I did the 10,000 Kettle bell swing challenge and I didn't die.
Sometimes you need a kick in the pants. A new routine to get out of the doldrums. For me this was the 10,000 swing kettlebell challenge. I found out about this challenge while looking up videos on YouTube. I came across a confidant Russian trainer named Pavel Tsatsouline. He called me “Comrade” in his videos. He had a large catalogue of videos that outlined how I could improve my fitness level using Kettlebell workouts. I appreciate his passion. He lives and breaths Kettlebell workouts.
Instead of using Pavel’s well-thought out routines that he likely spent years developing, I decided to do a random ten thousand swing challenge that came across my newsfeed one day. As they say in the music biz, “Don’t bore us, get us to the chorus”. Here’s the challenge — complete ten thousand kettlebell swings in 30 days. Simple.
For background on my fitness level, I am less of six pack and more of a keg. I put in three to six, thirty minute work outs a week. I keep it varied rotating between rowing workouts, powerlifting, and whatever else piques my fancy. Other than that thirty minutes I generally lead a pretty sedentary lifestyle. I have a cushy office job and I am a pretty good cook. I eat at home for 87.2% of my meals but that doesn’t mean I’m eating healthy. I only drink once or possibly twice a year and thats if I am feeling frisky and that drink is usually a single shot of whiskey. As I edge closer to fifty I can hear my joints calling me to drop some weight.
I had 3 kettlebells in the garage, a 35lb, 50lb and a 70lb. I decided to start with the 50lb for my challenge. One thing I know about working out is that you can crank out alot of volume if you chunk it down it into parts. So I did the math. If I needed to get this done in 30 days I want to give myself a few days of rest. So at 500 per day 20 days should give me to 10,000 with a bunch of rest days mixed in. 5 sets of 100 each with a 2 minute break in-between. For the sets of 100 I broke it into a 10/15/25/50 rep range trying my best not to put the bell down but if I did place it down, I would keep it under 10 seconds. I had my plan.
The first week I was really suffering. I had to downgrade to the 35lb for a few sets. It wasn’t just that my ass and hamstrings that were humming. Having a full time job and new kids I made the choice to do it in the early am around 4–5pm. I did this because at that time no one had claim on that part of my day. I wouldn’t feel guilty that I should be doing something else like hanging with the wife or kids or doing chores or work. Nobody needs anything from anyone at 4 am.
By the second week I was starting to get my groove. One thing that was very apparent to me, I was slow. The entire workout took a little over 45 minutes. I had not expected that. I had also not expected to be so winded. When i usually work out, I would start sweating and breathing hard when my heart rate hit 115–120bpm. In my sets, when I hit the 50 rep set my heart rate would spike to 155 for the whole set. After my workout I felt like I had finished running windsprints. Then I look at the clock and realized I was slightly faster than a turtle walking through molasses.
In the third week, everything became doable. I liked it. There was something satisfying about throwing around the bell in the morning. My hands felt stronger. I was getting pumped in weird parts of my body like my inner thigh. The sets started getting easier and I went faster. I started mixing in the 70lb bell that I had laying around for some of the opening sets. I was starting to see some definition results in my arms. Nothing huge, but enough to know I was getting a good pump.
By the last week I was ready for it to end. It wasn’t a struggle, but the volume and time commitment was mind-numbing. I was looking forward to putting the kettlebells down and getting back under a barbell for my main workouts. There was no doubt the challenge had helped build muscle. It was popping in places I didn’t normally see muscle in. I was bored, but satisfied with results.
In the end, I learned a few lessons.
1. High Volume of one exercise is boring as hell…. but it works to build muscle. Might as well get into it I guess. Carve that time out and knock it out. Be happy you are able to do it.
2. I didn’t lose any weight in this challenge. This wasn’t surprising as I workout pretty regularly and my body doesn’t respond to workouts as much as it does changes in diet.
3. Kettlebell swings are a solid workout. My hips felt great. My arms felt swole. I started getting pumped in new muscles I didn’t know about like the Adductor longos (I had to look this one up). I feel like I could grow an ass from the ground up with my new friend the kettlebell. I felt like I could crush the skulls of my enemies (or a cruller donut) with my bare hands.
4. Its so important to carve out time for yourself. It was tough waking up in the cold AM. Making the way out to the garage and swing a cold ass kettlebell for 45 minutes, but it was satisfying to know I invested that time in myself. My mind was clearer and I was more focused throughout the day. Maybe it was just because I did something new, but let’s pretend it was the kettlebells.
Will I do it again?
No. I got some great lessons, time to move on.
Will I keep kettle bells in my workout regime?
Yes. They have earned a solid place in my home gym.
Would I recommend anyone else try this?
Yes. It’s a great challenge, make sure to scale for your ability whether this is through weight of the kettlebell or sets. Keep it challenging and good luck!
