When Changing a Program Is, and Isn't, OK
Let's use a few of our most popular, successful programs at StrongFirst as examples. Consider three programs, listed in the order in which they were introduced:
- Power To The People!
- Right of Passage (from Enter the Kettlebell)
- Kettlebell Simple & Sinister
The first question one must ask is: What is/are the goal(s) of the program?
The second question one must ask is: How much, expressed as a percentage, of achieving the program's goal(s) is dependent on each of the program's lifts?
Let's examine each program individually.
NB: If you aren't familiar with these programs, tell someone who cares. Please buy the books and read them.
Power To The People
What is the goal of PTTP? It's very clear - strength, specifically limit strength as expressed by the maximum weight that can be moved for a low number of reps.
I believe I'm quoting Pavel when I say that 90% of PTTP is the deadlift, and 10% is the side press.
I think we're safe in saying that we can, within reason, adjust the press portion of PTTP. If we start playing with the deadlift, however, we are altering the very essence of the program and then we're no longer doing PTTP. Try the PTTP template but use the kettlebell military press instead - it works well. Likewise, add a third lift - try pullups, and do them after your presses and before your deadlifts. This also works well.
ROP
The ROP has multiple goals: strength, as expressed by a one- or low-rep, one-arm kettlebell military press and trained for directly, and which I'm calling 60% of the focus, and conditioning as expressed by a 10-minute snatch test and as trained by swings twice a week and snatches once a week, and which I'm calling the remaining 40%.
Can you change the conditioning portion of the ROP and still have a pressing strength program? I think you can. This is a fairly sophisticated call to make, but I think one can still increase work capacity by doing a lot of presses, and one can improve one's press by doing a lot of presses. Does the snatch, with it's similar finish position, contribute to pressing strength? I don't think it contributes much - the weight is usually the same, but the press gets easier near the top and is hardest in the middle. I don't think the snatch adds a lot to our press; some, yes, but not a lot.
Can you change the strength portion of the ROP and still have a conditioning program? I think that's harder because the snatch lockout benefits from the press training. A program focused on improving a 10-minute snatch test, in order to yield good results, might need to switch from two swing sessions and one snatch session per week to one swing session and two snatch sessions, or even three snatch sessions with swings performed after snatches.
Simple & Sinister
S & S also has multiple goals, but I think swings are the main focus, specifically a particular type of low-weight, high-force swing that clearly improves endurance and strength-endurance, and also yields strength improvements via mechanisms not yet fully understood. I think strength portion of S&S, the getup, is perhaps 20%, and the swing 80%.
Can you change the strength portion, the getups, and still have S & S's conditioning benefits? I think you can, and we have forum members who've followed S&S-like programs with less of a focus on the getup that prove this point. Can you substitute another strength move for the getup? Yes, e.g., try the military press and, at the end of each set, with the weight still at the top, perform a windmill or bent press.
Can you change the swing portion of S & S and still have a strength program built around the getup? I don't think just a daily dozen or so getups is sufficient volume over the long term to build the kind of strength we're after at StrongFirst; we would need more volume, but the getup doesn't lend itself to high volume, so another approach would be best and not a strength-focused modification of S & S.
What You Should Not Do
Each of the modifications discussed above tries to make the connection between cause and effect in its respective program, and to preserve that connection in order to preserve the good results these programs are known to produce.
You should not, however, tamper with the basic design of the program's focus that you intend to keep. E.g., don't turn PTTP into a three-times-a-week-with-a-heavy-day program; that's no longer PTTP or a modification of PTTP, it's taking a known quantity, a proven program, and simply breaking it and then hoping for the best. Someone else has already written a three-times-a-week-with-a-heavy-day strength program; go find that and use it instead.
-S-
Let's use a few of our most popular, successful programs at StrongFirst as examples. Consider three programs, listed in the order in which they were introduced:
- Power To The People!
- Right of Passage (from Enter the Kettlebell)
- Kettlebell Simple & Sinister
The first question one must ask is: What is/are the goal(s) of the program?
The second question one must ask is: How much, expressed as a percentage, of achieving the program's goal(s) is dependent on each of the program's lifts?
Let's examine each program individually.
NB: If you aren't familiar with these programs, tell someone who cares. Please buy the books and read them.
Power To The People
What is the goal of PTTP? It's very clear - strength, specifically limit strength as expressed by the maximum weight that can be moved for a low number of reps.
I believe I'm quoting Pavel when I say that 90% of PTTP is the deadlift, and 10% is the side press.
I think we're safe in saying that we can, within reason, adjust the press portion of PTTP. If we start playing with the deadlift, however, we are altering the very essence of the program and then we're no longer doing PTTP. Try the PTTP template but use the kettlebell military press instead - it works well. Likewise, add a third lift - try pullups, and do them after your presses and before your deadlifts. This also works well.
ROP
The ROP has multiple goals: strength, as expressed by a one- or low-rep, one-arm kettlebell military press and trained for directly, and which I'm calling 60% of the focus, and conditioning as expressed by a 10-minute snatch test and as trained by swings twice a week and snatches once a week, and which I'm calling the remaining 40%.
Can you change the conditioning portion of the ROP and still have a pressing strength program? I think you can. This is a fairly sophisticated call to make, but I think one can still increase work capacity by doing a lot of presses, and one can improve one's press by doing a lot of presses. Does the snatch, with it's similar finish position, contribute to pressing strength? I don't think it contributes much - the weight is usually the same, but the press gets easier near the top and is hardest in the middle. I don't think the snatch adds a lot to our press; some, yes, but not a lot.
Can you change the strength portion of the ROP and still have a conditioning program? I think that's harder because the snatch lockout benefits from the press training. A program focused on improving a 10-minute snatch test, in order to yield good results, might need to switch from two swing sessions and one snatch session per week to one swing session and two snatch sessions, or even three snatch sessions with swings performed after snatches.
Simple & Sinister
S & S also has multiple goals, but I think swings are the main focus, specifically a particular type of low-weight, high-force swing that clearly improves endurance and strength-endurance, and also yields strength improvements via mechanisms not yet fully understood. I think strength portion of S&S, the getup, is perhaps 20%, and the swing 80%.
Can you change the strength portion, the getups, and still have S & S's conditioning benefits? I think you can, and we have forum members who've followed S&S-like programs with less of a focus on the getup that prove this point. Can you substitute another strength move for the getup? Yes, e.g., try the military press and, at the end of each set, with the weight still at the top, perform a windmill or bent press.
Can you change the swing portion of S & S and still have a strength program built around the getup? I don't think just a daily dozen or so getups is sufficient volume over the long term to build the kind of strength we're after at StrongFirst; we would need more volume, but the getup doesn't lend itself to high volume, so another approach would be best and not a strength-focused modification of S & S.
What You Should Not Do
Each of the modifications discussed above tries to make the connection between cause and effect in its respective program, and to preserve that connection in order to preserve the good results these programs are known to produce.
You should not, however, tamper with the basic design of the program's focus that you intend to keep. E.g., don't turn PTTP into a three-times-a-week-with-a-heavy-day program; that's no longer PTTP or a modification of PTTP, it's taking a known quantity, a proven program, and simply breaking it and then hoping for the best. Someone else has already written a three-times-a-week-with-a-heavy-day strength program; go find that and use it instead.
-S-