Tuesday, July 1, 2008

This was designed

... inspired by Franklin :)

A variation of my 'ladders within ladders', or, as he called it (and kindly explained in a much more intelligible manner than I ever could), my "summer swing ladder", a bit less strenuous as for the work-rest-ratio.

EDIT:
Of course I'm not reinventing the wheel here (or anywhere), it all goes back to the same concept as in Tracy's progressive ladders - what I was trying to do was to set it up (scale it down) rep- and rest-wise so that a (for me) really heavy weight gets manageable for longer sets.


rep ladder:
two hand swing (=transfer) - 1 swing L - two hand swing - 1 swing R -
two hand swing - 2 swings L - two hand swing - 2 swings R -
two hand swing - 3 swings L - two hand swing - 3 swings R -
two hand swing - 4 swings L - two hand swing - 4 swings R -
two hand swing - 5 swings L - two hand swing - 5 swings R
= 1 set, 40 swings (15L, 15R, 10 two hand), 1min

This rep ladder design can be easily adjusted to your grip endurance: if you prefer to have more two hand swings, you can simply stick to the original ladder scheme and do 4 rungs instead of 5, that's also 40 swings/set, 10L+10R+20 two hand, or you can also do both downhill.

The weight ladder, as I originally planned, would have then been:
1 set @ 16kg
1 set @ 20kg
1 set @ 24kg
1min on, 1min off, 6min/ladder

But Franklin's idea of doing it all @24kg was stronger... Oh yes, those blogospheric bees in our bonnets ;)
So I instead did 15 rounds @24kg
8 sets as described uphill,
3 sets downhill,
and the rest with 4 rungs and more two hand swings uphill:
1 two hand swing - 1 swing L - 1 two hand swing - 1 swing R -
2 two hand swings - 2 swings L - 2 two hand swings - 2 swings R -
3 two hand swings - 3 swings L - 3 two hand swings - 3 swings R -
4 two hand swings - 4 swings L - 4 two hand swings - 4 swings R

Total: 30min, 600 swings

18 comments:

Gabi said...

Thanks, Nikki!

You rock the race, keep up the good work :)

Franklin said...

Gosh, golly, I'm honored to have inspired you to create yet another variation.

The 40 rep /sets will definitely allow me to go with less rest and more sets .. looking forward to giving it go. I'm still not giving up on the 1st variation as it makes a nice goal to strive for.

Franz Snideman said...

I like it.......very cool!

Gabi said...

Thank you, Franz!

Franklin,

the first one is really tough, this one can be used as a step by step progression leading up to it. E.g. once one has completed the required amount (or more) with this alright, one can cut back on the volume and start over with longer sets + same rest or compressed rest periods + same set length. Then one can cut back on volume again and go for the first one.

Tracy Reifkind said...

Wow, this routine looks like roundabout swing ladders, LOL! I guess great minds think alike!

This combination is great for transitioning to heavier weights...love it!

Gabi said...

Yes, it allows to build up quite some volume leaving time for the grip to catch up, but it gradually shifts focus towards one hand work - that can lead up to clean and then snatch heavy for reps.

Well, that's my theory :) We'll see how it works.

Mark Reifkind said...

wow, to me that looks exactly like Tracy's roundabouts. solid work gabi.

Gabi said...

Oh,
now I know what you mean!
It just didn't click first, as I thought of roundabouts as 1L-two hand transfer-1R-two hand transfer and so on.

I certainly didn't mean to claim the basic concept of rep ladders as mine, I'm sorry if it has come off like that :)

Mark Reifkind said...

no worries, it's just that she is very proud of coming up with that combination. she developed it so she could learn how to transition to a heavier one arm swing.

Gabi said...

And what an effective one, that it enables her to go 8min nonstop!

Franklin said...

In that case, my sincerest thanks to both Tracy and yourself for exploring this combination.

Gabi said...

Franklin,

have you seen the Rob Lawrence article about over at DD? That's yet another approach.

Breathing ladders

Mark Reifkind said...

yes, breathing ladders are WAY tough too.

Franklin said...

No I hadn't heard of them before until just reading the article .. very interesting! It sounds like Mark gave it shot and its quite challenging .. I'll give it a go.

The photo of Rob Lawrence at the end of the article is an amazing shot of him with a huge bell (probably the beast).

Gabi said...

There's a more detailed description at Gym Jones.
That was my first step towards high rep work a year ago or so :) 1-20-1 two hand swings (400), I was very proud I finished under 40min... until I read again and realized the goal is to make it as _long_ as possible :D

Gabi said...

Eh, I hope this time the link works:

http://www.gymjones.com/knowledge.php?id=27

Mark Reifkind said...

that edit was nice gabi, thanks :))

Gabi said...

:) May indeed have been misleading for somebody not familiar to KBs.

Cool new avatar, btw. :)