Time for Training

The best day to start this was yesterday, the second-best day is today.

Photo by Jenny Hill on Unsplash

“Be strong to be useful”
-Georges Hebert

Long time readers of my material will be familiar with the ideas presented here, but I thought it prudent to acquaint newer readers with some of these concepts.

The training I recommend is something that is accessible, repeatable, and effective.
There are links to videos for each of the exercises I include, but if you have any questions I would suggest contacting a qualified trainer (good luck finding one)

All the video instruction I have included come from some of the best trainers in the business, and I advise you to follow the teachings to the letter.

Mastery is a key component. Make sure you lock down the form on each of these exercises before you add volume or load. Better before more. I spent a year working on basic kettlebell exercises before any volume was added. Unfortunately, we may not have that kind of time anymore.

This is going to be a starting point.

A general all-purpose warm-up. This is a good, efficient warm-up, and you should also check out Tim Anderson’s Original Strength site.

The way the rep scheme works is: Do kettlebell swings, do the carry, do 5 of the exercise, do the carry back, on the second round do 4 of the exercise. Reduce the number of reps by one each set.

Day 1)
5 rounds of:
20 Kettlebell swings
Suitcase carry (left hand) for 20–50 feet
Pushups 5/4/3/2/1
Suitcase carry (right hand) back to start.
Then
Walk x 30:00

Day 2)
5 rounds of:
20 Kettlebell swings
Suitcase carry (left hand) for 20–50 feet
Inverted Rows 5/4/3/2/1 (There are variations of this exercise that can be done on tabletops, play ground equipment, or with a piece of rope or a sheet)
Suitcase carry (right hand) back to start.
Then
Walk x 30:00

Day 3)
5 rounds of:
20 Kettlebell swings
Suitcase carry (left hand) for 20–50 feet
Goblet Squats 5/4/3/2/1
Suitcase carry (right hand) back to start.
Then
Walk x 30:00

Day 4)
5 rounds of:
20 Kettlebell swings
Suitcase carry (left hand) for 20–50 feet
One Arm press 5/4/3/2/1/ ea.
Suitcase carry (right hand) back to start.
Then
Treadmill incline walk x 30:00 or a hill if you don’t have access to a treadmill.

Day 5)
5 rounds of:
20 Kettlebell swings
Suitcase carry (left hand) for 20–50 feet
Pull-ups 5/4/3/2/1 (or regressions)
Suitcase carry (right hand) back to start.
Then
Walk x 30:00

Day 6)
5 rounds of:
20 Kettlebell swings
Suitcase carry (left hand) for 20–50 feet
Single Leg Dead lift 5/4/3/2/1 ea
Suitcase carry (right hand) back to start.
Then
Walk x 30:00

Day 7)
Long walk: one to two hours

Excellent Kettlebell tutorials by Mark Wildman
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV

You want to make sure you get your walk in every day and that you add about 5 minutes per week to the daily walks up to one hour. Keep the treadmill walk the same but add speed and incline up to 4 mph and 6 degrees of incline. Add 15 minutes per week to the long walk, up to 5 hours.

This type of training is a type of fight and flight. A scenario where you would have to exert yourself in some type of defensive activity (a fight) and then get away (flight) at your earliest opportunity.