How to mix Strength AND Endurance In Your Kettlebell Workouts?

👉Power Endurance Training Using the Swing

👉Power Endurance Training Using the Snatch

👉Power Endurance Training Using the Clean + Jerk

I got an email the other day “B Squared” who wanted to know the best way to add strength work to his endurance work (cycling) so he could keep up with they “younger guys” he rides with -

Guys in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

The answer is very simple.

Before we get there, one of the mistakes many people make - and I made as a young trainer -

Is the “more of the same” concept.

There’s a school of thought popularized by Tudor Bompa, a Romanian exercise and sport physiologist that you need to work on doing super-high reps of strength work in order to “convert” your strength to endurance.

And while that may work for “Young Bucks” - the teenage and 20-something athletes Bompa was working with back in the “Old Country,” it doesn’t work for guys our age.

Case in point:

Almost 30 years ago I was working with a mid-40s marathoner - Mike Sheridan - a Wall Street Trader. He ran marathons for stress relief.

Well, we built up his leg strength and then worked to “convert” that strength into endurance through some higher rep training, as prescribed by Bompa.

The results?

DISASTROUS.

Mike was sore all the time.

His run times dropped.

He couldn’t recover.

And I was perplexed.

After all, I was following the Expert.

Probably the simplest way to mix the two - strength AND endurance -

Is -

OPTION 1: Work on opposite ends of the spectrum.

Do lower rep strength work for strength.

And to do long, slow, lower intensity work for your endurance.

Examples:

Strength - 3-5 sets of 2-3 reps.

Endurance - Long, slow (below Anaerobic Threshold) training - running, cycling, rowing.

Every once in a while, go hard on both - like 10% of the time.

So in “B-Squared”’s case, low rep sets of Clean + Press or Front Squats 2-3 times per week, in addition to his current cycling schedule will suffice.

However, for many, this option / approach can become time (and energy) prohibitive.

Which opens the door for -

OPTION 2: Power Endurance Training using kettlebells

This is pretty simple:

[+] Explosive Kettlebell Ballistics

[+] Repeated bouts of Ballistics - 20 to 30 minutes, sometimes longer

1- Power is trained by the ballistics.

“Virtual Force” is created on the backswing of the ballistics (the increased acceleration changes your force output - so you’re literally producing more force per rep.

2- Cardiovascular endurance is trained between sets.

This results from your heart rate increasing as a result of the power training, then decreasing and recovering between Ballistic Repeats.

An example would be sets of 1 Clean + Jerk (1 Clean + 1 Jerk) with your 5RM C+J on the minute, for 30 minutes.

Another example:

5 Swings OTM (On The Minute) x 30 minutes.

You probably get the picture.

Now, some people swear by Option 1.

Others swear by Option 2.

How do you know which one will work better for you?

You test it out for yourself and see.

Can it really be this “simple?”

Yes.

Is it more complicated than this?

It can be.

But for the Average Joe who no longer wants to be "average?"

Power Endurance Training will turn your world right side up.

If you need some programs, I’ll leave three of my favorite Ballistics-based Power Endurance Training Programs in the video description below.

One last thing:

What's interesting to note is that those who embrace Power Endurance Training using the kettlebell ballistics also report losing body fat and even putting on some muscle, even though that's not their main goal(s).

Power Endurance Training using the kettlebell ballistics appears to be the best of all worlds.

Hope this helps.

Stay Strong,

Geoff