Things Are Going So Well, Help Me Screw It Up, Part 2

By Dan John, Master SFG and Mike Warren Brown, SFG

Note: Continued from Part 1

All too often we see well meaning instructors fresh out of a certification and excited to teach progress way too quickly to snatches and cleans before a true foundation has been put in place. What you see is double cleans being performed with weights that are way too light, sometimes I think you may as well just do “heavy hands.”

Instead, we should use performance standards to dictate when new skills are introduced. Follow the path laid out by Pavel and other top instructors. Let’s take a look at how this works.

Lesson 1: Patterning

The focus is on learning to perform a proper hip hinge, squat, and get-up. At this point load is not a priority. We are looking for movement mastery. There are several great resources available for this. Brett Jones and Gray Cook teach the get-up in the highly recommended Kalos Sthenos. The squat and hinge pattern are coached in great detail in their follow up DVD, Dynami. Both of those programs will greatly benefit any serious coach.

Required reading for Lesson 1 is Simple & Sinister by Pavel. Read it while you practice your hip hinge pattern, get-up, and squat.

Before adding load, follow the advice of Brett Jones for the get-up. Complete 100 naked get-ups per side. Perform a 1000 unloaded hip hinges and 100 goblet squats before moving on to Lesson 2. This may take a few weeks or a few months. Have the courage to keep your students at this point as long as needed.

Lesson 2: Simple & Sinister

Now it is time to increase strength in the swing and the get-up. Simple & Sinister gives the performance standard to achieve (the “Simple Goals”). For men: 100 one-hand swings in five minutes in sets of ten and 5 get-ups per hand in 10 minutes using the 32kg for both. Women are expected to use the 24kg for swings and the 16kg for get-ups before moving on the Rite of Passage program.

Simple Goals:

1. Men: 100 one-arm swings (sets of 10) in 5 minutes with the 32kg bell; 5 get-ups per arm (sets of one) in 10 minutes with 32kg bell.

2. Women: 100 one-arm swings (sets of 10) in 5 minutes with the 24kg bell; 5 get-ups per arm (sets of one) in 10 minutes with 16kg bell.

Minimum Equipment Needs:

1. Men: 16, 24, and 32 (one of each)

2. Women: 8, 12, 16, and 24 (one of each, maybe more)

3. Note: These bells will get you through the Rite of Passage, too

Until you have reached these standards, do not move on to the next program, Rite of Passage from Enter the Kettlebell. You will have a much better chance of reaching the standards laid out in Rite of Passage if you first lay the broad foundation using Simple & Sinister. Now is the time to bring your performance up to these standards before introducing the clean, snatch, and press.

Along with reaching the Simple & Sinister goals you will also need to begin practicing the lifts used in Rite of Passage. Your clean, snatch, and press technique need to be strong before you can train them. Start incorporating a few practice sessions a week before your Simple & Sinister sessions. Don’t do this too early.

For men, I suggest you wait until you are working on compressing the rest periods with 24kg for the get-up and the 32kg for one-arm swings. For women, I suggest you be at the 10kg or 12kg for get-ups and If this does not make sense, you may want to reread the programming portion of Simple & Sinister.

Remember: Performance standards dictate complexity in training.

Read the technique portions of Enter the Kettlebell and begin practicing your snatches, cleans, and presses for 15-30 minutes before your Simple & Sinister sessions. Continue this until you have reached the Simple Goals. The next lesson is laid out in Enter the Kettlebell.

Lesson 3: Rite of Passage (Enter the Kettlebell)

If you took the time to master the swing, get-up, and goblet squat you are ready to delve deeper into the SFG system. The clean and snatch build off of the swing, while the press builds off of the getup.

In the Rite of Passage (ROP) program, Pavel again introduces a set of performance standards, this time for the press and the snatch. Women will work up to a 1/3 bodyweight press, while men are expected to press half bodyweight. The snatch will be 200 reps in 10 minutes (the SFG standard is 100 in 5 minutes). The 24kg is used for men and either the 12kg or 16kg for women (depending on weight).

It takes focus to reach the ROP goals, but this narrow line leads to greater peaks when double bell training is introduced.

We suggest you keep a detailed training log during this and all phases of your journey. This is also one of the best ways to gain insight into programming within the StrongFirst system. The second tenet, waviness of load, is at the forefront in the Rite of Passage program.

Rite of Passage Goals:

1. Men: Press 1/2 body weight; snatch 200 reps in 10 minutes with 24kg

2. Women: Press 1/3 body weight; snatch 200 reps in 10 minutes with 16kg (or 12kg for some)

Minimum Equipment Needs:

1. Men: 16, 24, and 32 (perhaps one heavier bell, too) Women: 8, 12, 16, and 24

There will be a need for double bells in ROP. We suggest double 24s for most men and double 16s for most women (if you laid the foundation). Double 32 cleans is a shock to the system the first time you try it.

Lesson 4 will focus on double kettlebell training. You will start adding in low volume practice sessions of doubles on your ROP variety days. It is best to hold off introducing doubles practice until you reach a moderate level of strength in the press. Men should be closing in on 75 total reps with the 24kg during the heavy day and 12kg for women. At this point, begin adding in doubles practice sessions. Any earlier and you are just drawing your focus away from your Simple and Sinister training.

Remember: Performance standards dictate complexity in training.

Once you have nailed the Rite of Passage, it is time to move on the focused doubles training.With one caveat: reaching the Rite of Passage standards is a worthy achievement. At this point you may want to revisit Simple & Sinister with a heavier bell. If your focus is still there, move right into Lesson 4.

Sinister Goals:

1. Men: 100 one-arm swings (sets of 10) in 5 minutes with the 48kg bell; 5 get-ups per arm (sets of one) in 10 minutes with 48kg bell.

2. Women: 100 one-arm swings (sets of 10) in 5 minutes with the 32kg bell; 5 get-ups per arm (sets of one) in 10 minutes with 24kg bell.

Lesson 4: Double Kettlebells

There are several good options available for double kettlebell training.

Option 1: Total Tension Complex program follow for six weeks, two weeks of Simple &  Sinister, and then six more weeks with heavier bells. We like this option the best for most people as an introduction to doubles work.

This program puts a large focus on the double press and double front squat within a complex. It is designed to last six weeks. In a recent conversation with Pavel, he suggested completing a six-week block and then following it with a two-week period of Simple & Sinister. After the completion of these eight weeks, then run another six-week block with a heavier pair of bells. This is a fourteen-week commitment; in some places, you might have to get married.

Option 2: Return of the Kettlebell by Pavel. This program is demanding and the performance standards are high. Men work up to a bodyweight press (sum of both arms) and reps with double 32kg long cycle clean and presses based on body weight.

Return of the Kettlebell Goals:

1. Men: Double press with a pair of bells adding up to your body weight; Clean and jerk with 32s. You will shoot for reps based off of your body weight. Add a decimal point after the first two numbers and round up. For example, if you weigh 184. Then you make that 18.4 and then round up to 19. If you weigh 250 pounds, you only need to do 25. (Enjoy!) This is not an easy task.

2. Women: In the book, women are not given standards.

Minimum Equipment Needs:

1. The number of bells is staggering. If you have finished the ROP standards, then you wil need two 16s, two 24s, two 32s, two 40s, and two 48s. And this is if you don’t have the intermediate bells.

In conclusion, try to start looking at this single principle as you progress through training:

Performance standards dictate complexity in training.

The journey toward mastery is long and narrow. Follow the path that has already been laid out for you. Keep a detailed log and harvest the lessons learned on the way.

Oh, and, yes, it is that simple. But, as John Powell, the great discus thrower, has taught us: “It is simple, not easy.”

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