Switching to KB program from body weight exercises

[stefanoseppie]

Hi hope everyone is good, great to see all the video posts of people doing their training.

Hoping to get some guidance, I’ve been doing bodyweight exercises 4x20 reps x 7 exercises and bicep curls for about 3-4years but want to move to now start using weights.

I’m considering switching to the simple and sinister program but worried I’ll loose the gains from the bodyweight exercises just switching to two exercises. In the future would also like to learn barbell exercises too with the goal of strength and hypertrophy.

Should I just take the plunge stop the existing HIIT bodyweight program of press-ups, sit ups, squats, split squats, step ups, tricep dips and dorsal holds and start the s&s? Or keep any of it going? Currently training 2 x strength 1 x 5km run and 2x 15km cycles per week.

Grateful for any guidance or suggestions thank you in advance

 

[belovedsone]

@stefanoseppie I too began my kb journey after 10 yrs. of doing bodyweight calisthenics, don't be fooled, you may think you're strong now but that funny looking ball of iron is very humbling.

First off, there's a lot more you can do than swings and getups, there's goblet squats, clean and presses, snatches, loaded carries, etc. I personally wouldn't do S+S and just learn all the basic moves first, learn good technique, etc..

You can also continue the bodyweight stuff and just incorporate the kb stuff into your program, no reason to drop that. In time you may drop some of it, or most of it like I did to focus more on heavier training.

But yeah, I wouldn't do S+S if you're looking for variety and a well rounded program. Look into the sidebar for more ideas if you feel you need a program: https://www.reddit.com/r/kettlebell/wiki/programs

 

[stefanoseppie]

@belovedsone Hi thank you these are some great tips will perhaps focus on the basics of ss but also start to learn the other moves too.

Haha yes you’re not wrong the kb is surprising in what it can do, just learning this!

Thats an amazing about of programme hadn’t seen though yet!

 

[godpickney]

@stefanoseppie I did the same thing, S&S will not give you the volume or variety to maintain your current gains.

KBs are great and there's a bunch of good stuff you can do, but I would recommend keeping up with your Bodyweight chest exercises, as that is one area that KBs don't really hit well. I have started adding ring dips and pushups back into my workouts.

 

[stefanoseppie]

@godpickney Thank you really grateful to learn from your experience. Pavel sounds so convincing and is very knowledgeable but seems most people dispute the S&S program to some extent here. I guess he needed abit of a unique selling point and in some ways see S&S as sort of like the couch to five k but for strength for non athletes.

 

[ethen0630]

@stefanoseppie Think backwards - What goal would doing switching over to S&S help you achieve? You mention you want strength and hypertrophy. S&S can help with strength but it isn’t known to be a hypertrophy program. If you are new to KB and want to learn to swing S&S can help but I’d suggest keep doing your bodyweight program and add the swings from S&S. Or do 1-2 rounds of 5x15 swings before/after your bodyweight work outs to dial in your swing/hinge. 150 swings is a manageable workload. Then you can try kettlebell programs that have strength and hypertrophy as their goal like ABC, DFW, etc.

 

[stefanoseppie]

@ethen0630 Hi thank you this is really helpful , the swings are good and have been doing these so that does make sense to add it in with the body weight exercises. Appreciate the recommendations for the hypertrophy programs too. Thanks again

 

[hisservant21]

@stefanoseppie Hi — I come from a CrossFit and Olympic lifting background. Made the switch to exclusively training kettlebells during the pandemic. I would say that 80% of my current regimen resembles Simple and Sinister. If you follow the step progression in the book and take your time “greasing the groove” with a variety of primers and finishers, I don’t see any reason you wouldn’t maintain the gains you’ve made training in other ways. In my opinion, swings and getups are a strong foundation for kettlebell training, and staying patient and getting strong in these functional movements will make progressing significantly easier later down the line.

Some advice to get the most out of your training and reap the most bang for your buck:

Stay hydrated; drink 1/2 your bodyweight in ounces of water
Practice good sleep hygiene and try to rest a solid 6-8 hours of sleep every night
Stay moderately active by walking 7500-10000+ steps everyday
Eat whole, real foods 80% of the time, prioritizing protein at every meal and hitting caloric and macronutrient goals catered to your lifestyle
Train kettlebells 3-4x/week, testing different modalities and domains. Follow a proven program and stick with it.

 

[stefanoseppie]

@hisservant21 Thank you this is great advice really appreciate it

 

[forgiveness93]

@stefanoseppie Starting S&S but only twice a week probably isn’t a great game plan. Only because you want to adapt to the volume and daily, or at least 5 days a week does a great job of doing that. Especially helps you dial in the form. 2-3 days a week of S&S is probably better suited for someone who has already been doing it a few months or is relatively strong. You probably hit the strength minimums based on your calisthenics workouts though. Knowing myself, I would personally try 3 days a week of S&S alongside your cardio workouts for a couple weeks. Then you add other exercises after your S&S sessions here and there. Lunges one day, pushups/pull ups the next session etc.

 

[stefanoseppie]

@forgiveness93 Hi thanks for your reply perhaps doing it five days per week there is the option to do all of the other exercises in to some extent.
Have also seen people mention right of passage is good to then start heading towards hypertrophy. Perhaps it’s a case of having to take a step back on the progression in some ways whilst learning new technique and to use the KB to develop the form and then the strength and hypertrophy will develop in time. There’s so many options it’s a job to get it planned out so grateful for the suggestions

 

[forgiveness93]

@stefanoseppie Absolutely. Simple and sinister is by no means a hypertrophy program, more so a baseline strength and conditioning GPP program. But yes there are many programs out there involving kettlebells and strength/hypertrophy. Good luck!

 

[siron]

@stefanoseppie Swings and TGUs are a great way to teach your body how to train with KBs, ideally with minimal injury risk. As stated by others earlier, I wouldn’t stop your other BW exercises until you find a KB movement that hits better (I still do pull-ups and some BW chest). Just do the swings and TGUs after your warmup. Consider adding some KB carries. Then you can end with your favorite BW exercises for the rest of your workout. YMMV, but 3 strength training sessions a week should be plenty

Once you progress and pass the Simple test without issue, your form and connective tissue is probably developed enough to branch out to other more taxing KB movements (cleans, presses, front squats, snatches, etc).

Recommend getting KBs in this order: 16kg, 24kg, 32kg, 2nd 24kg etc. could go for an adjustable if you like competition style more. See if your local gym has some you can test out.

 

[stefanoseppie]

@siron Thank you great advice and think there is perhaps something to be said for not rushing so the body has chance to develop

 

[justenough74]

@stefanoseppie If I were you, I wouldn’t start with S&S. I’m not a fan of the TGU and minimalism.

I would add the two hand swing to your current program as it doesn’t have much posterior chain focused work. If it’s too much work, you could remove some of the leg volume you’re currently doing. I’d also add some kettlebell rows as you don’t have much back work either.

Slowly work on technique and progress through one arm swings, alternating swings, one arm cleans.

When you have all that down you can move on to two bells. When you feel confident enough to try out the clean and press this may be where you start looking at another program. Maybe DFW or Dan Johns ABC.

 

[stefanoseppie]

@justenough74 Hi thank you this is helpful and makes for a clear way to integrate some of the kettlebell work with the existing routine. I checked out the ABC program too, this looks good so cool to have something to aspire to!