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The Simple Road Begins

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March 31

Warm up: Stretching
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg

Two-handed swings - 10 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 5 sets of 2 x 12 kg

Yesterday was a travel day, so no workout. Today saw loads of stretching beforehand. Ten plus hours of driving was a bear. I did stretch yesterday evening, but I needed more today. Workout felt strong, and I have gone back to the 12 kb kettlebell and all of my get ups were solid.
 
April 4

Warm up: Stretching, lots of stretching
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg

Two-handed swings - 10 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 5 sets of 2 x 12 kg

After 3 days off, this was a welcome session. Vacation really gets in the way of working out, especially when it is all family, that haven't seen one another in a while. The stretching was very necessary, and a welcome part of my workout tonight. Tonight felt wonderful, and was very needed. I feel better than I have in a few days.
 
April 5

Warm up: Stretching, lots of stretching
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg

Two-handed swings - 1 set of 10 x 32 kg, 9 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 1 set of 2 16 kg, 4 sets of 2 x 12 kg

I was feeling it tonight. After over a month of 10 sets of swings with the 24 kg kettlebell, I decided it was time to start adding the 32 kg kettlebell to my swings. It felt heavy at first, then it felt good. The rest of the swing sets felt crisp and sharp. I also added one set of get ups with the 16 kg kettlebell again. I think I will wait another week before doing so again. That set was shaky, and not real balanced. Maybe I will keep it in place and work harder, maybe I will wait another week or so before keeping it in my routine. Tomorrow will tell me if I should keep the 16 kg kettlebell in my get ups.
 
April 6

Today ended up being a day away from kettlebells. I had to stay late at work, and I had rugby practice to coordinate and run. So, by the time I got home and ate, it was time to get ready to go outside & run the team through drills in preparation for our match Saturday.

Happy Friday to all.
 
April 7 & 8

Took these days off. Friday was so I wasn't eating dinner at 8 pm. Saturday was due to a surprise lunch for my wife, and due to coaching our first home rugby match of the spring season. A victory over a local rival meant a celebration, and I also made dinner for my wife. April 9 sees me getting back in touch with the kettlebells, and pushing closer to beginning to practice the 1HS. Of course, I will have to conquer the 32 kg kettlebell for 10 sets before hand. So, back to work I will go.
 
April 9

Warm up: Stretching, lots of stretching
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg

Two-handed swings - 2 set of 10 x 32 kg, 8 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 2 set of 2 16 kg, 3 sets of 2 x 12 kg

Today was a great session. I was feeling strong today, so I challenged myself. 2 sets with the 32kg kettlebell felt amazing. Of course the 24 kg kettlebell felt light after those two sets. The 16kg kettlebell get ups were more solid than before, and the 3 sets with the 12 kg kettlebell were really sharp & crisp. I trained to recover today, so I rested between sets until my heart rate recovered. I will alternate between training to recover and only taking one minute between sets. As good as I feel, this will be my workout for the week, maybe longer.
 
April 10

Warm up: Stretching, lots of stretching
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg

Two-handed swings - 2 set of 10 x 32 kg, 8 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 2 set of 2 16 kg, 3 sets of 2 x 12 kg

Good session again tonight. I found the float in my swings in the fourth set tonight. It was present in sets 4 through 10. Get ups were stronger tonight. I found that I was actually going too slow, rolling from my back up to my hand. By speeding up just a little, my get ups were crisper, stronger, and more balanced. Overall, my session tonight felt better than last night, even with the higher weight kettlebells.
 
April 12

Warm up: Stretching, lots of stretching
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg
Two-handed swings - 2 set of 10 x 32 kg, 8 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 2 set of 2 16 kg, 3 sets of 2 x 12 kg

Good session again tonight. The float appeared magically in my third set this evening, when I dropped back down to the 24 kg kettlebell. My get ups were crisp and balanced and felt good. I trained for recovery tonight, so more rest between sets was the plan, and I feel great. I feel like I could do some more, but I am just going to have a protein shake & some fruit instead.
 
April 13

Warm up: Stretching, lots of stretching
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg
Two-handed swings - 2 set of 10 x 32 kg, 8 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 2 set of 2 16 kg, 3 sets of 2 x 12 kg

Another swing session performed for recovery. The 32 kg kettlebell is really taxing me right now, but it feels good to be swinging it, even if it is for only two sets. A bonus to swinging it is that the 24 kg kettlebell feels light for all eight sets. I am a little tired afterwards, but recovering between sets makes it manageable.

I got my get ups done within 10 minutes, and that was some challenge. They felt great from start to finish, but my HR stayed up when I was done. It felt awesome to get them done in 10 minutes. I may have to add another set with the 16 kg kettlebell now.
 
Michael, what's holding you back from doing 1H swings? Other than that, your progress looks solid. Just curious...
 
@Anna C, I am following the routine as outlined in the Simple & Sinister book. Once I can perform 2H swings with the 32 kg kettlebell, and not be completely gassed, I will move to 1H swings. As a newcomer to kettlebells, I figured I should follow the program as outlined.

As I respect you as a Certified Instructor, and your knowledge in general, do you believe I should be performing 1H swings now?

Anna C said:
Michael, what's holding you back from doing 1H swings? Other than that, your progress looks solid. Just curious...
Click to expand...
 
I think so, yes. Not that you've wasted any time -- I spent over a year with 2H swings before doing 1H swings and S&S, but 1H swings do have unique benefits, and I would think you're ready for them. You'll be following the program. p. 32 says "When you are very competent in the two-arm swing, and not a moment sooner, add the one-arm swing to your practice." Some people take that to mean a week or two. I think 2-3 months is probably better, or even longer. What a lot of beginner men seem to do is spend time with 1H 16kg swings, which isn't part of what Pavel intended in the S&S book because he has men starting with the 24kg (deadlifts, then 2H swings, then 1H swings as described on p. 51-53). But that can work, too. One option that we learned at SFG II that's actually not described in the book is 1-arm kettlbell deadlifts as a prep for 1-hand swings. So that might be worth a try - single-arm deadlifts with 24kg. Work on making the body move as if you're deadlifting it with both hands/arms. This teaches the anti-rotation that you need for the 1H swing.

And if you'd like a form check, you know I always love to do those.... :)

Hope that helps! Keep up the good work.
 
@Anna C, that is interesting information. I have done 1H swings, I was doing them before I started S&S to be honest. I am confident that I can swing the 24 kg kettlebell with 1H, but I may just spend a couple sessions doing the 1H deadlifts with it to be sure & to prepare myself to begin 1H swings. Thank you. Again, you prove why so many navigate to this forum, sharing knowledge with us all.
 
Thank you again @Anna C. Having gone back and re-read the S&S book, I am in agreement with you. I will train tonight & tomorrow by performing the one arm deadlifts with the 24 kg kettlebell. Then, on Sunday, the 1HS will begin with the 24 kg kettlebell, along with using the 16 kg kettlebell more in my getups.
 
April 14

Warm up: Stretching, lots of stretching
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg

One-handed deadlifts - 4 sets of 10 x 24 kg
One-handed swings - 6 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 3 set of 2 16 kg, 2 sets of 2 x 12 kg

I took @Anna C's advice and started 1HS tonight. I got greedy and started tonight instead of waiting and doing one handed deadlifts. After 4 sets of deadlifts, I went after the 1H swings. As much as I wanted to do the deadlifts, they were not only boring, but unfulfilling, unlike swings. So I went ahead and started tonight. They felt good, not great, but good. I know in time that they will get better. I will work on getting all ten sets, and insert the deadlifts for the next couple of sessions. I also added another set of get ups with the 16 kg kettlebell, and it felt great.
 
After talking to @Anna C, I re-read S&S, and realized that I was not performing the stretch routine, I was doing my own stretching. While I am not nearly as limber as I need to be, those really work. I felt much better before & after my routine tonight after performing both the 90/90 and the QL straddle. I was no where near my knees as Pavel is in the book, but they really made a difference. I will be doing them instead of my stretching from now on, as they worked much better than my stretches.
 
April 16

Warm up: Hamstring stretching, 90/90 stretch, QL straddle, partial cossack squat, arm circles
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg

One-handed deadlifts - 2 sets of 10 x 24 kg
One-handed swings - 8 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 3 sets of 16 kg, 2 sets of 2 x 12 kg

Today was another day of training to recover. I let my HR come back down before starting another set. It feels odd still, to have completed a workout & not feeling exhausted. There is fatigue, but nothing significant.

I started with 2 sets of deadlifts, & then I decided to start my 1H swings. While I was breathing heavy, I did 8 sets, and was actually saddened to see I had done my 10th set. I almost went for two more sets of 1H swings, but prudence spoke first. This is a process, not a race. So, I decided to be patient, and add one more set of swings tomorrow, and then get to 10 sets in the next session after that. Same thing happened with my get ups. I went back & forth on whether or not to add another set with the 16 kg kettlebell. I decided to also wait on that until my next session.

Today a great workout.
 
April 17

Warm up: Hamstring stretching, 90/90 stretch, QL straddle, partial cossack squat, arm circles
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 12 kg

One-handed swings - 10 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 4 sets of 16 kg, 1 sets of 2 x 12 kg

Tonight's session was about time, as in can I recover in one minute to perform my next set. Apparently I could, even doing 10 sets of 1H swings with the 24 kg kettlebell. I watched a couple videos to make sure I was doing them correctly, and I discovered that I was bending way to much at my knees. So, I corrected that in my first set & away I went. All ten sets felt really good. My get ups felt strong as well, only had a little wobble a couple times. That was caused by not concentrating on my form, not fatigue. So, all in all, a good session tonight.
 
April 18

Warm up: Hamstring stretching, 90/90 stretch, QL straddle, partial cossack squat, arm circles
Halos - 3 sets 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 sets 5 x 16 kg

One-handed swings - 10 sets of 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 5 sets of 16 kg

Tonight was a strong night. I did my three sets of prying Goblet Squats with a curl at the bottom, with the 16 kg kettlebell. Then I went after my swings with one minute between sets. Then, to top the session off, I did all five get up sets with the 16 kg kettlebell as well. I felt great, and a little tired afterwards, but I had no time to rest, as I had to change & run rugby practice this evening. 2 hours later, I still feel great, just a little stiffness in my hips, that stretching took care of when I got home.
 
April 20

Warm up: Hamstring stretching, 90/90 stretch, QL straddle, partial cossack squat, arm circles
Halos - 3 x 10 x 12 kg
Goblet Squats - 3 x 5 x 16 kg

One-handed swings - 10 x 10 x 24 kg
TGU - 5 x 16 kg

Yesterday was a day off, but tonight was another strong night. Three sets of prying Goblet Squats with a curl at the bottom, with the 16 kg kettlebell. Swings were done with one minute between sets again tonight. Then, five get up sets with the 16 kg kettlebell as well. I felt great, and a little tired afterwards, but no time to rest again tonight, as I had to run rugby practice this evening. 2 hours later, I still feel great, just needed some more stretching when I got home.
 
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