all posts post new thread

Kettlebell ROP support group

Wolfskill said:
Hi everyone, first post here just joined this forum, thought this would be a good place to go as I just restarted the ROP.
I got into kettlebells years ago. Never finished the ROP, but jumped into return of the kettlebell because I was used to weightlifting, and figured my body needed the extra load. Got away from kettlebells while running wendlers 5/3/1. I've squatted 335, done trap bar deadlifts with 405x8, benched 285x2 and overhead pressed 155x3. I kept kettlebells in once a week but just doing flows for conditioning. I run a martial arts school for a living and train martial arts a few days a week, balancing strength and martial arts has always been the challenge.
Anyway quarantine, dojo closed, gym closed, time to dust off kettlebells. April I just kind of messed around, then May I followed the "lean dry weight" program from this site, with double 28kg. Finished with a rep max of 6 on c&p, and 11 on front squats (quads could've gone more, but upper back couldn't hold the rack anymore).
With that finished, gyms still not opened, I made a decision. Since consistency is never guaranteed, and I realized how much I HATE going to the gym(despite a love of strength training) I'm going exclusively kettlebell.
So I'm running ROP until I hit the standards.
Today I hit 5 ladders, 3 rungs of c&p with a 28kg, felt super explosive. Rolled the dice for 6, did 130 swings in 6 mins with the 28. Still waiting on a pullup bar to get here, so later I go to a park and do pullups.
On my variety days, this week for example, I did 5x5 front squats with the 28kg, alternating each set with 1 turkish get up each side with a 32kg, then did 2x5 snatches with a 32kg. 2nd variety day I plan to just do 20-30 mins of "play" with a 16kg.

Question. I have a 32kg, and I ordered a 40kg. Currently sitting at a bodyweight of 207, but I have some fluff on my waist I need to get rid of before jiu jitsu competition opens up. Plan to get to 190/195 for comps. A 40kg won't be double bodyweight, so to hit the standard I know I will need to buy yet another kettlebell, but should I get a 48kg (half my current weight) or a 44kg(weight I plan to get to)?
Click to expand...

I guess if your goal is a 1/2 BW clean and press you should go for a 44kg.
But you can get a long time of fun and progress with the 32 and 40kg :)

I weigh about 230lbs but my heaviest bell is the 48kg. So to "compensate" for the lacking 4kg, I'm training to be able to do multiple sets of 5 with that bell.

Good luck with the ROP program, it's great!
 
I'm almost done with S&S and I plan to run ROP. For those who did it without doing pull-ups, how was it like?
 
Matt L said:
I'm almost done with S&S and I plan to run ROP. For those who did it without doing pull-ups, how was it like?
Click to expand...
Hey Matt, I'm on week 7 of the ROP now, and as I've been training at home without access to a pullup bar, I've been doing one-arm KB rows after my C&Ps as per Dan John with the same KB (28kg)



While I LOVE (and miss) doing pullups, I like having a pull movement after my press.

Hope that helps!
 
Matt L said:
I'm almost done with S&S and I plan to run ROP. For those who did it without doing pull-ups, how was it like?
Click to expand...
Hi Matt, I have done it with and without pull ups and although I love to do some pull up work, I felt like I had more energy and a stronger press when I didn't include them in the ROP ladders.
 
Hello,

@Dries S
I never did RoP with the pull ups. How much time does a session take then ? I guess the last weeks are quite long ?

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
pet' said:
Hello,

@Dries S
I never did RoP with the pull ups. How much time does a session take then ? I guess the last weeks are quite long ?

Kind regards,

Pet'
Click to expand...
Hey Pet,
I actually finished a ROP cycle last monday with 5 ladders of 5 rungs with added weighted pull ups.
It took me 77 minutes to complete the ladders, so yeah, they are pretty long :)
Happy it's over!
 
I have done the ROP with pull ups and without them. I will say this, pairing presses and pull ups gets fatiguing but enjoyable? ? if that's the right word.
 
I might try the variation with the rows! hopefully once I'm done with my first ROP cycle I will be able to find a strong supporting wall in the house to bolt a pullup bar on haha
 
Matt L said:
I might try the variation with the rows! hopefully once I'm done with my first ROP cycle I will be able to find a strong supporting wall in the house to bolt a pullup bar on haha
Click to expand...

Find the doorway you cross the most and hang a suitable bar (or rings or a thick rope) there.
Every time you pass it = 3 pullups. Volume will add pretty quick if you're home all day.
That's how my boy first learned then progressed his pullups.
 
John Grahill said:
I have done the ROP with pull ups and without them. I will say this, pairing presses and pull ups gets fatiguing but enjoyable? ? if that's the right word.
Click to expand...

It was certainly satisfying for me when I did ROP three years ago. Doing 75 pullups plus 75 presses plus swings, however, was time consuming (90+ minutes) and hard on my body. I was also cleaning before every press and doing weighted pullups... I was doing a lot more pulls than what I should have been focusing on (presses).

If I do ROP again, I'll move pullups to variety days, reduce their volume/intensity and rotate them with other low intensity pulls (deadlifts, rows, battle ropes, ...etc).
 
I just finished last week. I matched pullups to presses starting off and liked it. It wasn't a perfect match for long, as my presses are stronger than my pullups, and I chose not to take more rest just to get more pullups. At four rungs, I was starting a new ladder every 12 minutes.

Just as I got to the stage of doing five rungs, I found and started using started using @Steve Freides timing scheme starting a new ladder every 15 minutes. At the five rung level I also just did one pullup for every rung of presses. This was very doable in terms of rest, and while I might have been able to do more pullups, that wasn't the point at that stage. I did continue to match pullups to presses on the light and medium days.

Editing to note I wasn't doing all the ballistics per the program due to a lower body injury which is why I chose to revisit ROP at this time.
 
Hey everyone, I want to share my results of my last ROP-cycle here:

After 12 weeks of ROP with a 40kg KB and 15 kg pull ups I finished last monday with 5 ladders of 5 rungs.

Yesterday I tested my press and pull up strength and got next results:

Press: 48kg x 1 (did two more single reps)

I hoped I would get some more/easier reps with that weight after all the hard work with the 40kg. Those were 3 hard singles and I already pressed that bell earlier on in the program.

Pull up test: 25kg x 1 ; 35kg x 1 ; 45kg x 1 (PR)

Happy with that result, a 5 kg PR.

I also wanted to test my barbell press strength, as I'm planning on a cycle of Strong with a barbell:

Barbell press test: 60kg x 4 ; 70kg x 4 ; 76kg x 4 (PR)

I didn't really test my barbell 4 rep max before this ROP cycle but 70kg was my 3 rep max some months ago.

After all pretty happy with my overall new strength but I guess I just hoped for more with that damn beast :)
 
John Grahill said:
@Dries S ... It's a solid effort to compete the ROP with a 40. It could very well be that you get more "technically efficient" single reps with the 48 at this point.

Each time I did a bout of the ROP, I came out "looking better" (as per my bride ?) ... so it's never a wasted effort in my book!
Click to expand...
I sure did enjoy the process of this ROP cycle but it did become super heavy those last weeks! The total volume was hard on my body.
I started with that 40 as a 6 rep max, so I can imagine that it might have felt better if that was my 8 rep max from the beginning.

I thought I'd lose some muscle mass during the ROP but that seemed incorrect indeed! About every muscle on my body felt and looked worked after a ROP training day!
 
Hello,

One of the great thing about RoP is that even if you "only" do the C&P portion, you get a huge amount of both strength and conditioning !

If I had to do it again, I think I'd cut off the conditioning portion to make it more sustainable. I'd do low impact stuff such as running, etc... and GTG pull up to balance things out.

Kind regards,

Pet'
 
I fired up ROP for the first time since last summer and realized I hadn't done that many heavy swings in months. Even after doing months of double bell work (c&p, c&j) my grip seems to lose a little. And my glutes a day later are sore. Swings are gooood!
 
So I just finished week 9 of the ROP, I was kinda dreading it because the volume jumps from 95 to 135 reps!

But now that it's done, I feel relieved and not scared anymore of tackling the last 4 weeks!

I'm not swinging during the Medium and Heavy days anymore, I am just exhausted after the C&Ps and OARs... I do 3-4 sets of 10 swings before my presses and I just go for a 1h walk after the presses.

On the Light days, I still do 10x10 swings ala S&S after the presses, alternating between 2H with my 40kg or 1H with my 28kg, rest periods depending on how I feel.

Crazy to think that when I started, the 28 felt so much heavier (it was my 6RM) but now, even during the 5-rep ladder, it was just flying up.

Can't wait to finish and test my RM with the 32 (don't have access to a 36), the ROP definitely works!
 
pet' said:
Hello,

One of the great thing about RoP is that even if you "only" do the C&P portion, you get a huge amount of both strength and conditioning !

If I had to do it again, I think I'd cut off the conditioning portion to make it more sustainable. I'd do low impact stuff such as running, etc... and GTG pull up to balance things out.

Kind regards,

Pet'
Click to expand...
I cut out the swings the first attempt I made but I am keeping them this time. I actually enjoy the type of recharge/exhaustion they bring about. I dropping snatches for now because I had a minor pull in the bicep last week. Not horrible, but I am just replacing the snatches with swings.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy snatches but I feel like swings really need some attention. I am also finding my technique needed some work so swings just needed to be the thing. Maybe I will bring in snatches once I finish this round with the 32.
 
Michael Perry said:
I just finished last week. I matched pullups to presses starting off and liked it. It wasn't a perfect match for long, as my presses are stronger than my pullups, and I chose not to take more rest just to get more pullups. At four rungs, I was starting a new ladder every 12 minutes.

Just as I got to the stage of doing five rungs, I found and started using started using @Steve Freides timing scheme starting a new ladder every 15 minutes. At the five rung level I also just did one pullup for every rung of presses. This was very doable in terms of rest, and while I might have been able to do more pullups, that wasn't the point at that stage. I did continue to match pullups to presses on the light and medium days.

@Michael Perry I think Steve's "template" sounds really good. I read "elsewhere" (blasphemy, I know) that Dan John revisited the ROP and dropped pull ups on the heavy days to keep the volume doable. Additionally he kind of remarked that he didn't really go crazy worrying about rest between rungs as many concern themselves with because whenever he did that in the past he ended up "jacking up a joint"....Steve's template seems like a really good way to follow the program.

Thinking about the Rite of Passage brings me back to when I realized that one kettlebell and a pull up bar can get you into great shape!
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom