A post I made earlier today got me thinking about the perpetual discussion on weights and progressions to use in S&S. Everyone’s brain works differently and takes in information differently, so I can understand that everyone may have different interpretations of how the program is laid out in Pavel’s books. The following is based on my opinions, interpretations and my personal experiences. If you are just starting out and this helps clarify things, then great. If you totally disagree, and have had totally different experiences than me, then that’s OK too. Feel free to take potshots.
First, for this discussion, I need to classify and categorize “weight”, based on the combination of weights that make up the daily minimum effective dose of 100 swings and 10 get ups done in the context of an S&S session. For instance, a particular person’s “everyday” weight might be 32kg across the board, another person’s “everyday” weight may be 24,28,24,28,24 in swings, but only 24kg on all getups, and so on.
Level-5: Max weight/s
This is your 1 or 2 rep max. Best used for padding your ego and making instagram posts. You can't do an entire session (100 swings & 10 getups) with it. Approach with caution.
Level-4: Challenge weight/s
This is the weight/s where you are capable of doing a whole session (100 swings & 10 getups), but you can't do it all the time. You will need some recovery time. You might be able to do 3 sessions a week. This is where a lot of people want to operate, but they may quickly stall out and then claim its due to boredom or burnout. (Can be used in situations for specialized programming, like Sinister)
Level-3: Everyday weight/s
This is the weight/s where you can do your full session (untimed, talk test, etc), and do it darn near every day. Once your weekly volume is established, you don't get sore or too wore out. If you would happen to throw the talk-test out, and with full exertion, you may or may not be able to hit time standards. If you do, it’s gonna suck bad.
Level-2: Test (or deload) weight/s
This is the weight/s where you can do a successful timed test session at about 85-95% RPE. Not fun but doable every 1-4 weeks. Also, a good weight for untimed, deloading sessions.
Level-1: Owned weight/s
You could hit timed test any or every day of the week if you wanted. Timed test only takes about 70-85% RPE. Timed session of this is great for active recovery.
Weight selection: Again, This is my context of near daily practicing S&S to hit simple or beyond for GPP. (not for specialty Sinister goal.) The S&S program was to be intended as an “easy strength” type program to be used near daily. When using the correct weight levels (I'm suggesting level-3, everyday weight), the daily volume IS NOT VERY HIGH. If you are struggling with getting your daily volume in, you are going too heavy. If you only have 3 days available to exercise, that’s one thing, but if you have more days available but you can only manage 2 or 3 days because you need the recovery, then back off the weight. In the beginning, it will be easier to establish higher frequency (more days a week) when the weight is light. It may suck for a week, but just like Pavel compares it to boot camp, your body will adapt and get used to it. If you’ve already been at the program for a while and you want to increase frequency, then either do it slowly, or back down the weight until your frequency is established.
Deloading/off days: Pavel also puts a lot of emphasis on getting in your daily volume (because it’s not a lot), and he recommends backing down the weight if you’re dragging your tail. It’s better to have a light day, than a day off. But, if you find yourself constantly deloading or taking days off because you’re not feeling it, then you may be trying to go too heavy for your regular sessions.
V1.0 methodology: In V1.0, the program revolved exclusively around level-3 (everyday) weights. You would build up your volume by practicing most days and use the talk test to dictate rest times. Progress was indicated by the quicker recovery between sets of your daily, talk-test driven sessions. Once every week or two, you would push your session and compress your rests to eventually hit test times. When you hit the test times, you started to feed in sets of a heavier bell in your regular sessions. So, in essence, you stuck with your level-3 (everyday) weight until you turned it into your level-2 weight before you started moving up. The goal of the V1.0 program was to progress until you at least made the “simple” weight/s your level-2 weight/s. You would be on the borderline of owning the simple bell.
V2.0 methodology: I can only speculate what drove the changes for V2.0, but I believe one of the reasons was meant to make you stronger in a less strenuous manner. You still focus on performing your level-3 (everyday) weight almost daily using the talk test. To progress, you would use step progressions to slowly inch up your level 3 weights. When you progressed to the “simple” sized bell as your level-3 weight, you can start using “do but die” test sessions using your level-1 weight once a week. So, then the goal of V2.0 would be to progress your level-3 weight until you get your level-1 test weight to the simple level. At that point, you would fully own the simple size bell. So naturally, achieving the simple timed standard using V2.0 methodology can yield a higher level-3 weight/strength than using V1.0
Differences: This comparisons between V1.0 & V2.0 are generalizations and do not detail the intricacies of all the changes between the different versions. Each version has its own advantages. V1.0 is the most minimalistic in terms of instructions and number of bells needed to hit a specific timed target. V2.0 methodology has more layers of instruction, and more bells will be needed to practice regularly between the level-1(fast) and level-3(working) sessions. For instance, if simple time standard is goal, you will need heavier bells than simple to achieve the standard.
The pursuit of "timeless": It seems like many people are doing the S&S V2.0 to chase some “timeless” weight exclusively, and in doing so, miss out on many benefits of the program including total strength and hitting all 3 energy systems of the body. For instance, if you’re a guy with the main goal to hit “timeless” with 40kg, (this may become your level-4 weight) you aren’t guaranteed to ever hitting the simple goal (timed w/32kg) and it would be a daunting task to try if you have little or no glycolytic conditioning or good recovery breathing. You might be kind of like the power lifter who gets winded from going up a couple flight of stairs (well probably not, but you get the picture). To keep the program balanced and in the realm of GPP, I would suggest taking up your weekly “die but do” sessions as soon as you can, while the weights are light. They don’t get any easier. For all you frog leg connoisseurs, S&S testing is like boiling a bullfrog. You can’t throw a bullfrog in boiling water because it will jump back out. You have to put him in some luke warm water and then heat it up slow and steady. Anyway, now I’m hungry, and it’s about lunch time, so I’ll end this posting here.
These are my opinions. If I botched something or totally misrepresented something feel free to comment. Most of you aren’t shy about it. I am also not the most eloquent person when it comes to writing, so feel free to jump in to help clarify.
Hope this helps, if not, please disregard