Making the Beast a Buttercup

The 48kg kettlebell, dubbed the beast in the kettlebell world, is usually the biggest kettlebell a brand manufactures.  It’s sheer size intimidates. This kettlebell has gained a mystique with challenges like the Beast Tamer, where you have to strict press, pull up, and pistol squat with this massive cannonball with a handle.

For a long time, I was able to only press the beast on a good day. No matter how much I 'greased the groove' with light weights or low repetition ladders, I was still inconsistent with pressing the beast. About 6 months ago, everything changed when my focus shifted from kettlebell pressing to strongman pressing events.

I got a chuckle out of my peers moving the beast so easily. Awesome moment for me.

After a 3-month strongman program I grabbed the beast to test my press for my StrongFirst Level II certification. I was shocked how light it felt. After a few sessions of programming the kettlebell press back into my routine, I was able to hit 8 strict presses! The weight that was my max is now a pumping weight. 

"How did you make that look so light?!" 

This is the question I was asked at least 10 times at the StrongFirst Cert. in May after I pressed the Beast like it was filled with air. My answers stunned the people asking, which stunned me that they were even stunned from my answer. Stunning!

1. Get bigger shoulders

Is this really in question? A bigger muscle has greater strength potential. Often, people don't give the hypertrophy phase of their program proper attention. I spent 2 days a week working on my upper pecs, deltoids, and triceps- all the prime movers of the press. We can talk about how important the lats are or to crush your grip, but when it's time to put that weight overhead you need the shoulders to do the work.

My top exercises were incline bench press, close grip bench press, standing barbell military press, front raises, overhead tricep extensions, and tricep pressdowns. This isn't rocket surgery; these are all traditional body building exercises. Keep it simple, stupid swolemate.

2. Move more weight
Manipulating force is more complicated than just pumping up small muscles with body building exercises, but doesn't need to be over complicated. We can debate the differences between pressing events, but the beast press is just taking 105lbs from the rack position to overhead. If the body cannot support 100 lbs. in either position, there is no way you will be able to strict press it.

Tension building exercises like bottoms up kettlebell lifts will improve technique and mastery of the press, but is not enough force on the joints, ligaments, and tendons to achieve maximum strength. When you perform exercises that overload the body like front squats and barbell overhead pressing you are applying more force than with a 48kg kettlebell. When you can barbell press 200+ lbs. the beast won't weigh you down so much on your next attempt.

Sample Program:

Weeks 1-4 Hypertrophy 3-5 sets, 6-12 reps

Incline Bench, DB Bench, DBL KB Press, Tricep/Deltoid work, Pushups for pump

Weeks 5-10 Strength  4-6 sets, 3-6 reps

Log Press, Close Grip Bench, Landmine Press, Tricep Work, Turkish Get ups

Weeks 11-12 Peaking 5-8 sets, 1-3 reps

One arm KB Press, Incline Bench/Log press, Planche/One arm pushups, Heavy Turkish Get ups/Windmills

*2x a week, alternated vertical and horizontal pressing between sessions

Using these methods during the hypertrophy and strength phases of a program will have a positive impact on your musculature and, ultimately, on your pressing ability. Add the lower repetition kettlebell pressing back into the peaking phase of your program and watch the Beast float to the ceiling.

Power Development with Swings

Power is a trait sought by every athlete, but people training for general health and fitness commonly neglect it. Even though you are not stepping on a field or court to compete you should still include some type of power training in your program. The effects of building more power will improve maximal strength, increase athleticism, and improve overall conditioning.

Power is defined as the result of force times velocity. Put simply it means moving an object with increased weight and/or increased speed. Power is created from fast twitch muscle fibers which are used when lifting maximal weight or when producing maximal speed. Fast twitch fibers also burn more calories than slow twitch muscle fibers when used. This is most commonly trained through jumping, throwing an object, or performing explosive weighted exercises(clean, jerk, etc.). These selections are great for athletes to improve their triple extension(hip, knee, and ankle) which usually translates directly to their sport, but that may not be a goal for non athletes. This is where the kettlebell can be added to provide an element of power training to anyone's program.

Kettlebell swings are great for developing power in hip and knee extension just like in a jump. You use the hinge to swing the the kettlebell forward, but you keep the heels on the floor unlike the previously mentioned exercises. Most explosive exercises only use up to 60% of maximal weight and swings fit right in to this formula. Even using a 100+lb kettlebell is still a small percentage of what you could lift in the hip hinge with exercises like deadlifts or hip bridges. Here are some reasons to use swings for your power training.

Injury consideration- If a client or athlete has suffered an ankle sprain or meniscus injury then adding jumping to their program may not be the best choice. The impact of landing a jump could cause them to re-injure themselves or to guarding that injury with compensatory landing strategies. The kettlebell swing powerful, but causes minimal impact on the knees and ankles. With the swing you remain grounded, keeping the knees and ankles safe from impact.

Increasing load- It is hard to use progressive overload with jumps and throws, but for swings you can increase weight to ensure improvement. As mentioned earlier, power=force x velocity. Without speed trackers, like a TENDO, it is hard to determine how much faster the weight is going, but power output will be increased by increasing the force of moving a heavier weight. Increasing the weight you swing to chest level with proper technique just from a 24kg kettlebell to a 32kg kettlebell will see noticeable differences in hip extension power.

Equipment selection- It's easy to build a power training protocol when you have a wide variety of boxes, open space for throwing, or weights made for dropping, but not everyone has this selection at their disposal. Just a single kettlebell and a confined place is all that is needed to increase power. The cost of a single kettlebell is easier on the bank account than a set of plyo boxes and Olympic style bars and weights.

General athleticism- Not everyone is graced with natural athletic movement or are many years removed from their athletic endeavors. This limitation presents a challenge in learning complex movements and will keep them from getting any benefit from the power building exercise. A kettlebell swing requires some athleticism, but not as much as the olympic barbell movements. The majority of the time a swing can be learned and performed sufficiently in a few sessions.

Sport specific- In the sport of powerlifting, it is required to keep the heels on the floor during the squat and deadlift. The swing helps to reinforce a hard hip drive without lifting the heals and will translate well to the lifts. Since the swing closely resembles a deadlift you will get more practice in grooving the hip hinge with less physical and neurological fatigue.

If you are going to implement swings in your program, the first step is to perfect the technique. If you can do a movement slow then you can always do it fast, but if you can do a movement fast it does not mean that you can do it slow. The swing is a hinge with a finish at a standing plank so these movements should be first practiced slowly before trying to attempt at full speed. The hamstrings, glutes, and anterior core muscles are the targets so they must be fully activated when practicing kettlebell deadlifts and the high plank. Own these positions before you start dialing up volume on swings.

I started emphasizing power at the beginning on my routines after reading Chad Wesley Smith's writings(Juggernaut Method) and it had a great carry-over to my strength training sessions. Power training provides a good stimulation of the neuromuscular system without being physically taxing; therefore, it is a good choice to perform before strength training. The following is a basic progression I use at the beginning of a workout to build power.

Week 1: 5 swings EMOTM(every minute on the minute) x 6 min

Week 2: 5 swings EMOTM x 8 min

Week 3: 6 swings EMOTM x 6 min

Week 4: 6 Swings EMOTM x 8 min

Week 5: start over at week 1 with increased weight

This is a simple linear approach to power training that will result in a heavy swing after a few cycles. Another method to increase power with swings that I have had success with is performing sets of 5 swings with a heavy weight in between my readiness, or warm up, exercises. This saves time compared to the on-the-minute program above, but will still have in impact on your strength training. The standard protocol in power training is to use a 1:6 work to rest ratio, so keep the swing repetitions low with plenty of recovery. Advanced clients may be able to perform 1:5 ratio of work to rest and still achieve power development. Shorter rest periods will prevent you from achieving maximum neurological output in each swing and will shift into an endurance/strength exercise instead. There is a time and place for this, but for maximum power development each set must be performed fresh.

My shared thoughts above are by no means an attempt to claim swings are the absolute best exercise for developing power and all other methods are inferior. The swing is great exercise to build the posterior chain and can have a part in increasing overall power for anyone.