premier3092
New member
Hello there fam!
So, after 3 and a half months I finished the program The Olympic 2.0 by Geoff Neupert, as written in his book "Kettlebell Express Ultra" (KEU).
I will try my best to write a full review of the program, as I am really satisfied with it.
MY STATS
Male, 39 yo, 181 cm, 80 kg
TRAINING HISTORY
Former amateur boxer, dabbed into powerlifting, did quite a few years of ordinary gym barbells and machines and finally switched to kettlebells and bodyweight
THE PROGRAM
Given it is written in a book, I can't give all the details about the program itself. As you probably already know, being a Geoff Neupert program means it is a time-based complex repetition, for ladders or straight sets. In this case, it's a 3 months program where you alternate Cleans, Front Squats and Presses, all arranged in different complexes. Each phase of 4 weeks has a different drill to perform on each of the 3 days of training per week. The time-frame for this one is 20 mins, name of the game being autoregulation.
It starts out fairly easy, then it becomes challenging, eventually it hits you like a freight train.
I did the program with double 16 Kg, which was my 7 RM seesaw press at the time (so 7 on each side for a total of 14 reps).
Note 1 - I did the program by the book, only exception I swapped out the double press for the seesaw press (my shoulder mobility doens't allow me a proper lockout with double bells and makes everything awkward and over fatiguing, the seesaw press solved the problem).
Note 2 - I may argue that the seesaw press - if done correctly - is harder than the double press, because you basically have no resting point as you would in the rack position of a normal double press. You are in for a constant tension pressing motion that eventually becomes really hard to perform. Also your breathing pattern becomes more difficult to manage, again, because you don't have a resting position, even if for fractions of a second.
MY NUTRITION
Slight surplus, nothing crazy but noticeable. You definitely want to eat while doing The Olympic 2.0 and will need the extra calories to push yourself really hard. Supplemented with whey and a bit of creatine. I do not give too much attention to nutrition, just try to get my macros in and eat clean.
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
Bodyweight stuff after the main program, so push-ups, pull-ups, a bit of curls for the gurls and that was that.
WAYS TO DO IT
Generally speaking, Geoff Neupert advises against turning his programs into metcons (remember DFW?). Somebody does, somebody doesn't. For me personally I simply tried to give near maximum all the sessions, and always attempted to beat my previous week record for the same drill. It was very fatiguing but the results were excellent.
MY RESULTS
Month 1
Session
Sets
Press
Squat
Clean
Total Volume
W1D1
15
45
45
90
W1D2
15
45
45
90
W1D3
12
33
33
33
99
W2D1
17
48
48
96
W2D2
18
51
51
102
W2D3
13
36
36
36
108
W3D1
17
48
48
96
W3D2
18
51
51
102
W3D3
13
36
36
36
108
W4D1
17
48
48
96
W4D2
18
51
51
102
W4D3
14
40
40
40
120
Month 2
Session
Sets
Press
Squat
Clean
Total Volume
W1D1
16
48
48
96
W1D2
17
51
51
102
W1D3
13
39
39
39
117
W2D1
17
51
51
102
W2D2
18
54
54
108
W2D3
14
42
42
42
126
W3D1
20
60
60
120
W3D2
21
63
63
126
W3D3
15
45
45
45
135
W4D1
22
66
66
132
W4D2
23
69
69
138
W4D3
16
48
48
48
144
Month 3
Session
Sets
Press
Squat
Clean
Total Volume
W1D1
13
65
65
130
W1D2
13
65
65
130
W1D3
10
50
50
50
150
W2D1
13
65
65
130
W2D2
14
70
70
140
W2D3
10
50
50
50
150
W3D1
13
65
65
130
W3D2
14
70
70
140
W3D3
10
50
50
50
150
W4D1
13
65
65
130
W4D2
14
70
70
140
W4D3
11
55
55
55
165
CONCLUSIONS
So, that's it. I didn't test any AMRAP or new RMs because I don't generally like it, I prefer to go by feeling. And I can say that the double 16 Kg feels really light at the moment, so much that I attempted a few double snatches with them - literally never done before - and performed 10 reps without much struggle. Problem being as I said that I can't properly lockout my shoulders, but the snatches were powerful and clean. I'm very pleased with the results.
As you probably noticed I seem to have encountered a hard cap during month 3, basically managing small increments of an already solid total volume base.
Would I recomend the program? Absolutely, 10/10. It was fun, it was hard, it was intelligently calibrated.
It gave me much more strength and power, and also let me master the weight I was handling by training with it constantly for 3 months. You could say "solidifying the gains", as the old-timers.
Hope you will find it interesting, and thank all the community that helped me in this journey with advice and fellowship.
So, after 3 and a half months I finished the program The Olympic 2.0 by Geoff Neupert, as written in his book "Kettlebell Express Ultra" (KEU).
I will try my best to write a full review of the program, as I am really satisfied with it.
MY STATS
Male, 39 yo, 181 cm, 80 kg
TRAINING HISTORY
Former amateur boxer, dabbed into powerlifting, did quite a few years of ordinary gym barbells and machines and finally switched to kettlebells and bodyweight
THE PROGRAM
Given it is written in a book, I can't give all the details about the program itself. As you probably already know, being a Geoff Neupert program means it is a time-based complex repetition, for ladders or straight sets. In this case, it's a 3 months program where you alternate Cleans, Front Squats and Presses, all arranged in different complexes. Each phase of 4 weeks has a different drill to perform on each of the 3 days of training per week. The time-frame for this one is 20 mins, name of the game being autoregulation.
It starts out fairly easy, then it becomes challenging, eventually it hits you like a freight train.
I did the program with double 16 Kg, which was my 7 RM seesaw press at the time (so 7 on each side for a total of 14 reps).
Note 1 - I did the program by the book, only exception I swapped out the double press for the seesaw press (my shoulder mobility doens't allow me a proper lockout with double bells and makes everything awkward and over fatiguing, the seesaw press solved the problem).
Note 2 - I may argue that the seesaw press - if done correctly - is harder than the double press, because you basically have no resting point as you would in the rack position of a normal double press. You are in for a constant tension pressing motion that eventually becomes really hard to perform. Also your breathing pattern becomes more difficult to manage, again, because you don't have a resting position, even if for fractions of a second.
MY NUTRITION
Slight surplus, nothing crazy but noticeable. You definitely want to eat while doing The Olympic 2.0 and will need the extra calories to push yourself really hard. Supplemented with whey and a bit of creatine. I do not give too much attention to nutrition, just try to get my macros in and eat clean.
ADDITIONAL TRAINING
Bodyweight stuff after the main program, so push-ups, pull-ups, a bit of curls for the gurls and that was that.
WAYS TO DO IT
Generally speaking, Geoff Neupert advises against turning his programs into metcons (remember DFW?). Somebody does, somebody doesn't. For me personally I simply tried to give near maximum all the sessions, and always attempted to beat my previous week record for the same drill. It was very fatiguing but the results were excellent.
MY RESULTS
Month 1
Session
Sets
Press
Squat
Clean
Total Volume
W1D1
15
45
45
90
W1D2
15
45
45
90
W1D3
12
33
33
33
99
W2D1
17
48
48
96
W2D2
18
51
51
102
W2D3
13
36
36
36
108
W3D1
17
48
48
96
W3D2
18
51
51
102
W3D3
13
36
36
36
108
W4D1
17
48
48
96
W4D2
18
51
51
102
W4D3
14
40
40
40
120
Month 2
Session
Sets
Press
Squat
Clean
Total Volume
W1D1
16
48
48
96
W1D2
17
51
51
102
W1D3
13
39
39
39
117
W2D1
17
51
51
102
W2D2
18
54
54
108
W2D3
14
42
42
42
126
W3D1
20
60
60
120
W3D2
21
63
63
126
W3D3
15
45
45
45
135
W4D1
22
66
66
132
W4D2
23
69
69
138
W4D3
16
48
48
48
144
Month 3
Session
Sets
Press
Squat
Clean
Total Volume
W1D1
13
65
65
130
W1D2
13
65
65
130
W1D3
10
50
50
50
150
W2D1
13
65
65
130
W2D2
14
70
70
140
W2D3
10
50
50
50
150
W3D1
13
65
65
130
W3D2
14
70
70
140
W3D3
10
50
50
50
150
W4D1
13
65
65
130
W4D2
14
70
70
140
W4D3
11
55
55
55
165
CONCLUSIONS
So, that's it. I didn't test any AMRAP or new RMs because I don't generally like it, I prefer to go by feeling. And I can say that the double 16 Kg feels really light at the moment, so much that I attempted a few double snatches with them - literally never done before - and performed 10 reps without much struggle. Problem being as I said that I can't properly lockout my shoulders, but the snatches were powerful and clean. I'm very pleased with the results.
As you probably noticed I seem to have encountered a hard cap during month 3, basically managing small increments of an already solid total volume base.
Would I recomend the program? Absolutely, 10/10. It was fun, it was hard, it was intelligently calibrated.
It gave me much more strength and power, and also let me master the weight I was handling by training with it constantly for 3 months. You could say "solidifying the gains", as the old-timers.
Hope you will find it interesting, and thank all the community that helped me in this journey with advice and fellowship.
