Do you have any matching sets in your 4 kettlebells, or are they all different weights?
@dagill2 I should think power curls would benefit biceps if attacked properly; the exercise is, at its core, just a reverse grip power clean, but I definitely found myself feeling my biceps engage over my back due to the nature of how the arms need to move in that position. You also can’t get your elbows as high as you can with a pronated grip, so there’s no way to rest the bar on your shoulders, thus your biceps are firing to stabilize the weight. That was my experience, at least.
@T3hPwnisher my 16kg and 32kg bells both have a partner, so two matching sets of bells.
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Something you might dig is a kettlebell program called “dry fighting weight”. My work’s firewall is being an absolute and total pain right now, so my ability to link any sort of resource on it is kaput, but googling around and stumbling across dragondoor should open up some opportunities. I haven’t run it myself, but it’s on my radar, and given your previous experience with the Hungarian squat insanity, I’m sure you’d have a ball (a bell?)
I also wanna tackle Dan John’s “dare” of 5 rounds of 2-3-5-10 in the KB front squat. 100 reps with ladders. Looks gnarly. He also suggests it with the press too. 32s might be good with the squat and 16s for the press.
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I checked out the article, and I actually really hate kettlebell work like that. I have literally no clue why, though. Lighter, high-rep, endurance-based kettlebell work? Totally fine. It’s meditative. Heavier, low-rep kettlebell work? I just find it so unbelievably awkward for some reason.
Pavel’s one of my favourite coaches and I think he’s brilliant, but his programs also swing so far towards the “greasing the groove” spectrum that I worry they’re too far gone for much hypertrophy benefit. That could just be my inner bro crawling out, though.
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Haha cheers brother
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Oh man, our parallel universes collide, haha. I dug the time limit to get in sets thing on it, but can understand the perspective. Totally get Pavel too. I drank from the Pavel Koolaid DEEP the first time I read “Beyond Bodybuilding”. Still a great read, still makes a lot of sense…still not convinced it’s the best way to build muscle, haha.
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I suppose I should’ve been more specific. That part I actually really liked; the whole structure seemed really cool and I can get behind it. It’s specifically about the kettlebells themselves. Done with a barbell? Awesome. Doing it with kettlebells? Turns me off. No idea why. There’s probably some prejudice hiding there somewhere.
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20/03/2022
Thoughts
Time for a little self-indulgent life update. Feels good to vent things sometimes to internet strangers.
Firstly, my wife and I are fully separated now. It was pretty world-shattering at first, but now that my headspace is much healthier and I feel my old self reemerging, I’m much more at peace with all. Make the best of all life’s circumstances, learn from them and grow in a beneficial way. It’s the only way forward.
Her and my son are going to be arriving here at the end of the week, and after she finds a place, we’ll just coordinate who’s watching him and where depending on work schedules. Neither of us are the kind of people to make a messy situation worse, so we’ll focus on co-parenting and supporting our son and each other as his parents however possible to give him as good and loving a life as we can.
This is why my training situation is up in the air: the property manager where I rent initially said the owner wouldn’t allow access to the garage, and the spare bedroom which would have been my gym will be occupied as my son’s bedroom whenever he stays here. The property manager is going to talk to the owner, but doesn’t expect it will be a “yes”. I considered renting a storage unit up the road from my house, but holy shit are those expensive per month. This leaves finally getting a gym membership, which then brings the headache of having to coordinate when I go to the gym. And being around other people. Ugh.
No matter what happens with my training situation, I’ve realized I’m longing to get back to a blend of power/weightlifting and “bodybuilding”; I want to push the squat, bench, snatch and C&J (and deadlift, depending on how my training situation shakes out), then use the remainder of my sessions to just pump the shit out of targeted muscles and get jacked. Anyone who says they don’t wanna be buff is lying.
I’ve come up with some cursory plans that are fairly loose and centred around 3 days per week, so that I have some flexibility. I want to be able to work at a high intensity to grow, but have the ability to get done in 30 minutes, or take my time and be there for an hour. Can’t get stuck in one plan when life is messy — you have to be adaptable. Also refuse to give up my 3-5 days of running per week. It’s just so mentally freeing.
Finally, I went and trained with one of my old coaches and possibly best mentor on Friday. His martial arts background is rich and incredible. He’s also one of the most dangerous but humble and kind humans I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Getting to have our energies re-sync as we trained was fantastic, and the simple act of engaging in combative training again after so long felt like a piece of my soul was returned to me. This, more than anything, I will make time for. It’s part of the fabric of my being and I refuse to let it go again.
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My dude, thanks for sharing. I’m at a loss for words, but I’m glad to read you’re in a decent place mentally.
From the little I know of you through our interactions on this site, I absolutely know you will:
All the best to you as you continue to move forward, mi amigo.
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It’s your log dude, no such thing as self indulgent, particularly with such a life change.
Thank you for sharing this, i really think one of the benefits of sites like this is watching how other people navigate this whole “life” thing and still come out jacked and awesome, as i’m sure you will. Any mug can get jacked and awesome in a vacuum, it takes someone a bit more special to do it while also being a great dad and human being.
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@SvenG, @dagill2: 
always appreciate your kind words and support, my dudes. You’re part of what makes this community worth returning to day after day.
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Always here for you my dude, in any way needed. You’ll always have a fan in me.
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20/03/2022
Thought Part 2
Okay, so I’ve been spending my afternoon messing around with different exercise combos, running off the assumption that, if all else fails, I’ll have nothing but my barbell and kettlebells for a long while, and I wanna hammer the crap out of my muscles and force some gains. I got a little excited and wanted to get some of it down.
Here’s some of the shit I’ve toyed with:
Meadows row/1-arm DB row + pullover superset
- Don’t have access to a chin bar but want to hit your lats through a full ROM? Here you go. Holy shit, this was amazing. I kept the rows to 8-12 reps, focusing on sweeping the elbow into my hip crease, then the pullovers were done for 15-20 reps.
Barbell floor press + plate fly + deficit push-ups
- Dear LORD, the chest pump is unreal here. Floor press is heavy — could be anywhere from 5-10 reps — and focuses on the upper half. The flies only come up about 3/4 of the way, and I allowed a deep stretch in the bottom, for about 15-20 reps. Push-ups were done with my palms on the top of the KB (under the handle), fingers out, in a semi-wide position; as I pushed up, I focuses on rotating my elbow pits forward to really squeeze the chest, done for whatever reps I could manage. This was absolutely bananas.
Heels-elevated barbell hack squat + deficit RDL/sissy squat
- I played around with supersetting both RDLs and sissy squats to see which I liked better, and I enjoyed both. Really depends on what I want to focus on for the day, I guess. Could also just be totally deranged and do it as a triset. The RDLs are nice because I’m already strapped up to the bar with my feet on plates, so I just step backwards over the bar onto the plates and boom, off I go. Convenient.
There was some other stuff for arms I played with (like overhead extensions into diamond push-ups), but those were the 3 I was most excited about.
Let’s get fucking jacked, boys and girls.
6 Likes
Have you experimented with long isos?
My coach has been setting an iso “challenge” in every session and I have a serious love/hate relationship. Highlights include 5min handstand, 5min wallsit with a barbell or a dip ladder starting with 5s and adding 5s every mini-set.
Not only do I get a great pump (and I swear some new growth), but it’s provided a pretty cool mental challenge. Holding for so long, you have to stay calm and grow comfortable with the pain.
I think you’d dig it
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21/03/2022
0640hr start
Running
- 5km
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21/03/2022
1800hr start
C&J
- 145x5
- 165x5
- 185x5
C&PP
- 125x10
- 145x8
- 165x6
Floor Press
- 145x5
- 165x5
- 185x5
Floor Press // Chest Fly // Deficit Push-ups
- 125x10 // 25x15 // BWx10
- 145x8 // 25x12 // BWx8+2 eccentric only
- 165x5.5 // 25x9 // BWx5+5 eccentric only
- 45 sec pec stretch + 15 sec flex
Just brutal.
Seated OH Extension // Diamond Push-ups
- 35x15 // BWx8
- 35x10 // BWx6
- 35x8 // BWx5 eccentric only
- 45 sec triceps stretch + 15 sec flex
Quietly sobbing.
Lu Raise 21s
- 3 sets @ 10/hand
Finally made my body realize I have lateral delts.
—
Going to use the Leader cycles to push weaker variations of the O-lifts (like push presses and hang snatches) to build some more muscle, then pull back to the full lifts at FSL weights for the Anchor to drill technique more.
This is the kind of shit I just love so much; hit some big lifts, drill their technique, then obliterate some show muscles. Best of both worlds.
5 Likes
22/03/2022
0650hr start
Running
- 5km
—
22/03/2022
1830hr start
Power Snatch
- 105x5
- 120x5
- 135x5
Hang Power Snatch
- 90x10
- 105x8
- 120x6
Snappy.
Landmine Row // Pullover
- 100x3x12/arm // 25x3x25
Forget Red Bull giving you wings, this superset will.
Zottman Curl
- 35x10
- 35x8
- 35x6+3+3 (RP)
I love Zottman curls. Such an underrated biceps exercise.
Tricep Bar Fat-Grip Hammer Curls
- 50x12
- 50x8
- 50x8, 45x8, 40x8x 35x8 (dropsets)
Seated Rear Delt Swings
- 5/hand x100 total reps
Oh fuck, this was painful.
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25/03/2022
Thoughts
Jotting some thoughts down while I have the time.
This 5/3/1 SST & pseudo-body part split thing I had planned, I realized, needs to be tossed. Hitting everything only once per week won’t cut it, because I need to be flexible with my evenings. Missing a day means bumping everything back by a day or more, and screws up timing.
The alternative, I believe, is a full-body set-up. That way, frequency is high, and if I have to bump a session it’s not the end of the world because that lift, muscle, etc will already have been trained prior in the week. Additionally, looking back on my training, the best progress I made last year was running 5/3/1 Volume and Strength, which is a full-body program. Any other successful program I’ve run has usually been full-body, so clearly I thrive on frequency.
However, I want to try 5/3/1 Morning Star — or, my version of it (sorry Jim). It’s another full-body program that’s caught my eye before, I’ve just never pulled the trigger on it. The difference is I’ll be swapping the power clean for the power snatch (which he condones), and the press for the C&J, making the three lifts completely Olympic weightlifting in spirit: snatch, C&J and squat.
Assistance will be done circuit style with a focus on “bodybuilding”; there’ll be some forced reps, rest-pausing, dropsets, all that good stuff. One circuit will be back, chest/tris/general push and biceps. The other will be back, legs (either hammy or quad focused) and abs. I’ll just swap between them each session.
—
Sometimes life gets hectic. Sometimes plans need to change. Sometimes we have to be adaptable. That’s fine — adversity breeds strength when approached with the right mindset. Every challenge is an opportunity to grow, and it’s up to us to figure out how we’re gonna learn from those challenges.
When you have things you’re passionate about, as we all are with lifting and training here, you have to find ways to adapt your passions to suite life; for a long time I tried to adapt life to suite my passions, but I believe that’s an incorrect way of living. We don’t live in a vacuum. We aren’t the centre of the universe. Constructing your entire world around your passions and desires is incredibly selfish in my mind and can lead to frustrations that border on tantrums when things don’t go your way (which was my reality for a long time).
There are people in our lives who need us. Parents, friends, spouses, siblings, kids, coworkers — whoever. Adapting your passions to suite life doesn’t have to be a sacrifice, it can actually lead to some amazing outcomes had we not been forced to modify our way of thinking.
Change is scary. Humans love patterns and predictability and change throws unknowns at us. But change can be an opportunity to generate traits of virtue, patience, willpower, courage, honour, grace, and so much more. Welcome change. Adapt to it. Learn from it. Grow.
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”
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Morningstar is one I’ve wanted to do for a while, excited to see you crush this. I don’t think Jim would have any qualms with the press being swapped out for the C&J in this case.
1 Like
29/03/2022
0645hr start
KB Long Cycle (Double KB C&J)
- 2x16kg x10x10
10 deep breaths between sets.
Double KB Front Squats
- 2x16kg x10 EMOM 10 min
—
Until I have a more settled schedule regarding my son and his mom and who’s watching him when, this workout — or a variation — will be my go-to. It’s quick and I could easily do it twice a day for an easy way to get in a ton of full-body volume, plus a little conditioning hit.
3 Likes
30/03/2022
0640hr start
KB Long Cycle
- 2x16kg x10x10
10 deep breaths between sets.
—
All I had time for today. I think I’ll try to commit to minimum 2 evenings per week of lifting (probably all I’ll be able to swing) once childcare shit is sorted out, but I’ll reserve my mornings for KB sport work, like I used to. Long cycle, cleans, jerks and snatches absolutely demolish the upper body, and at a high enough volume will be good conditioning. Even with minimal barbell work earlier this year, when I was heavily focusing on KB sport, my upper body grew. The modified Morning Star plan will definitely cover lower body volume, and I’ll finish up and KB sport work with swings and jerk squats for extra hip/lower body work.
Making it happen, people. Adapt or die.
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