Happy 25 days of Christmas to all! Every year I put my team of Kettlebell Athlete's through a Red & Green Bell challenge. Some can already do it and some may never be able too but that's ok. The point is to challenge yourself and to become better than you were yesterday. If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you !
This will be a 5 x 5 progression challenge, meaning on
Dec 1st you do 5 reps,
by Dec 5th, 10 reps,
by Dec 15th, 15 reps,
by Dec 20th, 20 reps
by Dec 25th, 25 reps
Yes that's right, on Christmas day you should be able to perform 25 Reps with the bell you choose, whether it's green, red, yellow, pink or blue, it's the bell of your choice and what will challenge you.
How to choose your bell will depend on your current knowledge of the moves and your current strength. I have given some video's for you to watch. For example, pick a bell that today you can perform 5 ONLY reps of the following moves. This will be your progression bell, you can try and progress every day if you want to train daily or you can go up 5 reps every 5 days as laid out above. You will need a few different sizes of bells for the different moves.
Challenge 1
Heavy Kettlebell Swings x 5 reps x 5 rounds
Swing Squats x 5reps x 5 rounds
Cleans x 5reps x 5 rounds
Presses x 5reps x 5 rounds
Highpulls x 5reps x 5 rounds
Rest as needed between sets.
Challenge 2
Kettlebell Compounds 5 Moves x 5 Reps = 25 each arm
Swing/Highpull/Clean/Press/Squat
These compounds are a challenge on their own, 25 reps, switch hands, perform 25 more reps and rest. Increase this by 1 round each progression day, so by the 25th of Dec you should be able to do 5 rounds of this set of compounds, if you can make it through this then challenge accomplished.
Example of the compounds but do it without the snatch on the end.
Red Bell = 32 Kg or 72 Lbs
Green Bell = 26 Kg or 57 lbs
Green Bell = 24 Kg or 53 lbs
These will be the bells my team will work with on the swings, swing squats and cleans, pick a bell that is challenging but safe, nobody needs to get hurt or be a hero. Feel free to video your sets and send them to me or add them to Facebook and tag me I would be glad to help with anything you need.
This challenge will be a full body, metabolic conditioning set that will be fun and effective to help burn off those unwanted extra calories we consume during the festive season.
Challenge 3
If you have bells at home or access to them daily at your gym I challenge you to at least 25 swings, 5 rounds per day with a decent sized bell. You can mix it up and do one handed swings or alternating swings as well. If you do it first thing in the morning you will get an even faster start to boosting your metabolism !
If you only have access to lighter bells, you can make it harder by using double bells or adding more reps.
Double Handed Heavy Swing Example, here I am performing only 20 swings with the 32 Kg bell, it's not easy for beginners that bell is heavy.
The Swing Squat Example, not to be confused with the swing, lift and squat at the same time, this move will fry your glutes and hamstrings, I love this move!
The Highpull Example
Ok, there are your challenges, you can do them all or pick one or two, your choice. Let me know if you have any questions I will be glad to help, if there is a move you cannot physically do I can give you a substituted exercise, I picked these 6 moves because they target the full body in one way or the other and I don't want this challenge to be too complicated.
Happy Holidays, and happy and safe kettlebell lifting, I look forward to hearing from you, feel free to leave comments in the comment section below.
For some Kettlebell education please checkout these logs and articles, I have condensed them into one log for your ease.
Always remember an excuse is just that, what is your excuse?
#passiontrumpseverything #driven #kettlebellsrock #livelearnpasson