Congrats on all the success. I am vegan for mainly religious purposes, what’s your advice moving forward in that direction? Also how do you progress from being severely decondition in your 40s? Definitely was easier at 30.
I appreciate the compliment and it means the world to me to have over 1000 people now... For you: start small - I like a calisthenics routine or "grease the groove" with exercises like push ups, pull ups, lunges, etc. Aim for 5 sets of 5 reps, and progress eventually to getting 5 sets of 10 reps in all of the movements, 5 times per week.
You can apply your vegan diet to my Nutrition principles and do very well!
Your page helped me a lot during my shoulder recovery phase in the spring of 2024. Implementing Indian Club work combined with Crossover Symmetry was a game changer that sped up my recovery and allowed my body to get back to healthy physical shape. Notably, my drive for kettlebell work grew and I saw huge growth in my MTB and Hiking fitness. Thanks Brother!
John congrats on the success! You’re a wealth of knowledge and all that you share is tremendously appreciated.
Curious if you have ever experimented with the Bulgarian bag and if so, your thoughts?
I also noticed you’ve been regularly utilizing AXE. I’ve been doing the same and am trying to work on owning the 40kg bell with a long term goal of owning the beast. Any thoughts on that progression?
Thank you my friend, it’s always a pleasure talking shop with you.
Bulgarian Bag, yes. I trained with a former navy seal instructor name Steve Nave who effectively brought the BB into popularity into the US. He was trained directly by Ivan Ivanov (not sure if that’s his name or the spelling).
This was around 2008-2010. Steve taught tactical and fighting athletes. When I trained with him, we did a boot camp style class (this was before boot camps were a thing). I always loved and appreciated the conditioning and strength gains from the BB.
(RIP Steve Nave).
The only reason I don’t use them anymore is because of all of my other interests. I think it’s a great tool, novel, and effective for fighters or general population. As for me, there’s only so much time in the day.
I have been running a rendition of Kettlebell AXE for about two years (I started doing it as soon as the book came out). I’m a big fan of Kettlebell AXE because it’s so simple and you have four great choices for movements: the swing, the one arm swing, the snatch, the hand to hand swing.
Depending on how I’m feeling or where I’m at in my cycle, I will typically select two loads for the same session. For instance, today I performed six reps on the minute for 20 minutes with the 32 kg kettlebell and for the second 20 minutes, I performed six reps on the minute with the 40 kg Kettlebell.
The lighter Kettlebell was my warm-up, the 40 kg Kettlebell was my main dish. If you’re interested in working up to the 48 kg, I would do something similar and incrementally introduce more time with the 48 kg.
That might look like 20 minutes with a 32 kg, 16 minutes with the 40 kg, and four minutes with the 48 kg. That would be a very low volume introduction to swinging the 48 kg but you get my point. If it were me, it would be fun to do 10 minutes at each load: 28, 32, 40, 48.
Sprinkling in low dose of the heavier weight is a great suggestion! Once I can consistently use the 40kg for 40min 6reps emom I’ll start sprinkling in that 48kg. Currently I’m experiencing stop signs with the 40kg at 6reps emom at around 30min give or take a few min depending on the day.
Ok, that's a great place to be... Also remember to practice your relaxation practice during your breaks: fast and loose, deep nasal breathing, etc. Do you ever wear an HRM? I don't usually follow stop signs, I normally go off of HRM.
Honestly, no, I’ve never utilized an HRM before. Do you think it’s worth looking into? I’ve always really enjoyed training tech-free, frankly. Maybe it’s to my detriment.
You did a post recently on the Indian Clubs. Would love to see more of that, if you have more info to share!
Also, on IG you showcase some of your mobility/accessory work to rehap/prehab/strengthen old injuries, would love to learn more about what it is you do in your training for “rehab/prehab”.
And when you were kickboxing, were there any specific exercises you were doing to help with punching and movement in general (I’ve recently started boxing and would like to supplement my boxing training with specific KB training in particular)
But to one other commenter, you already showcase a nice variety of training modalities. Keep it up!
It’s great to see you succeeding brother. I’m so happy for you to cross the 1000 subscriber threshold, but I think it just speaks to the value you’re adding here. You know I love the programming and it’s heavily influenced the way I train and the way I train my own students. As someone who is very interested in technique, I think it might be interesting to explore the biomechanics involved in some of the movements we get into here on Strength Axis.
Hola John....no has pensado en utilizar Youtube para hablar sobre tu filosofía de entrenamiento y vida...sería interesante escucharte además de leerte...saludos desde España...
Also, when you say one must be subscribed to enter the drawing, do you mean paying or will free subscription work too. I ask because I had to pause my subscription for financial reasons this month.
Hmmm. I'm not sure how the SubStack app works... let me know if you have any more issues and I can try to ask them. Restarting it might be the way to go.
I like your focus on functional fitness. I’ve done several months of your programming and I think the ones I’ve liked best were the sort with options for minimalist hypertrophy or with intense, but shorter overall time investment. The reason for this is that I still like to add in other modalities, such as barbells/dumbells, or even body weight and HiTT.
I’ve been on a push-press kick for most of the last year and really felt like it really paid off this ski season so far. That plus basic jumps, skipping rope, and zerchers is a great bouncy recipe.
I love it all but would love to see maybe some more stuff about mindset and nutrition. I was also hoping to see maybe how to go about mixing sandbag movements into it as well? No matter what thanks for all you’ve done for me!
You already do a very good mix of work. How would one go about pushing a strict one rep max to the limit with kettlebell press and pullups, a good program / progression (with also conditioning work through swings) would be lovely!
So you'd be looking to set a PR on the Military Press? I talk about that in my article, Maximizing the Military Press. have you seen that one? Fun idea though!
Hey brother! We talked a bit about this... If one were to follow my StrengthAxis Program Design, I would perform two of the sessions and the other two sessions would be for sprinting ie; very high intensity, less than 100m (usually less than 40), 95% max speed 5-10 total sets.
If we are talking more about a conditioning style of running, like 400m repeats or LSD (long slow distance), I would train sessions A, B, A in week 1, then in week 2, B, A, B, etc. I would run my repeats on the fourth day of training and perform a lot of mobility and stretching to counteract the tightness running brings.
Based on your training schedule, the other days in the week could be dedicated to conditioning (Kettlebell AXE), active recovery, sport, etc.
Congrats on all the success. I am vegan for mainly religious purposes, what’s your advice moving forward in that direction? Also how do you progress from being severely decondition in your 40s? Definitely was easier at 30.
I appreciate the compliment and it means the world to me to have over 1000 people now... For you: start small - I like a calisthenics routine or "grease the groove" with exercises like push ups, pull ups, lunges, etc. Aim for 5 sets of 5 reps, and progress eventually to getting 5 sets of 10 reps in all of the movements, 5 times per week.
You can apply your vegan diet to my Nutrition principles and do very well!
https://strengthaxis.substack.com/p/nutrition
Your page helped me a lot during my shoulder recovery phase in the spring of 2024. Implementing Indian Club work combined with Crossover Symmetry was a game changer that sped up my recovery and allowed my body to get back to healthy physical shape. Notably, my drive for kettlebell work grew and I saw huge growth in my MTB and Hiking fitness. Thanks Brother!
Love it brother! Glad your shoulder is feeling better and it's time for you to get on some anti-glycolytic kettlebell training!
John congrats on the success! You’re a wealth of knowledge and all that you share is tremendously appreciated.
Curious if you have ever experimented with the Bulgarian bag and if so, your thoughts?
I also noticed you’ve been regularly utilizing AXE. I’ve been doing the same and am trying to work on owning the 40kg bell with a long term goal of owning the beast. Any thoughts on that progression?
Thanks!!
Thank you my friend, it’s always a pleasure talking shop with you.
Bulgarian Bag, yes. I trained with a former navy seal instructor name Steve Nave who effectively brought the BB into popularity into the US. He was trained directly by Ivan Ivanov (not sure if that’s his name or the spelling).
This was around 2008-2010. Steve taught tactical and fighting athletes. When I trained with him, we did a boot camp style class (this was before boot camps were a thing). I always loved and appreciated the conditioning and strength gains from the BB.
(RIP Steve Nave).
The only reason I don’t use them anymore is because of all of my other interests. I think it’s a great tool, novel, and effective for fighters or general population. As for me, there’s only so much time in the day.
I have been running a rendition of Kettlebell AXE for about two years (I started doing it as soon as the book came out). I’m a big fan of Kettlebell AXE because it’s so simple and you have four great choices for movements: the swing, the one arm swing, the snatch, the hand to hand swing.
Depending on how I’m feeling or where I’m at in my cycle, I will typically select two loads for the same session. For instance, today I performed six reps on the minute for 20 minutes with the 32 kg kettlebell and for the second 20 minutes, I performed six reps on the minute with the 40 kg Kettlebell.
The lighter Kettlebell was my warm-up, the 40 kg Kettlebell was my main dish. If you’re interested in working up to the 48 kg, I would do something similar and incrementally introduce more time with the 48 kg.
That might look like 20 minutes with a 32 kg, 16 minutes with the 40 kg, and four minutes with the 48 kg. That would be a very low volume introduction to swinging the 48 kg but you get my point. If it were me, it would be fun to do 10 minutes at each load: 28, 32, 40, 48.
Sprinkling in low dose of the heavier weight is a great suggestion! Once I can consistently use the 40kg for 40min 6reps emom I’ll start sprinkling in that 48kg. Currently I’m experiencing stop signs with the 40kg at 6reps emom at around 30min give or take a few min depending on the day.
Ok, that's a great place to be... Also remember to practice your relaxation practice during your breaks: fast and loose, deep nasal breathing, etc. Do you ever wear an HRM? I don't usually follow stop signs, I normally go off of HRM.
Honestly, no, I’ve never utilized an HRM before. Do you think it’s worth looking into? I’ve always really enjoyed training tech-free, frankly. Maybe it’s to my detriment.
More hybrid programs, supplement article,
And keep doing what you’re doing!
Love your philosophy with training
I am going to restart my writing of Barbell Supreme - all the barbell movements I love and maybe some sandbags too.
Congrats John!
You did a post recently on the Indian Clubs. Would love to see more of that, if you have more info to share!
Also, on IG you showcase some of your mobility/accessory work to rehap/prehab/strengthen old injuries, would love to learn more about what it is you do in your training for “rehab/prehab”.
And when you were kickboxing, were there any specific exercises you were doing to help with punching and movement in general (I’ve recently started boxing and would like to supplement my boxing training with specific KB training in particular)
But to one other commenter, you already showcase a nice variety of training modalities. Keep it up!
Thank you Jeff! I do a lot of mobility these days and I plan on sharing a bit of that process in my next post. Great suggestion.
And for the recent Muay Thai, I was mostly using the the hardstyle philosophy of "one punch" ie; a hard style swing = a hard style punch/kick.
Check out this article for most of the mobility/flexibility I do:
https://strengthaxis.substack.com/p/the-long-stretch
It’s great to see you succeeding brother. I’m so happy for you to cross the 1000 subscriber threshold, but I think it just speaks to the value you’re adding here. You know I love the programming and it’s heavily influenced the way I train and the way I train my own students. As someone who is very interested in technique, I think it might be interesting to explore the biomechanics involved in some of the movements we get into here on Strength Axis.
I love it! That's the nitty gritty stuff and maybe I can make longer form videos on that. Great suggestioins.
Oh! Or maybe discuss some of your favorite literature on strength training?
I think I'm going to do that on all of the articles I write, have a "reader's corner."
Hola John....no has pensado en utilizar Youtube para hablar sobre tu filosofía de entrenamiento y vida...sería interesante escucharte además de leerte...saludos desde España...
Gracias por leer y mirar Fuser!
Congratulations John.
Also, when you say one must be subscribed to enter the drawing, do you mean paying or will free subscription work too. I ask because I had to pause my subscription for financial reasons this month.
I mean the free subscription brother! You're entered into the contest. No worries about the paid subscription.
Thanks! I sent you an email about reactivating my subscription. I can’t seem to do it through the app; it wants me to start a fresh subscription.
Hmmm. I'm not sure how the SubStack app works... let me know if you have any more issues and I can try to ask them. Restarting it might be the way to go.
I would, but the fee seems to be higher than I was paying before.
I like your focus on functional fitness. I’ve done several months of your programming and I think the ones I’ve liked best were the sort with options for minimalist hypertrophy or with intense, but shorter overall time investment. The reason for this is that I still like to add in other modalities, such as barbells/dumbells, or even body weight and HiTT.
Ok great bro... And you're in killer shape so that's good to know your preferences.
I appreciate training discussion with a focus on carryover to mountain sports. Thanks!
Heck yeah! Thank goodness for the Double Kettlebell Clean + Jerk.
I’ve been on a push-press kick for most of the last year and really felt like it really paid off this ski season so far. That plus basic jumps, skipping rope, and zerchers is a great bouncy recipe.
I love it all but would love to see maybe some more stuff about mindset and nutrition. I was also hoping to see maybe how to go about mixing sandbag movements into it as well? No matter what thanks for all you’ve done for me!
Nice to hear from you Josh! That stuff is tough to write about because it's so personalized. But I love the idea my friend! i hope you're doing well.
Sandbags sound really fun... Maybe I can throw those into my new series of Barbell Supreme articles coming out.
You already do a very good mix of work. How would one go about pushing a strict one rep max to the limit with kettlebell press and pullups, a good program / progression (with also conditioning work through swings) would be lovely!
So you'd be looking to set a PR on the Military Press? I talk about that in my article, Maximizing the Military Press. have you seen that one? Fun idea though!
https://strengthaxis.substack.com/p/maximize-the-military-press?utm_source=publication-search
Hey brother! We talked a bit about this... If one were to follow my StrengthAxis Program Design, I would perform two of the sessions and the other two sessions would be for sprinting ie; very high intensity, less than 100m (usually less than 40), 95% max speed 5-10 total sets.
If we are talking more about a conditioning style of running, like 400m repeats or LSD (long slow distance), I would train sessions A, B, A in week 1, then in week 2, B, A, B, etc. I would run my repeats on the fourth day of training and perform a lot of mobility and stretching to counteract the tightness running brings.
Based on your training schedule, the other days in the week could be dedicated to conditioning (Kettlebell AXE), active recovery, sport, etc.