Must be horrible to be jacked…LOL
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You would know!
Morning Weight: 220.2lbs
DAY 4 (100lbs DB for Squatting)
5 Round of:
10 Swings, Goblet Squat 2 rep
15 Swings, Goblet Squat 4 reps
25 Swings, Goblet Squat 6 reps
50 Swings
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5/Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4m10s | 10m30s | 17m15s | 23m45s | 29m40s |
Daily work immediately following the workout: Rows, Dips, Ab Wheel and GHRs
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We are like twins separated at birth. Accept you are the stronger better looking one 
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Daily work done, and a busy morning getting ready for hosting a little get together for my wife’s birthday. I have a feeling there will be some empty calories consumed this evening. Tomorrow will be my final (finally) workout of the 10,000 KB swing program.
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August 4, 2022
We had a great time with friends last night, the last of the crew left our place around 1am. An early wakeup call from our 4month old, which was expected.
I knew today was going to be a bit of a scramble, so I managed to get in all my work over 3 small sessions throughout the day.
Session 1: Daily work - GHRs, chest supported rows, ab wheel and dips
Session 2: Weighted Chins - 30 reps with 30lbs added in 5m55s
Session 3: 500 swings (24kg KB) in 18m30s
This concludes the 10,000 KB Swing program. I’m happy to be finished it and move on to something else, but it fit what I was looking for during that phase.
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Congrats dude! Curious to hear your thoughts on it.
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Thanks @T3hPwnisher!
I’ll preface my review by saying that I did not meet the prescribed workout frequency as written in the article. After diving into the program, it took me 45 days to complete it. A fun list of excuses why it took me so long includes a cottage vacation, getting Lyme disease, a weekend of golfing with friends, I’m not Mythical Strength, etc., but I did manage to finish the 10,000 swings.
Pros:
- I can confidently say that my work capacity improved significantly. The workouts got much easier on my lungs as I progressed through the program. This improvement was noticed outside of the weight room when playing with my son (running, jumping on the trampoline, etc.) or when doing chores involving physical labour. It takes me longer to become “out of breath” and I have a much faster recovery time.
- Simple - almost no time wasted setting up benches, bars, racks, etc. Grab the KB and one other exercise and prepare for 30-35mins of non-stop work.
- Sweat - There is something rewarding about leaving the weight room drenched and a puddle of sweat under the KB swing area. I wouldn’t even break a sweat in some of my past powerlifting workouts (3-4min rest between sets anyone?).
- Physique - Considering the minimal amount of targeted training for various muscle groups, I’m not unhappy with the physical appearance changes (or lack thereof). I feel like (yes, very subjective) I’ve held onto my muscle despite the minimal number of exercises used over the last ~6 weeks.
- Duration - Never taking over 45mins to complete a workout is right up my alley. I’m a sprinter, I like going hard for a short duration (I know I’m setting you all up for a “That’s what she said” joke here")
Cons:
- Boring/repetitive (for me) - It was bad enough that there were multiple times that I drifted off into random thoughts mid 50rep swing set to realize I have no idea what rep I was on. I would sometimes even forget which set it was because the focus was hard to maintain with yet ANOTHER set of swinging that dang KB. The fast-paced workout with minimal rest made up for it a bit, but the feeling of “ughh” was present when thinking about my next workout.
- Undertrained/lacking in some areas - When my quads are sore for 3 days from 60 goblet squats with a 100lb DB, I am starting to feel a little undertrained. I am already nervous for the days following my first real leg workout.
Additional Notes/Thoughts
Would I run it again? Unlikely. But I may offer a modified version of this to my wife if she asks for my suggestion for the next program to run.
Do I like KBs more or less now that I’ve run this program? Definitely more. KB swings have been officially added to my list of movements to keep in my rotation. They seem like a great “bang-for-your-buck” movement, and you can use them in many different ways. Since starting this program I have purchased 3 kettlebells (50lb, 2x65lbs).
What was your favourite/least favourite of the workouts in this program? Favourite: Press, Least Favourite: Chin-ups - For some reason, the swing and the press seemed to blend together nicely for me. My pressing was feeling relatively strong while not impacting my ability to swing the KB. The goblet squat workout seemed to really pump up my lower back while the chin-up workout made the grip/forearms quite uncomfortable.
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August 5, 2022 Edit: September, good catch Pwn.
Over the next couple of weeks, I’m going to be playing around with some programming, to try and find something that works for me. Right now the plan is to have 4 separate workouts (bench, squat, press, deadlift), and try to keep the duration of each workout at 45mins or less. My daily work will continue as additional work and to fill in any gaps that may exist.
I really should not have read Mythical Strength’s Little Book of Bad Ideas before I started designing the program…
Week 1 Workout 1
ZENO Squats
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 6, 3, 2, 1
315 x 6, 3, 2, 1
275 x 6, 3, 2, 1
For those unfamiliar with this notation, the 6, 3, 2, 1 represents 6reps, 12 breaths, 3reps, 12 breaths, etc.
Landmine Belt Squat Strip Set
150 x 5
125 x 5
100 x 5
75 x 5
50 x 5
25 x 5
Empty Bar x 5
All of this was done with no rest, just stripping a plate at the top of the 5th rep.
5min EMOM
3 x 150lb Sandbag over shoulder
This ended up being ~20-25s of work with the remainder of the minute being rest.
Notes:
- The plan was to not go too crazy on my first squat workout since July 3rd (2months without squatting, yikes!). I underestimated these squats, they caught up to me quickly. I’m ~5hrs post workout and I’m having difficulty walking/sitting/standing up. The next few days are going to be a treat.
- I liked the little pump that the belt squats gave me, and they were way easier to set up than I thought they would be.
- Lots of room to progress for the sandbag EMOM, length of EMOM, number of reps per minute, or using my 200lbs bag.
- A quick (<40mins) effective workout for me, with room for adds as I plan out the remaining workouts. (HINT: There are more ideas being used from Pwn’s book.)
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This made me smile. I should feel sympathy for you but I am sorry I dont. LOL
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Week 1 Workout 2
Ultimate Shoulder Giant Set (Mythical Strength’s/Pwn’s book)
Round 1
A1. Log Clean Once & Press 125lbs x 10, 20 dips, 35lbs x 10 Lat Raises, 20 Band Pullaparts
A2. Axle Clean Once and Press 125lbs x 10, 18 dips, 35lbs x 10 Lat Raises, 20 Band Pullaparts
A3. Seated DB Press 50lbs x 10, 15 dips, 35lbs x 10 Lat Raises, 20 Band Pullaparts
Round 2
A1. Log Clean Once & Press 125lbs x 10, 15 dips, 30lbs x 10 Lat Raises, 20 Band Pullaparts
A2. Axle Clean Once and Press 125lbs x 10, 15 dips, 30lbs x 10 Lat Raises, 20 Band Pullaparts
A3. Seated DB Press 50lbs x 10, 15 dips, 30lbs x 10 Lat Raises, 20 Band Pullaparts
Round 1 weights felt too light, round 2 felt too heavy. I think the selected weights were right on the money for me right now. Great pump and really felt my delts and triceps getting hit.
Prowler
5 Rounds of:
20m Backwards drap
20m Prowler Push
I just slowly marched the empty prowler back and forth across my grass. There was a reasonable amount of resistance against the grass, enough to really get my legs/glutes burning. I’m hoping this will assist in my recovery from the damage caused to my legs from yesterday’s work! The giant set was completed in ~35mins, then went outside to play with the Prowler.
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I love seeing you take this on dude! And I love that the squats hit you so hard you forgot what month it was, haha. Great stuff: can’t wait to see what else unfolds.
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Thanks @T3hPwnisher, always glad to have you along for the journey.
Week 1 Day 3
ROM Progression Deadlifts - 7 Mats (well…equivalent)
135 x 10
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 5
455 x 10
315 x 10
I wasn’t sure where my top set of 10rep deadlifts was going to land. I’ll take it. I’m going to dig deeper on the workouts to come and crush that top set by the end of this cycle.
TABEARTA (4mins, 20s On/10s Off)
95lbs - 2 reps per 20s On
Whew, these go from easy to awful in a very short period of time. I did WAYY better at this than I would have before running the KB Challenge. I’m not saying the KB Challenge is magic, but it did make sure I pushed my lungs a little bit every single time I worked out (this part was missing from my typical workout). My shoulders didn’t love the behind-the-neck press, especially the transition from front OHP to the back squat to the BtN OHP. No harm done, just straining from lack of shoulder mobility.
Poundstone Curls
25lb axle x 110reps
The plan here is to continue pushing reps for a bit and then up the weight.
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Here was my setup for the ROM Progression Deadlifts. 7 of my rubber pavers/mats ends up raising the bar height ~5”, I only have 10 total so I couldn’t do 7/side.
My solution was to stand on 7 pavers (-5”) and pull off my wood blocks (+10”) resulting in the 5” rise. I may go purchase another 4 pavers this weekend…
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Really dig the creativity there. I honestly get a real kick out of people thinking outside the box for home gym workouts, really cool that it lets me just steal ideas from people smarter than I
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It’s why I steal things from Pwn all the time!
Plan will be to add a paver under my feet next week to increase my ROM then the following week I’ll have enough for 5/side and won’t need to be deadlifting off of my little pedestal anymore, lol.
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Sept 10, 2022
Week1 Day4
Bench
135 x 10
225 x 5 ← This set felt heavy, not a good sign! It’s been a while since I’ve benched
275 x 3
295 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1
350 x 1 ← I’m very pleased with this! This is a weight that I have never been too comfortable with, even when exclusively training for powerlifting.
Added yellow SlingShot
350 x 2 ← I thought this was going to be a lot easier than it was when I added the SlingShot
315 x 5
DB Flyes
50lb x 10
50 x 10
AMRAP Pushups - 4mins
75reps - Yikes, I got to rep 25 and my muscles decided they were done. Lots of 5 reps sets with short rests to eek out the 75reps in the 4min time cap. This will be a fun one to improve week to week.
Tabata KB Swings
65lb KB
20s on/10s off, which ended up being 12reps followed by 10s rest.
That marks the final workout of my little program. I expect some tweaks along the way, but I like how it is set up so far.
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Here, I related to you.
Here, I hated you.
Lol, nice work. Strong AF bench brother
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It was a light touch and go rep, not a paused/comp lift if that makes it any better, lol.
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There you go asserting your dominance again. Nice work brother
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Thanks Simo, just trying to keep up. The T Nation crew are getting stronger by the minute!
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