Juarez Valley Method

[monstershouter]

Some of you may have heard of Josh Bryant, coach and author of Jailhouse Strong, amongst many other titles. Jailhouse Strong, as the name suggests, dives into methods used by inmates to stay fit and gain strength with minimal equipment. One of the methods he discussed is the “Juarez Valley method”, which is basically a descending ladder superset with an ascending ladder, ending when the two meet in the middle. See:

For example, a Juarez Valley 10 would be: 10-1-9-2-8-3-7-4-6-5 (55 reps, 40 down, 15 up) and a Juarez Valley 20 would be: 20-1-19-2-18-3-17-4-16-5-15-6-14-7-13-8-12-9-11-10 (210 reps, 155 down, 55 up). It can be the same exercise or you can pair different exercises for the descending and ascending ladders. I prefer different exercises so you can pick an “easier” movement for the higher rep down ladder and a harder one for the lower rep up ladder.

Anyway I’m not behind bars but I am on the road this week and decided to bring a couple KBs. Today I gave the Juarez Valley 20 a try after doing some Double KB Clean/Press/Squat work. I did 2 JV 20s pairing movements on each:

Push-up (on KB handles) - 20, 19, … 12, 11
Double KB press - 1, 2, … 9, 10

Double KB bent over row - 20, 19, … 12, 11
Pull-up - 1, 2, … 9, 10

I found it to be an incredibly fun and effective upper body session that did not take too much time and incorporated a balanced volume of pushing and pulling movements. The last day of 10 presses and pull-ups were absolutely killer. I can normally do 20+ reps easily on pull-ups or presses with the weights I used but barely finished the 10s.

Anyway I did a search and didn’t see any mention of this method here so I thought I’d share in case anyone else wants to give it a try. I find that this type of rep scheme works well for kettlebells since you’re typically using sub maxima weights and manipulating the number of reps instead of the load.

 

[kris8585]

@monstershouter Looks cool - I'm not familiar with the name of the author, book or specific rep scheme - thanks for sharing. I find high rep "simple" movements like these to be very rewarding.

One question, did you pair the push ups and presses? And rows with pullhup? Personally I would've paired a light push with a heavy pull and vice versa.

 

[monstershouter]

@kris8585 Yes, I paired the two pushing movements together as one “JV20” and the two pulling movements as a second “JV20”. I actually agree with you and usually like pairing opposing movements. But the weights I brought with me aren’t terribly heavy for me so I decided to pair the similar movement patterns for more fatigue.

 

[batteredbaptist]

@monstershouter someday I'll just commit a crime like that dude that needed medical assistance just to get fit as shit

 

[dawn16]

@monstershouter I use this all the time for burpees. But i go up the pyramid one by one then come sown from say 10 juarez style. Never used for kettlebells. It's soothing mentally

 

[monstershouter]

@dawn16 Yeah I get what you mean about “soothing.” There’s something about these progressive rep schemes (ladders, pyramids, etc) that make them a great way to get in a lot of reps without the tedium of straight sets.

 

[dawn16]

@monstershouter On the way down is the bestest

 

[modesty]

@monstershouter What do you think would be some good combinations for a full body workout using this method? Snatch and Double jerk would be a good one.

 

[monstershouter]

@modesty That does sound like a good one! Double snatch or half snatch is always a good full body movement. Could always incorporate some clean/squat/press if you wanna go crazy.