Thursday, February 21, 2013

Train along with Tracy and "ladder down"! (beginners level swing routine)

Here is a simple 100 swing rep workout that takes 6 1/2 minutes complete, repeat it for a 200 rep, 13 min workout and be plenty proud to have done a really good thing for your health and fitness!

This is a routine I designed for absolute beginners that are still working towards "equal work to rest" and for those new to training the swing where 10 reps is a good solid challenge!  If you are more advanced you can still make this challenging based on the size kettlebell you use.....trust me, if I were to use a 24kg-32kg this would do the business jut fine!  Sometimes as Instructors or experienced kettlebellers we forget what it was like to be out of breath after ten reps!

As I explain in the intro video, sometimes in order to "progress" our abilities, whether it's our skill, cardio, or strength we can actually back down, decrease reps and do less, in order to do more!  At the end of each workout how many good solid swing reps did you accomplish, and in what amount of time?

This workout is done with all two hand swings and starts each work set every 30 seconds  The rep count starts at 10 reps and "ladders down" one rep per set to the last set of 5 reps. Within those six sets the work to rest goes from 1/1 to 1/3 (work to rest).


10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5

repeat and end with one last set of 10 reps.....because you're bad ass like that!

100 swing reps, 6.5 min

Of course you can repeat this as many times and as long as you feel motivated to train!  But as I say at the end of the workout, the only way you won't improve your strength, health and fitness is if you don't do it at all!

6 comments:

Rupin said...

Hmmm colored KBs.....started training for August 17 eh?

Tracy Reifkind said...

Rupin,

Totally! I'm committed! I want to see what is possible in 6 months time. I've got private sessions scheduled and I'll be training at Juno at least once a week. Driving from San Jose to Berkley weekly should say a lot!

'm also wanting to get my own "team" together to compete the 5 minute snatch. Basically every student I have that is capable to train a 5 minute snatch test will be there! It's my 50th birthday month after all! A celebration indeed!

Unknown said...

Cute top! What is it?

Tracy Reifkind said...

Hanneke,

It's LLL newest "Rise and Shine" pullover in Bleached Coral. I just bought it on Tuesday, and I've worn it twice already! Love the black detail, but then I'm a sucker for stripes down the sleeves (and on the side of pant legs too!)

Rupin said...

All the best Tracy.

Susan K said...

I used this tonight, twice, for a workout.

First with my 16kg bell (my standard swing weight, so this one was a nice warmup). Then, repeated it with 20kg bell -- the challenge. Been working it in, some, and up until now, I'd been doing 4 sets of 10 swings (and allowing lotsa rest in between sets) while I get used to it again (back from a weird break).

So this was a challenge! Wondered, "Can I keep up with Tracy's pace on the ladder down, get to a higher overall count of swings using that 20kg bell?" The answer would be YES!!!!