I did a burpee between the 10, 15, 25. I hated every second.
I hated every second without any burpees, so I don’t even want to think about the challenge with them. That’s miserable, haha.
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Thanks dude! Id love to see you do this and bust out front squats or sandbag work in between sets. Definitely does seem right up your alley. I already know your grip and overall strength dwarf mine, though, so at least pretend it’s hard if you do it, for my sake.
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Hey dude nice write up. I will try doing this, because I had a weird injury between my glutes and lower back and I would like to strengthen this part.
Anyway I did the other day 400 swings to try it out. Its a fucking hard workout and I have issues now with a sore lower back.
Make sure you’re not arching your back when you’re swinging the kettlebell, and make sure you’re not rounding it. The spine should be kept neutral. When you pick up the KB, flex your glutes and your abs, which will tuck your hips under you and keep a neutral spine. Then, instead of bending over, hinge your hips back while maintaining the neutral spine, and snap your hips forward. The hip snap, with 0 arm involvement, should shoot the KB to at least 45 degrees.
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Yeah I believe I was arching my back. I kind of figured it myself it has to be neutral back otherwise the load goes at lower back at the top of the movement. I did 500 swings today but the last two 50s were broken into 35 + 8 + 7 ot smth.
Hey, a quick review after the first week with 2000 swings
My plan is a 5 week swings with 4 days per week - swing, swing, rest, swing, swing, rest, rest
So the first 1000 swings are brutal and hard. I did them over one hour per work out. I did not care I wanted them done. I also struggled to finish 50 total swings on clusters 4 and 5. So I did as many as I can, rested for 5 seconds and continued.
My 2nd workout was the hardest. It was chins. I did not do any chins on the 5th cluster as I just couldnt hold myself. The grip work is brutal.
My 2nd thousand and workout 3 and 4 were easier. The body is really adaptive. I did my 3rd workout in approx 55 minutes, while the 4th in 47 mins and 30 seconds. You kind of learn to swing by this time and the grip plus glutes and hams get used to the beating.
On my first rest day I did some arm work. While today on my second I plan to do some chest and arms. I am planning on cutting 6 kg while doing the swings and I really do not want to lose muscle at the upperbody.
The biggest positives though are that I managed to recover from my small injury. I had some small problem and a nerve in pain between the glutes and the lower back. Now I am pain free.
Lastly this transfered greatly to my soccer. I feel lighter and my legs feel quicker. I managed to run more and not get tired. I really put that into the newly developed muscles and mobility on the glutes and hams and the conditioning work with the swings.
I lost 1.5 kg but my diet is also much better as I was motivated to be stricter while running the program.
I know it is too early and it is mostly a placebo effect, however I cant recommend more this program, especially to people chasing some weight loss and athletic improvement.
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This is what I found running Thibs’ Built for Battle program - the first week was incredibly brutal but the adaptation was astonishingly quick, especially from a conditioning point of view
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True that. I Just finished 4000 swings. My first workout ended in 65 mins approx. My last one in 40:30 mins. That is down 25 mins in 8 workouts.
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So I ended up with 5500 swings due to gym lock down. I already wrote how it was for me. The first two workouts were very hard, but it gets way easier afterwards. I recommend this program to people who would like to improve their conditioning, as a supplement to a weight loss program, to work their glutes, to improve their athletic abilities. Regarding the athleticism I feel more mobile and quicker and I seem to activatre my glutes easier now. Lastly grip gets mad work, thus any wrestler will benefit as well.
Strongly recommending this to past novice, beginner and intermediate women. You ladies will love the glute and ham work. That shit is way better than the cardio work your personal trainer will make you do.
I started at 96 kg and 65 mins per workout and ended at 93 and 39 mins per workout.
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Hey - did you do any warmup before swinging? I am two workouts in and incredibly sore.
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Honestly, my warmup was some bodyweight squats, starting at a quarter squat and ending with deep squats, and then just a couple swings with the KB. The set of 10, 15, and 25 in your first 100 are by themselves a warmup.
I bet you’re sore, for sure. Your body has absolutely no idea what’s hit it and will not have much time to adapt, plus only a day here and there to recover. Some stretching after the workouts is a good idea, and I soaked my hands in a big bowl of ice water about half of the nights, but besides that, there’s nothing pretty about this challenge. It’s boring, monotonous, easy to give up on, and painful. But it works. Good luck, and keep us updated on your progress.
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@thatguyagain This is a pretty good idea. I’d even consider icing your forearms between sets- really helped me
Also, idk if this is an issue for you, but wrist wraps helped with wrist fatigue, which can contribute to forearm/hand pain. Chalk is pretty much essential
Never used chalk, and I prefer wrist wraps on pressing or other things that involve the wrist possibly being in a compromising position. This is good for strengthening grip and wrists - I would suggest people do no-frills.
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X2 on this. Although I used chalk regularly because I’m a sweaty, sweaty man.
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thanks, both of you. I am convinced I can see my traps growing.
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Flap - great write-up regarding the 10K challenge. Did this myself during some of this Covid gym lock-down sh#@t. I got 61lb and 88lb Kettlebells right before everyone sold-out during the Covid Panic. I’m looking to procure the ‘beast’ (or whatever they call it) 109lb Kettle next. 30-50 reps with the 88lb Kettle is pretty damn taxing. I never did a Kettle-only WO, just worked-in the sets in between cables and such. Definitely killed the Hams and Glutes. Absolutely repetitive and boring, so I haven’t done them over the last couple months (gym reopened), but plan on incorporating them again. Great, great exercise overall.
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Interim report after 16 workouts: I’ve roughly halved my time on these and have definitely bulked up in the traps, shoulders, and arms (woohoo!). The time gains are evidence enough about conditioning. I think I can feel some benefit in athletic terms when I’m dancing; stronger posterior chain etc.
OTOH I am certainly not losing anything off the waist - if anything it’s turning my mid-section into a solid square box and I think something has changed in posture.
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Great work!!!
I think those are called obliques 
I, uh, finished the 10,000 swing challenge! Workout 19 of 20 stands as my time PR with 13 minutes 48 seconds.
what can I say?
- obviously a great conditioning blitz program.
- visibly hits traps, upper arms, obliques, maybe glutes and backs of the legs.
- will feel like death for the first two or three workouts and then you’ll feel like a king.
- you will be completely gassed and dopey as fuck after each workout.
- it brought back the calluses I lost in quarantine. this sounds funny but it makes a serious point: GRIP.
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