Strength training for GS, Part 3. Heavy circuit training (time saving approach)

There are many ways to structure resistance training for Girevoy (kettlebell) sport or grappling sports. In a previous post, I suggested one heavy set at the end of a GS session if you train 4-5+ times per week. Circuit training, whilst pairing opposite movement patterns is a time effective method which has been proposed to improve strength and endurance outcomes. Performing multiple sets will obviously take longer than performing a single set at the end of a session, however it may yield greater results. Traditionally, loading for circuit exercises ranges from 40-60% 1RM. In this post we will look at the benefits of heavier loads such as 80% 1RM, while in another post we will look at traditional circuit training and cluster sets. Performing a circuit using upper and lower body pairing or opposite muscle groups will allow you to perform a greater workout volume within a shorter period of time. This will be particularly helpful if you perform full body workouts, want to add in some resistance training after a GS session, or are short on time.

Upper/lower body pairing:

Circuit training and traditional training have the same energy expenditure when they are matched for work, however, circuit training results in higher blood lactate levels and heart rate. This causes greater post oxygen consumption following training. Heavy circuit training is one the best ways to structure full body training sessions. During heavy circuit training, no difference in bench press bar speed was found when multiple rounds of a circuit consisting of bench press, leg press and calf extension were compared to bench press alone. The circuit had 35 seconds rest between each exercise and the bench press set had three minutes rest. Eight weeks of heavy circuit training was compared to a traditional program. Both resulted in improvements in strength, power and shuttle runs. The only exceptions were a reduction in body fat in the circuit training group, and a greater improvement in peak cycling power with traditional training. This is a fantastic outcome when you consider that the heavy circuit training took 55-78 minutes and the traditional group took 105-125 minutes.   

 

Below are some ways to structure heavy circuit training, including microcycles and exercise selection:

 

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
GS + Heavy Circuit Off GS + Heavy Circuit Off GS + Heavy Circuit Off Off

 

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
GS + Heavy Circuit GS (light) GS (medium) GS + Heavy Circuit GS (light) GS (medium) Off

 

Heavy circuit:

Squats

Chin ups

Press

 

Opposite muscle group pairing: 

Another common way to save time is by pairing opposite movement patterns together. When bench throws were combined with bench pulls, the throws were found to have a 4.7% increase in power output. Another study found no difference in power between groups and found similar decreases in bench pull volume loads for each set, when performed to failure. This would suggest that combining opposite movement patterns is a useful strategy to save time when performing strength exercises and may improve power training.

 

Upper/lower body pairings:

Deadlifts

Push ups/dips

 

Push press

Chin/pull ups

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
GS (Jerk) + Squat/Press GS (Snatch)+ Deadlifts/Chin/Pull ups Off or Endurance GS (Jerk) + Squat/Press Off or Endurance GS (Snatch)+ Deadlifts/Chin/Pull ups Off

 

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
GS + Deadlift/Dips GS (light) GS (medium) GS+ Squat/Pull up GS (light) GS (medium) Off

 

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7
GS + Pull up/ Dips GS + Squat/ GHR off GS+ PressRow Off GS Good morning/ Sled drag Off

 

There are no hard and fast ways to program resistance training for GS. Twenty minutes of heavy resistance circuit training may be a useful addition at the end of a GS session in a general preparation phase, or if you need to improve/maintain general strength, power or strength endurance levels.

An easy way to ensure you stay on time is to use turn around training. You can do this by allocating a period of time such as five minutes and performing a round of the heavy circuit training within it. As a general rule of thumb, I found using four minutes for turn around useful for two exercises, five minutes for three exercise and six minutes for four exercises seems to works well. The benefit of this is that you know how long your additional strength training will take. For example, if you had five sets of a two minute circuit, it would take you 20 minutes to complete. 

PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE AND CARDIOVASCULAR RESPONSES TO AN ACUTE BOUT OF HEAVY RESISTANCE CIRCUIT TRAINING VERSUS TRADITIONAL STRENGTH TRAINING

SIMILARITY IN ADAPTATIONS TO HIGH-RESISTANCE CIRCUIT VS. TRADITIONAL STRENGTH TRAINING IN RESISTANCE-TRAINED MEN

THE METABOLIC COSTS OF RECIPROCAL SUPERSETS VS. TRADITIONAL RESISTANCE EXERCISE IN YOUNG RECREATIONALLY ACTIVE ADULTS

ACUTE EFFECT ON POWER OUTPUT OF ALTERNATING AN AGONIST AND ANTAGONIST MUSCLE EXERCISE DURING COMPLEX TRAINING

THE EFFECT OF A COMPLEX AGONIST AND ANTAGONIST RESISTANCE TRAINING PROTOCOL ON VOLUME LOAD,POWER OUTPUT, ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC RESPONSES, AND EFFICIENCY

 

Author

My name is James Ross, I’m a qualified personal trainer, strength & conditioning coach and sports scientist. I am a founder and coach at The Richmond Gym in Melbourne and started the website www.gsscience.com.

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