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Attempting GTG swings today, due to limited time to practice this evening. Had a search through the forum for this and I'm now trying to ignore the threads about combining GTG pressing with S&S. Need to stay focused.
 
Completed a second week with the 16kg kettlebell. I'm now doing warmups with a 12kg bell.

After filming my practice this week, I've noticed some rounding of my lower back during the goblet squats (buttwink!). So I've reduced the depth a little and increased my focus on form.

With talk of loosening of restrictions here I'm aware of a promise to take my son to the gym with me when it reopens. So I need to find a way of incorporating 2-3 days of gym work with my S&S practice. I'm tempted to try some treadmill running, although I haven't run for a few years now. Maybe a treadmill version of Couch to 5k would be light enough to add to S&S.

Another option is switching to ROP and including 2 days of pttp deadlifts as variety days.

This is probably still a few months away here though.
 
Only managed 3 days this week. After Wednesday's two handed swing day I woke up with what felt like DOMS in my lower back and 'glutes'. Although I'm pretty sure its muscle soreness, maybe I overdid it on the two handed swings - I remember the bell coming to head height on all the swings, I'm aware that I shouldn't be feeling it in my lower back. After seeing my goblets squats on film last week its clear that my hip mobility isn't where it probably should be.

So I need to take a few days to let it ease anyway, but I need to think more about what I'm doing. At the very least I'm going to switch out the goblet squats for the face the wall squats from ETK because I find it difficult to judge the depth of my squats without my back rounding. Face the wall squats seem to stop that from happening. So I'll probably stick to those until my mobility improves enough to go back to goblet squats.

I'd managed to do two weeks, 10 workouts, using the 16kg exclusively but maybe this is some sort of accumulated fatigue. Maybe switching back to the 12 and introducing the 16 in two week steps is a better idea.

I've got a few days to feel sorry for myself and lick my wounds now though!
 
I'd managed to do two weeks, 10 workouts, using the 16kg exclusively but maybe this is some sort of accumulated fatigue.
That's awesome! Think about it. You are moving 33% more weight and more often than just a few weeks ago. Really good progress.
Maybe switching back to the 12 and introducing the 16 in two week steps is a better idea.
You definitely need to listen to your body, but remember the standard program has a provision for waving the load. Every second or third session you should do two-handed swings. I would also recommend cutting the weight for the get-ups on those sessions and really focusing on technique. But however you decide to manage the fatigue, keep the program going. Consistency is by far the most important thing.
 
One week later and its still not good. Pain seems more localised but mobility is still terrible. I'm going to do two week blocks of GTG push-ups and chin-ups because that's about all I can do, assessing after each two week block. I'm also walking in the evening when I can.

Before this, my weekly schedule with the 16kg bell had been one handed swings on Mon, Tue, Thu & Fri, two handed swings on Wed. Sat & Sun as rest days with more walking.

Full disclosure, on the third week I had done one handed swings on Mon & Tue with a 10 minute run after each because I was feeling so good :) On Wednesday I did two handed swings and then Thursday morning I woke up with a problem. I'm still confident that its a muscular problem and nothing more serious. Logic says that after two weeks without problems, introducing the runs was what caused it. I'm still nervous about swings though because the problem is right where the swings would hit me - right at the bottom of my back and my butt.

So now I'm (over)thinking my options for when I start again (for a while, one option was cashing in on the price kettlebells are selling for on ebay!). I could just start again with the 16kg bell and avoid adding any runs. I could also ease into it with the program minimum from enter the kettlebell and then ramp it up with Swings and Get Ups 4 times a week and then back to five times a week.

I've also been looking at Geoff Neupert's Strength Shortcuts 2.0 but this is probably the kind of thing that's better to do after I've achieved Simple.

Thanks again for the encouragement everyone.
 
Stay focused and commited. Its so easy to start looking elsewhere as there are billion programs out there. If you experience lower back pain, its most likely something in your form that needs some adjustment. Maybe you are hyperextending in the lower back... ? There are lots of people who are willing to give you feedback if you post a video, or contact SF instructor to visit.

Its a journey. The good thing about S&S is you have only couple of exercises to work on and really polish the form. Dont add other exercises on top of S&S that require a lot of recovery time. Original strength resets for example are something that goes very well together with S&S and might help you with movement issues you might have. Such as ”rocking” for example. Might want to check that out, but I really recommend you to take S&S and find out what you need to do to get better at that program, not to look for another one.
 
Here I am a few months later. Lots of walking, some swimming and a lot of time at the chiropractor and I've just done my first S&S session again. I've gone back to the 12kg bell and I'm going to progress from there according to the 2.0 book.
 
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