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Kettlebell "Giant 1.0"

Andrew H said:
I think there is wiggle room in the GIANT
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Oh totally, I'm not exactly a "Geoff said do it this way. This is the way!" kind of guy. I can't tell you how many variations of his programs I've "made" and run - some worked, some didn't.
Andrew H said:
I think varying the session length could at times lead to faster progress due to the increased variability.
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Changing time caps can definitely increase variability in number of sets, and sometimes getting more sets by extending the time will help you compress the rest periods of the other sets. I was playing around with that with a Strong! spin off, and by the time I was working triples I was working on compressing rest periods on doubles, and by the time I was working on 4s I was compressing rest periods of 3s. Whatever the highest rep range I was working on I was using a "fixed" rest interval of on the 3 minutes, so each "heavy" day got longer, while the "light" day (heavy day minus one rep) kept getting faster and shorter.
 
John K said:
I think the big temptation with more time is that you keep the rest the same, so you may or may not be progressing. You may get more sets, but the density doesn't change, and what you get in week 2 and week 3 you might've been able to get Week 1 if you had just done 25/30 minutes. Maybe not, and more is still more...
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@John K I mostly agree (as I do with most of what you post) but as a person who's used the program I'd like to point one thing out I discovered in my case. I find that if I use a "good" pace through the first three weeks and make my 4th week a density week, I get better results. When I say good pace, it's a pace that leaves me fatigued but not totally destroyed. Pushing density each week crushes me. If left to "auto regulate" too much I'll become lazy. This is why I'm gravitating more toward the "Strong" Program these days.
 
I think the good thing here is that we are all working out and making progress. It doesn't really matter which approach is 100% following the program and which isn't as long as you are making progress and exercising. I for an example like a lot of people here find it almost impossible to do any program like the Giant without adding a lot of extra work not because I need it but because I want to do it.
 
John Grahill said:
@John K I mostly agree (as I do with most of what you post) but as a person who's used the program I'd like to point one thing out I discovered in my case. I find that if I use a "good" pace through the first three weeks and make my 4th week a density week, I get better results. When I say good pace, it's a pace that leaves me fatigued but not totally destroyed. Pushing density each week crushes me. If left to "auto regulate" too much I'll become lazy. This is why I'm gravitating more toward the "Strong" Program these days.
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Oh 100%. Once I started using the 32s week to week progress wasn’t really happening. Last week to this I added a single rep in a 20 min block (42 to 43) and I was happy.
 
John K said:
Oh 100%. Once I started using the 32s week to week progress wasn’t really happening. Last week to this I added a single rep in a 20 min block (42 to 43) and I was happy.
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I too learned this with Maximorum recently going up a bell size. Week to week progress has slowed but I am trending up slowly over time.
 
I had to stop myself trying to beat last weeks reps when I did Giant. Once I relaxed about that, I found it easier.

I actually like both styles, the Strong style, where you don’t have to think, and the Giant style where you go how you feel on the day. Both programs gave excellent results and will again in the future
 
Halfakneecap said:
I had to stop myself trying to beat last weeks reps when I did Giant. Once I relaxed about that, I found it easier.

I actually like both styles, the Strong style, where you don’t have to think, and the Giant style where you go how you feel on the day. Both programs gave excellent results and will again in the future
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Same here I try not to look at the numbers I achieved the week prior even though sometimes I do look at them post workout but I don’t get discouraged knowing the fact that showing up and working out is more important and not every week of training should have prs.
 
John K said:
Oh 100%. Once I started using the 32s week to week progress wasn’t really happening. Last week to this I added a single rep in a 20 min block (42 to 43) and I was happy.
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There was one other "method" I used. I never corresponded with Geoff about it but it also was effective for me. Week 1 was 30 minutes. I went at a good pace. Week 2 I went until I got Week 1's total in less time and then I stopped. If it was 27 minutes, so be it. Each week was same reps but I tried to do them faster than the previous week.
 
John Grahill said:
There was one other "method" I used. I never corresponded with Geoff about it but it also was effective for me. Week 1 was 30 minutes. I went at a good pace. Week 2 I went until I got Week 1's total in less time and then I stopped. If it was 27 minutes, so be it. Each week was same reps but I tried to do them faster than the previous week.
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I’ve done that too! Not really “planned” so much as “wow I didn’t improve and there’s no way I’m going to able to do another full set in the time I have left!”
 
Once I got to the 30s, I stopped having weekly PRs on the two higher rep sets until I would move to the next wave. The addition of the new higher rep set would spur on PRs for the ones I had been stuck on for 6 ish weeks.

Giant was great for me both fitness wise, hypertrophy and conditioning but probably even more so was what it did mentally. I learned to not care about weekly PRs and go all in on trusting the process. I also got way better at gaging my rest/recover intraworkout. Wish I had learned that a lot earlier in my lifting career lol.
 
Looking for advice:
I just finished 1.0 with 16kg single.
(63 yrs old, 83kg ).

I normally shoot for 60 presses a side/session (something I saw in a video of Luka's) and out of concern that I don't get over-enthusiastic and hurt myself (has happened). My sessions started at ~23 minutes and dropped to under 20 at end of 4 weeks.

Here is the question:
What should I do in deload week? Before going to 1.1
 
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TedM said:
Looking for advice:
I just finished 1.0 with 16kg single.
(63 yrs old, 83kg ).

I normally shoot for 60 presses a side/session (something I saw in a video of Luka's) and out of concern that I don't get over-enthusiastic and hurt myself (has happened). My sessions started at ~23 minutes and dropped to understand 20 at end of 4 weeks.

Here is the question:
What should I do in deload week? Before going to 1.1
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Do you feel tired and worn out? If so, just halve your current volume for a session and repeat your last week. You can either do half reps/same sets or half’s sets/same reps, as two ideas.
 
TedM said:
Not at all. Keeping to 60 each side actually leaves me feeling refreshed at the end.
But, I have a documented tendency to overdo so I'm trying to be cautious here
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Ok, well feel free to do what I said, and/or cut down the weight 25-50% (8-12kg). Basically do something easy, but still maintain the general movements you’re used to, don’t do anything new.
 
Hrungnir said:
Once I got to the 30s, I stopped having weekly PRs on the two higher rep sets until I would move to the next wave. The addition of the new higher rep set would spur on PRs for the ones I had been stuck on for 6 ish weeks.

Giant was great for me both fitness wise, hypertrophy and conditioning but probably even more so was what it did mentally. I learned to not care about weekly PRs and go all in on trusting the process. I also got way better at gaging my rest/recover intraworkout. Wish I had learned that a lot earlier in my lifting career lol.
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I had a very similar experience. Once I stopped desperately trying to beat last weeks reps it went very smooth. At the end, I’d made progress, so was pretty damn happy.
 
On rest- let’s say I wait to recover to zone 2 prior to starting another set and I get 15 sets, but if I rest less and I’m really getting to zone 5/6 by the end of the sets, yet I get 20 sets instead of 15. Are those extra 5 sets harmful? If not, should we just bust out another set as soon as we’re physically able to?

I’m confused on what waiting longer to rest, and getting fewer sets, does for us with regards to heart health, fat loss, hypertrophy.
 
daft21 said:
What do you guys think about my breathing during C&P?

1. Take a deap breath and clean the Kettlebells
2. Exhale after the beginning of the pressing motion
3.Inhale during the negative pressing motion
4.Downswing and clean while holding my breath
5. Exhale after the beginning of the pressing motion
6. and so on

I ask because my breathing pattern seems not to be perfect when i do more than 5reps
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I adopted a breathing pattern like this for single KB work when I went to Iron Cardio. I really liked it.

When I was doing double KBs in Mr. Neupert's programs, I hadn't learned the "inhale during the active press negative" bit. I would inhale at the lockout and exhale with the active negative.

That said, once the reps got high enough in Giant, I found that I sometimes needed an extra breath in the rack. I'm not sure if I was pushing myself too hard, though.
 
Wonder if skipping a day in the middle of the month helps out?

I normally add 10ish reps on Sundays compared to the previous Sunday. Well, I had to miss a Thursday (day 3) workout, which gave me Wednesday through Saturday off. I added 25 reps that Sunday over the previous Sunday.

I looked back at my notes for 1.0 and it turns out the same thing happened, missed one day halfway through and added over twice the normal reps to my following workout day.

Maybe I’ll try that on purpose one day when I’m in a rut?

Anyone else notice that? Apparently my body really enjoys rest.
 
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