Sunday is a good day to get into a serious challenge – and today happened to also be a weird dreary “fall” day in the midst of spring. It was 50 degrees, dry, and loads of cloud cover. It looked like 6PM all day – which, odd as it sounds, is about perfect for workouts in my opinion. No glaring sun, sweat is able to evaporate and perform its intended cooling function, but yet it was warm enough to start shedding layers after the warm up. Perfect. No excuses to really get into a challenge. So I did! A few things to keep in mind, this is a fairly advanced workout and requires proficiency in pullups, and kettlebell snatches (among other skills). It certainly be cut down in terms of rounds, reps, or choice of exercises. Really only attempt the snatches portion if you’re very confident in your form and know your own limits, etc. It’s kind of a shorter (but lower intensity) “break” version of the DOE Manmaker (do a bunch of kettlebell snatches, run/jog around the track). There’s a total of 150 snatches involved – and my version suggests going one size above what you’d use to test with in RKC (more on this later), so again, only when you’re ready and a nice dry day was perfect for this as that tends to be easier on my hands than the horribleness of summer humidity which will be coming along soon enough.
The Above Your Weight Class Kettlebell Workout
Warmup:
Joint Mobility sequence with added pullup bar hangs, scap-ups, scapular circles in both directions.
Kettlebell Warm-up Mini Circuit 3x:
(as some of you already know, we’ve been experimenting with variations on this locally for about the past year, if you train with me, some version of this will be very familiar)
- 10 Kettlebell Swings
- 1-3x Prying Goblet Squats
Descender Circuit, New Variation:
- 10 Pullups*
- 10/10 Floor Tap, Knee Raise Lunges
- 10 Pushups (Advanced? Try to get a few of these off the ground/explosive or go for a full on clapping pushup if you wish)
- 20 Kettlebell swings (I went for 24kg on these, a nice middle-heavy for my size)
- 10/10 Bulgarian Split Squats (with or without weight – kettlebell at chest, or sandbag can be fun too)
- 8 Pullups
- 8/8 Floor Tap, Knee Raise Lunges
- 8 Pushups
- 20 Kettlebell swings
- 8/8 Bulgarian Split Squats
- 6 Pullups
- 6/6 Floor Tap, Knee Raise Lunges
- 6 Pushups
- 20 Kettlebell swings
- 6/6 Bulgarian Split Squats
- 4 Pullups
- 4/4 Floor Tap, Knee Raise Lunges
- 4 Pushups
- 20 Kettlebell swings
- 4/4 Bulgarian Split Squats
- 2 Pullups
- 2/2 Floor Tap, Knee Raise Lunges
- 2 Pushups
- 20 Kettlebell swings
- 2/2 Bulgarian Split Squats
Now, If you’ve followed along this far, you’ve done plenty… but if you have the time, the inclination, and the experience, the next bit is a surprising amount of fun. I chose the weight above what I test (I test with 14kg, so I chose the now ultra rare slim handled 16kg – Dragon Door made these incredible “women’s” kettlebells – basically they have the same handle as the 14kg – it’s only 1/4″ smaller, but it makes a big difference. I do snatches with the regular handled 16kg ones as well, but have a lot more confidence going over 100 snatches with the slim handle 16kg. This was what I had in the car, so no excuses… I was going to go for 150 snatches.)
Snatches and Backward/Forward Walk Sequence:
This interesting combo is (as mentioned before) a variation of the old DOE Manmaker workout. So far I still only have 4 whiskers, so don’t be afraid of trying this one, ladies. Instead of a lap around the track, I used the straight part of one side of the running track instead – and for a little bit of a different purpose: A backwards walk out and a regular walk back as recovery. The distance out and back together was just about 180 yards. So the following is an interesting challenge. The good thing about using the track is that you can follow the lines with your eyes when walking backwards and stay safe. PLEASE use your judgement as to your own abilities. This is a strange and intense combo – especially if you’re snatching heavier. Feel free to decrease the overall reps, increase rest times, etc. if necessary. The backwards thing was a little bit of a lark. I wanted to challenge my coordination and also I remembered Dan John saying something about backwards walking being good for the knees. While I don’t have any problems, I am mid-40s… so I am happy to work to keep the knees free from problems however I can!
Here’s what I did:
- 50 kettlebell snatches (25/25), walk backwards out, walk regularly back
- 40 kettlebell snatches (20/20), walk backwards out, walk back
- 30 kettlebell snatches (15/15), walk backwards out, walk back
- 20 kettlebell snatches (10/10), walk backwards out, walk back
- 10 kettlebell snatches (5/5), walk backwards out, walk back
Short cool down (that last round was pretty much a pre-cooldown) then I came home for a big steak dinner! WOOHOO!!
Let me know if you try this workout, parts of it, or your own variation!
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