Old Forum Setting Strength Goals for starters

[April]

Hi, I have recently been concerned with my body strength. Before I've always been thinking of enjoying my work outs and activities without really thinking of principles, sets and repetitions, etc.  Now I really want to be strong and maintain it. I have access to almost all sorts of facilities in the gym I'm a member of.

But I do not know exactly how to set goals that I can find out my improvement in the process. It is my body mass, or weight or ...?

 

Thanks for the clues

 

[DM 1234]

Hi April,

You may set multiple levels of goals, which may be a vision + smaller goals... these can then help you choose the correct program to track progress and achieve those goals in a measurable way.

For example, my overall goal/vision is "Get as strong as I can". My mid-2014 goal was press a pair of 24kg bells for 5 strict presses, my end-2014 goal was to "really own" pressing the 24kg pair for 5 reps (so I should be able to do it any time). My mid-2015 goal is to achieve the "simple" goal of Simple & Sinister and end of 2015 is to press a pair of 32kg for at least 3 reps.

I then look at which programs will help me achieve these goals.

Hope this helps.

 

[Anna C]

Hi April, sounds like you have a good goal already, to "be strong and maintain it"!  You've taken a good step out of mainstream fitness, and into what actually works.   I say this from my own experience.

So where are you currently in terms of kettlebell skills - do you do swings, cleans, presses, squats, snatches, deadlifts, windmills, any of the above?  If so what are typical size bells?  Bodyweight exercises are also great for being strong...  How are your push-ups, pull-ups, squats?  How about barbell skills/weights?  And importantly, what do you enjoy doing for exercise?

 

[morrisda]

Look up Dan John Standards.  He has 2 sets he uses or has developed, one for His High School athletes (goys and girls) and another set more alined with movements.

 

 

 

[ahri22]

Have you read Simple and Sinister? In it Pavel outlines both "simple" and "sinister" goals for women as well as men. (Mind you, that's just in the one armed kettlebell swing and Turkish getup, but these skills will obviously translate to overall strength).

It's hard to say what you should aim for initially without knowing what you can already do, however. It's also pretty hard to put a definite "date" on goals, because everyone does progress at their own rate.

(I'm no expert as I only started kettlebell stuff a couple of weeks ago! But I'm pleased to be seeing progress already).

 

 

[Al Ciampa]

April,

Answer Anna's questions.

You said that you are concerned with body strength, so, this is your goal.  Practice creating high levels of full body tension, at will.  Practice posturing properly under this tension.  Practice moving into different postures with control and grace.  This is motor skill training.  Now, load it up... this is strength training.  The progression will not occur as fast as you can read this, however.

Your measuring stick is the number on your tool of choice that you can position properly with - period.

So, do your get ups and swings, and what have you with a focus on the above in that order of importance.  Reign in the loading until your move elegantly, then, slowly increase.  Follow you strength as it grows.  Report back in 6 months.

 

[Steve Freides]

April, read.  There is a ton of good stuff out there, much of it written by our Chairman, Pavel.  You will see how programs work, how they figure out where to start and what sort of goals to give yourself both short- and long-term.   Recommended first read is Pavel's most recent, "Kettlebell Simple & Sinister," but "Enter the Kettlebell" and "Power To the People!" - and many others - are great, inspiring reads on the subject of strength.

Your goals don't have to always be numbers.  E.g., a goal can be to make a certain activity easier.  That can be getting up out of a chair or it can be mastering a specific combination of weight and movement, e.g., someone wanting to "own" a 24 kg kettlebell swing as opposed to just being able to do it.  Maybe you want to do your first pullup?

What tickles your fancy?  What things can you not do now that you'd like to be able to do?  You won't necessarily start by doing the thing you want to end up doing, but that's a great way to set a long-term goal.  The world is your oyster - you needn't pick a goal based on a formula.  You can, but you needn't.

-S-

 

[Mike E]

Hard to beat this starting point article by Pavel:  http://www.strongfirst.com/the-cost-of-adaptation/