Weight Progression (KB sport)

[missy9211]

Hi

This is a repost from r/Kettlebellsport

I’m new to bells and lifting in general coming from a martial arts / yoga background. I’ve built a general base using kettlebells following Mark Wildmans advice on his YouTube channel (swings, squats, c&p, tgup) and recently been focusing more on the kettlebell sport aspect

I’m after some advice about how to make big jumps in weight. I’ve an odd collection of bells having been gifted many of them -

2x12kg
2x16kg
2x24kg
1x32kg

At some point I’d like to be able to do a 10min snatch set with the 32 (though I’m aware it’s a long, long way off!)

I’ve gotten to the point where I can do 10minutes long cycle with the 12s (6rpm) and have started to include the 16s in my training.

I’m comfortable with planning my training for the 16s but am wondering if there is any extra work I can do to prepare me for using the 24s (which can later be applied to the 32s). I currently can’t even press them.

I do use the 24 and 32 for heavy “hard style” swing sets a couple of times a week

I’m not in a position to buy any in between weights and don’t have access to a gym though I do have some resistance bands.

I’m hoping there is some knowledge on this considering kbs would have just been available in 1, 1.5 and 2 poods.

Thanks in advance!

 

[rkm]

@missy9211 Nice work getting to the 10’ with the 12s!!

You’re totally right, 16->24->32 was how the progression went for all lifters back in the day because those were the only bells available! And I vaguely remember Denis mentioning somewhere that this was how he learned and then immediately said it was brutal and he didn’t recommend it lol. And funnily enough he recommends everyone go up in 2 kg increments now which isn’t necessary but just some food for thought. I didn’t do it that way (and most of us can’t afford to) but I think it does emphasize the point that gradual increase is good. Gives your body time to adjust.

Are they all comp bells? If you’re super super serious about GS I’d say sell the 12s and the 32 to get 20s. Or maybe keep the 32 and sell one of the 24s with the 12s. In the meantime you can train for 10’ with the 16s and use a single 24 (or both) for heavy work. You could also keep the 12s for a bit to work on getting 80+ reps with them first. Or try some biathlon. There’s a few different options.

But those jumps are going to be rough and that’s not even necessarily a bad thing, I just think it will take a really long time to see progress. And though there’s no rush (remember there’s no rush!), it can sometimes feel like bashing your head against the wall and not getting anywhere.

Progress is quick at the beginning which is super exciting, but as the bells get heavier it gets slower. And slower. And then even slower lol. Heavy weight is fucking heavy, surprisingly

Sorry this was kind of a long ramble with no programming advice but yeah. I think selling some bells to pay for 20s is the best path to the 24s. I’m speaking more in terms of doubles but I also can’t imagine those jumps even just training snatch. It’s a lot of stress on your body to increase load like that so you should go super slow if you do. Give yourself tons of time to get used to the weight. And always go for time first like Dub said.

One more thing, “hardstyle” swing sets aren’t bad by any means but also aren’t necessarily getting you closer to the goal of 10’ sets! Keep them in if you enjoy them but adding in long sets of sport swings (20,30,40 reps per hand with your 24 or 32) will have more carryover! Do them right after you finish your GS training. Just remember that they should suck and if they completely fry your grip and you hate everything when you’re done you’re doing it right

 

[em3817]

@missy9211 I was listening to The Platform podcast with Denis Vasilev, his advice for beginners was 1, get the technique, 2, make the 10 minute set, 3, work on your numbers / ranking.

Even if you can build your 12kg sets, time and reps per minute, this will make the jump to a heavier bell easier. So 8-10 rpm for long cycle, 15rpm for snatch, 10-12 rpm for jerks.

Heavier bells can kind of force technique, as in if you don't get it right you might hurt yourself: I've found doing small rep sets, even heavy single reps, is great for getting technique, strength and confidence with heavier bells. But probably just focus on the simple movements: swings, cleans and jerks. Also, make sure if you need to bail on a 1RM, you won't break anything.

Weight ladders / pyramids can be useful also, eg light weight / high rep (12-15) and increasing the weight, while reducing the reps all the way to your 1 or 2 rep max is good also. Could be 12/8/6, or 5/3/1, or whatever way you want to progress things, there are lots of variables. Try them with all the lifts.

Jerks are a surprisingly good way to build strength for all the other movements. Denis calls them "medicine", as in you might not enjoy them, but they are good for you. Of you can get the bells overhead with a jerk, then you can get comfortable, in rack position, then with half snatch, or long cycle etc.

I guess don't overdo it. It might be good to devote only 1 day / week to heavier strength based lifting with the heavy bells (with sport technique) and do sport specific training 1-2 days a week, with a break in between. Or 1 set of heavier stuff at the beginning of a workout to get all the muscles firing, and identify where you need to work on technique.

Edit: one or two 20kg bell would help

 

[dawn16]

@missy9211 Bells of Steel has an adjustable (12-to-32) comp style bell on sale for 207.99 right now

https://www.bellsofsteel.us/all-products/conditioning/kettlebells/adjustable-kettlebell/

If you sold all of your current bells and picked up two of these then you'd have small increments to play with all the way up to 32...

 

[jar1437]

@dawn16 I wish it was still in stock...

 

[palmtreeclimber]

@missy9211 I’m by no means an expert, I’m just starting my journey in sport as well. All I can say is I think you have a real solid set of weights (provided they are sport bells) and you probably don’t need to add for a long time.

For the 24s you could do armor building complex, if you can’t press do push press and it will come soon enough - but I wouldn’t worry about it, if you are focused on sport I don’t think there’s any reason to even think about the 24s until you reach beginner rank 3 with the 16s .

 

[len97010]

@missy9211 I don't have any experience with kettlebell sport stuff or how it's programmed, but I think gradually including the 16s to your 12s work will help.

lets say you do 5 cycles of 2 minute sets of long cycle @ 6rpm - 1 min rest.. it could go:

2min@16/rest, 2min@12/rest, 2min@12/rest, 2min@12/rest, 2min@12/rest

And then to progress you could either increase your RPM @ 16, increase duration at 16 (2:30 then 3:00, etc) or change another 2 min set to 16 and eventually all 10 min will be 16 instead.

As far as getting from 16s to the 24s, I imagine something similar could work but would take longer. There are also programs that claim to help bridge that gap. For presses, I can think of Soju and Tuba (18 workout sessions), DFW (12 workout sessions). Might be worth reaching out to Mark Wildman on his Youtube Q&A to see if he recommends anything, or check his community's discord server.