Just to throw another option out, for the price of the wood fire, if you have the space and time, you could get a drum smoker. It’s charcoal based but it’s pretty hands off once you learn how it cooks. This is the one I have. I really enjoy it and it’s held up very well but whenever I got it a few years ago, it was a shit ton cheaper (like $300-350 pre assembled from my local hardware store)
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@freshyfresh thats definitely another solid option for sure! Don’t think I’d have the room for it just yet but eventually I’d love to have a bunch of different grills/smokers in my backyard haha
15 Jan 25
4 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swings 24kg
After set of 50: hip flexor or adductor stretch.
Just the swings today.
Total swings 4400/10,000
5 Likes
16 Jan 25
5 rounds:
20 swing 24kg
3 Goblet squat 50lbs
Squat + reach stretch
3 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swing 24kg
After sets of 10/15/25: 1-2-3 front squat 135lbs
After set of 50: lunge+rotation stretch
Total swings 4800/10,000
Edit: Seems like it’s the 1 year anniversary of my first post in this log, time flies!
6 Likes
17 Jan 25
20 x 20 swing 24kg
In between sets of swings I did some easy upper body isolation work for 1x10-20 reps each exercise and/or some foam rolling and mobility stuff.
The only issue right now is with the KB handle pinching on my pinky fingers. My right one is starting to get ingrown now so I’ve started leaving my pinky fingers outside the KB handle to try and give them a break. “Fancy KB swings” if you will haha.
Total swings 5200/10,000
Over halfway done now, 6lbs down since day 1.
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Did you give the 1-arm swings a try? Something else that randomly popped in my hand is an over/under hammer style grip, with the handle perpendicular to you. Haven’t tried it myself but could work.
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@BrandonCrawford I did give them a try on Friday! They were ok but I think I still prefer the way that 2-handed swings feel, even with the finger issues I’ve been having. I tried that hammer grip option you mentioned in today’s workout for a couple of the sets, it felt ok as well but I think I’ll just stick with the 2 handed swings and try to take care of the ingrown nail!
20 Jan 25
Ended up missing my workouts on Saturday and Sunday due to some work and personal stuff that came up. I thought this would happen at least once during the challenge so I’m not too worried about it. I’ll just do 600 swings per workout for the next 4 days to make up for the missed reps and get back on track to finish as planned.
6 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swing 24kg
after sets of 10-15-25: 2-3-5 Dip
after sets of 50: deep lunge stretch on staircase.
all 6 sets of 50 were done unbroken today so my work capacity and grip strength are definitely improving.
total swings: 5800/10,000
4 Likes
21 Jan 25
6 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swing 24kg
After sets of 10-15-25: 1-2-3 pullup
After set of 50: deep lunge stretch
Total swings: 6400/10,000
4 Likes
22 Jan 25
6 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swings 24kg
After set of 25: 5 x seated DB press 50lbs/hand
After set of 50: Deep lunge stretch on staircase
Total swings: 7000/10,000
2 Likes
23 Jan 25
5 rounds:
20 swing 24kg
3 Goblet squat 50lbs
4 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swing 24kg
1-2-3 front squat 135lbs
Deep lunge stretch
5 rounds:
20 swing 24kg
2 Cossack squat per side
Total swings: 7600/10,000
3 Likes
24 Jan 25
40 minutes E2MOM:
-20 swings 24kg
-1 set of an upper body isolation movement or some mobility work (ie. DB curl, shrug, lateral raise, neck harness etc)
Total swings 8000/10,000
80% done now, I’m glad I could get back on schedule with the extra swings this week.
4 Likes
25 Jan 25
4 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swing 24kg
2-3-5 Dip
Deep lunge stretch
Total swings: 8400/10,000
4 Likes
26 Jan 25
4 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swing 24kg
1-2-3 pullup
Deep lunge stretch
Total swings 8800/10,000
4 Likes
27 Jan 25
4 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swing 24kg
After set of 25: 5 x seated DB press 50lbs/hand
Lunge + rotation stretch
Total swings 9200/10,000
On the home stretch now. Was planning on maybe doing a bit more volume today and tomorrow to finish a day early but I got called in to work overtime tonight and tomorrow night so I scrapped the extra volume idea.
My body is holding up pretty well. No issues with my hands anymore, I’ve been using some beef tallow and it’s done a lot of good for my calluses/hotspots.
My hips are starting to get pretty sore now though, probably just from all the volume, but it’s manageable for the next two days.
5 Likes
28 Jan 25
4 rounds:
10-15-25-50 swing 24kg
1-2-3 front squat 135lbs
Deep lunge stretch
Hips feel noticeably worse after today’s session. I realized I’ve been inadvertently doing my swings with my hips fairly externally rotated, to avoid the sides of the bell handle chafing the inside of my thighs. Almost in a pseudo-sumo stance which is probably where the hip pain is coming from. I closed up my stance a bit and kept my toes pointed straight forward for the last round of today’s workout and that did seem to help a fair bit!
Looking forward to finishing this off tomorrow.
Total swings 9600/10,000
4 Likes
29 Jan 25
I wanted to finish with a bang so I did a bunch of fun stuff today. I was also worried I may have miscounted reps earlier on during the challenge so just to be sure I did the full 10,000 swings I added an extra 100 today.
-5 rounds:
Hang snatch high pull x 5 135lbs
20 swings 24kg
Lunge + rotation
-5 rounds:
Cossack squat x 5/leg
20 swings 24kg
Lying torso rotation (abductor/QL stretch)
-5 rounds:
Fat BB curl x 10 45lbs
Band pushdown x 10
20 swings 24kg
-5 rounds:
DB shrug x 10 50lbs
Plate lateral raise x 10 10lbs
Neck flexion x 20
Neck harness x 20
20 swings 24kg
-5 rounds:
Band fly x 20
Band pullapart x 20
20 swings 24kg
Total swings 10,100/10,000
I will try to do a little write up about the challenge soon and pin it here (if I can figure out how to do that) in case anyone else is considering doing the 10,000 swings challenge in the future. Overall though I’m very happy I undertook something that seemed a bit overwhelming at the start because I’ve definitely seen lots of improvement in my work capacity.
I weighed in at 215lbs today so -5lbs since the start of the challenge. Still moving in the right direction but not as much as I was hoping for. I think the main reasons for this was 1. When I started in on the AB diet I think I was going a little overboard with the cheese and sour cream. After the first two weeks I sort of realized “damn I’m eating A LOT of cheese” haha
and 2. I did get caught unprepared a couple times with last minute overtime call-ins to work. I didn’t have any good meals prepped and ready to bring with me for those night shifts. Our company usually buys coffee/donuts/pizza whenever we get called in for a snow storm so you can probably guess how that ended for me! No excuses though that’s 100% on me.
Anyways here’s an “after” picture from today and one of my KB and the gloves I used, as well as my pair of bearfoot bruins because I just put some mink oil on them and they were looking pretty fine! Appreciate the support of everyone who’s followed along!
6 Likes
Outstanding work dude! Way to get after it, and 5lbs over 20 days of work is outstanding progress. That dairy trap is VERY real with carnivore/animal based. The best I’ve heard is to treat dairy like a condiment vs a food stuff. Just like you wouldn’t sit down to eat a bowl of ketchup, you won’t eat cheese just to eat cheese. However, you’ve also discovered what a valuable tool that stuff is for weight gain, should you ever flip the switch.
So many lessons learned through this all. Be curious to see how your hinging movements go after all this time on the swing.
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Much appreciated man! Yeah that’s a very good point on the dairy. I think my hinge will be a lot stronger now, big improvements in my grip/upper back and glutes/hams/low back after this! I will probably want to test out my deadlift again next week while I take a little Deload from training!
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A little write up on the 10,000 swing challenge for anyone who’s interested.
The 10-15-25-50 rep scheme that Dan John came up with is a very good one, especially when paired with some other strength moves as he recommends. The first 3 sets go by fairly quickly and you really just have a gut check for the sets of 50. Originally I was breaking up that last set into 2x25 but after the first few workouts I’d improved enough to do them unbroken.
I did also really enjoy my 20 sets of 20 swings paired with some random upper body isolation stuff. It was fun to change things up a bit and I had much better rep-quality (more explosive/snappy) over the course of the whole workout, with the lower-rep sets.
The upper body pressing days (Dip, shoulder press) feel the easiest, while the pullup and front squat days feel a fair bit harder, because of the additional strain on your grip and lower body respectively. I noticed improvements with my pull-ups and dips by the end of the challenge.
DOMS was very bad for the first 2000 or so swings/4-5 days for me. I was walking around very strangely because of the soreness/stiffness in my glutes and hams. That improved fairly quickly after that point and I felt very good for the last 2 thirds of the challenge.
Related specifically to the Animal-based diet: I enjoyed it and found it relatively easy to follow (so long as I had time to prep meals for work, wasn’t always the case unfortunately) I will definitely be keeping the ancestral blend beef, pastured eggs and various broths as central to my diet going forward. I also did a course by heart and soil supplements called AB30. Hopefully it’s ok I’m mentioning them here, they really just make beef organ supplements so there isn’t any competition between them and biotest that I can see. Anyways their AB30 course is free, very well done and informative, so I’d recommend it to anyone who’s interested in the animal based diet.
Some specific takeaways for the 10k swing challenge:
-definitely wear gloves @T3hPwnisher was very correct about that. I wore a thin pair of cut resistant work gloves that helped my hands a lot. I also rubbed beef tallow on my hands every night before bed and that really seemed to take care of my calluses.
- be mindful of your swing form, specifically what your hips are doing. I was subconsciously externally rotating my hips and widening my stance to prevent the bell from hitting the inside of my thighs. This let to some bad hip pain at around the 9000 swings mark. I went back to a more squared up swing stance, a bit closer to an RDL or conventional deadlift stance and my hips really preferred that. Sumo deads have always bothered my hips though, so maybe a wider stance would be fine for some people. You’ve got 10,000 reps to figure it out so you might as well try both!
-The style of KB you use can be a big factor too. I used a cheap cast iron 24kg bell with the traditional handle style. I do think if I ever do the challenge again I’d buy a competition style bell for it. The squared off handle just feels a bit more natural for me (I’ve got relatively short legs so the larger handle on my bell would always rub against the inside of my thighs). If you’re thinking of purchasing one for the challenge I’d recommend you go to a local fitness supply store and do a bunch of swings with each style of bell to see what feels best. As @BrandonCrawford recommended there’s also single arm swings and hammer-grip swings if those feel more natural for you too! Personally I just felt stronger/more explosive with the 2 hand swings so I put up with the chaffing.
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I lost 5lbs over the 20 or so days it took me to finish the challenge, I did also see an increase in the size of my glutes, hams and forearms from all the volume. My jeans fit a bit looser around the hips now so it’s fair to say the majority of that 5lbs was probably fat or water. I don’t have any DEXA scans to back that up though so I’d be interested in that info if anyone attempts the challenge in the future.
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Overall definitely improved my GPP and mental toughness to swing the bell for 3 weeks straight, I’d highly recommend the challenge to anyone who’s considering it!
5 Likes
19 Feb 2025
Been a little bit since I’ve been able to/felt like training. Very busy with all the snow at work I’ve basically been living in hotels right next to my work for the past 3 weeks (my work puts us up in hotels during big storms so we aren’t stuck in traffic when we need to be sleeping). Lots of overtime which is nice but I’ve also been quite sick the last little bit so the combination of the two wasn’t great.
My diet did also suffer with all that time away from home. Back on the wagon now though, just did something quick today to get the blood moving and loosen up.
-A few rounds of KB swings, pull-ups, pushups and goblet squat then a bunch of stretching/foam rolling. My body is already feeling better.
Just trying to decide where I’ll go from here training wise, I’ll probably take the rest of the week just doing something similar to today and start a new program next week. Right now I’m leaning towards 5/3/1 walrus or another version of 5/3/1 plus some GPP stuff to help me get ready for the summer/landscaping season.
5 Likes
I had very good results with this a few years back. Used it to train for the “Tactical Strength Challenge”. I would do the main lift for a PR set, then put on the weight vest and do some kind of push/pull/legs circuit. I was a member of Wendler’s forum for awhile and he said this is what he would recommend to most “average dudes”.
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