In mid to late June, I started my journey to complete another set of 10,000 Kettlebell Swings in 30 days. This challenge is about as simple as they get, with only a specific prescribed weight for males and females to swing, but simple doesn’t always mean easy. For my second time in this challenge, I wanted to follow a format my friend Doug gave me on adjusting the weight-to-repetition ratio to help build strength, stamina, and explosivity. I started with 300 swings per day, alternating between 26, 35, 40, 44, 54, and 62 pounds. Two weeks in, I noticed my right forearm was not getting along with the 54 and 62-pound bells, so I left them to the side for the remaining part of my challenge. On a typical day, I would start with the 26 for 50 swings and progress through each of the above weights with ten fewer swings, and then build back up in a reverse pyramid fashion. The only other thing I changed from my first challenge a few years ago was to warm up and get it all done within one set training time, whereas when I first did this challenge, I would take a few sets of swings here and there throughout my day to reach my quota.
As I reached the end of week three with nearly 7500 repetitions, I met a challenge inside my challenge. I got COVID! It wasn’t that bad, and I was planning on only losing a couple of days to rest before getting back on my swings, but others encouraged me to take more time and be sure COVID was behind me. After losing nearly ten days of my challenge, I faced only a few options. Complete the challenge late, disregard the goal entirely, or reboot the entire challenge from zero. If you know me, then you know which one I aimed for as my goal.
Starting over at zero sucked mentally, but I noticed a newfound strength in my form, technique, and endurance. My repetition counts were going through the roof, and my delayed soreness was going down. I was warming up with 80 to 110 swings at 26 pounds, doing ten burpees, and jumping back on to hit one more interval of 70-80 more swings at the same weight. Then I would progress to 50 swings at 35 pounds, 40 swings at 40 pounds, and 30 swings at 44 pounds, with ten burpees between each set. Once I completed this teardown, I would build it back up with a pyramid format which led my numbers from 300 to 500, or even 600 per day, allowing me to take the weekends off. Best of all, I crushed the full 10,000 swings four days early! Next, I plan to taper this challenge to 5,000 swings in 30 days, starting with 35 pounds and progressively getting heavier.
I highly recommend challenges with a set number as a goal because it gives you something you can shoot for and chisel away each day. When I mention 10,000 as a goal number for push-ups, squats, or whatever, I typically get hesitation and pushback from people in the form of, “That’s a lot.” The trick is we shouldn’t be afraid of aiming for larger numbered goals because it gives us something to break down with a plan for achievement. There is a dichotomy between high-volume repetition with any challenge. Pain can come from overuse injuries, but the gains in strength, endurance, and more compound for your benefits. Listen to your body and find the best ways to reach the target. If you choose to do the 10,000 Kettlebell Swing Challenge, try varying weights and adjust your repetitions each day. Most importantly, no matter which challenges you set for yourself, prioritize your training time with a warm-up, the training, and finally, a solid cool down. Now pick something to chase and crush it!
If you are ready to kick-start your goals, then let us help. We are rotating to our Back to Basic Format and new topics within our Youth and Adult Programs, making it a great time to join in the fun. Register today for our Introductory Program and receive two private lessons, four weeks of training, and a free pair of gloves for only $24.95. Register HERE!
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