marthaschramm
New member
Background:
I’ve been lifting on and off for several years, did an internship a few years back with an SFGII instructor, learned a lot about kettlebells, movement, and lifting in general. I’ve been using 5/3/1 programming for the past year, and recently wanted to focus more on programming around kettlebells instead of barbells. Wife and I have our first baby on the way in July, and I’ve reassessed my goals since we learned she was pregnant. I no longer have goals of trying to be the biggest and strongest– not that I was ever even close anyway, but I used this as an excuse to not prioritize conditioning, not keeping bodyfat levels in check, and taking long rest periods between all my sets leading to long, unfocused workouts. With a baby on the way, I’ve re-evaluated and want to get more conditioned, maybe drop a few pounds while keeping what strength and muscle I have, and will need to get my workouts done in a shorter time with a baby in the house. All this had lead me to focus on using my kettlebells and less on barbells/dumbbells.
Programs:
I did some research, and the programs put out by Geoff Neupert seemed to fit what I was looking for – shorter workouts, simple progressions, limited exercises, not overly complicated and just a change of pace from the typical barbell workouts I was used to. I ended up buying two of his programs – the Giant, and Strong, both of which utilize the Clean and Press (though I don’t see why they couldn’t be tailored to other exercises). Within each program you buy, there are multiple programs. For example, the Giant contains Giant 1.0, Giant 1.1, Giant 1.2, Giant 2.0, and Giant 3.0.
So far, I’ve used two programs – the Giant 3.0, and the Strong “short course”, both with a pair of 24kg bells. These are paid programs so I don’t want to give too much away, but the Giant 3.0 uses sets of 1-3 reps with your 5RM, and the Strong “short course” uses sets of 3-6 reps. Each of these was 4 weeks long, so 8 weeks total.
Results:
Before
Bodyweight - 200lbs
24kg - 8RM
32kg - 1RM
36kg - Absolutely not
After
Bodyweight - 197lbs
24kg - 12RM
32kg - 3RM
36kg - 1RM
I know these may not be the most impressive results, but I’m super happy with them and don’t think the numbers tell the full story. I have 32kg listed as my 1RM before I started, but this was a shaky, ugly, inconsistent 1RM. Now, my form is much more dialed in, I feel more in control, and the form on each rep of my 32kg 3RM now is much better than the form on my 32kg 1RM when I started. Also, my 1RM now with the 36kg is much cleaner and stronger than my 1RM with the 32kg from before, if that makes sense. Pretty stoked about my results so far.
Additional Thoughts:
I didn’t completely drop my barbell work, but I took it back to the bare bones 5/3/1 sets – no first set last, no joker sets, no AMRAPs, etc. Also, since the Neupert programs are designed to be run 3 days/week while 5/3/1 is 4 days/week, I used that 4th day for some additional exercises. My weekly schedule looked like this:
Tuesday:
5/3/1 Squat, KB C&P
Thursday:
5/3/1 Bench, KB C&P
Saturday:
5/3/1 Deadlift, KB C&P
Sunday:
5/3/1 Press, Pull-ups / Dips / Arms
All my barbell benching and pressing was supersetted with pullups. My Sunday workouts consisted of 5/3/1 press supersetted with pullups, 5 more sets of pullups supersetted with dips, and 3 sets of tricep cable pushdowns supersetted with bicep cable curls, with a drop set on the very last set. I always liked arm day so I threw it in since a few sets of arms and bodyweight exercises don’t seem to impede my recovery. My workouts were usually around 40 minutes, with my barbell sets taking 10 minutes and the C&P portion taking about 30 minutes. If I need to shorten my workouts more once baby comes, I’ll just drop the barbell work completely since I pretty much have it in there just to maintain the strength I previously built in those lifts.
Moving Forward:
I’m going to stay at 24kg while moving through Giant 1.0 – 1.2, since those programs say to start with your 10RM. My goal is to press my 40kg bell by the time baby comes in July, while improving my conditioning and maybe dropping a few more pounds, though that’s not my biggest priority right now. I enjoy this style of programming and it seems to work for me so far, so I’ll stick with it for the foreseeable future. I tend to ramble so hopefully this is helpful, but I’m pretty excited and wanted to share my results. Happy to answer any questions.
I’ve been lifting on and off for several years, did an internship a few years back with an SFGII instructor, learned a lot about kettlebells, movement, and lifting in general. I’ve been using 5/3/1 programming for the past year, and recently wanted to focus more on programming around kettlebells instead of barbells. Wife and I have our first baby on the way in July, and I’ve reassessed my goals since we learned she was pregnant. I no longer have goals of trying to be the biggest and strongest– not that I was ever even close anyway, but I used this as an excuse to not prioritize conditioning, not keeping bodyfat levels in check, and taking long rest periods between all my sets leading to long, unfocused workouts. With a baby on the way, I’ve re-evaluated and want to get more conditioned, maybe drop a few pounds while keeping what strength and muscle I have, and will need to get my workouts done in a shorter time with a baby in the house. All this had lead me to focus on using my kettlebells and less on barbells/dumbbells.
Programs:
I did some research, and the programs put out by Geoff Neupert seemed to fit what I was looking for – shorter workouts, simple progressions, limited exercises, not overly complicated and just a change of pace from the typical barbell workouts I was used to. I ended up buying two of his programs – the Giant, and Strong, both of which utilize the Clean and Press (though I don’t see why they couldn’t be tailored to other exercises). Within each program you buy, there are multiple programs. For example, the Giant contains Giant 1.0, Giant 1.1, Giant 1.2, Giant 2.0, and Giant 3.0.
So far, I’ve used two programs – the Giant 3.0, and the Strong “short course”, both with a pair of 24kg bells. These are paid programs so I don’t want to give too much away, but the Giant 3.0 uses sets of 1-3 reps with your 5RM, and the Strong “short course” uses sets of 3-6 reps. Each of these was 4 weeks long, so 8 weeks total.
Results:
Before
Bodyweight - 200lbs
24kg - 8RM
32kg - 1RM
36kg - Absolutely not
After
Bodyweight - 197lbs
24kg - 12RM
32kg - 3RM
36kg - 1RM
I know these may not be the most impressive results, but I’m super happy with them and don’t think the numbers tell the full story. I have 32kg listed as my 1RM before I started, but this was a shaky, ugly, inconsistent 1RM. Now, my form is much more dialed in, I feel more in control, and the form on each rep of my 32kg 3RM now is much better than the form on my 32kg 1RM when I started. Also, my 1RM now with the 36kg is much cleaner and stronger than my 1RM with the 32kg from before, if that makes sense. Pretty stoked about my results so far.
Additional Thoughts:
I didn’t completely drop my barbell work, but I took it back to the bare bones 5/3/1 sets – no first set last, no joker sets, no AMRAPs, etc. Also, since the Neupert programs are designed to be run 3 days/week while 5/3/1 is 4 days/week, I used that 4th day for some additional exercises. My weekly schedule looked like this:
Tuesday:
5/3/1 Squat, KB C&P
Thursday:
5/3/1 Bench, KB C&P
Saturday:
5/3/1 Deadlift, KB C&P
Sunday:
5/3/1 Press, Pull-ups / Dips / Arms
All my barbell benching and pressing was supersetted with pullups. My Sunday workouts consisted of 5/3/1 press supersetted with pullups, 5 more sets of pullups supersetted with dips, and 3 sets of tricep cable pushdowns supersetted with bicep cable curls, with a drop set on the very last set. I always liked arm day so I threw it in since a few sets of arms and bodyweight exercises don’t seem to impede my recovery. My workouts were usually around 40 minutes, with my barbell sets taking 10 minutes and the C&P portion taking about 30 minutes. If I need to shorten my workouts more once baby comes, I’ll just drop the barbell work completely since I pretty much have it in there just to maintain the strength I previously built in those lifts.
Moving Forward:
I’m going to stay at 24kg while moving through Giant 1.0 – 1.2, since those programs say to start with your 10RM. My goal is to press my 40kg bell by the time baby comes in July, while improving my conditioning and maybe dropping a few more pounds, though that’s not my biggest priority right now. I enjoy this style of programming and it seems to work for me so far, so I’ll stick with it for the foreseeable future. I tend to ramble so hopefully this is helpful, but I’m pretty excited and wanted to share my results. Happy to answer any questions.