It’s the end of week 2 of the Russian Kettlebell Challenge and although I am fighting against the dismissive and mocking tone of the “Minimum” label assigned to the first couple of weeks, I am enjoying the workout. Today I added an extra 10 swings which means that instead of doing 20 swings then active rest, we are now challenged to do 30 swings plus the active rest. This is a short phase, I think I saw that we are up to 40 swings in week 3! Also it should be noted that the next phase of the workout, following “minimum” is not “regular” or “intermediate” but rather “Rite Of Passage”. Sounds ominous! Also to be noted, some have referred to the current phase as “Man Maker” which I completely agree with especially since now we are directed to start warming up, for practice, with cleans and snatches. Yeah, pre-warmup I am going to do snatches with a 45lb kettlebell. You Russians are crazy!
So the program is pretty standard for a total of 4 weeks and then moves into the Rite Of Passage phase. I am end of week 2 now and it seems to be dragging somewhat but given the fact that I am doing other programs in conjunction, I am not going to get down on myself.
I managed 5 rounds of the 30 swings with active rest when compared to 6 rounds of 20 swings gives me a total volume increase of 30 reps. I have been working hard on my form and so was pleasantly surprised to find that my back, while worked, was not sore.
By the way, I don’t want to harp on this but rest shouldn’t be called rest unless you are resting. Active rest isn’t rest, it’s action.
Next is Turkish Get Ups, 5 per side after a warmup and 5 a side of cleans and snatches. I have to admit, I am smitten with the kettlebell.