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The kettlebell swing has been known to improve the deadlift of elite powerlifters—and the running times of high-level long distance runners. This is what gireviks call “the What the Hell Effect.” The kettlebell defies the laws of specificity.
Start each practice with three circuits of five reps of each exercise.
Right after the S&S sessions, or later, preferably shortly before bedtime, do the following relaxed stretches for the hip area so heavily involved in both swings and get-ups.
Nothing will happen in a single minute. The longer you stay in these two stretches and breathe through the tight spots, the better.
Two-Arm Swing When you have the hike pass down, start swinging. Hike and pendulum the bell for a few reps and then, once you find a rhythm, explosively straighten after finishing a hike pass. Look at the horizon for the duration of the drill. Keep your head up without jamming your neck.
Memorize this: In the swing the arms work on the negative, the hips on the positive.
Next work on your breathing. Forcefully exhale on the way up; sharply inhale through your nose on the way down. In the future when you are doing hard swing workouts, you will need to learn how to take two sharp inhalations back to back on the way down. To help you find the breathing rhythm, loudly call out the number of each rep at the top of the swing. Loud. Louder!
Do not try to be quiet; the swing is not that type of exercise. The swing is full of spirit, like a karate punch. KIAI!!!
Along with your battle cry, cramp your glutes, brace your abs, and pull up your kneecaps.
Once the kettlebell has reached the apex of its flight, let it float for an instant. Then, once it has started falling, guide it back between your legs using the lats. Stay upright and do not release the glutes until your forearms almost hit your stomach. At the very last instant, hinge your hips and get out of the way. Play chicken with the kettlebell.
The get-up is loaded yoga. —Gray Cook
Gray Cook, physical therapist to Navy SEALs and NFL teams, said, “The Turkish get-up is the perfect example of training primitive movement patterns—from rolling over, to kneeling, to standing and reaching. If I were limited to choosing only one exercise, it would be the Turkish get-up.”
In Gray Cook’s words, if you are unable to do a non-ballistic movement slowly, “you are hiding something.”
Train any time of the day. Start with three circuits of mobility exercises—prying goblet squats, hip bridges, haloes.
If your get-ups start to get shaky, do partial reps—stop at the stage of the lift where you still feel safe and in control.
Stay with the above volume—the total number of reps—until you fully recover from day to day. If you are out of shape, this might take weeks. If you are in great condition, it will take a couple of days.
“Come up with tremendous power to lock out. Don’t play passive.”
Famous economist Milton Friedman was visiting a construction site in a country with Soviet-influenced economic policies. It was in the 1960s and Friedman was shocked to see only shovels and no mechanized equipment. He asked the government bureaucrat who was giving the tour about it. The latter smugly replied, “You don’t understand. This is a jobs program.” Prof. Friedman smiled, “Oh, I thought you were trying to build a canal. If it’s jobs you want, then you should give these workers spoons, not shovels.”
There is no reason to do slow-grind reps that overload fewer motor units when you could recruit all the motor units and minimize muscle strain.”
These three reasons should be enough to convince you to exercise discipline and stop when your swings are about to slow down—not when something gives
“Get an idea of when you slow down and train to push the “slow down” rep point higher and higher.”
Call out in your mind “Number two,” and try to hit an effort or volume level of two during that swing. Next rep call out number nine and try to hit that effort or volume level. Next rep hit a four, and then an eight, and then back to a three. Hit all the settings on the volume knob and pay attention to what setting provided the optimal result.
Over the years I have received thousands of testimonials concerning the kettlebell’s “what the hell effect” on various types of endurance.
His book Rock, Iron, Steel, published by IronMind, is a fascinating insight into what a smart man unburdened by formal education can come up with. I am not going to go on a limb and agree with everything Justa recommends, but I can make a general statement that if one wants to get strong, it is a far better source than most snooty volumes by Ph.D.s with soft hands.
working man’s attitude to training: “...to the point where you can do the movement over and over again. This is a blue-collar man doing his job. Contrast his mindset with that prevailing among the trainees who fancy themselves hardcore: prey fluttering and desperately trying to save its life.
“What is endurance except continued strength?”
My way of training the swing is looking at the volume and intensity and not worrying so much about the rest intervals. These will naturally diminish as work capacity and fitness improves, which just lets you handle more weight and go harder.
More is not better, it’s just more. —Steve Baccari
Another issue is efficiency. Once you reach a certain volume, you hit the point of diminishing returns. The human body is a non-linear system. This means doubling your swings from 100 to 200 will not double the results—far
Finally, there is the big issue of leaving enough energy for other things—practicing sport skills, being ready to fulfill your duty on the battlefield, or just enjoying your day and not dragging your tail through it.
Prof. Arkady Vorobyev explains that incomplete restoration training stimulates the recovery ability; your body literally has to learn how to recoup faster...or else.
Think of the S&S regimen not as a workout but as a recharge.
Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler. —Albert Einstein
Making the training load consistently moderate makes planning training a no-brainer. Just bang out 100 daily swings and ten get-ups like brushing your teeth.
Do not turn an off-day into a day off. Easy training is far better than no training. Cut the weight in both exercises. Make up for it by using “virtual force” in the swings and being extra precise in the get-ups.
Make your light get-ups evil by adding a ten-second pause at every stage. Ron Farrington, SFG Team Leader, SWAT operator and MMA fighter, promises these pauses will teach you a lot about alignment, breathing behind the shield, fatigue management, and plugging up any leaks preventing your body from becoming one piece.
Do not blindly copy the above; it is just an example. Just learn the lessons: Add weight to the second or third set. Stay with one heavy set as long as needed to feel ready to add a second. There is no specific number of workouts with a given number of heavy sets before adding another. Listen to your body. Add no more than one heavy set per training session. Do not be afraid to fall back to a lighter weight if you are having an off day, even if you have already started lifting a heavier one.
Carl Jung observed, as did many before and after him, “Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health.”
Do not introduce non-stop swings into your training until your normal training weight is 24kg if you are a woman, or 32kg if you are a man. You have no business pushing yourself “beyond the interval” until you have this much strength and experience.
In addition, do not be afraid to challenge yourself once or twice a month in a variety of ways. Help a friend move. Shovel snow for the entire block. Take out your dusty boxing gloves and call up your old sparring partners. Run up a mountain with a backpack. Enter a 10K race. Farmer-carry your kettlebells for distance. Take on any physical challenge that will test your spirit without breaking your body.
A lyrical aside—Marine vet Mark Toomey, Senior SFG, likes to tell eager boys, “Don’t try to out-tough professional tough guys.” Translation: it does not matter a lick if you can do more swings or run a faster Tough Mudder than a war vet. He has tested his spirit in ways you cannot even imagine, from ruthless selection to facing death over and over. Do not for a second dare to think of yourself as a better man if you have bettered him in some exercise. If the stakes were raised, you know who would come out victorious.
Start each practice with three circuits of five reps of prying goblet squats, SF hip bridges, and haloes. As an option, follow up with several get-ups with a shoe or a light weight.
Rest actively between sets. Walk around, skip rope, shadow kickbox, shake off the tension, do breathing exercises, do finger extensions with a rubber band. Rest long enough between sets to assure no drop-off in technical proficiency, get-up strength and swing power. Progressively but not aggressively reduce the rest intervals.
