Among the demands of Phase 2 is the ability to do the Turkish Get Up for 3 reps in a row on the same side, without rest between reps. That's one of the reasons I switched from 20kg kettlebell to the 16kg for this movement. I was able to do 2 triples on each side. My working forearm started to burn on the 3rd rep but I never felt in any real danger of dropping the KB. By the end of the week though I decided do doubles instead of triples. I needed a fair amount of rest after a triple, before I could attempt another triple. I think I'll need less rest after a double, and thus be able to do more total reps.
The exercises in Kettlebell Burn Reloaded are organized into 3 sessions, which are A, B, and MetCon. A and B in turn are split into 2 segments. The first time I did segment AB, I missed the instruction to rest for only 45-60 seconds between rounds. Instead I rested until I stopped panting in exhaustion and the burning sensation in my lungs receded. So the next time I did segment AB, I followed the instruction, with a timer set to 60 seconds. With only 60 sec. rest times, segment AB was quite a bit more difficult to execute.
Session B was just as difficult this week as it was when I tried it last week for the first time. Segment BA was fine. I could have pushed for more total reps of the clean+press but I wasn't sure how the shoulder would hold up in Segment BB. Segment BB exercises are in a superset which wipes me out after each round. I went over the prescribed training time for segment BB because I was only able to do 2 rounds within this time. There was about 4 minutes left on the timer but I didn't want the timer to go off in the middle of a superset, so I just turned it off, rested as long as I needed, then executed the 3rd round.
Monday, November 24, 2025
Monday, November 17, 2025
Kettelbell Burn: Phase 1: Week 4 Reprise
My work capacity with 20kg kettlebell cleans and presses is improving. I was able to complete the minimum 3 ladders for both clean/press oriented sessions.
I decided to switch from the 20kg back to the 16kg for Turkish Get Ups and all variations of partial Turkish Get Ups. I can do these movements with a 20kg KB but the 20kg drains my CNS more. One sign of CNS fatigue is my body suddenly forgetting how to support the KB in the middle of the movement - luckily when that's happened I was able to catch the KB on the way down without hurting myself. CNS fatigue is different from muscular fatigue - instead of feeling muscles straining, it's more like when I'm practicing piano and I suddenly forget chord shapes in the key of F# natural minor even though I'd already done 100s of reps of those shapes. Anyway, after the switch, I had a slightly easier time doing 2 reps in a row, per side, of the full TGU. I still felt my grip tiring out but I didn't feel as much danger of losing control of the KB. I also tried partial TGU - to the half-kneeling windmill position instead of all the way up - for 3 reps per side and that was fine.
Since this is a reprise of Week 4, I decided to do the goblet squat, staggered stance row, and reverse lunge in the rep ranges prescribed in Phase 2 instead of Phase 2. Naturally, all these exercises became harder to execute because of the increased reps. This gave me confidence I can handle Phase 2.
I decided to switch from the 20kg back to the 16kg for Turkish Get Ups and all variations of partial Turkish Get Ups. I can do these movements with a 20kg KB but the 20kg drains my CNS more. One sign of CNS fatigue is my body suddenly forgetting how to support the KB in the middle of the movement - luckily when that's happened I was able to catch the KB on the way down without hurting myself. CNS fatigue is different from muscular fatigue - instead of feeling muscles straining, it's more like when I'm practicing piano and I suddenly forget chord shapes in the key of F# natural minor even though I'd already done 100s of reps of those shapes. Anyway, after the switch, I had a slightly easier time doing 2 reps in a row, per side, of the full TGU. I still felt my grip tiring out but I didn't feel as much danger of losing control of the KB. I also tried partial TGU - to the half-kneeling windmill position instead of all the way up - for 3 reps per side and that was fine.
Since this is a reprise of Week 4, I decided to do the goblet squat, staggered stance row, and reverse lunge in the rep ranges prescribed in Phase 2 instead of Phase 2. Naturally, all these exercises became harder to execute because of the increased reps. This gave me confidence I can handle Phase 2.
Friday, November 14, 2025
Kettlebell Burn: Phase 1: Week 3 Reprise
My Turkish Get Up performance improved a bit from last week. I was able to do 5 singles (1-rep sets) per side within the prescribed period, which is an improvement over 4 single last week.
I've been doing well with the Goblet Squat in Phase 1, so I increased the reps per set to 8, 10, then 12 for this reprise of Phase 1 Week 3. These are in the range prescribed for Phase 2 - more challenging for me but still doable. Hopefully entering Phase 2 with a body already conditioned for 12-ep sets will lead to benefits beyond just breezing through the Goblet Squat portions of the Phase 2 workouts.
I also increased the reps/set for the single kettlebell row, though only to the minimum prescribed reps for the row in Phase 2. I decided to focus more on increasing goblet squat reps for now, then bring up the row reps in Phase 2. I don't want to give out too much info about Kettlebell Burn but fellow practitioners of this program might understand my thinking here.
The KB cleans and presses portion of the workouts went fine as usual, though I was cautious about pushing myself too hard because I didn't want to risk burning myself out before taking on the Get Up Sit Up.
Last week I did the Get Up Sit Up in 3-rep sets with the 20kg KB, because the previous week I was doing 5-rep sets with the 16kg KB. I originally tried to do this exercise with the 20kg but the shoulder fatigued by the 3rd reps so I switched to 16k KB. I later switched back to the 20kg after re-reading the manual and realizing I would eventually be asked to do 2 or even 3 consecutive reps of TGU on the same side, and thus decided to retry the Get Up Sit Up with the 20kg. I was able to do 3-rep sets without the shoulder getting tired last week, so this week I increased the reps to 5. Performance of the 5-rep sets was decent most of the time. There were only a couple of instances in which my CNS got burnt out, so that my body sort of forgot how to keep the KB aloft - luckily I was able to catch the KB when it fell without hurting myself. As with other exercises, the downside of increasing reps was being able to do less sets within the same period. Last week I was able to do 4 sets. This week, I was able to do 3 sets. I cheated a little by going over the prescribed time period - I saw I had around 2 min. left on the timer, so I just stopped the timer and rested as long as I needed before the final set. I believe taking the time to do that 3rd set will be worth it down the road - if nothing else, the 5 more reps per side of practice has to count for something.
2-arm swings were hellish and next to impossible in Week 4 of Kettlebell Burn 2.0. The same exercise in Week 4 of Kettlebell Burn Reloaded imposes a more reasonable demand. It actually felt kind of easy to execute, though it still made me sweat and breathe hard. So I decided to do the Phase 2 Week 2 swing workout, which is a 1-arm swing. The 1-arm swing workout is not easy and is in fact a step up in difficulty compared to the Reloaded Phase 1 2-arm swing workout, but I was able to execute it without much trouble. I utilized the KB tapping cue taught by Joe Daniels to help with my performance.
After the swing practice I worked on my hollow body hold. I've progressed to 35-second holds at the final progression - both arms and both legs extended.
I've been doing well with the Goblet Squat in Phase 1, so I increased the reps per set to 8, 10, then 12 for this reprise of Phase 1 Week 3. These are in the range prescribed for Phase 2 - more challenging for me but still doable. Hopefully entering Phase 2 with a body already conditioned for 12-ep sets will lead to benefits beyond just breezing through the Goblet Squat portions of the Phase 2 workouts.
I also increased the reps/set for the single kettlebell row, though only to the minimum prescribed reps for the row in Phase 2. I decided to focus more on increasing goblet squat reps for now, then bring up the row reps in Phase 2. I don't want to give out too much info about Kettlebell Burn but fellow practitioners of this program might understand my thinking here.
The KB cleans and presses portion of the workouts went fine as usual, though I was cautious about pushing myself too hard because I didn't want to risk burning myself out before taking on the Get Up Sit Up.
Last week I did the Get Up Sit Up in 3-rep sets with the 20kg KB, because the previous week I was doing 5-rep sets with the 16kg KB. I originally tried to do this exercise with the 20kg but the shoulder fatigued by the 3rd reps so I switched to 16k KB. I later switched back to the 20kg after re-reading the manual and realizing I would eventually be asked to do 2 or even 3 consecutive reps of TGU on the same side, and thus decided to retry the Get Up Sit Up with the 20kg. I was able to do 3-rep sets without the shoulder getting tired last week, so this week I increased the reps to 5. Performance of the 5-rep sets was decent most of the time. There were only a couple of instances in which my CNS got burnt out, so that my body sort of forgot how to keep the KB aloft - luckily I was able to catch the KB when it fell without hurting myself. As with other exercises, the downside of increasing reps was being able to do less sets within the same period. Last week I was able to do 4 sets. This week, I was able to do 3 sets. I cheated a little by going over the prescribed time period - I saw I had around 2 min. left on the timer, so I just stopped the timer and rested as long as I needed before the final set. I believe taking the time to do that 3rd set will be worth it down the road - if nothing else, the 5 more reps per side of practice has to count for something.
2-arm swings were hellish and next to impossible in Week 4 of Kettlebell Burn 2.0. The same exercise in Week 4 of Kettlebell Burn Reloaded imposes a more reasonable demand. It actually felt kind of easy to execute, though it still made me sweat and breathe hard. So I decided to do the Phase 2 Week 2 swing workout, which is a 1-arm swing. The 1-arm swing workout is not easy and is in fact a step up in difficulty compared to the Reloaded Phase 1 2-arm swing workout, but I was able to execute it without much trouble. I utilized the KB tapping cue taught by Joe Daniels to help with my performance.
After the swing practice I worked on my hollow body hold. I've progressed to 35-second holds at the final progression - both arms and both legs extended.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)