How To Mix Kettlebell Workout Programs (If You Must)

👉 Kettlebell MAXIMORUM

👉 ‘THE GIANT’

👉 “The King-Sized Killer”

All the programs I design are designed to be “standalone” and create a specific outcome.

Unless otherwise stated, which is (a) rare, and (b) usually contained in a FAQ in the program itself or a series of follow up emails.

(Same thing w/ other program designers I know.)

For example:

My newest program, Kettlebell MAXIMORUM, is designed to be the “ultimate” kettlebell program.

It’s designed to develop maximum strength, power, strength endurance, and power endurance. As a result, it builds muscle and strips off body fat as a result.

Or at least keeps you from gaining body fat from accumulating (worst case scenario).

You don’t need to do anything nor should you want to, because it’s that physically challenging.

Which brings me to my second point:

Challenging.

Many times, and I’m not saying this is the case with you, NAME, but many guys don’t challenge themselves when they train.

They:

[1] Aren’t fully present - distracted by their phones - emails, YouTube, podcasts, whatever…

[2] Focus on quantity instead of quality - so they do a “bunch of work” but miss the forest for the trees so to speak.

For example - they try to do as many reps as possible, but they don’t care about the quality of the rep, and as a result, they aren’t working nearly as much as they think they are.

They’re not challenging themselves to do the RIGHT work.

Case in point:

As I’m writing this, I’m watching my son go through the strength and conditioning portion of gymnastics practice. He knows I’m here, and keeps looking up at me to see if I’m watching him. I am.

He was just doing pull ups, but he wasn’t even getting his chin over the bar, which I know he can do, because I’ve shown him how to do it.

So, when he looked up at me after doing a set, I put my hand across my throat, and he nodded his head, because he knew exactly what I was talking about.

Next set?

Chin over the bar, touching high on the throat.

Those last couple of inches seem like a small thing, but they make a BIG difference in the amount of work you actually do, and therefore the results you get in return.

Another case in point:

When I work with people one–on-one on their technique.

Everyone is always shocked at how much work they’re doing when we add in the correct cues.

Most of the time they use muscles they didn’t even know they had, or at least didn’t know they were supposed to use.

And the volume of work - the total number of reps they do?

Usually 30 to 50% less.

But they’re MUCH HIGHER QUALITY reps.

This make sense?

So, if you feel like you need to “mix” programs, make sure you’ve got the details of your technique dialed in first.

Then, because you’re actually doing more of the “right” work, you’ll most likely change your mind.

[3] Using the wrong starting weight

All my programs use specific loads.

They’re usually some variation of a RM - Rep Max.

Problem is, sometimes - many times - people ignore this.

How do I know?

Simple - I get emails asking me what weight they should use.

Some guys use the right load. Some guys just “wing it” and use what they have, and the load isn’t challenging enough.

So, make sure you’re using the prescribed load(s).

[4] Finally, there’s RECOVERY.

I talk about recovery more than I’d like.

But that’s because many of us over 40 still think that we’re in our late teens or early 20s.

In other words, that’s our view of ourselves, even though the mirror and our performance says otherwise.

And it’s important to acknowledge this, because 20 to 30 years of “life stress” adds up - like compounding interest - only in reverse.

And that means we can’t perform at the same levels and our bodies take longer to recover from our workouts.

So, yeah, maybe you used to train 6 days a week when you were 19 or 20 or 21…

But at 41… 51… or older?

Probably not going to happen without the proverbial wheels eventually falling off the bus.

So, if you need to do “extra,” do complimentary work - mobility, stretching, walking, extra sleep, etc.

“SEQUENTIAL” MIXING

There are some programs that you CAN mix - sequentially - that is, one after another.

Two that immediately come to mind are ‘THE GIANT’ and “The King-Sized Killer” (KSK).

Here’s a review from “JamesPTA” about how he did it and his results:

The long and the short of it is, you can simply alternate 4 week blocks of ‘THE GIANT’ with 3 week blocks of KSK.

At The End of The Day…

If you’re doing something, but you’re not seeing the results you’re expecting from that something, then it’s not working, whether you like it or not.

Hopefully this clears this whole “mixing programs” thing up for you.

Stay Strong,

Geoff