I’m a little dumb, so I like kettlebell swings a lot.
Which would be better for back health: long sets with a lighter weight or short sets with a heavier one? I’m thinking the long sets would maybe build stamina in the back muscles for long days on the bike, but on the other hand the heavy sets would build strength for mudwrestling with my mountainbike.
I basically only do swings and turkish get-ups, what else should I try?
I also do kettlebell sets with my strength training. You basically said it. Go heavier, shorter reps for strength and lighter, higher reps for endurance. On the endurance side, I also add some speed to the rep to get the heart and metabolism revved up for fat burning. As I get closer to an event, I definitely go lighter and faster to burn excess fat and to up the endurance aspect.
Other kettlebell exercises I add are: One-handed swings, figure 8’s, light weight deadlift going into a deep squat, side lunges, clean-and-press, alternate bentover rows (for the back), alternating presses, etc. Definitely add the figure 8’s if nothing else, since this one really works on the core stabilizers; just make sure to watch your 8’s… banging the shins or calves, ouch!
According to **simple and sinister ** from pavel you’ll cover a lot of ground with those 2.
You can add snatches (say set your baseline for number of snatches you can do SAFELY for x amount of time and try to improve your number of reps and eventually the weight)
You can do long cycles which work the whole body (just google kettlebell longcycle) and same thing applies, do timed sets for endurance building.
Kettlebell halos are great for the shoulders/upper back.
As somebody else mentioned I’d add the snatch, clean, clean and press for variety and balance. KB’s are also great for the single leg deadlift which I think is a good more for everyone but especially for cyclists. The Goblet squat is also a good move, even a few to warm up and help stretch can be beneficial.
If you have a couple of bells you can also do the snatch and clean moves with a bell in each hand. I usually just use one KB at a time but if you’re looking for variety…
Thanks for the replies everyone. Nice exercise recommendations, I’ve tried most of them but somehow always gravitate to doing just the two…
However, I was looking more specifically at doing either long or heavy sets, is there a reason to do one over the other? Or should I just mix both.