Only S&S?

joellemarie197

New member
I've been doing pure bodyweight exercises, calimove, for the last 2 years now but need a break and thought I'd give kettlebells a shot. Partially because I've platued and partially because boredom.

I like not thinking when it comes to workouts, thinking is a chance to choose "no workout", which just costs extra willpower. So I'm looking for a program that goes"on this day do these exercises like this" and I'm set.

I found Simple & Sinister in the FAQ but after reading threads it seems it's out of favour these days? If I were to go with one kettlebells based program for all my exercises what would you recommend?
 
@joellemarie197 I’m very new to kettlebell training, only finding this subreddit a week or two ago, but have been fitnessing for 15+ years and was bored with everything. Check out “dry fighting weight” or the DFW remix on r/kettleballs. It’s free, laid out perfectly and I’ve found it really engaging. Plus it seems to be infinitely scaleable for your skill level, goals or preferences.
 
@joellemarie197 I've been doing S&S style training for about 8 months now. 4 days a week is only swings and tgus. I'm now doing 2H swings with my 48kg bell and I've also started doing tgus with my 48kg bell as well. The over all strength I've gotten from those 2 exercises has been incredible. I'll continue to do a few days a week of swings and getups, but will now start incorporating double kb exercises. I still think the foundational strength for beginners that you get from those two exercises can't be beat.
 
@joellemarie197 That's perfectly fine though. The S&S style training I followed was a 4 week cycle that you had a moderate and heavy bell for your swings and getups (swings will be heavier than your getups). At the end of the 4 weeks your heavy bell becomes your new moderate bell, pick a new heavy bell and start the 4 week cycle over. It will drill in strength and technique. Once you reach a certain foundation of strength in those 2 exercises is when I think you can start to branch out with C&P, Front Squats, Snatches, etc. All my opinion of course.
 
@joellemarie197 I loved sticking with S&S for most of the time I was in PA school. To your point, overthinking opens up “no workout” as an option. Having a single workout that takes about half an hour, involves a good amount of cardio, and drills in some skilled movement, can be useful.
If kettlebells are new to someone, a program that drills how to time a swing properly, and how to hold the bell balanced overhead while standing up, is a good foundation for those next steps (cleaning, pressing, snatching, doubles).
I felt that my overall strength (dare I use the pseudoscientific term of “functional strength?”) massively improved. I was able to move comfortably learning a bit of BJJ. And sitting in class for 8 hours a day didn’t hurt my back or make me feel slouchy.

I barely do TGUs now, and only do swings 1-2x per week, but I owe a lot to that S&S program.
 
@joellemarie197 I love S&S. Swings and TGUs are very beneficial. Although I've done S&S several times, I much prefer C&P and I really like stress that doubles puts on the body. So nowadays I do double KB programs, like DFW-Remix and The Giant, and I throw in some TGUs every now and then.
 
@joellemarie197 S&S is only out of favor because it’s not complete.

I’ve been doing S&S for 15 years now. In that time, I’ve come to the same conclusion. So I’ve added to program: clean & press, front squats, farmer carries, and rows for kb related exercises. I also do pushups, squats and pull-ups for body weight exercises.

That’s a complete package and I can promise you it works.
 
@joellemarie197 S&s's definitely not the only thing you should be doing unless you're very versed in kettlebell training and using it to supplement something else or using it to maintain something when you have very little time at least add something like a foundational fundamentals course I have some free stuff at KBMuscle.com if you want it or there are plenty of other programs but just doing S&S is minimal and will give you minimal results if you're actually exercising IMO
 
@joellemarie197 To me, as a kettlebell newbie, found S&S to be a good way to get the basics of movments dialed in. DFW uses harder to execute exercises, but seemsmore engaging.
Can't offer much advice, but for myself, I started with S&S and will move on to The giant or DFW when I am confortable to do so.
Has been engaging, simple and easy to follow so far!

EDIT: I don't know ehere I saw the giant, but prob. also in kettleballs
 
@joellemarie197 It is another program. Also simple, but involves a lot of clean and press. Scales well with reps and weight. Now that I think of it, I think it is a paid program (a cheap one for like 20 bucks/eur) from one of the well known guys, almost sure it's from Geoff Neupert.. I think it is the same author of the DFW
 
@joellemarie197 The giant is a paid for program from Geoff neupert. One of my favs I run it frequently. But like he said S&S is great but I’d move on to DFW a free program from Geoff neupert as it covers full body a bit better.
 
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