Kettlebell Strength test question?

[vim]

How's it going?
Does anyone know please, when using the GTG method for a exercise, when it comes time for a strength test is the idea to use all the tension and breathing techniques you've been practicing or just to go for as many reps as possible by fair means or foul? What I'm finding is although the tension and breathing practices give me the extra strength needed to grind out say, weighted pull ups or pistols ( between 1-5 reps ), generating the tension tires me out quicker so it's difficult to really rep out. Or does this tiredness become less of a factor as you practice more? Thanks in advance.
Ben.

 

[Steve Freides]

It depends on what your test is, @vim. You called it a "strength" test but it sounds like a rep test from what you're saying. If it's a rep test then you do need to learn to dial down the tension in order to achieve the most repetitions. If you're doing pullups for reps or something similar, you'd want to start with the tension moderately low, just enough for good form, and then save the high tension techniques as a way of squeezing out a few more reps.

There is no substitute for going through this yourself - explanations don't do it justice because it feels different to every person. This is one of the reasons why we teach the idea of being able to adjust your "volume control" at our instructor certifications, and I know it's also something I talk about, albeit relatively briefly, when teaching the kettlebell user course. Your words "dial down the tension" are exactly it.

Or does this tiredness become less of a factor as you practice more?

If you're not tired by the end, then I guess you didn't really max out.

-S-

 

[vim]

Thanks for the advice Steve. I'll give it a try. I'm working from the book The Naked Warrior. In it Pavel says to work an exercise using the GTG method ( in my case pull ups ) but only between 1-5 reps. After a while he suggests a ' strength test " where you see how many reps you can do. I did a month of GTG 1-5 ( which if I'm honest I was fairly casual about ) and then managed a 12 rep total ( which I was pretty happy with....) I'm planning another test at the end of this month but I'm going to weight my practice pull ups with a 16kg bell. Just wondered if I was doing it right?

Thanks again for your reply.
Ben.

 

[Steve Freides]

If you GTG'ed with sets of 1-5 and 12 at your test was a new max, then you did it right!

Pullups, for whatever reasons, seem to play by a few rules of their own, and I couldn't tell you why. We have the Fighter Pullup program which has you pushing yourself much harder than we generally recommend, and that yields good results for people. I've had success doing a near-max set once a week - "near-max" meant I would go for as many reps as I was confident I could make in good form and never missed, but I didn't go "all-out" which would have meant another rep or two.

The "near-max" set once a week helped me learn about manipulating the volume control for higher rep counts. In my case, the goal was 20 dead-hang pullups while holding a 20 lb. dumbbell between my feet. I got 19 reps on my final test day, and my previous near-max was 16 or 17. Doing those weekly sets of 12, 13, 14, etc., reps once a week was very helpful to preparing me for the test.

It sounds like you're doing it well. You might consider starting your own thread in the Training Log section and that would allow others to comment and you to have a permanent, online record of your training.

Whether or not you go for more than 12 reps or switched to weighted is completely up to you and your goals. Personally, I'm with you and prefer to increase my weighted 1RM or at least to increase my max reps with some additional weight.

And just to repeat, when testing, find what works for you, and for most people, that means dialing the volume control back at the beginning, staying calm and getting the job done, and then turning up the tension and intensity as needed to get the final reps.

Hope that helps.

-S-

 

[vim]

Thanks Steve for taking the time to reply. I'll take your advice on board.

Cheers
Ben.