Friday, August 16, 2013

Incremental Kettlebell Training

I'm trying something new in my kettlebell training, after reading an article about New Zealand lifter Paul White.  Paul is quickly becoming a great lifter, holding MS in both biathlon and long cycle from RGSI, and CMS in both events from WKC.  In an interview, he talked about using 2k increments to make the jump between standard 4k bell sizes.  My budget does not allow for the purchase of incremental bells, so I bought a roll of 100mph tape and taped a 5 pound plate to the bottom of each of my 16k bells.  I'm pretty comfortable hitting 12-13 minutes at 6rpm with 16k, and yesterday I got 10 minutes with my improvised 18k bells at 6rpm without too much trouble.  I plan to work up to 12-13 minutes with these bells, then start over at 10 minutes with 20k.  Then 22k, then on to the 24k's.  My next goal is 60 reps with 24k, and training incrementally seems to be a great way to get there.  This will allow me to train long sets at my competition and rank pace, without making the big jumps that beat me up.

This is actually an old method called the double progressive method.  Many old barbell programs advocated working with a certain weight, starting with 6-8 reps, then working up to 15 reps.  When 15 reps are reached, more weight is added, and the reps are dropped back to 6. 

Since my problem is conditioning and endurance, these long sets will help a lot, while pushing my strength up as well.

In addition, I'm working with the deadlift, training toward a push/pull meet in November. 

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