So, to start this challenge. This is what I will be swinging a total of 25,000 times, single arm, this month:
It’s a competition grade steel kettlebell weighing 24kg.
There are ample resources online detailing the history of kettlebells (which is long; they date back over 300 years in Russia), benefits of kettlebell training, and some of the many exercises possible; however, the kettlebell swing (either with both hands or one hand) is the most fundamental of all movements with a kettlebell, and still the “keystone” exercise. This one movement, in itself, executed properly, is a very complete all-body exercise. Performed in volume, it also presents a considerable challenge. Here’s what it looks like “in hand”:
Size comparison against my cast iron 8kg kettlebell:
I will log my workouts in something like the following fashion:
40 / 40 / 40 / 40
This lists 4 sets of 40 swings. I generally rest for anywhere between 30 seconds to a couple of minutes between sets when performing swings with this weight. I alternate arm seamlessly every ten swings – so a sets of 40 swings in the above example actually translates to something like this:
10 (left arm) – 10 (right arm) – 10 (left arm) – 10 (right arm) – rest
Videos to follow!
My strategy is to divide the workload into two or three sessions per day – so typically a morning workout of 500 swings and an evening workout of 500 swings. This allows me some time to recover and is slightly less taxing that one drawn out session. I intend to try to do 1000 (or more) swings per day six days a week, with Sunday’s as my rest day. This way, I should hopefully have passed the 24,000 mark with still a few days left of July to finish off the challenge.
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I am doing this as a personal challenge (I expect it to become very difficult as I gradually fatigue as the month goes on..!) and to raise money for the The European Nature Trust, whose various charitable activities are described on their website. If you like the idea, feel free to donate by clicking on the widget on the right hand side of this page! It would be great if I could hit at least £500 over the course of the month! Thanks in advance!