patrudaz
Level 2 Valued Member
Hi,
After initially starting out doing S&S for the first couple of years of kettlebell training and relatively easily achieving "Simple", I decided to take a step back and give myself a better foundation with ETK, since my pressing was not particularly impressive. So since the beginning of this year I started the ETK protocol, with a 24kg bell. After several months of 5 ladders with pull-ups and after 2 or 3 testing days, I was able to finally press the 32kg 3 times. So I thought it may be time to start doing ETK with the 32kg and started with singles and only 3 ladders, building up to 1,2,3 reps on my heavy day.
I was really happy with this progress as when I started the program, there was no way I could press the 32. But, I seem to have got stuck for the last couple of months , where 3 ladders of 1,2,3 seems to be my absolute max I can manage at the moment. The third set is a real struggle to get to 3 reps.
So my question is, should I revert to the 24kg and keep grinding with 5 ladders? Or should I persevere with the 32kg as I am? It is having a psychological impact on me when, on my heavy day, I may not be feeling up for it. Should I play around with number of reps, for example: 1,2,1 or 1,2,2 instead, in order to maintain a decent amount of volume?
FYI - I'm 52 and used to row at international level when younger. Even back then, I would not consider myself to have ever been on any proper strength regimen, although of course we used to do a lot of circuits and some heavy barbel lifting (cleans, squats mainly) but without proper instruction. I know how to push myself hard, but I am more interested in long term gains the right way rather than banging my head against a brick wall, if that makes sense?
Many thanks in advance for any advice or comments.
After initially starting out doing S&S for the first couple of years of kettlebell training and relatively easily achieving "Simple", I decided to take a step back and give myself a better foundation with ETK, since my pressing was not particularly impressive. So since the beginning of this year I started the ETK protocol, with a 24kg bell. After several months of 5 ladders with pull-ups and after 2 or 3 testing days, I was able to finally press the 32kg 3 times. So I thought it may be time to start doing ETK with the 32kg and started with singles and only 3 ladders, building up to 1,2,3 reps on my heavy day.
I was really happy with this progress as when I started the program, there was no way I could press the 32. But, I seem to have got stuck for the last couple of months , where 3 ladders of 1,2,3 seems to be my absolute max I can manage at the moment. The third set is a real struggle to get to 3 reps.
So my question is, should I revert to the 24kg and keep grinding with 5 ladders? Or should I persevere with the 32kg as I am? It is having a psychological impact on me when, on my heavy day, I may not be feeling up for it. Should I play around with number of reps, for example: 1,2,1 or 1,2,2 instead, in order to maintain a decent amount of volume?
FYI - I'm 52 and used to row at international level when younger. Even back then, I would not consider myself to have ever been on any proper strength regimen, although of course we used to do a lot of circuits and some heavy barbel lifting (cleans, squats mainly) but without proper instruction. I know how to push myself hard, but I am more interested in long term gains the right way rather than banging my head against a brick wall, if that makes sense?
Many thanks in advance for any advice or comments.