I just completed Swing Hard 1.0. I wasn't aware of this Swing focused program until someone referred to it in one of the posts. I was trying to build a strong base using swing and this was timely. It was a quick DM to Geoff and a few suggestions from him and I got started. While it does suggest that I start with 2H swing, I was too eager and wanted to work on my 1H swing to get the timed Simple as a first milestone. Here are a few reflections I had from the program
1. The volume sneaks up on you, starting with 100 reps and ending with 200 reps in the allotted time block !
2. While the early weeks had my HR stay in the aerobic zone, the 2nd half of the program often pushed my HR into anaerobic zone. I realised I wasn't training at all in this zone, so the first few weeks when this started happening, it was tough. But slowly my body adjusted to it. I do feel my conditioning has gone up quite a bit during the past 2 months.
3. In the last couple of weeks, my grip was challenged quite a bit, especially towards the last 3-4 sets. I made sure I did not do anything to compromise my grip on the day I had Swing Hard
4. I started with 32kg KB and for most part I managed to deliver power throughout to get the bell to the chest height, but I felt the swings would've been snappier had I chosen the 28kg. But now that I am done I am happy I picked up the 32kg. At some point I will run this again with the 32kg and maybe compare how things change.
5. I was used to the breathing of 1 exhale at the top of the swing and at the beginning of the back swing take 2 sips of air. I remember hearing about this by Pavel Macek on the Breakthrough Secrets podcast and have ever since changed my breathing pattern. But I modified the timing of the 2 sips as I wasn't doing it right. And this activated my core a lot more as I already had sipped in air and core braced on the way down. This was. game changer. Not a result of Swing Hard but the benefit of training one movement for long sets as we have so much opportunity to fine tune and tweak several aspects.
6. Unsurprisingly I had a great carry over to my grip. My forearms were pretty much like a rock by the end of the workout. This also helped my confidently single arm swing a 40kg KB, with proper form. This was a challenge before I started this program.
7. Also because I was swinging so much volume I started getting a great sense of my cadence and how small changes in my technique can impact the cadence, e.g. if I did an overspeed eccentric then I always saved 2-3 seconds when I was doing sets of 10.
I realised that I want to do this regularly as an add-on to my workouts. But the 20 mins might be too much, so I'm thinking I do it for 10 mins and switch between 2H Swings, 1H Swings, and Double KB Swings every other week or so. While I run other programs, I do want to continue working the swings and strengthening the base.
It goes without saying that I would recommend this for anyone who is looking to build a strong base.
1. The volume sneaks up on you, starting with 100 reps and ending with 200 reps in the allotted time block !
2. While the early weeks had my HR stay in the aerobic zone, the 2nd half of the program often pushed my HR into anaerobic zone. I realised I wasn't training at all in this zone, so the first few weeks when this started happening, it was tough. But slowly my body adjusted to it. I do feel my conditioning has gone up quite a bit during the past 2 months.
3. In the last couple of weeks, my grip was challenged quite a bit, especially towards the last 3-4 sets. I made sure I did not do anything to compromise my grip on the day I had Swing Hard
4. I started with 32kg KB and for most part I managed to deliver power throughout to get the bell to the chest height, but I felt the swings would've been snappier had I chosen the 28kg. But now that I am done I am happy I picked up the 32kg. At some point I will run this again with the 32kg and maybe compare how things change.
5. I was used to the breathing of 1 exhale at the top of the swing and at the beginning of the back swing take 2 sips of air. I remember hearing about this by Pavel Macek on the Breakthrough Secrets podcast and have ever since changed my breathing pattern. But I modified the timing of the 2 sips as I wasn't doing it right. And this activated my core a lot more as I already had sipped in air and core braced on the way down. This was. game changer. Not a result of Swing Hard but the benefit of training one movement for long sets as we have so much opportunity to fine tune and tweak several aspects.
6. Unsurprisingly I had a great carry over to my grip. My forearms were pretty much like a rock by the end of the workout. This also helped my confidently single arm swing a 40kg KB, with proper form. This was a challenge before I started this program.
7. Also because I was swinging so much volume I started getting a great sense of my cadence and how small changes in my technique can impact the cadence, e.g. if I did an overspeed eccentric then I always saved 2-3 seconds when I was doing sets of 10.
I realised that I want to do this regularly as an add-on to my workouts. But the 20 mins might be too much, so I'm thinking I do it for 10 mins and switch between 2H Swings, 1H Swings, and Double KB Swings every other week or so. While I run other programs, I do want to continue working the swings and strengthening the base.
It goes without saying that I would recommend this for anyone who is looking to build a strong base.
