Easy Reg Park: A New Program to Train Your Basic Six

The StrongFirst school of strength offers several programs to structure your training and develop your athletic qualities. Simple & Sinister, of course, our staple and the theme for multiple articles on this blog. But also, Rite of Passage, Total Tension Complex, and a number of more specialized programs authored by our instructors.

And let’s not forget numerous templates from Plan Strong™ and Strong Endurance™. Tested on the battlefield, they all bring outstanding results.

All these programs have one point in common: each of them is focused on a limited number of exercises. That is necessary as we only have so much physical and mental energy. If we spread ourselves too thin, we would hardly be able to produce any noticeable result. And if we decided to push harder, we might end up with an injury or a systemic failure.

There are times, though, when “spreading ourselves thin”—within reason—might be a good idea, if not a necessity.

Programs and Practice

Maybe you’ve signed up for our upcoming, first-ever French edition of the SFG Level I Certification. You already have the necessary level of strength and stamina to pass the tests. You need to be sure, though, that your technique is up to par, so you need to practice the six SFG skills.

One-arm kettlebell swing

Or maybe, you’re already an SFG. You teach classes and workshops and assist at StrongFirst Kettlebell Courses and at SFG Certs. You want to not only be able to impeccably demonstrate any given technique of the curriculum, but also to show a certain level of strength. An SFG instructor should be an example, an inspiration for students. Thus, you need to practice the SFG skills.

Another possibility is that you’ve spent eight or twelve weeks on a Plan Strong or Strong Endurance program. Before undertaking another one, you might want to find your basic level of strength and skill in our fundamentals. Again, you need to practice the SFG skills.

All the above is the rationale for the following program. It is designed to let you practice the six fundamental exercises of the SFG Level I curriculum, while maintaining your strength in each of them. As a matter of fact, you should be able to increase your strength every week, by small increments. That is the concept of kaizen, small improvements compounding over time.

General Layout

I’ve called this program “Easy Reg Park.” As you can guess from the name, it’s based on Pavel’s “Easy Strength” and on “Reg Park’s 5 x 5”.

You will train six days a week. On days 1, 2, 4, and 5, you will work on your strength and skill in double cleans, double front squats, presses, and snatches. On days 3 and 6, you will do Simple & Sinister.

I surmise the latter does not need additional commentary. The only piece of advice worth giving here is: do not push too hard. Keep your S&S sessions anti-glycolytic and focus on skill, rather than on the timer.

Let’s talk about the other four days of the program. Every day, you will work the four skills mentioned above. Their order, volume, and load will differ, but each day will follow the same template:

  • Exercise 1: heavy (about 80-90% 1RM)
  • Exercise 2: light (about 60-70% 1RM)
  • Exercise 3: light (about 60-70% 1RM)
  • Exercise 4: medium (about 70-80% 1RM)

Easy Reg Park: Heavy Exercise

After the appropriate warm-up, you will do a total of 10 reps in no more than 6 sets. That means, if you’re starting with a new weight and are only able to do solid singles, do 6 sets of 1. The next week (there’s only one heavy session per week for each exercise), you might be able to do a couple of doubles (1-2-2-1-1-1) for a total of 8 reps. Later, you will progress to 5 sets of 2 for a total of 10 reps. At that point, keep the total of 10 and try to reduce the number of sets. Your end goal is 2 sets of 5 reps.

Do not feel obligated to follow any particular progression template. One week, you might be “almost there” at 5-3-2, and the next week you might “regress” to 1-3-4-2. As long as you uphold the technical standard, ebbs and flows won’t matter much.

Unless you keep regressing several weeks in a row. That might betray neural fatigue and means you’ve probably pushed too far, too quickly. In that case, be smart and manage appropriately by doing one or more of the following:

  • Bump a size down on all days in that exercise
  • Reduce volume
  • Make all your days light for that exercise for a week or two (more on this below)

Easy Reg Park: Light Exercises

Here, you will only do 2 sets of 5 reps (for each exercise). But the technique must be stellar. Do not just bang out those reps. Take the opportunity to hone every single detail, starting with the setup, feet position, and grip, and going all the way to the breathing, timing, and posture in the lockout. Actually, spend extra time in the lockout position to make sure everything is flawless.

The double kettlebell rack position

Easy Reg Park: Medium Exercise

Here’s where Reg Park comes into play. For the last exercise of the day, you will do 5 sets. The first two sets should have 5 solid reps each (otherwise, the weight is probably too heavy for the medium day). In the three other sets, you will work up to 5 reps, too (over time), but you must follow the rule Pavel gives in his article on Reg Park’s template: do not attempt a rep unless you are 100% sure you will make it.

Exercise Distribution Over the Week

The four exercises are paired up as follows:

  • Upper body (press and double clean)
  • Lower body (snatch and double front squat)

Note: I consider the double clean to be a pull, which I pair here with a push (the press). As for the snatch, although it combines several patterns, I consider it primarily as an explosive hinge, which I pair with the double front squat.

“Pairing” means that when, on a particular day, one exercise of a pair is heavy or medium, the other will necessarily be light. On the next day, the two exercises of a pair switch places. They keep alternating in this fashion during the whole week.

Here’s the routine I’ve been following the past several months:

Day #1

  • Double front squat (heavy)
  • Snatch (light)
  • Double clean (light)
  • Press (medium)

Day #2

  • Double clean (heavy)
  • Press (light)
  • Double front squat (light)
  • Snatch (medium)

Day #3

  • Simple & Sinister

Day #4

  • Press (heavy)
  • Double clean (light)
  • Snatch (light)
  • Double front squat (medium)

Day #5

  • Snatch (heavy)
  • Double front squat (light)
  • Press (light)
  • Double clean (medium)

Day #6

  • Simple & Sinister

Day #7

  • Rest

Easy Reg Park: Notes on Exercises

As you can see, this template also manages to alternate (intensity- and volume-wise) the one-arm overhead exercises (press, snatch), as well as the heavy loaded ones (double clean, double front squat). When one of those is heavy or medium, the other is always light (on the same day).

There’s a “hidden bonus,” though. On the heavy double front squat days, you’ll have to do heavy double cleans, too. But, as the volume is pretty low (remember, no more than 6 sets total), it should remain manageable.

Another note on the double clean: in order to maximize the power output and reduce the reliance on the stretch effect, I prefer doing them in “power” or “dead stop” fashion (parking the kettlebells after each rep). You can also choose the dead stop variety for the snatch, for the exact same reason. Be aware, though, that with heavy kettlebells your technique might slip over time toward a weightlifting one—less hinge, more leg drive.

Remember what you’re practicing here is the SFG skills. Do not modify technique to beat your personal record. This is why, for the snatch, I prefer to pause in the lockout. I start the rep by pulling the kettlebell down and shoving it back into a deep hinge. Then, I explosively reverse the movement and shoot the kettlebell back into the lockout as quickly as I can. If you’ve never done this and would like to try, keep in mind that your usual kettlebell will feel much heavier than its nominal weight. So, start on a lighter side.

Kettlebell snatch

Easy Reg Park: Loads

To select your loads for Easy Reg Park program, we will follow the rule of the Soviet coaches Pavel mentions in his article. So, the general rule will be:

  • For your medium days use your 7RM weight
  • Use one kettlebell-size up for your heavy days
  • Use one kettlebell-size down for your light days

Again, that is the general rule. Given that kettlebells jump sizes by 4kg, you might not be able to exactly match your 7RM. In that case, go lighter. Remember, on your medium day, you need to be able to file at least the first two sets at 5 solid reps. You’ll be better off going lighter and do 5×5 on your first session, than going heavier and not being able to do 5 on those first two.

If your weights are on the heavier side of the spectrum (leaning toward the Beast), doing the two light days with one-size down kettlebell(s) might be too much (in the context of this program). In that case, do at least one of your light days (typically, after your medium and before your heavy day) with the kettlebells two sizes down from the medium.

For example, for your double front squat:

  • Day #1 (heavy): 44kg
  • Day #2 (light): 36kg
  • Day #4 (medium): 40kg
  • Day #5 (light): 32kg

Easy Reg Park: Progression

The rule of thumb for going heavier is:

  • On your heavy day, you must be able to do two sets of 5 solid reps (in this case, “solid” means no excessive struggle on the last rep)
  • On your medium day, you must be able to do five sets of 5 solid reps

It is likely you won’t achieve both at the same time. Please, do not compromise. Do not get ahead of yourself by increasing your weights too early.

If you first achieve two sets of 5 on your heavy day, keep doing them and work on your speed and control. If you first achieve five sets of 5 on your medium day, you may also try waving the volume. Instead of doing five straight sets of 5, do 5-6-5-4-5.

Easy Reg Park Program: The Press

“To press a lot, you need to press a lot.” We’ve all heard this statement, and we all know it’s true. So, if you’re feeling good, but your progress in the press is stalling, you might want to increase your pressing volume. Do this only on light days.

Start by adding sets of 5 on Day #5, before adding them on Day #2. As this is optional, you can actually vary the number of additional sets from week to week. Think about varying the rep volume per set: instead of doing 5-5-5-5, do 5-6-4-5, for example.

The lockout in the kettlebell military press

Also, instead of adding volume on Day #2, you may try some specialized variety:

  • Press with a 5-second lockout (hold that plank!)
  • Press from feet-together stance
  • Press from feet-inline stance
  • Kneeling press
  • Half-kneeling press

And so on. Be smart and don’t struggle. If it feels too heavy for a light day, use a lighter kettlebell.

Easy Reg Park: Adaptations

Despite its relative simplicity, do not let the Easy Reg Park program fool you. It still represents a good amount of work that you’re adding to everything else you do in your day-to-day activities. Listen to your body and keep your training log up to date.

As I said earlier, you might notice you’re regressing on your heavy or medium days. Or maybe, you feel overall tired (bad mood, lack of concentration, and so on). The program might be the cause of it or not. Nevertheless, you must consider your daily activities on the whole, and it’s probably the program you will need to adjust in order to recover.

You have several options:

  • Limit your heavy and/or medium sets to 2
  • Bump down a kettlebell size on some or all of the exercises, on all the days
  • Every session, replace the light exercises with 10 minutes of Fast & Loose, as well as mobility work
  • Do all the exercises as light (two sets of 5 reps with the light weight) on every session, changing their order as indicated by the template
  • Do only the two light exercises of the day

As you can see, the Easy Reg Park program allows for a good deal of adaptation. That is because its first goal is to structure your practice. You’re not under pressure to reach particular numbers at the end of a particular period of time.

Conclusion

Beyond the six SFG skills, the Easy Reg Park program combines and alternates the four movement patterns (push, pull, hinge, and squat). Add to that a ballistic hinge (swing) and a loaded carry/ground work (get-up) on Days #3 and #6, and you have a pretty complete program. Which means, you should be able to replace the SFG skills with other exercises (as long as they’re fundamental) and still get that kaizen strengthening effect.

For instance, my intention is to try this program with:

  • A barbell deadlift (hinge)
  • A barbell back squat (squat)
  • A barbell military press (push)
  • A weighted pullup (pull)
  • A kettlebell snatch (ballistic)
  • A waiter/rack/farmer walk (loaded carry)

Other combinations are possible. Whatever the case, before attempting such a program you need to learn the proper technique in each exercise. Therefore, please, find a StrongFirst instructor in your area for coaching and feedback.

Alexey Senart
Alexandre "Alexey" Senart, StrongFirst Certified Senior Instructor, StrongFirst Certified Elite Instructor, is the owner of RedStarKettlebell in Paris, France.
Alexey Senart on Email

43 thoughts on “Easy Reg Park: A New Program to Train Your Basic Six

  • Hi Alexey,

    This looks like an awesome program mate!! We must always be proficient in the Big 6, for exactly the reasons that you mentioned at the top of the article.
    Just a question buddy, how would you incorporate more heavy swings into the program? I certainly want to maintain, and increase, my strength and skill in the big 6 but my goal also is to be able to smash out the snatch test anytime I want to. In the lead up to my recert about 4 months ago I was doing lots of heavy swings over the course of the week and only snatching on one day. I managed the snatch test pretty comfortably so that’s pretty much the routine I’ve been following since. I really like the idea of your program, just don’t want to lose my proficiency in the snatch test haha!!

    Cheers mate
    Tim

  • Hi Alexey, great article, I want to try out this program. Quick dumb question though, are we suppose to do all 4 workouts back to back with no rest? Also, do you encourage plenty of rest in between sets or is the goal to be working at a high heart rate?

    Thanks!

    • Thank you, Sergio!
      Weekly design is described in the article. Basically, it’s 2 days + 1 day of S&S. Then you can twitch the intensity depending on your recovery rate.
      And yes, I do encourage plenty of rest between sets. The goal is to practice perfect technique.

  • hi alexey,

    this is how my load looks like:
    heavy 24, medium 20 and light 16.

    on the s&s day what should my load for the swing and tgu?

    • Hi Adnan,

      For the S&S, please, choose your loads according to the S&S guidelines, than manage based on your overall stress level. I would strongly suggest you to read the latest article by Brett Jones on this blog (“Cultivating Recovery”).

  • Hey Alexey, been trying the workout, really enjoying it! Pull ups are an important part of my training and I would like to include them. How would you program them into this 6 day cycle? Thanks in advance!

    • Hi Matt,
      Pull-ups are “pulls”, so if you want to include them into your program, you have to ditch Double Cleans.
      As for loads, you’ll need to factor in your BW. For example, if your 2RM (~90% 1RM) is 70lbs (or 32kg KB, that’s the weight you’ll use on your “heavy” day), and your BW is 200lbs, then the weight you’ll have to use for your calculations is 270lbs (as ~90%).
      It means, for your “medium” day you should probably use a 20 or a 24 kg, and an 8 or a 12 kg for your “light” days. (When in doubt, err on the lighter side and look for technical perfection and total control).

      • Thanks Alexey! Think I will stick to your original program for a while. With previous experience found pull ups left out are tough to get back to again later. But mainly my cleans could do with the practice!!

  • Any idea how to modify reps / sets when you have kettlebells with 8kg jumps? On doubles I can do it mixed (e.g. 32+40) but for the unilateral movements it can be hard to jump from 40 to 48.

    • Need to be creative here…
      For the doubles, I’d try, as you said, uneven pairs:
      – (32 + 32) or (32 + 40) on light days
      – (40 + 40) on medium days
      – (40 + 48) on heavy days
      If the latter is too heavy, step back and work up to 8 reps with previous weights:
      – (32 + 32) on light days (two sets of 8 reps)
      – (32 + 40) : two sets of 4 (switching sides for the second set), then work up to two sets of 8; then, eventually, progress on the first two sets from (4, 4) to (8, 8)
      – (40 + 40) on the heavy day, slowly progressing from (5, 5) to (8, 8)
      Same idea for the one-arm exercises : stay with your current weight and work up to 8 reps. With the same hypothesis of (32, 40, 48), I would do :
      – two to five sets of 4 @32 on the light days (you can plan your volume as per Plan Strong or go with your gut feeling)
      – work to five sets of 8 @32 on the medium days
      – work to two sets of 8 @40 on the heavy days
      Eventually, on a heavy day where you feel exceptionnaly strong and fresh, you may try the Beast in an assisted or “cheat” mode:
      – push-press on the way up to pass the sticking point
      – assistance from the partner (just enough to clear the sticking point)
      – partial reps from the lockout to the sticking point and up
      In any case, you have to be able to control the negative. If that’s not the case, get back to 40 and be patient.
      Finally, another option would be to switch for a time to Double Presses (and/or Snatches).

  • Been playing with this program for about 6 weeks now and have really enjoyed it! I’m consistently adding reps and moving up in weight without feeling gassed at the end of a session. It’s a good “just enough” kind of training. However, being a petite female, I’m really struggling to jump from double 16 cleans to double 20 cleans. 5 x 5 with the double 16s are fine, single 20s are fine, but doubles have almost knocked me on my ass! When I do my heavy squat day with double 20s, I clean one bell and my partner hands me the other.

    To help with this, I’ve tried “short” swings with the double 20s but I can’t maintain trunk stability (I have to be very mindful of a chronic back injury). I considered doing heavy two-arm swings just to get used to the heavier load, but I also need to get used to the distribution of load in two hands. Thoughts on this one?

    • Thank you for trying this out, Jess !
      Concerning your progression with the Double Clean, you have several options :
      1. Instead of going straight from two 16 to two 20, you can try the uneven pair of 16 + 20 (obviously, you’ll have to switch sides on each set).
      2. The Clean being a pull, you could replace it with Double Bent Rows for a few weeks. Just be sure to pull the elbows behind your back with forearms perpendicular to the front plane of the body. Do not curl ! Depending on your morphology, you might better achieve that with a “conventional” (feet together) or even split (one feet forward, the other, one step back) stance. For a better transfert to the Clean, make sure to go through a complete ROM and make a pause at the top with maximum contraction through the whole posterior chain, as well as the abs.
      3. You could also replace the DCL by a Cheat Clean with a heavier bell for a few weeks. Work on shortening the trajectory, on remaining compact through the lift, on driving with the hips, and on controling the KB during its landing in the rack. Also, use the same stance as in the DCL.
      Hope it helps !

      • Oh, thank you so so much, perfect! I should probably go with the rowing route with the 16s for a couple weeks, then will likely shift to the asymmetrical cleans if need be. Would you also suggest doing swings with a heavier bell, say a 36kg so I get used to handling a heavier load?

        • Indeed, it might be a good idea to include heavy dead-stop two-arm, but also double Swings as a hinge exercise in your program. For example, it could be :
          – heavy day : two-arm SW @36
          – medium day : double SW @(16 + 16)
          – light day : two-arm SW @32 (or 28)
          Make sure to keep you upper body/shoulders connected when doing the Double Swings (avoid chasing the height and pulling with the traps).

  • Looks like a great program! Thanks.
    I’ve done Dan John’s 4 week program from his book The Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge, and I am about to finish the 10,000 swings challenge in a couple of days. I’m thinking of doing this program next. One thing though, I have really bad knees, and can only do body weight squats on good days. I can do presses and swings etc. fine. What can I do to make this program work for me without the loaded squats?

    • Thank you!
      Concerning the squat, everything depends on the nature of your problem. The question is, can you load your squatting pattern, even if partial ? Normally, you’re already doing it, unless your 10 000 Swings are straight-legged. If Squat causes pain, please, consult a physician. If it does not, check your form with an experienced coach (plenty of them on this website) and get an FMS screen.
      If there’s no pain and the form is good, at least on a portion of a full ROM, you could load (carefully!) that portion while working on correcting asymetries/limitations, if any (FMS), and on extending the ROM.
      In practice, it could look like :
      – “heavy” Squat day : box Goblet squat with a light KB
      – “medium” Squat day : box Goblet squat, bodyweight
      – “light” Squat days : mobility and correctives

  • Hi Alexey,

    I finished the first week of the program and I love it. It looks so easy on paper, but the volume on almost everyday makes it quite hard at the end of the week.

    A little question though, is there a way to incorperate some snatch test training? I’m a little scared that I’ll not be able to do them if I don’t do them for the last 3 weeks before my SFG. Last time I tested was on 14th of february and I completed 100 swings in 4.45

    • Thierry,
      You can adjust the volume (and/or loads) as specified in the article.
      As for the Snatch test, you can replace S&S practice on Days 3&6 by, for example, Mike Perry’s program (look for his article on this blog). Just watch to not overload your shoulders (you might want to replace the Snatches by heavy one-arm Swings during the other four days). Also, pay attention to the skin on your hands–a torn callus is not what you’d want to start a cert with.

  • Can’t wait to try this. Is there a recommendation on # of weeks for this program? I want to maintain my L2 skills as well. Would doing those light as a warm up or cool down be appropriate to accomplish that?
    Thank you!

    • Amy,
      You can stay on this program as long as you want to. As I’m saying in the article, it’s a means to structure your practice when you’re not on a more elaborate and “time-anchored” program.
      As for the SFG 2 skills, there’s only so much we can do in our day/week. I’m afraid that stuffing one’s training session with more exercises will bring more confusion than benefit. But you can replace some of the SFG 1 exercises by their SFG 2 “counterparts” to get the same effect. For example:
      – for your “strength days” (Days 1, 2, 4, 5): Double Swing (dead-stop), One-arm/side Front Squat, One-arm Clean (dead-stop), Double Jerk
      – for your “conditionning days” (Days 3 and 6): Windmill (as warm-up), than Double Snatch (for example, ladders of 2-3-5 or 1-3-6 EMOM for 12 or 15 minutes), than Bent Press (L/R x 5)
      Other combinations are possible. If you’re not following any “time-anchored” program, I think you can cycle between those “SFG-1” and “SFG-2” oriented programs every 4-6 weeks (let the program produce some stable results, then switch before stalling).
      Enjoy!

  • Great article Alexey. Thank you. I’ll give this a bash with a couple of my students and coaches. Like Eric says “(all the basic movements + different intensity/volume schemes per week + double and single kbell lifts + enough programming variation to not be boring yet has enough depth to make gains)” Woohoo

    • Yes, sure, but it will be a litlle farther away from an SFG “prep” practice. Also, keep in mind that you will thus double the sets in the Cleans and Squats (unless you do Goblets)–your training session will be longer.

    • For exercizes that are light or medium that day: 2 sets of 5. The first set is 2 bell sizes smaller than working weigh. 2nd is only one bell smaller than working weight.

      For the heavy exercise that day 2 sets with same weight pattern. But the number of reps is variable with whatever rep stage I’m doing. First week or so I’m probably warming up with doubles. On days where my top heavy set is 3+ reps I’ll probably equal it to that.

  • Love it. I think this is exactly what a lot of people who read Easy Strength, but didn’t know how to properly apply it to kettlebells outside of swings and get-ups (S&S) need.

    I’m not sure if it would be too much volume for someone like me who does a lot of jiu-jitsu, but I might try it later in the year.

    Do you have any particular recommendation for rest between sets? How long do these kinds of sessions take you to complete?

    • Alex,
      If you do a lot of BJJ, this program might indeed be too much. You could eventually try it with lighter weights (7-8RM for your “heavy” days) and limit yourself to two sets for the “medium” exercise of the day. In that case, your session will likely take you around 30-40 minutes.
      I do not time my rest periods and rest as long as I have to. So, the format described in the article might take me about an hour to complete (depending how many sets I spend on the “heavy” exercise of the day).

  • This is interesting!!! I’m presently on day 10 of easy strength after the 40days I may give this a whirl. one clarification is it a double press or single?

      • Thanks you so much! the more I read over this program the more intrigued I become! It’s really great that SF has so many amazing instructors sharing there knowledge.

  • This is great, I really like this! It is along the same vein as to how I like to train (all the basic movements + different intensity/volume schemes per week + double and single kbell lifts + enough programming variation to not be boring yet has enough depth to make gains). I will definitely try this program after I finish the one I’m on. Thank you for this.

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