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Kettlebell ROP support group

It will grow the upper body and will make your shirts "shrink up" like half shirts. No joke

on my last heavy day, by about half way I had the crazyiest pump and I had a hell of a time getting my shirt off after!

And it will increase your food bill

Has it ever!

I'm also running really hot! like laying in bed I don't need my blankets or my GF's body heat haha. A different kind of night sweats ;-)

I'm so stoked on ROP!
 
I spent a long time on the ROP and previously wrote about it so I won't beat a dead horse as they say, but it is a tremendous program that you will never outgrow. Once the goals are met you can venture out and still come back to it. It's simple in design and delivers.

What I remember most about it aside from the sense of accomplishment of pressing a beast was the craving for beef! I was active duty law enforcement when I went through it and would do the workouts before I went to work and come my break time I chowed down!
 
Heavy day today - hard work.

One cue I have noticed to help my pressing. I actively try and rotate my wrist forward, deliberately fighting the weight of the bell on the back of my wrist - not sure if I am making myself clear. I'm not actually bending the wrist but just the act of trying to apply that rotational force seems to activate my arm more, tighten up my shoulder and back and help with the press.

Anyone else noticed similar effects?
 
Heavy day today - hard work.

One cue I have noticed to help my pressing. I actively try and rotate my wrist forward, deliberately fighting the weight of the bell on the back of my wrist - not sure if I am making myself clear. I'm not actually bending the wrist but just the act of trying to apply that rotational force seems to activate my arm more, tighten up my shoulder and back and help with the press.

Anyone else noticed similar effects?
I get a similar effect when I crush the handle.
 
Are you referring to what some people call "goosenecking" ? Having the feeling of curling your wrist so that the clenched fingers move towards the inside of the forearm?

This seems to be somewhat out of favor on these forums, but I found it very helpful for easing pain on my forearm when doing 32kg+ TGU. My wrist ends up not so much bent, but in the position of a classic karate punch, now that I look at it again just now, at the keyboard.
 
Not so much goosenecking as just loading up a bit in that direction - the wrist still stays straight.
 
I'll throw my hat in the ring. Training for the SFG I cert at The Dome April 30th. On week 2 of ROP Proper. Previously completed 9 weeks on a ROP variation/cert prep program by Gary Music. Great program, owned the 24. Feel a little guilty leaving a program that's working, but it's 3-days a week and I want to train 5 days a week.

M Light (24 for snatches)
T Variety (TGUs with 24 and 28, 5x5 Double FS with 24s, and carries)
W Medium (36 for 2H swings - may occasionally do 1H swings with the 28 instead)
T Off
F Heavy (36 for 2H swings)
S Variety (TGUs with 28, Armor Building with 24s, carries)

C+P with 28
Pull-Ups with 16
Original Strength daily
GTG with captain's of crush during the work day on variety or off days.
Nightly foam rolling and theracane use.
Also seeing Dr. Scott Haggerty, an SFG certified sports chiropractor.

My volume on variety days may seem heavy, but I'm training for the cert. I'll re-access the volume if I feel beat up, but week 1 went well. Plan is this for 9-12 weeks, then transition to Brett Jones' Cert Prep sometime between mid January and Feb 1 - want to get at least 12 weeks on that program going into the cert.
 
Graduated to ladders with the 28 kg bell this week.

Which means Easy day today was three singles :) - best feeling ever after the high volume weeks....
 
Yeah I am really close to that too. My 28kg should be here in the next week and this week I should hit 5x1-5 with the 24kg. Looking forward to it myself!
 
I would like some advice regarding programming my ROP press ladders please. I am able to complete 5 ladders of (1,2,3,4,5) with the 32kg and would like to move up to working ladders with the 40. I can press the 40 for multiple singles, but doubles and triples are out of the question at present. Unfortunately the simple solution of purchasing a 36kg bell is out of my financial means so I'm trying to work around this.

Any ideas on how I might structure my heavy/light/medium press days? I am looking for a temporary solution until I am able to do 3 ladders of (1,2,3) with the 40kg and continue the ROP as written. My thoughts are singles with the 40 on my heavy day, with the intention of working towards two- and three-rung ladders, (1,2,3) ladders with the 32kg on my light day, and get-ups and loaded cleans with the 40 on my medium day.

I would greatly appreciate any input from the StrongFirst community :)
 
@Andrew Duncan, try something different - do you have and can you press double 32's? You might try a double kettlebell program for a while, depending on what else you do. (Doubles are more load on the back and don't make a great pairing with a barbell deadlift, e.g.)

You might also do some bottoms-up work with 32 or whatever the heavier bell is you can manage for a set of 5 bottoms-up.

Consider also doing getups and/or windmills and/or bent presses and/or jerks and/or push presses with your 40 kg. And yielding presses with 40 kg.

-S-
 
@Andrew Duncan what Steve said... my question is, what do you mean by, "I am able to complete 5 x (1, 2, 3, 4, 5)"? Can you do this on any day, or did you only do it once or twice now?
 
And today I hit the 5x1,2,3,4,5 with the 24kg easy. Ready for my 28kg to get here. 32kg is a bit much(although I can PRESS IT now which is awesome!)
 
Mike, not that I'm anywhere near it yet but I've wandered about this recently.....how easy is it to press a 32 from 5x5 ladders of a 24? Obviously you just did it but as you are going to a 28 I can infer it to be too big a jump to do ladders but enough to press it. About right?
I'm just on the 20, plan to run the ladders with a 24 and then I was going to get into doubles with a view of possibly doing a cert next year. Early, early days. The 32 is my 1/2 bodyweight press so thinking I may attempt that as a goal first. Makes more sense, fits totally with Dan's screw me up blog but in terms of time, learning more stuff and when and if I go for the cert, I may leave things with the 24. Guess I'll reassess then. Plenty to keep me occupied in the meantime, just curious. Thank you
 
Well I was able to press the 32 or at least finally did a few weeks ago when I go a wild hair to do so. That had been a goal of mine for 2+ years. It was a combination of the ROP and lots of Original Strength Loaded Crawling.
 
@ali

Well, personally, I did the 5x5 with a 24k about a year ago, including pullup ladders with about 15k in a backpack. This became fairly easy, but I was never able to get more than 1 or 2 shaky 32k presses with my stronger arm, and no good ones with my strong arm. It was pretty discouraging.

But! S&S was quite useful: I finished Simple about 7 months ago, then nearly completed the Total Tension protocol, and am working 40k kettlebells into my swings and getup (RL for swings, RLx3 for TGUs). I will probably go back to the ROP and try to get to a 40K press, which would be a bit over 1/2 bodyweight. I did not have a 28 when I first tried ROP, but that sounds feasible. When I did S&S swings and had dialed in the 24, I made a crude "almost 28" by strapping a 8-lb plate onto my 24 bell. What can I say, I'm frugal.
 
Or you can do Stacked Presses but they are hard on the grip. I have a 20+8 that I can use for 28kg but it is harder due to grip.
 
@MikeMoran and @MarkSch, thanks, I'm banking your suggestions for the appropriate time. It is due to my frugality that I want to avoid buying a 28, save the pennies for a 40....if and when the need arises!
 
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