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Breaking Into A Kettlebell Size and Strength Program

By Mike Mahler

Before I wrote several articles and came out with a comprehensive DVD on using kettlebells for size and strength, many trainees confined the benefits of kettlebell training to muscular endurance and fat loss. No doubt kettlebell training is a very effective component of an effective fat loss program (the other component being pushing yourself away from the kitchen table more often). In addition to fat loss and muscular endurance training, kettlebells can be used effectively for adding size and strength. However, many trainees are confused with how to transition into a kettlebell focused size and strength program. If you have been using kettlebells for endurance and fat loss, you have to gradually transition into high volume strength training for muscular development. Many trainees make the mistake of jumping into a 5x5 (five sets of five with heavy weights) paradigm or worse a 10x5 paradigm and go into an over trained state rapidly. A much better plan is to get used to the most effective kettlebell exercises for size and strength with a few sets and a few workouts per week. Once you get the hang of these size and strength exercises you can start adding some volume and intensity.

Lets start off with the exercises:

Primary Exercises

Double Kettlebell Clean and Press: In addition to being a full body exercise that will stimulate overall growth, the Double Kettlebell Clean and Press is an incredible upper body developer with particular emphasis on the shoulders and triceps.

Alternating Kettlebell Renegade Row: In addition to working the lats, mid back, and biceps, the Renegade Row works the core and oddly enough the pecs as well. The pecs have to work over time to keep your stable and do not be surprised if you wake up with sore pecs the next day. Thus, men with "breat envy" will love this exercise.

Double Kettlebell Swing: Great hamstring blaster that focuses on fast twitch muscle fibers which are by far the most important for developing size and strength. Great transfer to the "midnight move" as well. Hopefully, you do not need me to elaborate on this further.

Double Kettlebell Front Squat: It all start with a strong foundation and the Front squat will develop strong quads. Just make sure you hold the bells higher up like I do on my Size and Strength DVD to take the emphasis off of the shoulders.

Optional

Double Windmill or Turkish Get-up: Two great exercises for the core and shoulder stability and flexibility. Core work is no doubt important. However, you get a lot of it indirectly with the primary exercises so do not obsess about doing a ton of abdominal work. If you want a six pack, you need to have low bodyfat.

What about variety? I get bored with doing the same exercises over and over again? That is why you have a forgettable physique and strength levels that are far from impressive. Get exceptional at a few basic moves first and then add some variety down the road. Forget about variety for at least one month. Get good at the primary exercises and it will be much easier to transition into other exercises such as the Alternating Military Press, Sots Press, Double Bent-over Row, and Double Snatch. Yes this will require an attention span that most TV addicts will find painful. Too bad, life is about making sacrifices to win the prize.

Now lets go over a sample "break in" program.

Month One

Monday-Wednesday-Friday

• A-1: Double Clean and Military Press 2x5
• A-2: Alternating Renegade Row 2x5

Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion and take ninety second breaks in between each set of A-1 and A-2.

• B-1: Double Front Squat 2x5
• B-2: Double Swing 2x5

Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion and take ninety second breaks in between each set of B-1 and B-2.

• Double Windmill 1x5 l,r (left and right)

Month Two

In month two go to three sets per exercise. Keep the core work (TGU and Windmill at one set). In month three, go to four sets per exercise and split up the exercises as follows:

Month Three

Monday-Thursday

• A-1: Double Clean and Military Press 4x5
• A-2: Alternating Renegade Row 4x5

Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion and take ninety second breaks in between each set of A-1 and A-2.

• TGU 1x5

Tuesday-Friday

• B-1: Double Front Squat 4x5
• B-2: Double Swing 4x5

Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion and take ninety second breaks in between each set of B-1 and B-2.

• Double Windmill 1x5 l,r (left and right)
• Month Four: 5x5 Program

Month Four

In month four you are ready to start the 5x5 program and can start adding some variety to the program. For example:

Monday

• A-1: Double Clean and Military Press 5x5
• A-2: Alternating Renegade Row 5x5

Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion and take ninety second breaks in between each set of A-1 and A-2.

• Turkish Get-up 1x5 l,r

Tuesday

• B-1: Double Front Squat 5x5
• B-2: Double Swing 5x5

Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion and take ninety second breaks in between each set of B-1 and B-2.

• Double Windmill 1x5 l,r (left and right)

Thursday

• A-1: Alternating Military Press 5x5
• A-2: Double Bent-over Row 5x5

Do A-1 and A-2 in alternating fashion and take ninety second breaks in between each set of A-1 and A-2.

• Turkish Get-up 1x5 l,r

Friday

• B-1: Double Clean and Front Squat 5x5
• B-2: Double Snatch 5x5

Do B-1 and B-2 in alternating fashion and take ninety second breaks in between each set of B-1 and B-2.

• Double Windmill 1x5 l,r (left and right)

Next, you can pick any of the other programs in my Kettlebell DVD E-book which comes with my Size and Strength DVD. Do not have it yet? Pick it up today at The Aggressive Strength Online Store and start making some real progress.

Also remember that without optimal levels of Testosterone and Growth Hormone you can forget about developing a strong and muscular body that commands respect. Have your Doctor test your T and GH so you know where you are at. Ideally, everyone at age 25 should have these levels checked but it is never too late to ascertain where you are at. For more info on the importance of optimizing hormones, read this article.

 

Recommended Kettlebells

Our Kettlebells are supplied by LondonKettlebells.com and are rediculously good quality. Currently they offer FREE DELIVERY within the UK. If you are outside the UK, please check out the Dragondoor Kettlebells range.

Our Mini K-Bell Range

These are great training 'bells and are ideal for ladies whow want to get into Kettlebell training.

	6kg Mini K-Bell - Only £27.50 The lightest Kettlebell in our range, this is recommended for someone with little or no previous exercise experience or for rehabilitation & strengthening purposes. Also a great tool for introducing Kettlebell traiing to your kids.
	8kg Mini K-Bell - Only £34.95 This would be a good starting weight for ladies who are used to gyms, but tend to stick to cardio equipment and machines (in which case please, please, please, consider our Online Personal Training Service!) and are looking to introduce Kettlebells into their training.
	12kg Mini K-Bell - Only £39.95 This one is for ladies who know what they're doing in the weight room and are used to free weights. If you've not used Kettlebells before you should probably kick off with a 6kg or an 8kg. You will make progress quickly however and the 12kg is a nice weight to progress to. Also a good weight for men who have no weightlifting experience.

 

Our Pro-Kettlebell Range

The Pro-Kettlebell Range is awesome. The 'bells are finished to a high-quality and are smooth to the touch unlike a number of other brands which are crudely cast and are rough to the touch. This makes them perfect for the higher rep swings and snatches utilised in CrossFit programming.

	16kg/1 pood Pro-Kettlebell -Only £49.95 FREQUENTLY USED CROSSFIT WEIGHT The 16kg kettlebell is the usual starting weight for the average man. If you train but use machines more than free weights this is where you should start. This weight is frequently used in high-rep CrossFit work and is the standard weight specified for ladies on the benchmark workouts for Swings and Snatches.
	20kg Pro-Kettlebell -Only £59.95 If you're looking for the perfect balance of strength and cardio conditioning with a kettlebell, the 20kg is perfect for most men. We recommend that men who like training with free weights begin with a 20kg as it is a good stepping stone to the 24kg. Some women will also want to use this for developing phenomenal levels of strength.
	24kg 1.5 pood Pro-Kettlebell -Only £69.95 FREQUENTLY USED CROSSFIT WEIGHT Getting heavy now! The 24kg kettlebell is ideal for men who want to get strong and should be used by people with some weight training experience or powerlifters looking to get into kettlebell work. The 24kg weight is the standard weight specified for men on the benchmark workouts for Swings and Snatches.
	28kg Pro-Kettlebell -Only £79.95 Your stepping stone between the 24kg and 32kg Kettlebells. More for the Kettlebell specialits, than CrossFitters, this is a nice challenge to work up to on your way to the 32kg press.
	32kg/2 pood Pro-Kettlebell -Only £89.95 The 32kg Kettlebell is the strength tool of choice for many Kettlebell lifters. If you can press this, then you are STRONG. You're only going to want this if you can comfortably handle the 24kg 'bell and are a Kettlebell specialist.