Double Kettlebell Hell; Too Much Too Soon?

Training last Sunday

I tried my hand at Mike Mahler’s double kettlebell circuit for MMA this past cycle. It was a fun and good test admittedly; however, a couple of weeks into it my plans changed. I was going to alternate double kettlebell circuits and single kettlebell/technique circuit in six-week cycles. Until Thursday, when I noticed a general ‘got my ass whipped’ fatigue along with a lack of coordination and a tremor in my hands. Despite being careful not to over train I still managed to fry my Central Nervous System anyway. Here is why it is important here; I found an app that uses Coach Dan John’s CNS Tap Test to verify this. Regardless the next week will be recovery and after those five weeks of bodyweight until the next assessment, I will go to either the planned single kettlebell program or the Rite Of Passage again.

One addition I had added was sprint sessions every seven days and it is quickly becoming a favorite. 20 minutes and I am done. Current top-recorded speed is around 15 mph at 75% effort. Reason I was not going all out is I am not a runner; I have to work up so I do not hurt myself and then lose training time recovering. Like now with my CNS. To high of an intensity for too long a time.

Fitness Progress Report:

Functional

I tested to see if I was above average and set a baseline to compete against personally; in addition to a kettlebell military press I tested sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups for bodyweight and the bench press, squats and military press. I had to substitute the barbell with double kettlebells which are 97lbs combined. All of which I have not regularly trained and will test every 3 months to check progress. Parentheses mark the average.

Sit-Ups/One Minute: 16 (36)

Push-Ups/One Minute: 28 (27)

Pull-Ups: 4 (1)

Bench Press: 109lbs/59% of bw (110 untrained)

Squats: 129+/79%+ of bw (100lbs untrained) Went over 10 reps so the One-Rep Max calculator could not give a true reading after 10 reps.

Military Press: 103lbs/69% of bw (95lbs novice/120 intermediate)

Not bad, not bad.

Body Composition

Body Part                      Before                  After                   -/+

Neck                               14.25                   14.25                0

Shoulders                  43.62                   44.25              +.63

Chest                             38.00                  38.75               +.75

Waist                             32.25                   31.85              -.40

Biceps                           12.50                   12.62              +.12

Forearms                   10.87                    10.87             0

Thighs                         21.95                   21.93              -.02

Calves                          13.8                      13.82                +.02

Weight                         151.8 lbs              151.6            -.2 lbs

Body Fat %                14.6%                   13.8%             -0.8%

Lean Body Mass    129.6 lbs        130.70           +1.1lbs

I love the results from Mike Mahler’s Kettlebell Solution For MMA Strength And Conditioning, I started at 4 instead of 2 reps. Mass went up and the fat went down even eating a caloric surplus (not a lot) and bumped up carbs on training days and dropped them on the others. Sadly internally it fried me, so this is going into the ‘Save for later’ file. Every day I was at either top tier moderate-high intensity or high intensity so after a deload week I will do 5 weeks of Convict Conditioning’s New Blood program. Two training days and my sprints with lots of rest in between. Day One will have Step 5 Push-Ups and Step 7 Leg Raises, then rest for three days then Day 2 is Step 4 Pull-Ups and Step 6 Squats. Then rest a day and then sprint. This gives me time to do the dreaded yard work and practicing my martial arts at home.

Mass may fall a bit, but I can gain it back. Altogether on a physical side I’m in my best shape, but at a cost. Function comes before form, and I can get here again when I want too in the future.

Related articles

• Three Years of Dedication; Conventional Wisdom Falls to the Primal Blueprint & Kettlebells (roninsjourney.wordpress.com)
• Geoff Neupert, StrongFirst Master Kettlebell Instructor, Releases New Video Showing the Best Upper Body Exercises to Use in Traditional Kettlebell Workouts (prweb.com)
• Final Self-Assessment of the PM for MMA (roninsjourney.wordpress.com)