Take one thing as far as you can – Part 2

Bud doing Heavy Swings

This is the thought I originally intended to convey when I sat down to write these blog posts. It was really originally about the kettlebell training I’ve been doing in the last year and a half. Now if you’ve been reading here, you know I’m all about balance and variety. Have a big bag of tricks to pull from is a great thing. You never know when you’ll need it.

Sometimes we suffer from too much choice. Too easy access to many different training styles and exercises instead of staying consistent with one thing long enough to get real progress we train as if we’re channel surfing with a remote control. 900 channels and nothing is on.

The opposite end of the spectrum is full of folks beating a dead horse. With a program that doesn’t work or has stopped working or that is hammering them because they are so committed to it. Staying on one program with religious zeal because “it’s the only manly way to train,” is a good way to drive you to injury.

So what’s an aspiring tough guy to do? Ahh… here Grasshopper is the answer. This in fact is a word you’ll probably hear endlessly on this website: Balance.

Balance however is not another word for mediocrity or bland intensity. Here’s an example. My basic pattern in the last year and a half has been 3-4 workouts a week. One to two heavy sessions, one hard interval and one session dedicated to the kettlebell swing. Now that one swing session has been a radical thing. Regularly pushing very hard. Taking that one exercise as far as I possibly could. Getting good at it and getting the most out of it. Making radical progress from 500 reps to 1000 reps to 2000 even up to 3000 constantly doing more reps without putting the bell down and finding the total reps faster. The first time I did 1000 reps it was with the 24kg/55lb bell and it took 45 minutes. The best I’ve done so far is 1000 with the 32kg bell in 24 minutes completely non-stop. I also did 1000 with the 106 in 45 minutes, doubling the load for the same reps and time. Take one thing as far as you can.

But the rest of my workout provides balance. I don’t do the super high rep swing exclusively and not so often that it hurts me. There’s heavy work in low to moderate volume for all the major muscle structures. The interval day provides variety in exercise selection, pattern, muscles worked and all the days vary in intensity. Balance while still pushing one thing as hard as possible.

God Bless,
Bud Jeffries

P.S. For more on training, adding kettlebells to your workouts and so much more check out Twisted Conditioning 2.