The Gladiator Kettlebell Complex

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Whenever I exercise using my pair of 24’s, I always make sure the complex I do would emphasize on volume and variety. I do this to make sure my #body is able to withstand an endurance challenge that isn’t static. You also get to practice performing a variety of movements in one workout session. This not only gets you to burn fat and build #strength but on top of it all it gets you to check your own form and to see if you still know your foundations pretty well. I personally know what it was like to be scolded by a coach when I couldn’t get my snatch form perfect after not performing the exercise for a few weeks. That’s a scary moment I don’t want to happen again.

Doing 200-300 one-arm swings in less than 20 minutes with your heaviest #kettlebell is good but you can’t really do that every day. Well, technically you can but it doesn’t really sound inspiring at all and you might end up traumatizing your brain from doing that one particular exercise. Such is the case of the infamous 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge. Whether you did that for an amazing 10 days or the whole 30, repeating an exercise for so long will definitely put a strain on your mental endurance.

I personally experienced this when I did the 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge by Dan John. That’s a good challenge to do if you haven’t done it yet but if you have experienced finishing it at least once (and I mean in the strictest way possible), it won’t really appeal to you as much as it did the first time. After the final day, I literally veered from swinging my 32 kg for a few days and concentrated on cleans and squats.

Now before you tell me I’m wrong in what I claim, let me just tell you that I don’t really have much empirical evidence as to my little declaration. All I request of you, however, is to try the 10,000 kettlebell swing challenge first (or again if you tried it before) and come back here to tell me how you felt about it. If you found yourself calling my idea accurate then you have my gratitude. Otherwise, let’s agree to disagree and be better friends.

But let’s discuss the new kettlebell complex I read about here. It’s more of a conditioning workout before a tournament fight according to the author. They call it the Gladiator Complex.

The Gladiator Kettlebell Complex

Here’s the breakdown of the workout care of Breaking Muscle:

Round 1: 10 double swings

Round 2: 8 swings + 2 cleans

Round 3: 6 swings + 2 cleans + 2 squats

Round 4: 4 swings + 2 cleans + 2 squats + 2 presses

Round 5: 2 swings + 2 cleans + 2 squats + 2 presses + 2 squats

Take a two-minute break and begin again.

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Interestingly enough, this complex wasn’t as easy as it looks on paper. Sure, 10 reps per round doesn’t sound so bad but with a pair of 24’s, this complex can burn your fat and tire you out with just 2-3 circuits. To tell you the truth, I did this complex this morning (because I’m like an excited kid on Christmas Day when it comes to new kettlebell complexes) and I was able to pull out 2 in under 10 minutes in which I decided to finish the remaining 10 minutes of my daily workout time with the armor building complex.

What I did was perform one round then rest for 30 seconds then go for the next round until I finish. Take the recommended two minutes rest then go back to round one again. I honestly think I could’ve finished faster if I didn’t rest up so much but I would like to think this complex is much more beneficial if done in a slow yet consistent pace. Let’s not forget how slow and controlled movements, particularly in grinding-dominant complexes, demand much more muscle control and core tightness which translates to enhanced focus and breathing technique (specially breathing technique).

You’re more than welcome to try to get as many rounds as you can but I think you’ll miss out on the overall benefit of this complex if you simply aim for volume. This would be a great addition to my kettlebell complex arsenal but I won’t be including it on my personal program yet (which I’ll find time to write about as soon as I’m finished “testing it out”).

Try this out and write your comments below!