Hi CT, I have been doing 1 handed kettlebell walks in my program for a while now, mainly for a prehab/structural purpose for my shoulders.
However, I have been reading about your reports on overhead BB walks after pressing workouts for hypertrophy, caused by the relaese GH. therefore I have started doing them after my pressing workouts.
However, I can’t use a BB due to my gym being a bit on the crowded side, so I will be using KB’s.
My question is: Would 1 handed be superior for hypertrphy, due to the increased weight i can use, and increased stress on th actual shoulder musculature…
OR, would double overhead KB walks be better due to the increased weight/stress on the WHOLE body (even though I can’t ues as much weight in each hand as i can with single handed walks)
I was thinking of altenating them but wondered if one was superiorto the other in your opinion…in which case I would just stick with that one…
The two handed version is superior. Not so much because of the increased overall load (although it might play a factor) but because it makes it simpler to keep a proper position.
BTW, it is not because of the release of GH (people will only read what they want to read).
The holds will work for hypertrophy because they create an occlusion effect (blood cannot enter in the muscles) which will lead to accumulation of lactate in the muscle which has been shown to increase the release of local growth factors like IGF-1.
It also activates the cell-signaling pathways responsible for activating protein synthesis because of the long time under load.
Now, because of the metabolic demand of the exercise you will also have a release in growth hormone, which can only help, but that is about the 4th reason in importance why loaded carries work.