Yesterday in my journey of doing Geoff Neupert's The Giant, kettlebell program, I finished the 2.0 workout. What makes this different than the other 4 workouts is that it uses ladders vs. straight sets. I believe this is the best next progression after 1.0. Why? In 1.0, the heavy day is the 6 rep day. For 20-30 minutes, you're performing continuous reps of 6. If you do the 1.1 workout, 6 is the light day and 8 is the heavy day! That might be too much progression. Kind of like a $3.5 trillion spending bill. No, that would be the 1.2 program.
The 2.0 program uses ladders ranging from 3-8. Meaning, first set, do a set of 4. Rest, next set of 6, rest set of 8. Start ladder over. What I like about ladders is instead of balling out and starting with a set of 8, which might feel awful, you kind of ease into it. Set of 4, loosen up a little, set of 6, warmed up, set of 8. It's kind of like pitching. You don't go into a game without warming up. The first couple of rungs help you get the movement pattern down for the money set.
I ran this program with double 55 lb./25kg kettlebells. 4 weeks, 1st 3 were for 30 minutes, last week was 20. My best was 75 reps on a medium day, which was a personal record. The magic in this program is in the high rep sets, 7's and 8's. They also take a LOT out of you. I never went to failure, but hit a wall on heavy day in week 3. Now if I did the program as written and rested, maybe the results might have been even better.
I am still running a couple of days a week on treadmill or outdoors. 3-5 miles, just for meditative purposes. Also gone to the gym to do some pullups and rows. Last Sunday, after an easy day deload week 20 minute session, I decided to do a snatch test for 5 minutes. Being over 50, as a "master" (insert joke), I can use the 45 lb. bell.
Chalked up, set the clock and started. There are many different ways to get to 100. 20 reps sets descending to 15, 10 and 5. I'm not a fan of long sets. I find them to be grip fryers and cause shoulder fatigue. When the grip starts going, you're more apt to have a bad rep, a pinch and a blood blister. Sets of 10 are okay. Just boring. A few years ago, I did this with a 35 and did 200 in 9 minutes. It was still pretty miserable.
Personally I like, 8, 8 and then 6 sets of 7,7. The grip stays fresher. The sets don't seem that long. If you can do 5 reps, everyone can do an extra 2. And my shoulders feel better. There are some drawbacks to this. First, you have to keep a decent pace. Hand switches waste time. Second, the counting aspect. This isn't a problem for me. My brother teases me, that I know my exact golf score in my head or how many points I scored when I played basketball. But it works for me.
The key is NOT PUTTING THE BELL DOWN. If you put the bell down, fatigue takes over, it's hard to get going again, and you'll put it down again. Ever notice when running how hard it is to start running again when you stop? Or doing a task you dread at work, get going on it and stop? Same thing. Anyway, I did the 100 at a nice easy pace in 4:50 and did 4 more for 104 total. I might train with a 55 again. I haven't done 100 with a 55 in about 5 years.
What's next? I'm kind of in a no-man's land. Going on vacation in 20 days. I can squeeze 3 weeks of The Giant 1.1 in. Then take a week off as a de-load. And finish week 4 by doing a full 30 minutes. Or I could finish Ballistic Beatdown. I have 3 weeks left. I'm not a fan of it. I HATE high pulls. Especially before snatches. Finishing it would be more of a matter of pride than enjoyment I'm leaning toward the former.
