Courtesy of the Dragon Door forums

Not wanting to plagiarize Geoff Neupert but I thought I would copy and paste a very thought provoking and simple answer to 99% of all questions:

"Ok admittedly, I have been trolling the forums of late. (And, no, this post won't be redirected to my blog...) I've noticed something very disturbing - when asking about certain programs, or books being sold on DD, the answer inevitably arises, "Yeah, but can I add {insert favorite exercise(s) here}..."

And I get that, I really do, because I have my favorite exercises.

But I wanted to (without sounding like a jerk) ask a question back -

"What is your goal? Or rather, what is it EXACTLY you want to accomplish?"

That really should be the first question you measure all answers against.

Here's a possible sample conversation:

Trainee: "Should I do Viking Warrior Conditioning?"

Me: "I dunno - what are you're goals?"

Trainee: "To be a Bad-A$$!"

Me: "Ok, what does that really mean - how does it play out? What's it look and feel like? What are some numbers that you could put up on certain lifts that would, in your mind, qualify you as a Bad-A$$?"

Trainee: "I dunno..."

Me: "Ok... go think about what that would look like and get back to me with your answer."

Ok, that may be a little extreme, so here's another well-meaning question that I've been asked several times - "Should I do Kettlebell Burn or Kettlebell Muscle?"

Me: "I don't know - what are your goals? If you want to shed fat and get lean, do "Burn." If you want to pack on some muscle in a short amount of time, do "Muscle.""

So, you see, really, the answer to "Can I...? " or "Should I...?" is really dependent on YOU and YOU ALONE.

All these programs and books are resources or guides for you to follow to help you get to your goal. Just make sure the program you use matches your goal. If your goal is fat loss, then Return of the Kettlebell is not the program you want to be using, because it's intent is to help you gain weight, not lose it.

So, what's a girevik to do who just wants to "get in shape?"

Well, first, define what "get in shape" means. To quote my buddy Josh Henkin, RKC TL, "Round is a shape." What's it mean to YOU?

If you're still not sure, here's a general guide that will prepare you to just be flat out awesome from using kettlebells.

1. Enter the Kettlebell (Combine with Super Joints and Relax Into Stretch and Fast and Loose on your "variety days" - 12 weeks. Minimum. More like 18-24.
2. Rest a week.
3. The Naked Warrior - 12 weeks
4. ETK Redux - 4-6 weeks
5. Return of the Kettlebell - 12-24 weeks.
6. Rest a week. Maybe 2.
7. Kettlebell Muscle - 12 weeks.
8. Rest a week.
9. Cycle back thru 1-8.

Total possible training time = 82 weeks. Or just over 1 and a half years of training time.

Now, you may not agree with me, but this "flat out kettlebell awesomeness" is just what I would do based on what I know, what I've read, and what I want. It may not be EXACTLY for you. But it meets my goals - Strong and muscular.

I hope that makes sense.

Thoughts?"

http://kbforum.dragondoor.com/kettlebells-strength-conditioning-forum/144835-answer-question-can-i.html

I include this more for my own benefit than that of anyone else :)

Rite of Passage

The past two weeks have seen me embark upon the Rite of Passage program from Enter the Kettlebell. This is my second attempt with this program having done around 5 or so weeks of it earlier in the year.

At the moment I am working on 5 ladders x 1 rung on my light day, 5 ladders x 2 rungs on my medium day and building up to 5 ladders x 5 rungs on the heavy day. The first heavy day was 5 x 3 with the intent of doing 4 ladders x 3 rungs on Sunday.

My variety days at this stage have been a bit non-existent. Tossing up whether to go with deadlifts or to do as Pavel suggests in the book and work on cleaning, snatching and doing get-ups with the 24 kg bell. I think I might opt for the deadlifts and kick them off from tomorrow.

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The running has temporarily ground to a halt. The Rite of Passage at this stage is leaving me a bit fatigued so I'm playing it safe and just doing the three days of KB'ing and then progressively add in the variety days. It's not to say that I won't run (the weather isn't helping I'm not going to lie) but will just insert them as I see fit.

Sunday 18th July

Well it's been a big couple of days. Relocated from Newport to Pascoe Vale South. Consequently there hasn't been much to report on the training front. Did some swings last Thursday but other than that, the moving of many boxes has taken the place of the kettlebell.

Enjoyed a 30 minute run in the new surrounds. Opted to run from home along the Moonee Ponds Creek track. Didn't get a great vibe from it so I'm going to run from the Coburg Lakes precinct. Will be a bit more scenic and should have plenty of other path users.

Plan at this stage for the next couple of weeks is to continue on with the Program Minimum. Going to intersperse planks into my swing days as opposed to jogging for my active rest. Intend on running at nights as well so hopefully with a healthy diet, some swings, get-ups and running I should see some results on the waist line and body.

Friday 9th July

The past two days have gone well.

Swing day yesterday which once again saw me crank out 160 swings over 8 rounds.

This morning - cranked out 5 get-ups with each arm.

Pretty satisfied with the program thus far. No soreness. Was able to go for a run on Tuesday night without any fuss. Planning on going out again tonight for another 20 mins and maybe a spot of swimming or mountain biking over the weekend.

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Dragondoor Australia are hosting a couple of beginner workshops in a month or so's time. Andrew Read, an RKC, is going to be teaching the swing, get-up and goblet squat over a three hour period. Will definately attend as it will be a great opportunity to see where I'm at with my technique with the benefit of getting feedback and correction. Should be good!

Tuesday 6th July

First a summary of Monday - ETK w/up of face the wall squats, halo's and pumps followed by 12 mins of swings (20x) and 1 min of jogging. 8 rounds for a total of 160. Felt pretty good during the swings. Focusing on tightening the glutes and bracing the abs. Need to work on my breathing rhythm.

This morning was again the ETK warm-up followed by 5 get-ups in each arm. Really felt good during the get-ups. Been attempting the get-ups in the Kalos Stenhos style with the hip arch. Do need to get a copy of the Kalos Stenhos DVD as the get-up is going to be a fundamental movement for me going forward.

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Entertaining the thought of getting back into some riding. We are moving next week so there'll be a little more time available. That and the fact that there are some good rides fairly close to home. A mate is working out a price for me on a Wilier Izouard with Ultegra (2009 model) or I'm contemplating a Giant TCR Alliance 0 from Lygon Cycles for $2299 with the '10 model Ultegra. Hmmm...

Back at it...again!!

This is almost the story of my athletic/fitness career....back at it :)

After a few fruitless months of barbell lifting, crossfitting, etc I have re-committed myself to the Program Minimum and ETK. Kicked things off on Friday morning for some face the wall squats, halo's and pumps and then 12 minutes of swings and jogging. Finished with 8 rounds for 160 swings.

Day 2 was this morning with the same warm-up with 5 minutes of Get-ups. Finished with 5 on each arm.

This program is amazingly simple and doable. Upto 25 minutes twice a week and another 2 x 15 minute sessions is very achievable. The times that I have felt great have been on the PM. I'm not giving myself a time limit. Will just evaluate it on a week by week basis.

The goal is to get back under 80kgs. This means at least an 8 kg weight/fat loss and potentially 10 kgs. I'll supplement the PM with some running, swimming and MTB'ing. Weighing up the option to purchase a road bike via a repayment scheme through work ATM. Given that we are moving in a couple of weeks and will be a lot closer to work, I will be able to allocate a bit more time to training/athletic goals. Will have to see!

Back into Program Minimum

Well it's been several weeks since my last blog update and in that time my training has been somewhat erratic. When I say erratic I mean flittering between running and lifting weights. There has been attempts at Power to the People deadlifts as well as HIT style bodybuilding training. Thrown into that mix was an attempt to get running again.

It has been some time since I have ran for any more than two days in a week so I was pleasantly surprised at the lack of soreness in my first couple of runs. The longest run has been just short of 40 minutes so I'm not up to the 2 1/2 hour efforts from a couple of years back but still it's a start. Added to this is the fact that I'm carrying at least 8 to 10 kg's more than when I last made a fist at running and at least 14 kg's heavier than when I last competed in triathlon back in 2006.

There are a number of pretty significant events coming up so I want my training to go onto automatic pilot for a bit. Meaning that I don't want to be umming and ahhing about what I'm going to do.

So the plan is to do the Program Minimum from Enter the Kettlebell over the next 4 weeks in the morning. Monday and Thursday - man makers consisting of 12 mins. of swings and jogging (barefoot) and Tuesday and Friday - 5 mins of get-ups in the kalos stenhos style. I'm going to do this in the morning so that if nothing happens in the PM from a workout perspective then at least I've ticked a box. In the PM I'm tossing up between doing a crossfit style on-ramp program or to continue running. Time will tell.

Thursday 04/02/10

Variety day in ROP. Once again opted for some PTTP deadlifts (lot of acronyms around here :))

Warmed up with some hip flexor stretching and goblet squats before 2 sets of 5 deadlifts (57.5 and 52.5). Once again nothing outstanding to report. Was able to complete the sets with minimal fuss.

Kind of wishing I purchased a set of bumper plates or at the absolute least round olympic plates. The shape of the Avanti plates (hexagonal or octagonal) makes it hard to place the bar back on the ground in the correct position when deadlifting. You always end up landing it on a corner and it either rolls forward slightly (not the end of the world) or backwards into your shin. Bit annoying!

Rest day tomorrow which will be great and the heavy day on Saturday.

Wednesday 03/02/10

Medium day on Rite of Passage. Following a warm-up of 2 rounds of 10 goblet squats, halos and pumps I launched into my clean and presses.

5 ladders x 2 rungs this morning alternated once again with pull-ups. After reading more of the Enter the Kettlebell manual I was focussing this morning on the press motion of out to the side instead of trying to "brush the ear" as well as engaging the lats to bring the bell back to the rack position. This as well as the bracing the abs, glutes, legs, etc.

Once again I am reminded at just how effective kettlebell exercises are. Compound movements utilising various tension techniques.

Followed this up with the Viking Warrior Conditioning protocol of 15:15. 8 minutes of snatches for a total of 112 (7 each 15 sec interval). Didn't have a read on the heart rate but suspect it was up around the 180 mark for the majority of the time. Add to that the "thermic" effect post workout.

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The opportunity to play golf once again on a regular basis has presented itself. A club close to home has dropped their joining fee in an attempt I would imagine to get new members. This makes it a bit more affordable and given it's proximity to both home now and possibly into the future, this might be an opportunity to good to pass up on. Got the handicap down to around 17 last time around but I have had quite a spell from the game - hence my handicap has lapsed. I would imagine I will have to submit new cards.

Tuesday 02/02/10

Deadlift or variety day in ETK. Using the Power to the people protocol of a set of 5 and then a follow up set at 90% of the previous lift.

2x5 with 55 and 50 kg's respectively. This was preceded by 2 sets of 10 goblet squats and hip flexor stretch. Nothing outstanding. Felt good during the deadlifts.

Monday 01/02/10

Well after a week of Program Minimum, I got a bit antsy and have forged ahead a smidge by starting the Rite of Passage (with a twist). Have decided to integrate the Viking Warrior Conditioning protocol with the ROP. So in lieu of snatches and swings on the Light, Medium and Heavy days I will do the VWC.

This morning was 5 ladders of 1 rung of clean & presses alternated with pull-ups. Nice and easy and good to get back into the groove of pressing again. This was followed up with the VWC test protocol. This consisted of 5 x 1 minute intervals in which you do a set no of snatches (10, 14, 18, 22 and then as many as in the last minute). Started with the right hand so I could do the as many reps as with the right. Ended up with 29 which will give me a snatch cadence of 7. (this number is to be divided by 4 and then rounded up but I have opted to round down).

So on Wednesday I will look do around 8 mins of 15 secs on 15 secs off with the left hand and then 15 secs on 15 secs off with the right. This will be repeated 8 times. Will have to have a re-read of the protocol to determine the progression.

Friday 29/01/10

Well week 1 of the Program Minimum is tucked away. This morning was get-up day and started with the same 10 minute w/up of face the walls, halo's and pumps. It was then on to the kalos stenhos get-ups where I managed 4 each of left and right hand in 5 minutes. I'm pretty sure it was 4, maybe 5 as I lost count due to focussing on each of the positions.

As a result, my shoulders feel nicely buzzed if that makes any sense. It's a great feeling knowing that the weeks training is behind me now as I head into the weekend.

Thursday 28/01/10

Swing day today in the Program Minimum and once again was able to eek out 160 swings in 8 rounds of 20. Was really focussing on tightening the glutes; hip snap and bracing the abs. There are so many things to be mindful of in such a simple movement. I was thinking that if you were to devote as much time as needed for mastery on the swing, you would be spending quite some time in doing so.

It is as Dan John and others have said - the Program Minimum is sheer brilliance in it's simplicity. The 80/20 rule really applies here. You get your fat loss, joint mobility and hypertrophy all in one. The phasic and tonic muscles are stimulated in a manner that is relatively risk free when it comes to injury. Still it pays to be mindful of finishing off a set and parking the kettlebell in a safe manner.

Tuesday 26/01/10

Happy Australia Day!!!

This morning was get-up day in the Program Minimum. Following a warm-up of goblet squats, halo's and pumps I did 5 mins. of Kalos Stenhos get-ups. Was able to get 5 in each arm completed in little of over 5 mins. The timer expired during the fifth rep on the right hand so I decided to finish off both hands.

I am in the process of re-reading Enter the Kettlebell. It's amazing the things you miss in a first reading. Upon reading the face the wall squat section of the book I have decided to sub these in for goblet squats. Pavel advocates being able to have your toes touch the wall while you squat down to pickup your kettlebell. I tried this after my session this morning and was unable to complete this. Hence the inclusion of face the wall's.

Monday 25/01/2010

After much procrastination and tossing around of various training templates, thoughts and ideas I have decided to settle on the Enter the Kettlebell routine. Having read a post by Geoff Neupert which advised the reader to pick a program and stick with it I thought that there would be no better choice than ETK.

The ETK program fits in with my lifestyle on a couple of fronts:

1) I can fit in most workouts in the AM which takes the pressure off training at night after a day of work/travel, etc.
2) It is very portable. The times that we head home, I can pack the 16kg into the car with minimal fuss and still get in a great workout.
3) I really enjoy kettlebell training. The workouts are short and sharp and they work.

So with this in mind my goals are as follows:

a) To press a kettlebell half my bodyweight (which would be a 40 kg bell or "The Beast")
b) To perform and succesfully complete the USSS snatch test (200 snatches of a 24 kg bell in 10 mins.)

Will both of these happen this year - probably not. But certainly if I can achieve the snatch test with the 16 kg and press the 24kg quite easily this year, it won't be long until the above are met.

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This morning I started on the Program Minimum which is two days of swings alternated with 1 min jogging (done in 12 mins.) and two days of get-ups (done in 5 mins.). I will be using the Kalos Stenhos method of get-ups.

Totals: 160 swings in 12 mins.

Tuesday 13/01/2010

Rite of Passage - Light day

Back into the kettlebell and I must say - it felt great. Why did I stop doing this??? Anyway, the warmup comprised 2 x 10 goblet squats, 2x 5l, 5r halos and 2 x 5 pumps. It was then onto 5 ladders x 2 rungs of clean & pressing alternated with pull-ups. This was followed up with 3 minutes of snatches (40 total).

Was good to get back into the groove of clean & presses. Felt good throughout. I must say that my slight deviation from this program in the past couple of weeks have left me in very good pressing shape as well as being able to complete pull-ups more effectively.

This workout came on top of a very ordinary day. My iphone crapped itself yesterday morning following a night of very little sleep (hottest night in Melbourne for quite some time apparently). Was very determined to get the workout in which meant having dinner at a later time.

New / old direction

Upon returning from Horsham, where my rite of passage routine was a little disrupted, I decided to go in a different direction with regard my training. Last week saw me return to the barbell and complete 3 of 4 day of Wendlers 5/3/1. Was able to complete the press day, bench press and deadlift.

Friday rolled around and I was due to squat but gave this a miss in favour of a Crossfit WOD. For the past couple of years I have been following Crossfit's main site and have completed some of their WOD's. I decided to do three over the course of the last three days all incorporating bodyweight movements. e.g. pull-ups, push-ups, sit-ups and squats. These were done in either round format, as many reps as possible in a given time or simply 1 round through for larger reps.

I believe Crossfit does offer benefits with regards to conditioning and body comp but I am a bit put off by the lack of planning and lack of being able to consistenly measure your progress.

So after a bit of a hiatus I am returning to the Rite of Passage. Why? Well simply, it was working and it was a few days away that enabled my mind to wander and contemplate other programs/ideas. That coupled with the fact that it is very structured, progressive and simple in it's design.

Owing to the fact that it is forecast to be around 40 degrees today we will kick things off tomorrow.

Wednesday 06/01/2010

Following a rest day on Tuesday, it was bench press time. After a set of 30 or so shoulder dislocates I launched into my warm-up sets:

20 for 5
25 for 5
27.5 for 3
30 for 5
35 for 5
40 for 13

Had to get some spotting assistance via Carla for the last set just in case I stalled. This was followed up by 5 sets of 10 with 30 kg and then 5 x 10 KB rows with the 16.

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With this being my first week back into lifting weights for some time, I was expecting some soreness. As I type this the pecs and shoulders are a bit sore but not as bad as some times past. I attribute this to the KB work that I have done in the past few months as well as better recovery in terms of protein consumption following a workout. Downing a protein shake almost immediately which is followed up by tea.

Reasonably pleased with how the eating has gone this week. It's a semi Primal / semi lo-carb style eating. The only exceptions have been a small piece of leftover Christmas cake last night and the night prior with last nights having a small tablespoon of ice cream. Carla noted yesterday that my breath was a bit off due to some ketosis. This has to be good :)

Monday 04/01/2010

Deadlift day on Wendler's program. Opened up with 2 sets of 8 goblet squats followed by:

25 for 5
32.5 for 5
37.5 for 3
40 for 5
45 for 5
52.5 for 15 (main set)

For assistance work I did 5 sets of 10 with 40 kg in the deadlift and 10,10,8 lying leg raises. Fairly solid sort of work as evidenced by a) the hunger that followed and b) the fatigue.

Day off today but may go for a walk tonight.

Sunday 03/01/2010

Despite my best intentions as voiced in yesterdays post, I have decided to change things up a bit. Going to give the ROP a spell and move into a bit of a mass program. After debating on the merits of both Starting Strength and Wendlars 5/3/1 program I have opted for Wendlars for the sheer simplicity.

Wendlar uses 4 compound movements - military press, deadlift, bench press and squat along with some assistance exercises to build strength as well as size. After tralling through some old logs I was able to plug in my respective "maxes" into the spreadsheet.

The program will look like thus for the next 4 weeks:

Sunday - Military Press
Monday - Deadlift
Wednesday - Bench Press
Friday - Squat

So yesterday was military presses and after some warm-up lifts I was able to eek out 15 reps with 27.5 kgs on the bar. This doesn't sound all that impressive but certainly got the job done. This was supplemented with 5x10 Militaries with the bar and 5x5 chin-ups.

For my conditioning I am intending to use the Viking Warrior Conditioning. The plan will be to do the MVO2 test tonight following the deadlifts although I am wary of frying myself. It may mean dropping some assistance work in order to accomodate the VWC.

Yesterday also marked a very good day of eating. Eggs and sausages in the morning, apple, cheese and almond snack, chicken and salad for a late lunch, protein shake following training, steak and steamed vegies followed by a protein shake before bed. All in all a pretty good way to kick things off.

The New Year

We arrived back in Melbourne last night after 9 or so days away in Horsham. Was good to catch up with both the family and extended family for Christmas and New Year. Was able to take the kettlebells home (opted for 2 x 16 kg's). Continued on the ROP on the Saturday the 26th and on Monday but got a bit antsy on the following days and did some double KB work on Wednesday and a KB complex on Friday.

With only 4 weeks to go on the ROP I've decided to forge on. Weighed in this morning at 86.5 so there wasn't a lot of weight gain. A little bit higher on the skinfolds but I haven't done them for a while so it will be hard to say whether or not the % has crept up or not.

Health and training goals are reasonably simple this year:

1) Get under 10% bodyfat - This is all diet so I intend to continue on the low-carb/Atkins road and cut out as much grain as possible. It's time to drop the chocolate on a regular basis as well as the treats after dinner. Eggs in the morning with my tuna salad at lunch is a perfect way to start the day. Throw in an apple with some almonds for snacking and a protein based dinner and I should be well on the way.

2) Tidy up the diet - Kind of linked in with no 1.

3) Floss twice a day, everyday

4) Take fish oil everyday

5) Double BW deadlift, BW and a half squat, BW bench press - I will reassess things at the end of the ROP cycle but my thinking is that a long cycle of Starting Strength or Wendlars 5-3-1 program might be the ticket to get to this.

So there it is. I think that all of the above are achievable and not that it has been aired in net land it will be interesting to return a year later to see how we've gone.