Hello to you all. I am looking to gain a bit of muscle, lose fat and get better conditioned for muay Thai. My time is ridiculously constrained (I mean really constrained, I have to snatch 10-30 minutes to train) and I think this move will give the most benefit for all bases in minimum time. I won’t excell and any single one, admittedly, but think it will help with all 3.
I asked on the Strongfirst forum but people there tended to point me towards Simple & Sinister. I tried it but the warmup alone took 20 minutes and if I invested 45 minutes a day to training I think I’d want more muscle return than that program offers.
Can anyone here point me anywhere? Yes, I have Googled it ;-D
Sorry Dagill, my mistake: I know S & S is TGUs and swings, was more musing about the tendency of the users of that site to refer everyone to it, whatever their goals, etc.
Thanks for the advice, I will check out that user’s posts. Much appreciated, Sir.
You can’t really go wong with long cycle clean and jerk for strength and conditioning if you aren’t after maximal strength. It is brutal and very effective.
I’d check out Smith and Esch Fitness Systems as a starting point, and if they’re not in your state ask them to point you in the right direction for where you are. Bill Esch is very, VERY good at LC. Before you ask, yes, it is different the SF method but every bit as effective. You’d need to invest a little effort in technical execution, but that comes along with the training.
When I was considering entering a Kettlebell Competition this year (before back to back sicknesses that zapped my energy and desire to compete in sport this year), I got the biggest bang for my buck doing timed sets that were determined by the roll of a dice. I would roll my dice on Monday and that would determine my time for all of my various kettlebell exercises for the week. This was done after my 5/3/1 barbell work. I went something like this…
Bench Press 5/3/1
Double KB Jerks: Time
Squat 5/3/1
Double Swings: Time
OH Press 5/3/1
Long Cycle: Time
Deadlift 5/3/1
1 Arm Snatch (or Double Cleans): Time
Obviously you don’t have to do 5/3/1 with this but on days you rolled a 12 you could do your Kettlebell work and be done. On days you roll a lesser number you could have time to devote to pull-ups, KB Presses, KB Rows, Push-Ups, various loaded carries or some bodybuilding work of some kind if you prefer. Even with the 5/3/1 lift and rolling a 12 it would take at the most 30 minutes maybe a hair longer on Deadlift and Squat days. The great thing about kettlebells is you can get really creative and come up with a great workout in less than 20 minutes.
Simple and Sinister is a decent program but I found the workouts that Pavel laid out in “Enter the Kettlebell” to be far superior than S&S. You get to perform a variety of different lifts with different schemes. His ladder rep/set scheme is great in addition to the timed set which is where I got the dice idea. You could devote 1 day to ladders (Clean and Presses for example) and another day for timed work (Snatches, Swings etc.). In other words… BUY ENTER THE KETTLEBELL!! Great book and it has everything you are looking for to meet your goals within your given time constraints.
In other words… BUY ENTER THE KETTLEBELL!! Great book and it has everything you are looking for to meet your goals within your given time constraints. [/quote]
+1
I found my conditioning improved massively and I was always feeling I must be cheating or something because the workouts were so quick relative to the time I used to spend lifting in a gym. Can be done in 20 - 30 minutes if you want to.
[quote]dagill2 wrote:
Check out ActivityGuys log on this site, he’s been doing exactly this kind of workout for a long time with great results.[/quote]
Well, it depends on your definition of “great” but I’ve been doing it, lol.
OP: you can certainly check out my log, but I don’t do anything magical. I just have a collection of KB’s and do almost all of my training at home, with very simple workouts that often consist of a single movement, maybe a circuit if I use the building’s fitness room.
Good/quick workouts that can be done in the time frame you describe:
All Snatches:
10 snatches EMOM for 10-20 minutes (switch hands every set).
That’s 100 swings and 10 goblet squats. Takes about 4-5 minutes. Repeat 2-3 times.
Long Cycle Ladder:
Clean and Press once. Put the bells down, step back and take a breath or two. Clean and Press twice. Put the bells down, step back and take a breath or two. Repeat until you can no longer complete the prescribed reps.
Loaded Carries:
Pick up your kettlebell. Walk outside. Walk an entire lap around your block carrying the thing - any position you like (suitcase, rack, overhead).
dagill: I can’t believe you spelled my name wrong. I thought we were friends.