Bret S.
Level 9 Valued Member
In early June I started working on VWC. The first session of the 15:15 protocol I used 16k x 7r cadence for 15 mins and stopped, my HRmax was 152 and in the red zone. I stopped for fear of going too high for my age. From there I dropped the weight to 12k to ease into the program a bit more smoothly and progressed from 6/6 to 6/26 working up to 40 mins with that weight, 80 sets x 7 reps.
Next I bumped the weight back up to 16k on 6/28 and went for 18 mins and from there with more confidence and aggression I did:
6/30 for 40 sets or 20 mins
7/2 for 48 sets or 24 mins
7/4 for 56 sets or 28 mins
7/6 for 68 sets or 34 mins
7/9 for 80 sets or 40 mins
6/30 @ 40 sets
To 7/9 @ 80 sets
Looking at the HR pattern it appears to be tighter as I progress, however today was really tough and I think perhaps I pushed it a little too hard in a short time. It felt afterward like my NS got whacked pretty hard so I have a few questions going forward..
- Should I have a 40 set back-off session and then another 80 set session to solidify my gains before moving to the next level? Or stay here awhile?
- When ready and solid @80 sets with the 16 I'm thinking the next step is to add a rep and drop the set count to 40?
That'll be 8 reps per 15 seconds x 40 sets, then start ticking sets up.
- KJ's guideline is a 20% increase per session with a back-off as needed I believe. I remember reading somewhere an increase of 8 sets (or minutes?) per week is a good progression rate. Is this more appropriate? 20% per session is a big jump?
- After reaching 80 sets with the 8 rep count I'm thinking of bumping the weight to 20k and decreasing the reps to 4 or 5, then slowly ticking up the sets first to 80 and then adding a rep and repeating the cycle to finally reach 80 sets at 8 reps with the 20k. Is this a viable strategy? I think the 16k x 9 reps x 80 sets sounds a little too panicky for me and not enjoyable...
- When does 36:36 protocol make sense to start? KJ sets the minimum at 7 reps x 80 sets but again I want to have a solid base before moving on. When doing the 36:36 protocol I assume it's 36 seconds on the same hand, then switch for the next segment, he doesn't say so in the book?.
- He said, "After several months of using the 15:15 MVO2 and the 36:36 MVO2 protocols, it could very well be time to peak your conditioning". So the idea is to gain fitness by constantly pushing to higher loads in both protocols? Ultimately higher loads is my aim as I want strength gains toos.
- At 59 years old is this risky? I want to bulletproof my shoulders, crush the SSST and get stronger in the press (I think this will help heal my shoulders as they both feel really good on this program) and ultimately move to heavy A+A snatching. As it is now my stronger shoulder won't tolerate the loads without becoming inflamed (not bad but just enough).
I've read through threads on this protocol and I feel drawn to it, kind of a gut feeling that it will get me where I want to go and I love GT as it makes me feel alive and vibrant. Any advice would be appreciated. I'll now tag some folks I know have done the program to whatever extent. Thanks much in advance. @Steve W. , @NoahMarek , @Rif , @Kettlebelephant
Edit: All commenters welcome,
Another question, I read about neck bite being an issue, I have it today, has anybody else doing the program experienced it? It's not been a problem until today.
Next I bumped the weight back up to 16k on 6/28 and went for 18 mins and from there with more confidence and aggression I did:
6/30 for 40 sets or 20 mins
7/2 for 48 sets or 24 mins
7/4 for 56 sets or 28 mins
7/6 for 68 sets or 34 mins
7/9 for 80 sets or 40 mins
6/30 @ 40 sets
To 7/9 @ 80 sets
Looking at the HR pattern it appears to be tighter as I progress, however today was really tough and I think perhaps I pushed it a little too hard in a short time. It felt afterward like my NS got whacked pretty hard so I have a few questions going forward..
- Should I have a 40 set back-off session and then another 80 set session to solidify my gains before moving to the next level? Or stay here awhile?
- When ready and solid @80 sets with the 16 I'm thinking the next step is to add a rep and drop the set count to 40?
That'll be 8 reps per 15 seconds x 40 sets, then start ticking sets up.
- KJ's guideline is a 20% increase per session with a back-off as needed I believe. I remember reading somewhere an increase of 8 sets (or minutes?) per week is a good progression rate. Is this more appropriate? 20% per session is a big jump?
- After reaching 80 sets with the 8 rep count I'm thinking of bumping the weight to 20k and decreasing the reps to 4 or 5, then slowly ticking up the sets first to 80 and then adding a rep and repeating the cycle to finally reach 80 sets at 8 reps with the 20k. Is this a viable strategy? I think the 16k x 9 reps x 80 sets sounds a little too panicky for me and not enjoyable...
- When does 36:36 protocol make sense to start? KJ sets the minimum at 7 reps x 80 sets but again I want to have a solid base before moving on. When doing the 36:36 protocol I assume it's 36 seconds on the same hand, then switch for the next segment, he doesn't say so in the book?.
- He said, "After several months of using the 15:15 MVO2 and the 36:36 MVO2 protocols, it could very well be time to peak your conditioning". So the idea is to gain fitness by constantly pushing to higher loads in both protocols? Ultimately higher loads is my aim as I want strength gains toos.
- At 59 years old is this risky? I want to bulletproof my shoulders, crush the SSST and get stronger in the press (I think this will help heal my shoulders as they both feel really good on this program) and ultimately move to heavy A+A snatching. As it is now my stronger shoulder won't tolerate the loads without becoming inflamed (not bad but just enough).
I've read through threads on this protocol and I feel drawn to it, kind of a gut feeling that it will get me where I want to go and I love GT as it makes me feel alive and vibrant. Any advice would be appreciated. I'll now tag some folks I know have done the program to whatever extent. Thanks much in advance. @Steve W. , @NoahMarek , @Rif , @Kettlebelephant
Edit: All commenters welcome,
Another question, I read about neck bite being an issue, I have it today, has anybody else doing the program experienced it? It's not been a problem until today.
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