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Kettlebell S&S zombies

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I mean absolutely no disrespect at all in regards to the title of my post. In actuality anyone who stays the course and can do it day in and day out, you have my utmost respect. The past few days I've been dragging and losing interest. Today, I hit the wall. There's no denying it works, but i need some variety. Maybe it has to do with getting up at 330am to do it, I don't know. I got through the goblet squats and halos (barely) and that was it. Mental and physical fog. I lost all will and drive. During my long drive to work this morning I came up with three options. 1. Intersperse the strength aerobics as per Pavels suggestion. 2. Alternate with the push press, also Pavels idea. 3. Just take a complete break and maybe just go for a walk first thing in the morning before work. I thought about alternating with the armour building complex, but since I'm doing deadlifts after work, I don't want to push too much too hard
 
As a former strict adherent to S&S, I would say that if you need some variety to keep your training fresh, then add some variety. I completely understand how someone could become bored quickly by only following S&S, but for me, I love the simplicity, and I love the benefits it has provided me.

For me personally, I wanted to increase my pressing ability so I started doing S&S three days a week, interspersed with pressing days (5 days total work). At the beginning of this year I ran Dry Fighting Weight, made some good press gains and went back to S&S, but started waving the loads more. This week I just started "The Plan" from the SF Kettlebell course manual, I plan to run this until June and will then jump back to an S&S centric plan. I am attending the All Terrain Conditioning course in June, so I am holding off on starting anything else new until complete that and gain a new block of knowledge/information.

Bottom line, do what works for you, but stick with proven Strong First methodologies and you should be fine. Better to change things up than to burn out and quit training.
 
Waking up at 3.30 every day is no joke. By the end of S&S I needed a break mostly from having to train every single day. I did it for more than 2 years.

If you are waking up at 3.30 that tells me that having 40 minutes straight for the program doesn't come for free in your case. During these 2 years I have modified the program in many ways to suit my needs. I reduced TGU frequency to 3-4 a week, did GTG swings and so on. It worked very well for me and helped me keep going.

You can analyze how to adapt the program to suit your needs or you can always do some other good program.

Best of luck
 
Changing rep schemes helped me. 10*10, 20*5, 5*2,3,5,10.... Or I would sometimes alternate squat types, ballistic types (2H & 1H Swings, Cleans & Snatches) and Carry/Press (TGU, Press, Bent Press, Farmer Carry).

Or because I enjoy 6 days / week, sometimes I feel the need for load variety (for body & mind) so I use the dice variability. 1=16kg Snatches. 2=24kg 1 Hand Swings. 3=24kg Snatch. 4=32kg 2 Hand Swing. 5=32kg 1 Hand Swing. 6=40kg 2 Hand Swings.
Simplify your Strength Programming Using Die-Rolled Variability | StrongFirst

Not by-the-book but at least allowed me to continue with same-but-different. I'm not a routine guy, so I do get bored & want to do other stuff. But then I also get pulled back to it as well....
 
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Do something different! 4-6 weeks of bodyweight only, master some new skills (my personal recommendation is the GetStrong program by the Kavadlo brothers). Or 4-6 weeks of barbells, the strong first reload prog works pretty nicely. Maybe even an endurance block.

Training isn’t always fun but you can do what you can to make it better.
 
Fellow Zombie here.
What are your goals? long-term & short term? It would be hard to stay motivated if:
* you have no particular goal
* you have a goal, but you're not enthusiastic about the reasons for reaching it.
* you have a goal, but you don't have much confidence you'll reach it.

Once you have a goal that excites you, and you have confidence you'll reach, it will be much easier to get yourself to act, or to make necessary adjustments to keep going, whether its diet, sleep, programming, deloading, frequency etc.

It also helps to have short term or weekly goals to push progression to your final goal. It's easy to lose your motivation when you don't see some type of progress.

Good Luck!
 
Pavel gave several awesome options that include a lot of variety (it's a great article).
Excerpt from:
The Cost of Adaptation | StrongFirst

"Options That Blend Strength and Health

Train for and compete in raw drug-free powerlifting — without attempting to max your muscle mass. It is fact that to be competitive internationally a six-footer has to be a super-heavyweight. Obviously, pushing your bodyweight to 300 is going to carry a high adaptation price sticker.

Learn the lifting basics at a one-day StrongFirst Lifter Course. Find reliable training partners and hit the platform.

Do not forget to address your other qualities, such as flexibility and endurance. Two days a week do the S&S regimen. Do some mobility and stretching almost every day. Last but not least, live an active outdoor life — hike, swim, play tennis, etc. In moderation! Running from rim to rim of the Grand Canyon is going to exact an adaptation price from your powerlifting and your health.

Study a martial art. Take classes three to five times a week. Enjoy what you learn without ambitions to become a champion or a grandmaster. Do “easy strength” type training with a barbell three times a week. Take yoga classes on the nights you do not fight. Start “tempering” with cold water. And do not forget the outdoors.

Become a student of bodyweight strength Learn the basics of tension and linkage at a one-day StrongFirst Bodyweight Course. Master the basics. Reach the “simple” goals like the one-arm-one-leg push-up. Then set your sights a little higher, e.g. the front lever and free handstands.

Almost every day do the S&S swing regimen to give power and conditioning to your lower body and back. Do get-ups twice a week. Get serious about stretching and slowly work your way to full splits.

As with the other two options, outdoor activities are not negotiable."
 
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I'm with @Bro Mo here - having some occasional stakes in the ground where you measure yourself not only keeps you sane, it informs where & when to change your training. I don't run as fast as I like, I should work on that for a while. I don't press as must as I like, I should work on that for a while.

But, for those who are truly goalless - then the adage is, if you don't know where you're going, all roads lead there. And that's not a bad thing! It means when you feel the mental fatigue, you are free to try whatever you want. Just commit to whatever it is for some number of weeks before reevaluating what to do next - the only risk, I'd say, is completely losing focus. Try whatever sounds like fun, Pavel will smile on you regardless.
 
Use the qualities you have developed doing S&S to tackle some other mode or strategy for a month or two.

Good programs/routines will always draw you back, and should always be keeping you fresh and ready for other challenges.
 
I try and sneak a nap in when I can. If I get to work early I catch a nap and at lunch too since I only eat at night.
As for goals. Strength, living, and the usual two cliches muscle and looking good naked.
 
As I understand it, S&S was never intended to be the only thing you do but something that you could do in addition to anything else you were doing. Simply doing it four times a week with two other days for pressing, bodyweight, or whatever focus you had would seem to be a solution. Or three and three or three and two or whatever.

Sleep more definitely. Unless you are going to bed at 8:30 pm, you can't possibly be getting enough sleep, especially for someone who is physically active. Richard Smith: Why We Sleep—one of those rare books that changes your worldview and should change society and medicine - The BMJ

The advice to have a goal is good even if it is just a focus like "increase press." I take an approach with different goals for different seasons of the year. For example, winter for deadlift when I have less work and don't want to diet. Spring and Summer for energy systems and bodyweight/martial arts/kettlbell endurance, weight control, getting outside.
 
Great suggestions so far. I always enjoyed S&S most on an A/B format and would abbreviate sessions if pinched for time. I’d often do pressing on alternate days. These days I’d opt to snatch as my B session instead. Better yet, walking or running. Possibly even better still, nothing at all - you may just need a deload and some extra sleep.

If time in the morning is an issue, I always found getting ready to leave between sets to work really well. I’d do a set, brush my teeth, do a set pick out my clothes, do a set, shave, etc. Not ideal, but it reduces your time “cost” to little more than the total time the bell is in your hand.
 
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