIG. How is everyone else doing?
George Vrotsos
Level 7 Valued Member
Anyone have tips for managing/mitigating grip fatigue? I'm working on grip strength with suitcase and bottom's up carries on variety days as well as gtg captain's of crush on off and variety days to build grip strength. On medium days, and especially heavy days, the C+P plus weighted pull-ups have my forearms screaming by the time I get into swings.
I know I could separate the swings and do them a few hours later, but I'm training for an April Cert and I'd rather fight through the fatigue and make it manageable in training now since I'll have to deal with it during the cert.
I also know I could drop the pull-ups as they are just recommended and not mandatory. But they are awesome and I'd rather keep them in the training.
It's not to the point where I am losing the bell or anything crazy like that. I can usually manage 5 sets of 20 swings, then alternate sets of 10 and 20 to finish. By the time I start alternating between 10 and 20 my forearms are on fire constantly. I try to shake out my wrists during fast and loose drills, but I'm not noticing much benefit.
28 for C+P
16 for Pull-ups
32 or 36 on swing days.
I know I could separate the swings and do them a few hours later, but I'm training for an April Cert and I'd rather fight through the fatigue and make it manageable in training now since I'll have to deal with it during the cert.
I also know I could drop the pull-ups as they are just recommended and not mandatory. But they are awesome and I'd rather keep them in the training.
It's not to the point where I am losing the bell or anything crazy like that. I can usually manage 5 sets of 20 swings, then alternate sets of 10 and 20 to finish. By the time I start alternating between 10 and 20 my forearms are on fire constantly. I try to shake out my wrists during fast and loose drills, but I'm not noticing much benefit.
28 for C+P
16 for Pull-ups
32 or 36 on swing days.
George Vrotsos
Level 7 Valued Member
Thanks @MikeMoran. I needed to hear some Dan John logic. You're absolutely right.
LoganMurphy
Level 2 Valued Member
1H or 2H SW?
George Vrotsos
Level 7 Valued Member
Removing pull-ups from light/medium/heavy days has made a world of difference. My grip is holding up much better during swings and snatches.
MikeMoran
Level 6 Valued Member
Well my order of the 28kg did not come in. Have to find another vendor. Glad that helped @George Vrotsos !
ThorsFavoriteGoat
Level 6 Valued Member
I want the confidence and pride that comes with surpassing the strength milestones as laid out by Pavel.
My 2016 training plan is to run ROP until 1) I can press the 48kg AND pass the 10:00 snatch test or 2) I die trying.
I achieved the Simple Goal this summer, and have successfully pressed the 40KG for 2 reps on each side, under the supervision of my SSFG. At the time, I felt like I could probably get the 48 on the right...but the left was going to be iffy. I can press double 32kg for a solid 5 reps.
Starting with the 24 to build momentum and dial in the technique.
The snatch goal is going to be a the real challenge!
I am logging my practice sessions in the "Training Logs" section if anyone is interested.
My 2016 training plan is to run ROP until 1) I can press the 48kg AND pass the 10:00 snatch test or 2) I die trying.
I achieved the Simple Goal this summer, and have successfully pressed the 40KG for 2 reps on each side, under the supervision of my SSFG. At the time, I felt like I could probably get the 48 on the right...but the left was going to be iffy. I can press double 32kg for a solid 5 reps.
Starting with the 24 to build momentum and dial in the technique.
The snatch goal is going to be a the real challenge!
I am logging my practice sessions in the "Training Logs" section if anyone is interested.
