Jason Paul
Level 3 Valued Member
Since this seems to be the "main" S&S results thread, I figured I'd post here. Sorry for the length.
A little background; my personal/home life is a train wreck right now, so I haven't been able to follow S&S to the letter. I started about six weeks ago, but workouts have been sporadic - and my log shows only 11 actual workouts. That said, I can see this is working well for me, and I hope to get closer to daily workouts.
Before S&S, I was on the PM from ETK. My TGU was 2-3 reps with the 24kg, and the remaining 2-3 (sometimes more) with the 16kg. For swings, I was doing clusters of (10, 15, 25) for 3-5 cycles, so 150-250 reps total, with the 24kg, all 2-handed. I was actually doing both the TGU and swings in the same workout, 2-3 times per week.
Also, My calories have been low for the past couple of months - partly on purpose (losing some fat), and partly because of stress (low appetite). I'm not overweight, but have lost about eight pounds since starting S&S (currently about 153 at 5'10"). I plan to bump the calories up and try to slowly build some muscle and minimize fat.
I started S&S using the 16kg for both drills, and pretty easily met the time goals (5 mins/100 1-hand swings, 10 mins/5 TGUs per side). I did this twice, and moved the swing up to 2-hand swings with the 24kg. About two weeks ago I started trickling the 24kg into the TGUs.
Some results / observations:
Swings:
When I started using the 24kg for swings, they were all 2-handed. After a couple of sessions, I started doing 5L/5R, because my grip wouldn't allow me 10 reps per side. Each workout I would bump it a little (7L/7R). I slowly worked up to 10L/10R mixed in with 2-hand swings.
Last night I had my first night of all 1-hand swings, for all 100 reps. Just 11 workouts ago, I couldn't comfortably even get a full 10 reps with one hand. Now, I can do all 10 sets with one hand.
Getup:
As I mentioned, I started using only the 16 for TGUs. I have slowly mixed in the 24kg, and last night my TGU workout was 16,24,24,24,16, so I used the 24kg for three reps.
I'm pretty happy with this progress, though it's nothing spectacular. Keep in mind I'm almost 43, have really only had 11 workouts, and have lost eight pounds - and my progress in both drills is positive, despite my home stress and the weight loss.
I have lost weight (lowered calories too). My waist has shrunk and I had to get new jeans (waist size from 34" to 31"). My shoulders look wider (narrower waist helps) and more muscular, although I'm sure they're actually smaller due to the weight loss. Also my abs/obliques feel significantly harder/denser.
Overall I'm very happy with my progress, and hope to get closer to 5-6 days a week from here on out.
I have always had a hard time making progress in my workouts. Presses have always been weak, I think partly due to a childhood shoulder injury. My legs have always been strongest, and my best (from memory) was 185 for 20 reps, or 255 for 5 reps. Still not particularly strong. I've never pressed over 100 pounds (barbell), benched maybe 135. I worked out for years and never really looked much different, or got much stronger.
I think this is working well for me (at least for now) because there are only two drills, I can do both of them without pain, and it takes less than 30 minutes. Also, limiting the swings to 10 reps feels better than trying to crank out sets of 25. And doing swings 1-handed adds another element entirely.
A little background; my personal/home life is a train wreck right now, so I haven't been able to follow S&S to the letter. I started about six weeks ago, but workouts have been sporadic - and my log shows only 11 actual workouts. That said, I can see this is working well for me, and I hope to get closer to daily workouts.
Before S&S, I was on the PM from ETK. My TGU was 2-3 reps with the 24kg, and the remaining 2-3 (sometimes more) with the 16kg. For swings, I was doing clusters of (10, 15, 25) for 3-5 cycles, so 150-250 reps total, with the 24kg, all 2-handed. I was actually doing both the TGU and swings in the same workout, 2-3 times per week.
Also, My calories have been low for the past couple of months - partly on purpose (losing some fat), and partly because of stress (low appetite). I'm not overweight, but have lost about eight pounds since starting S&S (currently about 153 at 5'10"). I plan to bump the calories up and try to slowly build some muscle and minimize fat.
I started S&S using the 16kg for both drills, and pretty easily met the time goals (5 mins/100 1-hand swings, 10 mins/5 TGUs per side). I did this twice, and moved the swing up to 2-hand swings with the 24kg. About two weeks ago I started trickling the 24kg into the TGUs.
Some results / observations:
Swings:
When I started using the 24kg for swings, they were all 2-handed. After a couple of sessions, I started doing 5L/5R, because my grip wouldn't allow me 10 reps per side. Each workout I would bump it a little (7L/7R). I slowly worked up to 10L/10R mixed in with 2-hand swings.
Last night I had my first night of all 1-hand swings, for all 100 reps. Just 11 workouts ago, I couldn't comfortably even get a full 10 reps with one hand. Now, I can do all 10 sets with one hand.
Getup:
As I mentioned, I started using only the 16 for TGUs. I have slowly mixed in the 24kg, and last night my TGU workout was 16,24,24,24,16, so I used the 24kg for three reps.
I'm pretty happy with this progress, though it's nothing spectacular. Keep in mind I'm almost 43, have really only had 11 workouts, and have lost eight pounds - and my progress in both drills is positive, despite my home stress and the weight loss.
I have lost weight (lowered calories too). My waist has shrunk and I had to get new jeans (waist size from 34" to 31"). My shoulders look wider (narrower waist helps) and more muscular, although I'm sure they're actually smaller due to the weight loss. Also my abs/obliques feel significantly harder/denser.
Overall I'm very happy with my progress, and hope to get closer to 5-6 days a week from here on out.
I have always had a hard time making progress in my workouts. Presses have always been weak, I think partly due to a childhood shoulder injury. My legs have always been strongest, and my best (from memory) was 185 for 20 reps, or 255 for 5 reps. Still not particularly strong. I've never pressed over 100 pounds (barbell), benched maybe 135. I worked out for years and never really looked much different, or got much stronger.
I think this is working well for me (at least for now) because there are only two drills, I can do both of them without pain, and it takes less than 30 minutes. Also, limiting the swings to 10 reps feels better than trying to crank out sets of 25. And doing swings 1-handed adds another element entirely.