Kettlebell Workouts with Master Geoff Neupert

A lot of people like the looks of the Kettlebell Snatch because it just looks powerful and cool. Plus, it has a reputation as a “fat burner” and “total body conditioner,” which lends to its mystique. (Both are true.) But honestly, I’m pretty sure many KB users probably shouldn’t do it and jump in too soon. At least not for a while. And certainly not when they first get started. Why’s that? Even though the Snatch is the Tsar (Emperor) of Kettlebell lifts, a great “conditioner,” and “fat loss promoter”... … It’s really the culmination of a series of SKILLS that you learn in the modern KB systems. Here’s what I mean. In order to Snatch correctly you need the following: [1]  Hip Hinge → Swings, Cleans [2]  Overhead [Shoulder] "Mo-Stability" & Lockout Strength → Turkish Get Up [3]  Taming the Arc → Cleans [4]  Moving the KB To Overhead → Presses So, the Snatch becomes a natural progression from all those skills. And that means generally, the body is prepared as a who...

When I was a young buck (how it pains me to write that - it seems like just yesterday), I worked out / trained in the college gym, which was more like a dungeon. That’s because it was in the basement, and it used to be the old indoor rifle range where the Rutgers Rifle Team practiced. (Ironically, I discovered during my senior year researching my thesis, that my Dad was on that team, and probably spent some time in the same room.) Our workouts, like the rifles my Dad practiced with, were simple, yet highly effective. They seemed to be passed down from bigger, stronger lifters, or through obscure magazines found in the classifieds of other magazines - Powerlifting, USA, for example. In other words, “input” and “influence” was limited. It seems we had a “trial by fire” approach to everything back then in the pre-internet era. If a philosophy worked, we kept it. If it didn’t, we chucked it. This process usually took between 3 and 6 weeks. Sometimes as long as 12. I don’t think this proce...

And do you need more leg work apart from your kettlebell workouts? 👉 Learn more about ‘Kettlebell STRONG!’ here. https://cart.chasingstrength.com/strong3 👉 Learn more about ‘THE GIANT’ here. https://salutis.kartra.com/page/oWP219 👉 Learn more about “KSK” here. https://cart.chasingstrength.com/ksk2 I got an email from Isaac I thought I’d share with you, in which he asks: "I've been working with KSK and Giant to great effect, but I can't help but think that I'm neglecting the legs: are there any recommendations that you would have for incorporating work for the lower half of the body?" I think this is a common question for many who are used to “direct” leg work coming from a CrossFit, Powerlifting, or Bodybuilding background into the Kettlebell Community. And it’s certainly one of the most common questions I get from customers of ‘THE GIANT.’ So, here’s what I told Isaac: “Your posterior chain - (lower back), glutes, hamstrings, calves, and bottoms of your feet a...

  Over on the StrongFirst forum, @mightstone2k “bat signaled” me for some ideas of how to take his 7RM Double Clean + Press up to a 10RM, using ‘THE GIANT 3.0,’ which is based off your 5RM. So, here’s what I suggested: You can either: 1. Do more volume, or... 2. Focus on squeezing every drop of technique out of your press - finding "strength leaks" and plugging them, or... 3. Pause in the rack for 5 seconds between the Clean and the Press to kill the "force wave" you get between the two (plus, this increases TUT in the rack itself, making the whole body stronger, while forcing you to press from a "dead start"), or... 4. Pause overhead at the top of the Press, for 2-3 seconds, actively pushing up on the bells, while keeping your shoulders packed, or... 5. Add in an isometric hold (approx. 3-6 seconds) at your sticking point on your last rep, of your last 3 to 6 sets, or... 6. Make your Clean as explosive as possible on every... single... rep... which as you...

I think as we get older, we tend toward complacency. We tend to lose the “fire in our belly” and let life happen to us. After all, we have jobs, a mortgage, car payments, a family… Life is busy, close to “full,” and honestly, many of us don’t have the energy we once did. And maybe we check off a few goals… Sadly, more and more, many men crave “comfort” and “convenience” over “adventure” and “challenge.” And no, finding the right button out of the 250 on the remote control does not count as a “challenge.” ;-] Now, maybe that’s you, maybe it’s not. Maybe you’re working out, firing close on all cylinders, but you know “something’s missing”... You can do “more”... Either way, why not challenge yourself to obtain a high level goal? (I’ve found the discipline carries over to every other area of life, if not just “tightening” up areas that might be somewhat slack.) Why not challenge yourself to the SFG/RKC Snatch Test? What’s that? It’s 100 snatches in 5 minutes, using a 24kg KB. (It’s the ki...

  Ever have that thought? Honestly, I have. Worse, there have been times when I’ve actually seen things go south. (Like that time I did a swing & push up challenge and lost muscle and gained body fat…) In fact, from what I can tell, this is actually a pretty common problem in the KB community. There are 5 reasons why: #1 - TOO MUCH Work I briefly mentioned this in a recent email to my subscribers. Some of us - maybe you - can make our bodies do the bidding of our minds. Our minds become a slave driver over our bodies, if you will. We end up pushing, and pushing, and pushing, and pushing ourselves, and our bodies can’t keep up. This is one of the reasons why when guys write in asking me “what’s a good number of reps to hit compared to others” for one of ‘THE GIANT’ or ‘EASY MUSCLE’ programs, I tell them not to compare themselves to others. Some guys can hit 100 reps in a session. Me? No. Way. In. H-E-double-hockey sticks. I’m not wired that way. Every time I attempt something li...

What’s the least you can do and still lose fat from your KB workouts? That’s a question I think many of us wonder. Especially if we’re trying to gain strength, or just finished a strength cycle and packed on a few more pounds / kilos than we thought we would. Now I’m not necessarily saying fast, but “noticeable”. [NOTE: If you want FAST, you can do that here.] Which exercise and rep scheme would be the “best” for you? My GENERAL rule of thumb is to “do the opposite” of what your body is currently used to. So, if you’ve been doing a lot of lower rep, heavy grinds (the slower strength lifts), switch up to higher rep ballistics (the Swing, Snatch, Clean, Push Press, Jerk). If you’ve been doing higher rep ballistics, switch over to lower rep grinds. And if you’ve been using A+A or AGT style workouts? Up the reps or cut the rest - or both, going “mildly” glycolytic. I’ll pop an email I got from Andrew, one of my customers, up here on the screen, telling me about the results he got from usin...