Kettlebell S & S variation

[jhpowers]

Hi,
So, I've embarked on S & S for the second time in my life. After reading V2 of the book, Im focusing on trying to get 5-6 workouts per week. I did it when the book first came out but only trained 3-4x per week. I'm finding that the near daily workouts are an endurance adaptation (I used to workout 3 days per week) and I've got a fair amount more fatigue.

My concern is that as I look forward there will be times of the year where I need to reduce the frequency of training for a period of several months. I'm concerned that a#@ I build up to higher weights it will be harder to go back and forth with training frequency. Does anybody else have experience with S & S and seasonal variations in workout frequency.

 

[masa]

I have experienced seasonal variations. Try to get past Timeless Simple and frequency reduction is then recommended anyway.

 

[North]

The nice thing about S&S is that it adapts to a hectic lifestyle. In the early stages doing it almost daily will help you progress. If you have weeks where you only do it twice/thrice a week your progress will stall, but you should be able to maintain ground.

 

[North]

I should edit above that my job frequently leaves me with 2 week stretches that limit my ability to workout. I haven’t had to go months on a reduced schedule...

 

[Bauer]

Hi,
So, I've embarked on S & S for the second time in my life. After reading V2 of the book, Im focusing on trying to get 5-6 workouts per week. I did it when the book first came out but only trained 3-4x per week. I'm finding that the near daily workouts are an endurance adaptation (I used to workout 3 days per week) and I've got a fair amount more fatigue.

My concern is that as I look forward there will be times of the year where I need to reduce the frequency of training for a period of several months. I'm concerned that a#@ I build up to higher weights it will be harder to go back and forth with training frequency. Does anybody else have experience with S & S and seasonal variations in workout frequency.

I would not worry too much about it. Most of Pavel's plans feature only 2-3 ballistic sessions per week (ROP, Program Minimum, Vodka and Pickles, Total Package, ETK+, Q&D, Occam's Razor, the Men's Health plan, Long Rests plan...). I am currently progressing just fine with about 300 reps per week split over 4 sessions.

Focus on quality reps and explosiveness and do what you can.

 

[Don Fairbanks]

Hi,
So, I've embarked on S & S for the second time in my life. After reading V2 of the book, Im focusing on trying to get 5-6 workouts per week. I did it when the book first came out but only trained 3-4x per week. I'm finding that the near daily workouts are an endurance adaptation (I used to workout 3 days per week) and I've got a fair amount more fatigue.

My concern is that as I look forward there will be times of the year where I need to reduce the frequency of training for a period of several months. I'm concerned that a#@ I build up to higher weights it will be harder to go back and forth with training frequency. Does anybody else have experience with S & S and seasonal variations in workout frequency.

I'm guessing S&S once a week and staying active on the others days would keep you squared away for a good bit.

 

[Manuel Fortin]

I'm guessing S&S once a week and staying active on the others days would keep you squared away for a good bit.

This is my experience at least with A+A snatching. This is not exactly S&S, but it is a similar type program. Last summer I mostly played tennis (4-6 times a week, but a lot of it was drills, with usually only one or two hours of competition a week) and only snatched when I could. That means once every 7-14 days. No other kettlebell training was done except for maybe the occasional getup or carries. After 5 months of this, I was stronger than when I started. Of course, endurance for the longer A+A sessions was not quite there as my snatch sessions were usually on the short side, but it came back very quickly and within a month I was doing 100 snatches Q&D sessions, and over the winter, I broke my record for longest snatch session with 32 kg.

So far, after a bit more than 1 month of tennis, I would say that this is still working this summer. I do mostly Q&D now, but I have the same effect. I do one 3 or 4 cycles session a week with the 32 kg or one session that is more strength oriented, trying to build my ability to do many repeats with the 40. My strength is still going up and the Q&D sessions seem a bit easier.

I would say that this type of training is really amenable to seasonality. Of course, when you don't move kettlebells around, you preferably need to move. Sitting on the couch playing video games will probably not help you. If equipment availability is a problem, a bit of running and pushups a few times a week may be all you need to maintain S&S or even still progress if you can practice with kettlebells once in a while.

 

[watchnerd]

I've found I can swap in KB swings with barbell hinges/pulls (deadlifts of different flavors, cleans, clean pulls) with no meaningful loss of progress on the KB swing side.

It might take me a week of re-practice for the motor memory to kick back in.

I strength train 3x a week, usually with a mix of kettlebell, barbell, and bodyweight modalities.

It doesn't seem to hurt my S&S progress.

 

[watchnerd]

I am currently progressing just fine with about 300 reps per week split over 4 sessions.

Focus on quality reps and explosiveness amd do what you can.

I've always felt that, following the standard 10 x 10 scheme of the book, my sets 8-10 were less good than sets 1-7.

Not bad or truly sloppy, but definitely not as snappy nor with as much peak tension.

Diminishing returns, as it were.

 

[mikhael]

As @masa wrote

Try to get past Timeless Simple and frequency reduction is then recommended anyway.

After that you will have many options, just refer to what @Bauer wrote above.