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Kettlebell Supplementary Training to Enhance S&S?

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acutaiar12

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Hi everyone. I’ve been training S&S everyday by the book for over a month now, and I was wondering if anyone has any ideas of supplementary training to enhance my S&S training? I’m not asking out of boredom, but as a way to enhance my current S&S training.
Some background knowledge about me, I’m 21 years old, 6’0 and between 81-83 kg. I’ve been an athlete all my life. I was a very competitive basketball player until the age of 18. From there I took on powerlifting until the start of the pandemic (165 kg squat, 115 kg bench, 175 kg deadlift). Once the pandemic began, I started training with kettlebells at home where my dad had a 20, 28, 36, and 48 kg bell. I did not get into the StrongFirst principles until the beginning of 2021 when I read ‘The Russian Kettlebell Challenge’. I then started S&S in mid-April due to the hectic schedule of the last month of the semester, and fell in love with the program.
As of now, I do all my swings with the 28 kg bell, taking ~16-17 minutes to finish the 100 swings while passing the talk test, and I use the 36 kg for the get ups, taking ~16-17 minutes to finish while passing the talk test. My long-term goal is to finish Sinister powerfully, but this is in the back of my mind. Right now, my goal is to finish the swings powerfully with 28 kg and the get ups with the 36 kg.
Thank you all very much!
 
The main two movement patterns that are missing from S&S in my opinion are the squat and the push (and maybe the pull, but swings seem to do a pretty good job of lat activation so you may want to add pull-ups and may not need to). The program that I found to add those on top of S&S without taking too much away from me was Naked Warrior. As it can be performed grease the groove style (and I think this is where the concept of GTG was first described in detail maybe?), it was easy (for me) to add it into my daily life at work.
 
The main two movement patterns that are missing from S&S in my opinion are the squat and the push (and maybe the pull, but swings seem to do a pretty good job of lat activation so you may want to add pull-ups and may not need to). The program that I found to add those on top of S&S without taking too much away from me was Naked Warrior. As it can be performed grease the groove style (and I think this is where the concept of GTG was first described in detail maybe?), it was easy (for me) to add it into my daily life at work.
The goblet squat is really part of S&S. I completely ignored it the first couple of years but am doing now religiously.
I agree about a press. But absence makes the heart...
 
The goblet squat is really part of S&S. I completely ignored it the first couple of years but am doing now religiously.
I agree about a press. But absence makes the heart...
Indeed, I periodically do deadlift my 32kg bell for form.

I did keep the goblet squat with my swing weight. Goblet squats with the 32kg did start to challenge the speed of my squat.
And racking the 24+32kg and squatting is great, from time to time.

And from time to time I did add presses to my TGU practice when I was feeling more solid.
 
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Supplementary training to enhance S&S depends on your goals.

Discussion here in these comments is fairly general. Many people use push, pull, hinge, squat, ballistic, abs, loaded carry, other as an outline for the movement elements needed for a balanced program.

Swing includes - hinge, pull, ballistic.
TGU includes push, hinge, squat (half of lunge), abs and loaded carry.
Goblet squats in warmup provide more squatting.
Hanging in cool down provides some brachiation.

Options
1. add some presses to warmup. These are easier presses to learn the movement.
2. Add a press at the top of the TGU before you go back down again. Note that TGU already has a horizontal press at the start when you are laying down on the floor. This approach gives you a vertical and horizontal press on each TGU. Some people add presses at other stages but learn the top position military press well, first, before experimenting with pressing in these other more "awkward " positions - go light when learning these presses to avoid loss of control of the weight which is above your head.
3. Going slower on TGU can add more loaded carry type component. Or one can step forward, step sideways, step back to original position before resuming the "get down" (remember you are doing 5 one each side and so a little bit of stepping adds up).
4. Hanging is included in S&S cooldown. You can progress pullups by hanging for a longer time, some holds can be done in the bent arm top position of the pullup or a few slow pullups as part of hanging. Some people report having used the "fighter pullup program" (article on this site) with S&S. You will be aware trying these things that S&S (TGU) already works the muscles involved in doing pull ups.

There is a lot hidden inside S&S already. Be aware of adding too much supplement and losing S&S. Supplement should be a tiny spice rather than the main dish. Similarly, if you add to activity outside of S&S you will have to allow for that in your recovery. With your heavy loads you probably train 3 times a week and if you added a lot of activity outside of S&S then you might have to back it off to twice a week.
 

Supplementary training to enhance S&S depends on your goals.

Discussion here in these comments is fairly general. Many people use push, pull, hinge, squat, ballistic, abs, loaded carry, other as an outline for the movement elements needed for a balanced program.

Swing includes - hinge, pull, ballistic.
TGU includes push, hinge, squat (half of lunge), abs and loaded carry.
Goblet squats in warmup provide more squatting.
Hanging in cool down provides some brachiation.

Options
1. add some presses to warmup. These are easier presses to learn the movement.
2. Add a press at the top of the TGU before you go back down again. Note that TGU already has a horizontal press at the start when you are laying down on the floor. This approach gives you a vertical and horizontal press on each TGU. Some people add presses at other stages but learn the top position military press well, first, before experimenting with pressing in these other more "awkward " positions - go light when learning these presses to avoid loss of control of the weight which is above your head.
3. Going slower on TGU can add more loaded carry type component. Or one can step forward, step sideways, step back to original position before resuming the "get down" (remember you are doing 5 one each side and so a little bit of stepping adds up).
4. Hanging is included in S&S cooldown. You can progress pullups by hanging for a longer time, some holds can be done in the bent arm top position of the pullup or a few slow pullups as part of hanging. Some people report having used the "fighter pullup program" (article on this site) with S&S. You will be aware trying these things that S&S (TGU) already works the muscles involved in doing pull ups.

There is a lot hidden inside S&S already. Be aware of adding too much supplement and losing S&S. Supplement should be a tiny spice rather than the main dish. Similarly, if you add to activity outside of S&S you will have to allow for that in your recovery. With your heavy loads you probably train 3 times a week and if you added a lot of activity outside of S&S then you might have to back it off to twice a week.
This..

You can read the chop wood, carry water article and apply the principles to S and S but still focus on getting more precise in your swing and getup technique to eventually work up to using beyond the 32kg in both movements
 
My training at the moment is Strength Aerobics (C&P, FSQ, Snatches, Pull Ups) 2/3 days a week and Swings and Get Ups on the other days. A few heavy Trap Bar Deadlifts, loaded carries and MAF easy runs throughout the week. For me that covers all of my bases and, at 53, I generally feel better than I ever have.
 
Thank you to everyone who’s taken the time to respond! I think I’m going to try running and/or swimming to build my aerobic base even further for quicker recovery times. The next obstacle is to find a minimal dose of this extra training as to not take away from my swings and get ups.
 
I was wondering if anyone has any ideas of supplementary training to enhance my S&S training?
If you want to enhance your S&S to someday hit sinister’ then focus on the quality of your swings and get ups.

Swings: get a form check, work with an instructor, work on swing variations ( dead stop, 2 hand, alternating hand, double swing, overspeed, etc)

Get ups: form checks, work with instructor, partials, long transition pauses, multiple reps per side, naked or shoe, isolate movements.

Adding more squats, presses, deadlifting, etc may round out the program for GPP, but they won’t neccesarily add to your swings and get ups. They will usually take away. If you’re really itching for other movement patterns then break off S&S and do a specialized block of other training before returning to S&S. Sometimes you can usually work other movements lightly as warm up or movement skill retention, but don’t expect it to have any direct carry over to your swing or get up progress.

I will also add that I think some low intensity or maffetone cardio wouldn’t hurt as long as it doesn’t compromise freshness away from your S&S. And, it may actually help for when you start the glycolytic part of S&S.

Good Luck.
 
Hi everyone. I’ve been training S&S everyday by the book for over a month now, and I was wondering if anyone has any ideas of supplementary training to enhance my S&S training? I’m not asking out of boredom, but as a way to enhance my current S&S training.
Some background knowledge about me, I’m 21 years old, 6’0 and between 81-83 kg. I’ve been an athlete all my life. I was a very competitive basketball player until the age of 18. From there I took on powerlifting until the start of the pandemic (165 kg squat, 115 kg bench, 175 kg deadlift). Once the pandemic began, I started training with kettlebells at home where my dad had a 20, 28, 36, and 48 kg bell. I did not get into the StrongFirst principles until the beginning of 2021 when I read ‘The Russian Kettlebell Challenge’. I then started S&S in mid-April due to the hectic schedule of the last month of the semester, and fell in love with the program.
As of now, I do all my swings with the 28 kg bell, taking ~16-17 minutes to finish the 100 swings while passing the talk test, and I use the 36 kg for the get ups, taking ~16-17 minutes to finish while passing the talk test. My long-term goal is to finish Sinister powerfully, but this is in the back of my mind. Right now, my goal is to finish the swings powerfully with 28 kg and the get ups with the 36 kg.
Thank you all very much!
For me, MAF jump rope is best supplement.
- MAF so that recovery is not compromised
- Jump rope for agility, aerobic base and calves.
 
1) Original Strength for mobility and patterning... and wellbeing
2) Second Wind breathing exercises for additional health and performance benefits.
 
As mentioned before, depends on your goals, but if I ran s&s one more time, I would:
  • Do some double presses with this template
  • Add some form of aerobic conditioning 2-3 times a week and become a machine (Basement Tempos, LSD, HIRT)
Good luck!
 
For me, MAF jump rope is best supplement.
- MAF so that recovery is not compromised
- Jump rope for agility, aerobic base and calves.
This is what ive been doing, i jump rope untill hr gets to 140 then rest untill 100ish then go again, for about 20mins 2 to 3 days a week

Ive been Alternating S&S with moving target complex this week as i dont want to stop pressing but have never got around to completing simple, the double cleans have definitely helped with my single arm swings
 
S&S is already a full body programme.
We have to customize things to our own needs though. I find pressing strength very important for my combat sports and martial arts, so I do S&S with a simple but effective pressing programme attached to it.

If you don't yet go out for jogs or runs or whatever, I always recommend these kind of things. Let your body move as it was made to in nature.
 
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