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Kettlebell Some WTHs from Hardstyle Kettlebell training

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LoneRider

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I've been using a blend of barbell work and Hardstyle kettlebell training (my exact program described here) since January of this year. Initially my Hardstyle kettlebell work was built around Simple and Sinister only but given the US Army sent me to Korea for five months (and our gym there didn't have kettlebells in the weights that supported S&S) I had to adapt.

What I wound up doing was going back into the original RKC book, The Russian Kettlebell Challenge: Xtreme Training for Hard Living Comrades where some programs built around the clean and jerk, snatch, and long cycle clean and jerk are resident. I used those three movements at 35 lbs (and later 40 lbs) for the five months in Korea. Mostly I did 2x KB clean and jerks and long cycles.

When I returned to Hawaii about two weeks ago I went back into Simple and Sinister done 2x/week (starting all over again at 5x10 swings and moving to 7x10 swings next week at 24 KG). I tried getups at 24 KG (before I left for Korea I was at 10x1 @ 24 KG and even got a few reps in at 32 KG).

It was on Saturday, 1 November 2015, that I encountered the first of many WTHs resulting from several months of hardstyle kettlebell training. In the last couple weeks here are some WTHs I've noticed:

  • At said 1 November session I noticed the following things:
    • My 50x two handed swings at 24KG felt very fluid, almost easy. I attribute this to the fact that even at the lightest 2x KB clean and jerk and long cycle I was basically double swinging 70 lbs worth of kettlebells for reps.
    • For my get-ups I was able to still do my 10x1 at 24KG.
  • Yesterday I went to do a 5K called the Color Run (basically run 5K and get doused with colored dust) with a friend of mine. Having done some heavy duty squats the day before I told her I was just gonna jog easy and slow. I surprised myself with how swiftly I took off and the pace I maintained. While it wasn't anything I'd call record breaking, the quality of the run felt fairly swift.
  • I pulled off 10 reps when I tested the two kettlebell clean and jerk with 2x 24 KG bells and 11 reps per arm with the snatch at 24 KG last Tuesday.
  • Last Thursday I knocked off nine reps for the two kettlebell long cycle at 24 KG.
I'm definitely interested to see what other improvements returning to S&S brings me for the remainder of this year and into next year.

I'm seeing that Hardstyle KB training is quite beneficial to me because it covers an 'in between-ness' that heavy barbell lifts don't quite hit.

I'm now quite curious to see how progress in the Turkish getup, for one, will help my barbell Olympic Lifts (I've already seen how it's helped my press and bench press training). I figure its 'armor building' for the shoulder girdle will be nothing but beneficial for the Olympic lifts.
 
LoneRider, That's cool! I will say this, anytime I have done anything involving the clean and jerk with double bells, everything else improves. I know there are some that say long cycles don't improve your press but I humbly will say that anytime I have focused on them, my press improves as does my overall conditioning.
 
Bill Been said:
Double jerks are the most beneficial exercise that nobody does.
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I don't think they're terribly difficult to learn, either. Granted, I came to kettlebells after practicing olympic weightlifting recreationally, but once you can press, you can probably push-press. Once you can push-press comfortably, you can probably jerk. I actually struggle with push-press now because I end up jerking. There are some timing nuances, but they came to me pretty naturally. I'm learning to get my legs involved more, but that seems to tax my lunges more than it's helping my shoulders at this point. We do a 10 minute set of jerks and a 10 minute set of snatches 2x/week.
 
You could do it a number of ways.
  1. Once you're warm, you could simply practice the movement for a until you're comfortable with it.

  2. In class we do 10 minute blocks of time, as many sets as possible going at our own pace. Every two weeks we add another rep. This week looked like as many sets of 10 as possible in 10 minutes.

  3. Another approach could be 10 sets of 5 or 6 reps, decreasing rest periods every week, starting with a generous rest period, and decreasing by 10 seconds every week for 8-12 weeks.

  4. You could do an on the minute approach for X number of minutes, adding a rep every week or every other week once your progress starts slowing. Week one 4 reps on the minute for 5 minutes. Week two, 5 reps. Week three, 6 reps.

  5. In an email last week, Geoff Neupert described this:
Grab a pair of kettlebells and do multiple sets of Clean + Presses.

Take no more than 30 minutes, 3 x a week . . .

What kind of sets and reps?

You want the perfect blend so you can build up some muscle along with your strength and something that will build your conditioning levels up at the same time. That’s why I recommend a rep range of 3 to 6. Your rest will be just enough to keep your heart rate up while allowing you to complete your reps.
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SG, Geoff also has developed programs around the LCCJ or the clean and push press which he describes in a couple of his works, based upon certain repetition maximums. Pavel' s ladders in ROTK are excellent too.

Right now I am concentrating on a C&P program but when completed would like to try another LCCJ program. It really does cover a lot of bases at once.
 
I can vouch for the power of long cycle to create physical adaptations, even with light weights. After a series of minor injuries, I reverted from the 24k double long cycle to the 12k's, then 14k's, and now 16k's. I train GS, rather than Hardstyle. I just worked up to triple digits (102 reps) in 10 minute set. The video is here:

Timed sets of clean and jerks, a la the original RKC book, have been the focus of my training. I have not been this lean, fit, or energetic in years. At 38, I'm literally in the best shape of my life.
 
Good stuff, Steve! Thanks for sharing.

What is your heart rate like during a 10 minutes such as this?
 
Thanks! I don't run an HR monitor during my sets. After my sets, I usually take my pulse for 10 seconds and multiply by 6 for a rough heart rate. A set like this usually pushes into the 190 range. This was a max set. I accomplished it after training a lot of sets of 100 with 2x 12k and 2x14k, and sets of 50 with 2x16k.
 
Anna, I personally self-regulate based on what I want out of the set. I usually try to stay in the upper-aerobic zone. On an all-out set, I'm seeing stars by the end.
 
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