I received this question the other day after my post on Convict Conditioning, and since it was well thought out I’m going to give an in depth answer.
Hey Logan,
You obviously have far more experience than me and I don’t even compare to you in terms of strength/conditioning. You’ve done an awesome job from what I can see! I’d like your opinion, please I read Coach Wade’s “Convict Conditioning” and I want to do the “Big Six” moves!
Goals – strength in the “Big Six” and mutant conditioning.
Preference for the kettlebell swing.
‘Decent’ recovery abilities.
Equipment – barbell, dumbells, 35lbs & 70lbs kettlebells, & pullup bar.
Not much money.
I was planning on trying out the ‘Veterano’ routine with swings three times a week (light, medium, and heavy swing days). A concern–over training with back bridges and swings.
Do you think this a great way to reach my goals?
Is ‘Veterano’ not enough strength work?
Do you have any suggestions?
Thank you & God bless!
David
Considering your goals and equipment, I think what you have laid out is a good plan. If you want to get good at these moves you should do them. Adding in a conditioning component with the kettlebell swing makes it even better.
For those of you who don’t have the book yet the Veterano is a routine that consists of doing a few sets of one of the six exercises each day. In my opinion, since the volume is already kept minimal I believe this program would be better with more frequency.
These moves require a high degree of strength but also a high degree of skill. So practicing them more often should result in faster gains. One thing I learned from Pavel is that its better to do one set of an exercise everyday then six sets one day a week.
For this reason I would modify this routine to do two exercises each day instead of one. One arm pushups and bridges. Handstand pushups with hanging leg raises. And one leg squats with one arm pullups. This way you do each move twice a week instead of just once. Adjust the volume if you have to but I think this will give better results.
I wouldn’t worry about overtraining with the bridges and swings. If you’re knew to bridging or swinging just be sure to ease into it.
A light, medium and heavy swing days is a good way to approach it but I personally never liked light and medium days. When I train I want to go hard all the time. If it works for you do it but here is how I’d approach it.
While swings are one of my favorite exercises I caution you against relying on just one movement for your conditioning. When you do this you may become real efficient at that movement and your conditioning may not actually improve that much.
Its good to have a conditioning goal like a number of swings (see Bud Jeffries recent Kettlebell Swing article) to go after. But its good to have some variety too. Personally I would focus on swings one day a week and do some sort of circuit conditioning on another day. You can mix swings and snatches with other exercises like sprinting, burpees, jumping rope or many others. This’ll give you a different feel and end up being better for your endurance.
In fact this is what I am doing in my training right now except I’m focusing on kettlebell snatches instead of swings.
I hope that helps you out and if you have to ask any follow up questions. Be sure to let me know how you progress.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. If you want to check out Convict Conditioning, click here.
Filed under Bodyweight Exercise, Conditioning, Workouts by on Jan 27th, 2010. 7 Comments. 
I got a special announcement coming next week. And then an even bigger one sometime next month.
In the meantime, a small tip for today.
No matter how on top of it all you are, there will be days when you don’t feel like training. Today was one of those days for me.
But instead of ditching the workout, and curling up on the couch to watch a movie I went outside and got started.
Got through the warmup and I wasn’t feeling particularly strong. Somewhere deep inside my brain a voice came out saying “the warmup was enough, you can go inside now.” Of course, I silenced that voice immediately.
And I got started. Instead of going for the big weights I used something lighter. I figured if I tried and failed to move the weights I should have done I would have been disappointed and wanted to quit even more. So I just did more reps with a lighter, but still tough, weight.
The reason for my lack of energy could be I have been busting my butt business wise on a whole slew of different projects recently. You know, burning the candle at both ends as they say.
Today was no different so another thing I did was chop out some of the assistance exercises and stick with the basics. My training finished in just over 30 minutes.
Despite going lighter it was a productive session. I’ll come back to the same exercises next time with more strength and energy.
And instead of feeling crappy the rest of the day for skipping out, I feel good from getting the exercise and also the feeling of accomplishment.
The gist of the message is to just do it when you feeling like you don’t want to train. You may need to make some modifications but get out there and get it done.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. This is actually some cycling in action here with the lighter weights. For a simple and easy to understand read on cycling (and much, much more) check out Pavel’s Power to the People.
P.S.S. For more on what to do when you don’t feel like training check out 10 Motivators to Get Out Of A Slump and Ready to Train.
Filed under Strength Training Concepts by on Aug 21st, 2009. Comment.
Tomorrow I will be attending the American Kettlebell Club Certification under World-Champion Girevik Valery Federenko. For those of you who do not know, Girevik is Russian for kettlebell lifter. If you don’t know much about kettlebells read my article What is a Kettlebell and Why Use One? I am not sure exactly what to expect. Previously I had been schooled in the Hard-Style of kettlebell training as popularized by Pavel and Dragondoor. In fact, when I first attended the RKC there was a guest teacher there and that was Valery. What he displayed was impressive.
For the first time I saw the differences between Hard-Style and Girevoy Sport lifting techniques. A talk by Brett Jones on that day about the two styles still stands out in my mind.
Not too long ago a rift occurred in the organization and part of it had to do with the supposed ‘real’ style of kettlebell lifting.
My goal with this is not to enliven the flames and hatred of some people who are so set in one style that they can’t see the benefits of another method. My philosophy is to learn from (and get good at) everything.
Personally I am not going to knock any style of training that works and makes you stronger and more fit. The way I see it now, is that both have there uses.
Will I be singing a different tune after these two days? I doubt it, but time will tell.
The big picture that this brings up is why do you train the way you do and what are you shooting for as your end result?
I will keep you updated on the happenings and see if I can get some video up of the event (at least some of us playing around with the bells).
My goal at this event is to increase my kettlebell lifting technique, broaden my horizons, become a better coach, and of course, have some fun.
I’d be writing more but the drive down to LA was long and now I’m tired. Stay tuned tomorrow for an update.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Kettlebells, Strength Training Concepts by on Sep 28th, 2007. Comment.
