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Yesterday was Day 572 Overhead Press Every Day.

A few light press days mixed with the 10,000 swings challenge (which isn’t quite complete yet during this month of may) saw the streak continue.

Seems any time my interest waxes and wanes – it’ll wane, I’ll go light for a bit, and then my interest waxes back on strong.

Kettlebell pressing in general can function like my long term pushups have.

Something easily doable daily, that may not be the heaviest, but keeps you strong, and with perpetual pyramid base building WILL increase max strength (given the consistency and the longer time frames).

Going daily on a movement pattern you really can heavy/light/medium it for forever.

That said however, my opinion is that the magic is in mostly medium with regularity, light when the mood or body says for light (it’s entirely okay to train light for long terms once you’ve reached intermediate levels), and heavy…well for me heavy is more mood based than anything.

The kettlebell does not reward normal gym protocol like 3×10.

To jump 8kg (or 4kg) on a one arm press variant, a set of x10 is really a minimal performance ability…

So stop thinking in terms of 10rm, and that “anything over 30rm is just endurance”.

(oh how often that is repeated in the furtherance of weakness)

And now we’re back folks with our very frequent star the 30 to 50 rep philosophy!
Yeah!!!! (picture kermit for effect)

Start at a standing press. Work THAT bell to a flying set of x30 reps.

The next jump is going to be comically easy with that strong a reps base.

With the next heavier bell work on it to x30…

But now mix in two things ;

2. Z Press
3. Bottoms Up Press

With the lighter bell work on these to a set of x30.

Those two movements run parallel to each other, when the reps are met on them you get to the hardest variant

Stage 4 :
Bottoms Up Z Press

As you’re running this movement progression you’re also running it at earlier stages with heavier bells.

Every so often you recycle back step(s) with a lighter bell looking to take your 30rm to a new PR of 35 to 50rm.

(and heck, even 75rm I’ve found useful before on the leg press – it too could be a valid rep range for oap variants (strength-endurance skew, while not powerlifting, is a beautiful thing))

If you were to buy one adjustable bell, then singles at 36, 40, 44, and 48kg run this guideline for a long time – the consistency more important than the exact details of what movement variation, the day’s reps, and which weight on any given day…

You’re gonna work to the heavier bells within a few years at worst.

Kettlebell training needs more volume than standard gym training.

And lest ye summon the irate ghost of Norbert Schemansky upon you realize “to press a lot press a lot”.

Accept that you’re gonna be doing hundreds of reps over a long time, find the space of your own little courage corner, and get to it.

You’re stalling out pressing a bell?
You need more base beneath it.

If you get yourself to moderately decent at bottoms up pressing, a normal press a good bell size (8kg jump definition here) heavier is going to be easy.

(a bottoms up press is MUCH HARDER leverage therefore in practice equals a heavier normal press on the demand on the shoulders)

Take this in mind, and do the harder variants with the lighter weights, the easier variants with the heavier weights…

Do all of them, sometimes this, sometimes that in a rotation of awesomeness…

And eventually you’ve morphed into something like a sixty something russian named vadim and are boggling minds with high rep bottoms up z presses with (in my opinion) inappropriately and inaccurately nicknamed “beast” 48kg kettlebell.

The strength potential is in you.
Now shh, ahm huntin wabbits.

#kettlebellworkout #kettlebelltraining #kettlebellpress #kettlebell

This Was Seen On Reddit First, And Then Also On YouTube Community Posts In Full, Extremely Short On IG…Here’s A Reddit Link :

Pressing Thoughts : A Kettlebell Press Progression Proposal otherwise Day 570+ Overhead Press Every Day & Counting
byu/J-from-PandT inkettlebell

It took getting good at kettlebell swings for me to like them, and with my sense of desired freedom in training they really ended up serving more than not as the base towards kettlebell juggling.

Aside : you REALLY need a base of one arm swings or h2h swings for progressively heavier one arm kettlebell juggling.

I’m not much of a stickler for swing height on one arm and one arm swing variants like hand to hand.

I’ll do the most reps in a set with h2h as it feels all circus like showy and fun to me.

Though I CAN use full rom at 48kg, likely at sinister standard were it slowed down to emom (it’s a matter of wind not hands for me right now), I have much more fun letting the swing height shorten some and the reps slightly to significantly increase per set.

I generally don’t count reps during a h2h swing set, but upon video review unless I’m really looking for a reps PR where I need to know during/as I go that I’m passing it.

Off the top of my head my PR reps in a h2h swing set are in the 50s with 40kg and x36 with 48kg (though don’t quote me on that) counting each rep as a rep not a rep per side as a rep ie left = 1, right = 2, left = 3, etc.

For strict/correct/proper swing height I prefer the two hand swing to one arm swing variants.

The 2h swing very easily is simplified to “glutes for gas, lats (and abs) for brakes”, and to me seems the better “bodybuilding type” movement – my feeling the muscles work more, whereas h2h is more of a feat of strength, pulling the necessary strength from wherever it is available.

To. Make. It. Happen.

As far as for fitness between 2h and h2h it’s a toss up. It really depends on what EXACTLY you’re going for – a purposeful pump vs a surprise pump, the rep range/goals, the strength of the hand(s), on what you prefer, how you like counting, and more.

2h thrives to me against an interval timer.
They work better for me emom than does OASw/1h where I’m gonna end up going h2h and getting higher reps per set.

I have more fun with h2h, and simply don’t notice how many reps I’m doing during them. I’d have to count on 2h which is mentally more challenging.

CrossPosted : was first at reddit, but the blog got a few missing words added

"At The 40kg/48kg One Arm Swings Level" – Thinkings On Kettlebell Swings
byu/J-from-PandT inkettlebell

#kettlebell #kettlebelltraining #kettlebellworkout #kettlebellswings #strongman #powerbuilding

(crosspost mostly unedited from reddit)

↑↑↑ diggy diggy hole – wind rose

Today was my first sandbag workout in a decade.

I managed to go from roughly fall 2014 to today without doing a single rep of any sandbag lift.

In late 2014 I weighed 230 to 235lbs at 6′, and while I do not remember what I could press, I do remember shouldering 200lbs for a single, but do not remember what I could x50 in 20:00 alternating shoulders (the Bryce Lane 50/20 protocol).

At the time I went to a gym, and generally did 50/20 with the occasional test of a heavy single, the sandbag a saturday morning thing before immediately driving to the gym for what I called “Stupid Strength Saturdays” that being heavy rdls for around 4×12 followed by heaving shrugs with straps as heavy as possible and as high rep as possible followed by partial squats (¼ or ⅓ rom) for very high reps with well past 1rm weight starting from the “bottom” off the pins in the power cage/squat rack.

Both of these partial exercises would’ve been done with seven to nine plates a side or so.  Back then sandbag was part of a very kinda strongman day with backyard and commercial gym combined.

…..

Today after what ended up being about two hours of pouring, taping, double bagging cutting (I’m probably forgetting some step) while jamming out to a few songs (mostly diggy diggy hole on repeat, which I just discovered a few days ago) I had twelve ballpark 25lb inner bags to load the same largest size military surplus olive drab navy duffle bag that I was using back then.

The sandbags inner bags finally made I had a quick lift.

My weight tends to fluctuate between 290 and 295lbs presently.

…..

Pressed the 100lbs to start, adjusted, ended up shouldering the 150lbs to right shoulder for two singles – the first shown here and thinking “shoulder” the second bot shown and thinking “press”, adjusted…

The third clip is the second and best attempt out of five to shoulder 200lbs.  I ended with a bearhug carry at 100lbs as part of putting everything away, then did some light kettlebell pressing feeling that a single rep of sandbag press wasn’t enough volume there.

Both the missed 150lb press and the misses at 200lb shouldering felt close.

Be strong y’all,

Persistence & Tenacity 

Reddit Has Video :

First Sandbag Workout In A Decade – press 100lb, shouldering 150lb, attempting to shoulder 200lb
byu/J-from-PandT insandbagtraining

Last night I dreamt I power snatched 315lbs.

In some realistic if alternate universe setting, Eddie Hall lived just a mile or two from me (totally walking distance).

Somehow I ended up training in his front yard.

A miscommunication with someone there, this having turned into some type of informal strength exhibition which saw no participation from Eddie Hall himself, just a handful of normal guys participating, saw the bar loaded downright weird – a bunch of small plates, 25s, 10s, 5s…

I’d asked for two plates, 225lbs, someone loaded it to the equivalent of three…

…I snatched it incredibly easily, loaded this way essentially from a deficit, THEN did the math!

Counting all the “change” I realized it was set to 315lbs, then ended up doing a second single a moment later.

This time around Eddie himself filmed the rep for me (to post obviously – at this point we have to film “every” lift).

It was cool that he did that. I left with video proof, imagination though it may have been.

Reality being I’ve never done a 225lb/100kg power snatch, but likely am good for it now via a couple years of kettlebell “wth effect”.

#powerbuilding #kettlebelltraining #strongman #weightlifting

It’s Day 500 Overhead Press Every Day.

Typing this up just after midnight as a short uploads, my reel already posted for the day, I make some reflections even if the five hundred will be official in a time counted in hours vs days ie not done yet…

We here so much of strength being built between 70% and 80% of 1rm.

There is truth to that yes, and my observation with all this has been that kettlebell pressing, my inadvertent primary implement (I fell into them) works very well for this.

A big strong man doing lots of reps and volume one arm pressing a single 40kg kettlebell is going to increase his shoulder strength significantly.

Sure, you COULD do normal protocols ; 5×5, 10×3, but given the choice of minimal daily workouts by whim or nothing…well that anti scientific method will work quite well.

Like saying the same things daily about weight gain on reddit, I’ll say the truth of programming again ;
“It’s the effort and consistency that make the method, not the method itself.”

I am doing more volume again (if skewed way light on multi switch kettlebell clean & press), and have also added actually heavy back in, these both in addition to the moderate by scientific definition that is the 40kg bell to me.

A major takeaway from this now free to stop at any time but still continuing indefinitely experiment is this ;

None do enough shoulder work!

Let me say that again ; no one trains shoulders enough!

Not hard enough in any way – not frequency, not weight, not volume – nada.

No where close to enough to get the coveted boulder shoulder look (where you turn sideways to walk through a door).

I learned this in fall 2018, every day at the SoCal Bodybuilding Gym being a few military press amrap sets off of a clean, but didn’t really implement fully incorporated like into my training til five years later when this streak started.

The more overhead pressing you do the more shoulders, upper back, and trap development you will have.

Wide shoulders is a better look than a thick chest. Blame arnold for the rampart pectoralis overdevelopment, and know this ; enough chest work will give many an impressive pair of muscular moobs.

It’s just better to skew towards shoulder pressing and away from chest pressing from a looks standpoint.

I didn’t know THAT when I started my daily pushups in 2008.

In hindsight knowing what I know now the habit would’ve shifted to wall hspu for the better. Shrugs. Oh well. The thing has been done.

I’m looking forward to in 12<15 months (NERD!)  getting the ten years of pushups every day.

For now my lifting continues to involve daily overhead pressing – just more implements.

I’ve already rotated barbell back in.
The kettlebell has shifted in the direction of half marathon c&p.

The SANDBAG, yes the sandbag, shall be rebuilt in the coming days.

I miss the thing and it could be a meme at this point over “I should rebuild the sandbag”.

…..

Some of us respond really well to volume and frequency.

Basically you want to do as much as possible without beating yourself up.

The barbell will be dropped back to 155lbs for this reason to build up easy like.

10×3 twice a week or so, built to 15×5 or so at 155lbs will be enough to go to 5×2 at 185lbs real easy like, from there well we’ll see.

It’d be something to get to the 300lb c&p.

Now in my 30s I’m getting very strong.
This is to be expected. I’ve trained consistently, and also it’s my opinion that “man strength” becomes an increasing factor in those who remain physical.

No man peaks in max strength to 35yo minimum.

I just have to keep training.

And even if all strongman and powerlifting type goals are out of your mind…you won’t go wrong with a high rep one bell clean & press done daily, every so often and forever increasing bell size.

Many men COULD train to 50l + 50r under girevoy inspired one hand switch rules and eventually accomplish it with the 48kg which, my opinion, was named “the beast” in a corny manner unbecoming as it psychologically is uninspiring of people actually getting to it and accomplishing much with it.

40kg is only 88lbs. Should be the big man’s main training weight for daily kettlebell play.

48kg is only 106. Aim higher.

Be strong y’all, the videos are presently on a roughly three week delay.

Persistence & Tenacity

knuckle up – dgaf

Daily pushups from mid teens on is a shockingly effective workout strategy.

There’s definitely a thing called “man strength”, and yes while some teenage males get to it – most need longer in the modern world.

At 21yo my hand strength shot up a couple levels.

It again, and full body strength in general, both shot up in my mid 20s.

At 30yo the results from a few years of mostly overhead pressing is now coming together, and I’m showing hella strength with kettlebell pressing NOW.

Shoulders were long a weak body part.
It’s safe to say that I’m well into the 99th percentile on strict pressing strength – the only place I’ll be outclassed is by professional strongmen.

My point is ; is that strength training is a longer than decade journey.

It doesn’t need ideal training, equipment, or diet.

Just about anything can be “right” given the effort and evaluated five/ten/fifteen/more years down the line.

When people are one arm pressing more than your bench the whole thing seems futile, especially with your teenage elbows and wrist hurting after that max bench…

But the thing is when you never quit, when you never stop you’ll be a late twenties or thirty something man who gave himself the gift of physical strength at a level stronger than 95% or more of humanity.

I don’t care where you are.
I don’t care that you’re poor and living on rice, eggs, tuna, and chickpeas.
I don’t care that you have no workout equipment…

What I want to see is you start smashing the daily pushups and your daily squats.
Right now. Tonight.

And never stop strength training.

…..

You can get jacked on milk and top ramen with a heavy sandbag.

You can get jacked eating rice and beans with a 300lb barbell under the shade of a tree.

You can even make it on machines only at a commercial gym.

There is no singular path to big and strong, no program anyway, perfect diet, or perfect gym.

You want to be bigger and stronger than you are?
Get to it!

Eat food. Large quantities, big portions of nutritious food.

Doesn’t matter if it’s peanuts and coconut oil, eggs and milk, or steak and potatoes.

It all works!

Strength train.
Pushups. Kettlebell. Barbell. Sandbag. Machines…

It all works!

It’s the consistency and effort over time that is the secret sauce to the whole thing.

What you’ll do to achieve it IS the right path.

The right path is that, is itself.
There is no external nothing.

You make it. Or you don’t.

Be strong.

Persistence & Tenacity

The whole fitness industry SHOULD boil down to making positive change in another’s life.

Even if the content is straight up silliness, “all wrong”, all that, and not even backed by studies…

So long as it makes positive change in another, so long as it gets someone on the track to self improvement – it’s not without value.

It might be a joke to you, but to some lost beginner it may start them on their path.

An old memory popped up, and I realized this.

#gym #fitness #fitnessinfluencer #goodvibes #gyminfluencer

You’ll go further in most cases with more volume than with minimal to the point of one set workouts… exceptions to the rule being “human forklift status” weights on high rep sets of squats, front squats, deadlifts, cleans, presses.

I’ve found that a pair of 75lb dumbbells/32kg kettlebells is essentially the equivalent to 185lbs on a barbell for overhead pressing.

These weight guidelines for a set of ten reps on the press is the start of “stronger than most – noticeably so” though not prostrongman level strong by any means.

That’s a pair of 75lbs/32kgs or 185lbs for 10 as the minimal weight and minimal reps here.

You really want to get to x30 to own a weight.

Imagine the guy pressing 30 x dbl 48kgs or 30x225lbs.

Something tells me that’s…the strongest person around (within reason and without any fluke wsm competitors happening to be hanging around).

…..

The equipment you have does not matter.

Building muscle and building strength truly both are “where there’s a will there’s a way” type situations.

Building up to x20 wall hspu is going to be a strong individual, moreso the larger a human we’re talking, and even moreso if you take a pair of cinder blocks or something and make it so your shoulders get the full range you’d get with a barbell press.

The whole concept of balanced workouts is a farce.

You don’t need to train anything equally so long as you are not getting lopsided and/or injured.

I could drop all exercises other than pushups and going for a daily stroll or two, and I’d stay pretty well developed overall.

Maybe you’d get better results with less.
Many have. Our fully stocked state of the line gym is a modern world luxury.

More people have gotten strong without it, and though I view the concept of “hardcore” as a joke – what with black and white advertising, tough guy quotes, and the like…for supplements…studies have shown (I made this study up on the spot) that a more bare bones facility will make for more getting better results than the primo gym with brand new BEST EQUIPMENT, fancy wall murals, and expensive monthly dues.

Some of those eastern european training halls with peeling paint, a busted window here and there, and kettlebells likely manufactured while america was drowning in hippies at love ins strike me as pretty ideal gymnasiums.

(when training lakeside in the summer ala hermann gorner isn’t an option)

Me?
At present I have some barbells and plates which I never touch – just leaving them in storage, and a handful of kettlebells which…I use as light as a 20lb bell, as heavy as a 48kg bell.

Off camera I’ve been training lately, shorts/reels cut from long form videos giving me about a month of zero filming leeway.

But I catch some day numbers anyway.
We’re in the Day 450s Overhead Press Every Day now.

It’s nice to train again without the camera, doing not really worth filming things like ;

1. Building to a 200 rep girevoy set with that silly light 20lb bell.
2. Going 25l+25 right on (still pretty light I last used 18kg) one bell clean & press under girevoy rules but with one bell instead of two, press instead of jerk.

I just don’t much care for jerks.
It’s press all the way.

…..

It’s only January 15, but in 2025 I’ve done handstands, bw squats, and some karate inspired kicks daily – these added to the kettlebell training which is like 50/50 between the two light things above and 40kg/48kg presses and snatches.

Of course there too are wildcards like “bell with hat” bottoms up pressing.
I never know what exactly I’ll do in my daily training til I’m doing it.

I’ve also gone for a daily walk, and have not missed a day.
Often with the fairly extreme cold lately I feel like a man on a mission.

I’m actually bundled up for these, thermals over boxers, long sleeve tucked between the two, sweater and sweatpants over these, hat, gloves…scarf.
Yes I’m wearing a scarf for my outdoor exercise.

My uncle was right. It keeps me much warmer. I thank him for the suggestion.

I’m now being very needy about wearing my scarf outdoors…but it’s often the difference between “I’m not going outside now” and “time to train”…as are the thermals.

…..

January 1st I weighed 292lbs and did x5 pullups.

It’s just become hard mentally to not give myself once a week pullups.
I’m intending to see what three months of kettlebell and walks does for my pullup ability with zero pullups in the interim.

One bell c&p hits a lot of lats on me.
Snatch is… everything back.

Pullups should go up via both any fat loss AND kettlebell “wth effect” from those two ballistics.

Two or three days ago I weighed 290lbs.
Today is my second full day fast of the year.

I’ve been eating meat, onions pretty freely.
Milk consumption is down.

Carb intake is WAY DOWN, but not keto or carnivore.

I’ve been drinking a bunch of tea.
Occasionally with cream, once or twice I’ve dropped in butter.

Mostly I drink it without fats, and not once have I added sugar.

I’m slow rolling fat loss alongside a handful of kettlebell and calisthenic training goals.

Don’t much care the details and specifics so long as those performance abilities trend up while the scale trends down.

It’s 2025! Be strong.
-J

off camera lifting music has been either the scourby reading of kjv or classical music – nothing else

This has been great.