Greetings Red Lions!  Thus far you should be progressing in your strength and stamina.  If you have been eating well, you have gained muscle mass and reduced body fat.  If you have been cutting calories, you will be seeing your muscular definition increase.  Welcome to the land of accompishment that you will enjoy as a disciplined KETTLEBELL fanatic.

We are now entering another phase of kettlebell training that you have been preparing for in your previous workouts.  I am going to explain the VO2 MAX workout, as well as how it can be utilized.  Because you are deployed and have little time for long explanations, I will keep it to the point, but feel free to email me with questions.  This specific workout was geared toward elite athletes who have difficulty accomplishing cardiovascular training due to sport induced knee injuries (specifically knee injuries for wrestlers, downhill racers, weightlifters).  Because these athletes require a high level of aerobic fitness and anaerobic strength, VO2 MAX was developed to accomplish both, with the idea of flushing lactic acid off the muscle to enhance recovery for the next workout.  The Danish Olympic National coach, Kenneth Jay, RKC, came up with this program.  It can be done 3 times a week.  Often his wrestlers did it at the end of a two hour wrestling workout to condition and flush lactic acids off the muscles…this benefitted them in expediting recovery and eliminating DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness).

While there are a few ways to calibrate the kettlebell you should use, we will keep it simple.  Get a kettlebell that you can do 8 KB snatches (one arm) in 15 seconds.  Ideally, 9 or 10 is better, but we don’t want to be using a paperweight, either.  It goes without saying that you will have performed our standard warm up before finding said kettlebell.

MONDAYS: VO2 MAX

We will begin with a 6 minute Tabata protocal.  Meaning, you will do swings for 20 seconds, weak side, then 10 seconds rest; swings 20 seconds strong side, 10 seconds rest; high pulls weak side for 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest, high pulls strong side, 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest; snatches for 20 seconds weak side, 10 seconds rest, snatches strong side for 20 seconds, 10 seconds rest.  Do this for 6 minutes (two times through).  This is not for speed, but for form, so use a kettlebell that is one up from what you will do for your VO2 MAX.

You will need a clock with a second hand, or a timer that will beep every 15 seconds.  The workout is performed in the following manner: When the second had strikes 12, you will execute 8 or more snatches in 15 seconds with your weak side.  You will then rest for 15 seconds.  When the “big hand” hits the six, you will do 8 or more snatches in 15 seconds with the strong side.  When the “big hand” hits the 9, you will rest until the big hand hits the 12, and then you will do 8 or more snatches (stay consistent and hit your number every 15 seconds).   Initially, you will attempt to do this for 10 minutes.  Do not be discouraged if you do not get that far.  But, the next session, whether you choose to do this once a week or three times a week is up to you, you will shoot for another round, with the eventual goal of getting to 20 rounds (20 minutes).  As a manner of conditioning, the Danish National Wrestling Champion, Marc Madsen, did a 20 minute rounds of 10 reps with a 24KG kb…that is 400 snatches in 20 minutes with 24KG kb.  Not only did this keep him in his weight class, but he avoided injuries and never had to worry about diet, stamina or strength for his Greco Roman competition.  One day a week he would do a 30 minute round…do the math, it makes for an incredible athletic performance.

Anyway, you may do this up to 3 times a week.  You will find that it will challenge you in many ways, but always keep progressing, with the only caveat to backing down being form…if you start using poor form, stop!

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, do a similar core workout from what we were doing last time.  You may add weight and drop to sets of 5, or lighten up weight and do sets of 15 or 20.  You will find both add strength to your core.

WEDNESDAYS- GRINDS:

We execute our standard warm up package.  We will be doing ladders in a mildly different sequence today…

PRESS ladders- We will choose a kettlebell we can press (with little or no leg drive) a minimum of 5 times.  We will then execute a ladder of 1Weak, 1 Strong, 2 Weak, 2 Strong, etc. until we can get a minimum of 3.  If we cannot get to 3, we will use a lighter KB.  If we CAN get to three without leg drive (aka push press) we will use the legs to press the KB overhead with the goal to eventually press the KB without the leg drive for all 5 rungs.  Upon completion of this ladder, we will proceed to a 60 second jog, jump rope, or recovery exercise of your choice.

Clean Ladder- Using the same selection principle, we will select a kettlebell for our clean ladder, meaning we must be able to get to the 3rd rung on the ladder.  If we cannot, we will need to select a lighter kettlebell.  USE GOOD FORM!  These will go much faster than the Press ladder, especially once you get the rythm.  As  you get into the higher reps, there is a request from the lungs to use less leg and hip snap.  Pay no attention to your lungs, through the kettlebell deep and back to load the glutes and hamstrings, and SNAP it to the rack position!  Upon completion of this ladder, we will proceed to a 60 second jog, jump rope, or recovery exercise of your choice.

Front squat ladder: Select a KB that will allow you to get to the 3rd rung as minumum.  Keep the form TIGHT, head UP, push the buttocks back as if reaching the arse back for a chair.  Squeeze the shoulder blades together to maintain spinal integrity.  Recover!  Upon completion of this ladder, we will proceed to a 60 second jog, jump rope, or recovery exercise of your choice.

This sequence is crucial in building an incredible amount of strength and stamina.  Set a time for 30 minutes and try to get through the sequence 5 times.  On any given exercise, once you can get to 5 sets of 5 rungs on the ladders, go up a size in kettlebell.  You will find that you will want to take some gas (air) during the clean and front squat by using a kettlebell that you have mastered…fight the temptation.  You are becoming a BETTER MAN!

FRIDAY – HEAVY METAL FRIDAY

Today we back off on the volume and increase the intensity.  We accomplish our standard warm up routine and then we do SUMO DEAD LIFTS.  We will progress from Medium, to Heavy, to possibly one above heavy.  This day is all about form and technique.  Increasing KB weight means the form must be perfect.  The magic numbers for HMF are 5 sets of 3, or 5 x 3.  We will go through the sumos (M, H, H+) 5 times, doing 3 repititions for each weight.

Snatch- We will utilize a similar progression in the snatch.  Do not attempt heavier weight if you are not feeling well or have any pain in the back.  Begin with a KB you can easily snatch 3 times and work your way up, doing a total of 5 sets.

Press- Similar progression.  Select a KB you know you can get for 3 reps WITHOUT using the legs.  Run the checklist: A crisp snatch…tighten quads, glutes, breath in, blow the kb up over head, and PULL it back down.  FORM is our mantra!  This checklist should be the same no matter if your KB is 12KG or 24KG.

OVERHEAD WALKS – A bit different here.   Using a distance of 15 yards (45 feet) press or snatch a kb overhead and walk that dx.  Make sure the wrist is straight, elbow locked out, shoulder sucked into the socket (TIGHT LAT), and walk 15 yards.  About face, switch hands, and walk back.  Do this 5 times, starting with a weight you know you can do and increase if possible.  This builds coordination in the core, shoulder/rotator cuff, and balance.

Front Squat- Same protocol for weight selection.  However, here we want to work on increasing the depth of our front squat before we add the weight.  It may be necessary to add weight to increase the depth, but that is a judgement call.  Depth and form are our goal.  IF you are experiencing problems with the front squat, do the goblet squat, which is simply grabbing the kb by the horns (handle) holding it close to the chest, and squatting.  Keep the elbows in, shoot to keep them between the knees, and work on your form.  It does not help us to bend the back AT ALL, and depth will come with more repitions, so don’t be in a hurry to add weight, but work on getting deeper and getting more comfortable.  Again, our rep/set is 5 sets of 3 repititions.  Even if you can do the front squat with no problem, try the goblet either after the front squat (time permitting) or vary it every other friday with the front squat.

Stay strong, stay safe, and remember the words of Sir Andrew Barton:

“Fight on, my men,” Sir Andrew said,
“I am hurt, but I not yet slain;
I’ll lay me down and bleed a while,

And then I’ll rise and fight again.”

God bless and Semper Fi,

David