Dan John Reveals: "Can You ACTUALLY Get Stronger with Kettlebells?"
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 11. 2023
- ► Personalized workouts based on your schedule, ability, and equipment options. www.DanJohnUniversity.com.
► If you're interested in getting coached by Dan personally, go to DanJohnInnerCircle.com to apply for his private coaching group.
Follow Dan Online Here:
Instagram: / coachdanjohn
Facebook: / coachdanjohn1
Website: danjohnuniversity.com
Medium: / danjohn84123
Podcast: www.spreaker.com/show/the-dan...
----
Dan John has spent his life with one foot in the world of lifting and throwing, and the other foot in academia. An All-American discus thrower, Dan has also competed at the highest levels of Olympic lifting, Highland Games and the Weight Pentathlon, an event in which he holds the American record.
Dan spends his work life blending weekly strength training workshops and lectures with full-time writing, and is also an online religious studies instructor for Columbia College of Missouri. As a Fulbright Scholar, he toured the Middle East exploring the foundations of religious education systems. Dan is also a Senior Lecturer for St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London.
His books, on weightlifting, include Intervention, Never Let Go, Mass Made Simple and Easy Strength, written with Pavel Tsatsouline as well as From Dad, To Grad. He and Josh Hillis co-authored “Fat Loss Happens on Monday.”
Dan is one of the original practitioners of the "Kettlebell Swing" in the US and is widely renowned to be the inventor of the "Kettlebell Goblet Squat". He is the host of the weekly Dan John Podcast; discussing all things strength, kettlebells, Olympic weightlifting and athletic performance as well as doing live workshops, coaching and online personal training.
#danjohn #strengthtraining #nutrition #onlinepersonaltraining #danjohnpodcast #kettlebell #powerlifting #kettlebelltraining - Sport
I was a brand new Army LT in 2002. I was in Germany and met a dude who used kettlebells. I switched to them around this time. I have at least 30 bells at this point . I use them 5-6 days a week. Retired from the Army last year. Flexible. Strong. What I loved about them was I could workout and not be so sore the next day. I do also do pull ups and dips. Otherwise it is all kettlebells. I feel great!
Thanks for sharing that. I find that interesting.
All training modalities bring something to the table.
Exactly
My coach programmed me for general strength and conditioning using mostly kettlebells for the first four or so years of lifting. Back in the spring I found a local strongman club. I've always loved strongman and really needed to find a community to be a part of, so I jumped right in. Tweaked the programming to start including barbell stuff and strongman implements. Eight months later, I just won my first novice competition.
Kettlebells absolutely are valid strength builders. I went from pressing double 45s to 180 lbs on the axle, trap bar deadlifts in the 300s to 430 conventional, and 2kb front squats with 45s to back squatting 345 with something left in the tank.
Not to mention all the KB complexes that give me better conditioning for farmers, yoke and sandbag work than the other guys in my club.
They work.
Awesome! Those KB weights in lb or kg?
@@ATMfromNJ pounds lol... I ain't that strong yet! I'm a U90kg competitor. And I started at age 42. :p
@@jculbert2221 That's what I thought. I'm used to seeing kg with the KB's so wanted to be sure. (Those number at kg would be disgusting). Your progression is impressive! Love that the KB's provided a solid foundation for your strength training. Inspiring to say the least!
Thanks man!
I agree
Single bell long cycle is the only exercise I do (20 reps per day total) and I'm in excellent shape. More importantly I haven't had a single injury since I switched over from barbells.
20 reps per side or just 20 reps total?
@@returntothepath Total. Usually one side per day to give the arm and hand joints some extra recovery time.
Thanks for sharing
16kg snatching is where I am at and it is simple providing alot of benefits...including for sports. Your voice of reason has spoken and I have listened, again.
Thank you. This is much appreciated.
I do the 10,000 swing challenge at least once a year just as a habit. I never lose because of it.
My wife and I took our 10yr anniversary trip to Kauai and Oahu in 2020. I ended the 10,000 challenge the day before we got on the plane, and the most notable moment of, “those swings helped me do this” was a 3 hour round trip hike up and down a mountain which barely raised my heart-rate. Wasn’t even fatigued by the hike. Felt like a good morning walk.
That is just fantastic to read. Thank you for sharing that with us.
Whenever people ask me which exercise style is best or better, I always tell them that a poorly written program performed consitently is better than a well written program done inconsistenly. Same with nutrition/diets. Pick one and do it consistently and we all end up at the same general place.
An absolute truth
I am so glad I saw this after listening and reading Dan John's work for the past 3 years😂
Much appreciated
We used kettlebells for the majority of our strength & conditioning workouts due to the fact of a small high school weight room. We bought enough kettlebells for the team or perform single and doubles in the base lifts. Our players loved them after they were coached up on safety and technique. The summer conditioning benefitted from the outside elements of heat and humidity in our sessions as it prepared us for the August weather in Iowa. Big kettlebell fan here and giant Dan John fan! Thanks Dan for all you do in all areas of strength and conditioning.
You are very welcome. I use Kettle Bell a lot with my high school athletes.
Reasonable and rational which seems to be your brand . I like that unlike some other people you don't say that one particular tool or modality is going to do all things for all people. I got away from kettlebell training for a while as I was working out early and didn't feel comfortable doing the more dynamic/complex lifts when I still might still be waking up. My schedule has changed so it might be time to dust off my 35s,55s, and 70lb bells
Thank you. KBs are great, but you are right here about 'tools'
Thank you, sir, for this video. It has answered a lot of my questions about kettlebells. I just bought me a 16 kg kettlebell two weeks ago. I've been watching kettlebell videos and practicing the swing, cleans, snatch, and unilateral squat; I haven't practiced the tgu yet. I prefer unilateral squat over goblet squat because I feel it's more challenging and more range of motion. Kettlebells are fun, and I've already programed them into my barbell training. Kettlebells are a good way for me to train for power because I can't do olympic lifts yet. I'm 55 and need kettlebells to improve power and mobility.
Thank you
Look at studies on the kb swing and its effect on training “power”. You’ll find you may not need to do Olympic lifts at all
Well, I know one thing for sure. I'd definitely much rather sit down, grab a beer and talk training, life and the universe with Dan than with a know-it-all maximalist like Rip lol
You're the man, Dan - appreciate the nuanced take as always!
Well. Thank you
Yes to kettlebells! Two examples come to mind: Joe Daniels and Valery Federenko. Throw in Ivan Denisov for good measure. So three.
Thank you
Hi Dan
Insightful knowledge as always. Just wondering if you do any wrist specific exercises or if you've ever had to overcome a wrist injury.
Thanks
Richie
Send this to the podcast please. Yes, I have a broke my wrist in eight pieces.
I used to do bodybuilding in a gym 4 or 5 hours a week, and now I do just 1 hour of kettlebells a week. I'm much stronger than I ever was and am leaner and fitter. I've been doing KBs for a decade now and am in the best shape of my life at 47. The reason why I do KBs (and bodyweight) only now is because I get a better, full body workout in half the time. I don't even need to run any more, just plenty of walking.
That’s an outstanding reply. Thank you.
Dan, you are an inspiration to us all. I've learnt so much from your videos. I in particular like the Christian way you deal with negativity, you are always reasonable and kind. You are a good human being!
Early 2000s, at the grade school wrestling meets there were shirts with pictures of baseballs,footballs,soccer balls. The caption read “ go ahead and play with your balls, I’ll wrestle “ lol. Another great that couldn’t be written today
I always loved the wrestling shirts!
My fave wrestling shirt had the same picture of a football, bball , baseball and it said : “Boys play with them , wrestlers have them”
Snatched 20 kg KB for 5 on each side today, only learned to KB snatch three weeks ago. Only used KB for swings for a year, then tried the snatch. Feels a lot more natural than barbell snatches. I'm working club bells, too, and getting stronger fast. I'm 65. I really appreciate Dan John's gym wisdom.
Thank you for sharing. Anything that keeps coming back to the gym is a good thing
The biggest, and strongest I ever was in my life was completing the ROP program with a 24kg bell, and doing pull-ups hanging 20lbs off my belt. Passed the 200 in 10 minutes snatch test in the yard. I now can press the 32kg for reps and my pull-ups aren’t as strong because I got a few injuries. I will say that kettlebell ballistics just are magical for your backs and glutes. Their grind lifts are fantastic for hypertrophy as well. I own a barbell, but I will pick the kettlebell stuff since it really transfers to all terrain strength on a construction site.
That was my first kettlebell program
I'd be interested to hear your take on strand pulling.
I've been doing kettlebells for two years, using a 32 kg daily, (I'm 40, 5'9", 155 lbs). I recently added strand pulling using Robert Baraban's chest expander. I'm pulling 50 and 60 kg on all my exercises, and I'm definitely filling out a bit, as well as pressing the kettlebell easier now. It definitely hits different, but hard still.
Send this to the podcast please
The number 1 sport played by Navy Seals, Green Berets, Delta Force, Rangers, AF Special Tactics Squadrons, UK SAS,SBA and PARAs is, not tackle football or rugby but wrestling.
For wrestling conditioning all year round, before school we would place a teammate on our back, go up and down the stadium bleachers. Then switch positions repeat, over and over.
You sure about the UK sf there? We don't really have high school wrestling this side of the pond.
@@jamesbarker7145 all forms of grappling
Well, from my experience, it’s also swimming. But I just have to say that most of the people I work with played American football for Westpoint or Annapolis.
@@DanJohnStrengthCoach nobody is talking about swimming somehow ?
I started swimming almost everyday in August to end of October at our lake here in Germany and nearby I can do pull ups after swimming
I got fitter very quickly
I think if you swim a lot and then train right after it you don't need anything else
Except a lot of food and your bed 😂
Also I think if you can overcome the cold and swim in autumn and even winter it can help you a looot in Kettlebell or any training
Because it shocks the body like nothing else also very good for the brain 😄☃️
I love kettlebells and am planning to attend the level 2 sfg cert after passing the level 1 2.5 years ago. With that said, I think certain strength gains can be had with kb’s. But if you are chasing strength gains a kb is not the best. I’ve been training mostly with kb for the passed few years and it has made me very strong but at the same time it hurts my elbows. Barbells don’t do this to me so I have found it better to alternate the two modalities or just combine them in a sensible way.
Okay.
Kettlebells = consistency because I can do them almost anywhere. Consistency over long periods = high fitness. That said, my best strength fitness came from heavy barbell days 2-3 days per week with kettlebell ballistics 1-2 days per week to make the barbell strength applicable to the “real world”.
That’s a very good point
Pick up the rock or kettlebell squat with it... lunge with it and press it.... all slowly with full range of motion... pause a lot and repeat.. Guys it is simple stuff. If you are 60 or so ... Just make sure you do 30 minutes of mobility first (the most important off all) ... at 60 being mobile and pain free çome first.... i can deck squat...pistol squat... sissy squats like the "knees over toes guy" and press a 24 kg KB for singles... quite a few times... I am still ugly as sin. But such is life... the most important is to make it routine (do exercise most days) ... take time...ie at least 1.5 hours ( go to a gym to enjoy the eye-candy) And stay pain free.
All right
Enjoy the eye candy 😄 That's what life is for
Once you are in the grave you can not enjoy the beautiful things in life anymore
Train everyday that's the truth 👍
Its a very good habit
I’ve been watching a lot of your videos lately because I want to start strength training again. I have a barbell, squat rack, and a boatload of weights. I also have quite a few Kettlebells. I am a runner and I know that I have quite a few (left/right) imbalances. It’s perhaps best to start with unilateral KB routines. Once I have fixed my problems, I can come back to a powerlifiting program. What do you think about this idea?
Go for it! It's a sound approach.
The best program is the one you actually do.
The greatest truth there is
One of the strongest Olympic lifters ever, Vasily Alexeyev, worked high rep kettlebells into his training in the 1970s. There's no doubt they can help people develop strength, technique, and bring up weak points really well, and can work on generally conditioning and work capacity like few other tools.
I didn't care what Rippetoe said about anything 20 years ago, and that hasn't ever changed. He had a really weird almost-cult thing going on for a while, which was morbidly hilarious, but he's not someone I'd ever pay any attention to.
Somewhere in my archives, I have Alexeyev's training programs for his athletes and it is basically all complexes. I do remember seeing pics of him with KBs in magazines...not Strength and Health but others...I was interested. The first time I saw KBs in action was at the College of San Mateo when the Soviet hammer throwers were tossing them around.
I had a friend in college who actually went to my high school but was a few years older so we never talked then. He played baseball and whenever they messed up, their punishment was working out with the wrestling team. Now that must have stopped once I started wrestling because I never saw that happen, but I know first hand how brutal those practices are.
On a second note I started focusing on doing strictly kettlebell and steel club workouts when the pandemic hit due to the gyms being closed. When I was able to train judo and bjj again, everybody commented on how much stronger I felt. Now I may not have been able to deadlift as much as I used to but my functional strength was much higher and I'm less concerned with throwing my back out doing basic stuff as a guy in his late 30s.
This might be the single best response I have ever read here on YT.
@@DanJohnStrengthCoach Thanks. That means a lot coming from you.
Hi Dan, may be this refexion is a bit off topic, but I remenber write a lot about training in training forums and at that time I dont know too much about training (dont even knowing who DJ is), and now that learn a lot more and with more years of training I almost don´t write anything not even after see horredous things in the social media. That make me question most I see on line.
Thank you for sharing this. I really do appreciate it.
From the perspective that the heart is also a muscle that deserves to be stronger, I can't think of a better training implement for full body strength, than the kettlebell.
A lot of people agree with you...
Love the isle of lewis ches set
That was one of the best things I ever bought. I got it in a shop in Galway
@@DanJohnStrengthCoach if your ever back this side of the pond, the originals are in the British museum.
It always confuses me why people think lifting or swinging a heavy piece of steel or iron will NOT make you stronger.
Also, for anyone interested, Joe Daniels (kettlebell coach and sport competitor) has a whole program designed to gain muscle using only kettlebells.
Okay
If it’s a freeweight that ends in “-bell” or a bodyweight exercise I can almost guarantee 99% of the time it will make you bigger/stronger/athletic
I agree 100%
Be stronger for what? If you go from pressing 16kg to pressing 24kg you are stronger?
Great video as always 👌👍
Good question!
Of course you are stronger
If you don't train at all you can not even press 10kg
If you can move weight easily you are strong
No matter what it is
A heavy rock a big piece of wood or a 50kg bag of grain
Without muscle and strength you can not do it
Double 48s by 12😮 I did sets of 3 with a single 48 and thought I was a badass😅
Well, that's as good as what I see about most KB certs, so you are in good company.
Starting Strength is a good program that has turned into an internet religion, unfortunately. I’ve never been a good presser, but after 4 weeks of heavy double and single one arm presses, I set a 20lb PR in the OHP (185 to 205). And it went up easy.
Thank you for sharing this
Ill be honest I lifted Bells for 5 years. I've gone back to Barbells. I Struggled to put on any muscle with KBs. I'm 52, i need to build/maintain muscle, barbells do it for me. KBs never did. And I'm not entirely sure why.
Both are the answer
@@DanJohnStrengthCoach I can only be honest Dan. I respect you, but KBs did nothing for me.
define 'didn't put on any muscle'? If you're talking muscle hypertrophy (muscle size) than that is quite possible. To build size you need to work in the 8-10 rep range (roughly). KB's are generally done for much higher reps and so will not truly stimulate hypertrophy. Just as using a barbell won't either if you're doing higher reps like with KB's. But don't confuse size with function or capacity.
@@idx1941 Squats and Deadlifts create the most growth in terms of muscle. They're also the best at releasing growth hormones and testosterone. You cant deadlift KBs. The Swing is pretty useless. I swang a 32kg for 300 reps daily for 2 months. The results were minimal. I got better results doing high rep barbell squats. Im just going off personal experience.
@@carlwoods4564 not arguing over what method can add more muscle size. Just pointing out that 8-10 reps, with a weight sufficient to make those reps tough, is best to build size. So kb's aren't the best choice. But some people aren't looking for that. It should never be an either/or choice.
As much as I like Rip he does troll a lot - "kettlebell's a door stop", "it's a fad", "Russians (Pavel) are cool/severe - we won the cold war". Think it's best to take it with a grain of salt and a laugh.
to Dan John's point, everything in the gym is a tool and if used properly, you'll get the adaptations you're looking for.
Maybe he’s just trolling, but I doubt it. He also trashes American weightlifting coaches like they don’t know what they’re doing, even though Rip has never produced a weightlifting athlete himself, and he also trashes the trap bar because of the “Sagittal plane imbalance” nonsense and thinks the army is making a mistake by implementing it even though it’s clearly a better deadlifting tool than the barbell.
@@duchaneauxReminds me of Louis Simmons who also drank a bit too much of his own kool-aid, thinking he knew more about o-lifting than the people coaching/training it at the highest level, despite lacking relevant experience and despite proving his concepts to actually work for that sport. Eh, I just ignore maximalists like them...
That’s right, everything is a good tool
Rippetoe hates on kettlebells, safety squat bar, trap bars, calisthenics, etc.
He’s a very nice guy. I understand why he does that.
Those discussions, I think, are noise coming from us that became so unable to deal with our boredom that even something that makes no sense is preferable to just not watching something. Come on, those are tools, each of them with its use cases, specificity, etc. As is strength actually. A gymnast is strong, a power lifter is strong, a sprinter is strong. Are they the same strong? Why should any modality be the superior one. There is no unified scale to which compare them all.
I think that’s true
Kettlebells, balanced free weights, body weight exercises...it's all the same gravity lol
Gravity is my favorite law of physics (Now if I can remember where that comes from)
the whole kettlebell schtick is marketing... During the 2020 cover lockdown I had an 8kg, 14kg and 22kg kettlebell (it was hard to find them, you took the weight you could find). I trained hard like that for 5 months (nothing else to do) and came back to the gym with all my barbell and dumbbell lifts STRONGER than they were before.
Your first sentence doesn’t really seem to tie into what you tell us here. I might be misunderstanding something.
Get to the Simple standard with kettlebells and you will have no strength deficiencies that matter in life or amatuer sport. Get to the Sinister standard and you will have no strength deficiencies that matter, period. Exactly the same is true for the average size under 40 male who hits the usual bench/squat/deadlift 300/400/500 benchmarks. Barbells are great, and so are kettlebells. The arguments are silly and mostly no more than ridiculous marketing artifacts.
"Usual?" Those are D1 standards. I just relooked. My mistake. That would be a 300 clean not a 300 bench and a 400 bench not a squat. The numbers you posted are fairly common high school football numbers in America. I need to make sure I read what people write...not what I think they write.
Rippetoe is great but he's got a dog in the fight. "Barbell program salesman says barbell training is best." 🤔
True, but I think I do this too.
The natural follow up....All you have is a 16kg kettlebell and six weeks in a prison cell...what are you doing?
Im guessing high rep:
- swings
- single arm presses
-Goblet squats
- single arm rows
Dan will have a better answer but I would go with: TGU's to get loose. Since we're going light, I would go 5-6 days a week, alternating workouts. A day: Humane burpee (vary rep scheme which may be high for some since 16kg is light); include a snatch day in place of swings once a week and push it 100-200 reps. B day: bell-up presses combined with a pull-up if there's a spot to grab (hook that 16 w your feet for weighted pulls) if not then clean before each press; waiter or bell-up carries on every work day.
Alternating; AM shuttle run warm up, 100 gentle laps. 10 swings into Shadow boxing for 10x3 minute rounds, 1 min rest between rounds. finish, 100 shuttle runs, forward, backward, lateral.
PM, single arm Clean and press, 10x10, stretch thoroughly.
Day 2; AM shuttle run 100 gentle laps. 10 push-ups, 10 swings, 5 sets. loaded carry, 100 laps, alternating sides, 50L/ 50R
PM, shuttle run warm up. goblet squat, 10x10, push-ups into KB row superset 10x10.
stretch thoroughly.
Pretty sure i got it all. Push, pull, hinge, squat, loaded carry and cardio with war ups and stretches. Peace Dr. A.
A. One bell armour building complex.
B. Snatches, loaded carries (or marching in place if in solitary)
A,B,A, rest,B,A,B.
Ask the Podcast
Big != strong.
Not really ! If that were true Kai greene , Ronnie Coleman and jay Cutler would have been the strongest guys in the world in their prime !
@@antonycuff4512 You clearly don't know what "!=" means, because the guy literally said the same thing as you.
Not always true
you have to let yourself be bitten by the aggressive bulldog before set for more psychic power and adrenaline
he bite you than you lift it
My dogs are retrievers. It’s not an issue.
@@DanJohnStrengthCoach you have to be like those women who lift cars to get their children out of accidents)
The problem with kettlebells is it takes months or years to master the movements before you can add intensity. Young athletes don't have that much time in between seasons.
It only took me a few weeks..
stop the cap, they are easier to get to a level of proficiency for most ppl VS barbell work, definitely so if we're talking explosive barbell lifts.
I’m not sure I agree with that.
@@kostoglotow Zach evan esh who is a rkc said that the one arm dumbbell snatch and the sand bag clean and shoulder clean are the easiest coachable triple extension movements for young athletes and they give you the same or more benefits than the barbell clean and snatch !
@@DanJohnStrengthCoach I should have said it takes years to find the right coach or information on how to do it right ! Most people learn from celebrities or athletes who have terrible form despite having the resources to hire the best ! People like Rogan who hired a coach like Maxwell still has terrible technique !