Thank you. Watching him now. I like his videos. I’m going to try, at least the clean part. I can’t believe you’re doing those with 88 lbs. That’s heavy for a single arm movement, and we all know 88 lbs in KB form is heavy.
I’ll post a vid next time I do them!
Strangely, I think the kettlebell press is just a movement that I happen to be good at. Whereas in virtually any other movement I feel like I’d really have to struggle to achieve some level of “goodness” the kettlebell press has come fairly naturally…to wit, I don’t think I could pass the RKC Level 1 snatch test (100 snatches with a 53 pound bell in 5 minutes) today, but I’m pretty sure I could pass the press requirement for the RKC Level 2 (press the 106 pound kettlebell for 1 rep) if I could get my hands on a 106-pounder.
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This is an interesting topic. Do you press the kettlebell with or without leg drive? And are you allowed to use your free hand to get the kettlebell into a proper rack postition (sorry if that is explained in the video, I didn’t get to eatch it)? I would love to try this but I never had access to a 40 kg kettlebell. Whenever I have access to kettlebells, which only happens irregularely, I liked the one arm c&p a lot but never treated it as a “strength movment”.
I have generally pressed without leg drive, but admittedly I allow a small side bend (not so much that it looks like a bent press, but enough that you can see it as the bell goes up, before coming back to vertical alignment once the bell is locked out). These are the acceptable rules when testing the press requirement for an RKC or StrongFirst certification.
Re: the free hand, I generally just use one hand. However, if you’re testing press as a maximal movement, a la the Cyr Dumbbell at the Arnold, I believe that it would be acceptable to use both hands to get the bell into the pressing position, then just the one to press it.
That is were I was coming from, since I only know this event from strongman .
Pressing 40 kg with one hand and without leg drive is definitely impressive! I know, besides deadlifting, you don’t do a lot of barbell lifts but do you have any other overhead lift “numbers” like strict press, push press, log etc. I am just curious what it takes to get to multiple one hand clean and presses with such a heavy kettlebell.
Since I haven’t contributed to this log in a long time I also want to compliment you on your deadlift progress! That is some really fast and impressive improvement.
Friday 7/29
Deadlift
1x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
1x315
1x365
1x405
1x405
Saturday 7/30
Deadlift
1x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
1x315
1x365
1x405
1x455
1x455
1x455
1x455
3x405
DB Clean-N-Press
1x50
1x50
1x55
1x55
1x60
1x60
1x65
1x65
1x70
1x70
1x75
1x75
1x80
1x80
1x85
1x85
1x90
1x90
Lat Pulldowns 5x10
Cable Rows 5x10
Incline Press 5x10
Four singles with 455 is a “workout PR” for the most reps I’ve done in a single workout with four wheels and a quarter on each side, but the third and fourth were real grinders.
Moving forward, I would like to make 455 my “regular day” weight (something I can easily work up to any time I walk into the gym, which is currently more like 405). That’s a project for after my wedding & honeymoon, though. Taking it easy this coming week to be on the safe side.
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I’ve always liked this idea on the deadlift, and I think this is why I go heavier on this lift more often than any others. 545 has been that number for me for a while now, and I think it is helpful mentally to have a reasonably heavy but not quite 1RM weight that you know you can get any time, any place. Whether this has been beneficial to my actual progress or not, I’m not sure, but I don’t really care. It has been beneficial to being able to walk into the gym, pull big weight with confidence and then feel better afterwards.
I’ve pulled my “regular day” weight beltless, hung over, on next to no sleep, poorly fed, upset and sometimes most of those at once. I own that weight now. I also like being very familiar with how a particular weight feels, and I can tell a lot about how well I am performing just by how my “regular day” weight feels.
My only suggestion would be to aim a bit higher. I think you can make 5 plates your bitch in fairly short order. In fact, it may already be. If you were to drop down to deadlifting once per week (I’m not saying you should, since what you’re doing is obviously working), I think a lot of these singles would move surprisingly fast for you in a less-fatigued state.
^All good stuff, that. I very much like a couple of these descriptions:
^that is how I feel about 405 right now. I can tell on my first rep with 405 if I “have it” on a given day or not. If I don’t, that’s no reason to abandon the session, I just focus a little more on doing a few quality reps at 405 vs. blowing past that for a bigger weight.
I believe that you are correct that I might be able to make 495 that “any time, any place” weight eventually, but I have to do it with 455 first, lol.
As for this…
I agree. I needed to put in some work to build that base of strength, but beyond a certain point it’s probably more harmful than helpful to pull heavy that frequently. I think post-honeymoon, I’ll be training something like this:
M: Deadlift 6x1x315
T: Deadlift 6x1x315
W: Kettlebell Day
R: Deadlift 6x1x315
F: Deadlift 6x1x315
S: Hot Yoga Class
S: ME Deadlift (work up to 1x405+)
I’d like to continue the “high frequency” work, but turn more of the days into “DE” days, pulling solid dynamic singles or doubles at 315 (ballpark of 60% 1RM), with one quasi-ME day (“work up to 405 and see how it feels, then decide how much farther to push it”).
Speaking of which…
Sunday 7/31
Deadlift
1x135
1x185
1x225
1x275
1x315
1x365
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
5x405
Back Extensions
5x10xBW
KB Snatch
20x45
Probably last heavy deadlift session before the wedding. This week I’ll get a yoga class in sometime and probably a few kettlebell workouts, maybe one or two days deadlifts at 315.
Monday 8/1
Hot Vinyasa Yoga (60 Minutes)
@ActivitiesGuy Where does your training philosophy come from? I’d like to try a high frequency deadlift routine, at least until I feel I’ve become proficient at them.
Well, it comes partly just from “I like deadlifting” but also from the StrongFirst Daily Dose Deadlift routine. I had been doing mostly kettlebell work the last couple years, then joined a local gym last summer because I felt the urge to lift some heavy barbells (had done so from age 9-22 as a football player and lifted in a few powerlifting meets).
Last summer I started out with mostly deadlifts, decided that was the most bang for my buck, and just sort of settled on what you’ve read here. I’ve been successful in reaching my own goals, but note that a 500 deadlift at 217 bodyweight is kind of in that territory of “strong for the average person; very average for a competitive lifter” - so if your goals are higher than that you may want to look elsewhere, haha.
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One more thought on this - if you choose to go the high-frequency deadlift route, it requires some good sense of autoregulation and an understanding that the gains are reaped from lots of low-volume, moderate-intensity workouts. If you look back through this log you’ll see a whole lot of singles done between 315 and 405 and relatively little work above that (I pulled 500 with something like a total of four or five total reps above 450 pounds; I did a single at 455 once, a single at 475 once, and I think a double at 460 once). So get a very rough idea of your 1RM and do half a dozen singles at 65-75% of that for a few weeks, with a heavier day every week or two, and then re-test. I went from 405 to 500 in just under six months.
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Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind.
Tuesday 8/2
Deadlift
5x135
5x135
1x225
1x225
1x315
1x315
1x315
1x315
1x315
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
1x405
KB Snatch
20x45
So I was just going to kill it at 315 today, but I felt so good that I decided to knock out just a few good singles at 405.
NOW, I am done deadlifting til after the trip. Yoga, kettlebells and hiking for a few weeks. Should come back ready to crank it back up and work to beat that 500 by mid-autumn.
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Wednesday 8/3
Hot Vinyasa Yoga (60 Minutes)
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Enjoy your wedding and your honeymoon. Major congratulations!
Back to the important stuff, I’m curious how much time you’ve spent in a rested state since you started the high-frequency deadlifting. Have you ever been that rested? Any plans for a big pull after you return?
You know, since I started the high-frequency deadlift approach, I don’t know that I’ve ever been fully “rested” (i.e. a full week between deadlift sessions). As noted above, I think what this did was basically build a “wide base” of strength.
I don’t think I’ll go for another really big pull right away. During our two weeks, we will remain active (already got some hiking, standup paddleboarding, and a couple yoga classes planned) but I would be hesitant to just come back in after a couple weeks away from the barbell. I think I’ll put my nose back to the grindstone with the approach described above: the “frequency” deadlift sessions of half-a-dozen singles at 315, one devoted kettlebell day, one hot yoga class, and one “ME” deadlift session per week.
Once I’ve followed that template for another 4-6 weeks, I will probably re-test my max deadlift, and when that’s coming up I might back off for a week or two and try to come into the max session in more of a truly “rested” state.
Thursday 8/4
KB Snatch
10x44
10x44
10x44
10x44
10x53
10x53
10x53
10x53
KB Clean-N-Press
1x62
1x62
1x62
1x62
1x62
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
1x88
Took a few vids of the 88-pound kettlebell press as requested above, will upload when I get a chance.
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