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Old Forum Simple Goal Acheived

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03swing21

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Greetings friends, apologies in advance for the longer post.

So after about two months of 4-6x week S&S training, I managed to conquer the Simple goal today. I did not "own" it by any means and I was quite gassed at the end of the session but it felt great to conquer something I set out to accomplish. One armed swings have always been my weak spot and practicing them with power many times a week has been a great experience. My weight is up about 5 pounds (my diet lacks any real discipline honestly), however my waist is the same size and all my shirts are tighter in the chest and upper back. Physically, my shoulders feel crazy good, with a range of motion I haven't seen before. It's also great mentally for me as I have been prone to "program jumping" before at whatever seems new and novel. Getting back to the basics is great and I highly recommend this program to any level of fitness/kettlebell enthusiast.

Now of course the question...what next? I have read Al Ciampa's article on serious endurance as well as Pavel's path to Sinister, however I just wanted to put the feelers out there and see what everyone thought. For the next 7 weeks, my training parameters are slightly narrow as I am training for a physical event at work (USMC) that is basically a 5 mile pack run over some rough terrain. I am pack running thrice weekly now so I'm thinking dial back down the strength training to 3x week also. Until this event is up, I will probably focus on owning the 32kg and then moving up to the 40kg, which came in the mail just last week. But after that, what is recommended? My goals are continued increased strength and conditioning that carry over to my ability to run, swim, and ruck, while still maintaining some type of readiness for things like PFTs. I have also read Dan John's "Things are Going so Well..." article as well and it is great food for thought and a viable option. Once my pack run is done with, I will be free usually 6 nights a week for an hour to train as I see fit. For what it is worth, my initial thoughts were trying out Pavel's 2+2 formula with some easy endurance training thrown in on the off days, which I read he said was acceptable.

Thanks all for reading and for your great insight. I look forward to everyone's input. Please stay the course with S&S, you will not be disappointed. I promise.
 
03swing21,

I would recommend looking at original strengths goal of leopard crawling for 10 minutes straight.

It is definitely a movement that makes everything else you do better.

And once you start loading it (dragging sleds or chains) it takes it to a different level.

But you may be smart (depending on your particular requirements) to check out this article by Al Ciampa.

http://www.strongfirst.com/hardening-the-soldier-for-combat/
 
Hi Jon, definitely have read that article by Al as well and it is great stuff. He covers crawling in it as well if I remember correctly. I'll have to reread it and put it into context with my typical weekly schedule. A great option no doubt, thanks for your time in responding.
 
Well done,03swing21!

Please review S&S on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Kettlebell-Simple-Sinister-Pavel-Tsatsouline-ebook/dp/B00GF2HP9G/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8
 
if you are ever interested in going back and owning the bell sometime you may find deeper meaning in the program. It's a lot harder than gassing through it, at least for me, and I find myself still developing strength by focusing on owning it. I blew through the 24kg pretty fast and decided to go back and own it. It has really made me settle down and wait for cellular and neural adaptation through practice. Regardless, good job!
 
Pavel, already done Sir. Thank you.

Richard, great advice for sure. I am definitely not planning on moving on to a new program (or up in weight for that matter) until I own the 32kg a bit more. Like you, I blew through the lighter bells, actually starting with the 16kg for get ups. So I was pleased with reaching the Simple standard in 2 months of dedicated effort, but I can shore up my form for sure and will devote these next 2 months to doing so, while training for my aforementioned run at work. After that I may look into trying a new program for a bit.

Back to Pavel for a follow up question. In your 2+2 template, where would S&S fit into that, the strength or the conditioning? I would maybe think it depends of what weight you are using but your input is obviously appreciated. I was thinking when time allows in 2 months, to hit compound barbell work on Monday/Thursday, with S&S or Al Ciampa's swing progression on Tuesday and Friday, with some easy running/swimming/rucking on the other days. And definitely beginning to work crawling into my daily routine as well. Thoughts?
 
03swing21

For the past 6 weeks, I have been following the 2+2 template with compound barbell work on Monday/Thursday and alactic capacity work (as per http://mmafightprep.com/kettlebell-swing-mma-strength-conditioning/) on Tuesday/Friday. It has worked well thus far.
 
03swing21

Your post resonated with me in a number of ways.

This week I reached my goal of being able to do S&S with the 48 for both the swings and the get ups. I'm not at the sinister goal (swings take 7 minutes and get ups 18 minutes) nor am I rushing to get there now that I'm where I want to be. It has taken me 18 months to get here.

I got a bit stuck at the 40 / 44 bells. More by accident than design I decided to depart from S&S and I did the 10000 swing challenge and after that I spent about 8 weeks improving my numbers on weighted pistols and pull ups and KB presses and not doing many swings or get ups. Then a month ago I went back to S&S 3 or 4 times a week and since then have made quite quick and steady progress from my old plateau by consciously holding back a bit on the intensity.

I have found that doing swings on the minute every minute and then gradually reducing rest times (e.g. to swings on the 55 seconds, on the 50 seconds etc) and doing get ups in pairs (L, R) with long rests in between each pair have sped my progress along without overtraining or excessive fatigue. Going too fast got me stuck, having a break and then coming back slowly and gradually has worked very well.

I found the same benefits you mention when I reached the simple goals. Since then, I haven't noticed any real physical change so my weight and physique have stayed the same (not that that is an issue at all). I do feel a lot stronger though and seem to get my breath back quickly after exertion. I've also noticed that S&S maintains my strength on other moves even if I stop doing those other moves.

For me what's next is to go back to the deadlifts to get to my goal of a 200kg lift, to gradually move towards the beast tamer goals and in among all of this to learn to do bent presses, LCCJs and snatches properly to expand my repertoire. I'll still be doing S&S twice a week though.
 
Thanks for the insite David.... I feel like I'm at a plateau also with the 40 and can't seem to break thru. I have started doing swings on the min but have just been going for 15-20 min straight for the swings.

Getups I'm around 12 min with the 40kg.
 
David,

What bell did you use for the 10,000 swing challenge and did you get a lot out of it?
 
Karl

On the 10,000 challenge, I think I started with the 28kg and then slowly moved up to the 40kg during the period and then backed off to the 36 / 32. If I were to do the challenge again I would stick with the 28kg (30% body weight) as I believe that it is the best bell for developing power as opposed to strength. The challenge is hard work and it runs the risk of taking you into overtraining if you use heavier bells. I did 2 days on, 1 day off, not 5 on and 2 off. I also mixed up the order of the rounds (e.g. 10, 50, 15, 25 / 25, 15, 10, 50 etc.).

I got a lot out of the challenge. My grip improved a lot. I became much more familiar with the detailed workings of the swings (e.g. got better at tensing and relaxing and getting the breathing right). The strength exercises I did in between swing rounds helped improve my strength in those moves.

David
 
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