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Flip Flopping, Movement, and He Who Should Not Be Named

Dave Hedges
May 23
5 min read

"Is there any issue with flip flopping on programmes for basic strength training, mobility & conditioning - of which is part of the programme (fast rep stuff) rather than adding in something such as running - which I really can’t stand!

My personal approach is targeting the same type of moves but with different implements.

E.g I may do a cycle or 2 on TRX with all the good stuff in there progressively overloading on each session.

Then I may go do a KB programme for a cycle or 2.

All the key moves plus the lovely TGU.

And right now I’m taking a more Functional Patterns (he who is a guru - from a previous post!) banded approach.

This resonates with me at the moment, lots of rotation, time under tension, but not so easy to progressively overload although I absolutely am doing that as best I can.

I train at home only, nice selection of bells, TRX and bands, in the fresh air.

That beats chasing numbers is my opinion.

Also I’m not training for a sport or specific skills.

Matt Wilsher"

Lots to unpack in this one, lets list the key points so we know what we're answering

Flip flopping on programs

Substituting exercises you don't like

Matching a plan with personal wants/needs

Basic periodisation / movement over muscles

Functional Patterns

Progress without chasing numbers

Each one of these is a full topic in itself, so I have copied this list into my newsletter topics list and will hit them up in detail down the line.

Today though, we'll give you the basics without too much detail.

Starting with:

1: Flip flopping on programs

Ask this to most S&C coaches than they'll have an aneurism, the program is the program is the program!

Unless, you're not an athlete and instead you are a regular person with a regular job, family etc and are doing your best to keep in shape while also being there for the family and job.

If that's you, then you're already a hero in my book.

And in this case, life will throw you curve balls and do it's best to derail any programming.

Which means flexibility is required.

Being flexible is not flip flopping, it is being adaptable. Adapting to circumstances.

Can I train once this week, but 4 times next week? Is that old shoulder injury at me and the barbell no linger suits but the TRX does? What are your stress levels like?

All these things matter, and if a program is driving hard and not suiting your lifestyle, then flip it.

2: Substituting exercises you don't like, Matt specifically mentions running.

The amount of people I meet who say they hate running astonishes me, if you are one of these people, do me a favour and write back to me with a few lines saying what it is you hate about running.

When it comes to exercise selection, it is a process of reverse engineering.

Start with the desired outcome, then look at the person, then figure out how to get that person that outcome.

So if we want cardiovascular / aerobic fitness, but that person hates to run. It makes no sense to ask them to run. We can go to our tool kit and look at the dozens of other methods we have to develop the aerobic system.

From the various Ergometers, stationary bikes, rowing machines etc.

Skipping, light kettlebells, bodyweight movements, mobility circuits, bag work and shadow boxing, the list goes on.

Outcomes are not exercise specific, I cannot think of a single exercise that is essential for every individual to do. Yes, some exercises are better than others, but nothing is essential.

Pick the outcome then work backwards to find the best tool for you to reach that outcome.

I think that covered 3: Matching the plan to the persons needs....

4: Basic Periodisation / Movements over Muscles.

Matt mentions using different kit to overload similar movements/muscles

Specifically the TRX and Kettlebells.

And this is all good, they key is knowing each piece of equipment's strengths and weaknesses.

The TRX is great for LOADING the upper body and UNLOADING the lower body, it's also great for "free scapular" moves and getting rotation in certain moves.

The Kettlebell is great for eccentric loading of the hips, grip endurance and is often a shoulder friendly option for various presses.

I'm loving the Bulgarian bag at the moment, largely because of the weather, but I know it's severely lacking when it comes to pressing movements, but for grip, pulling and rotation, it's perfect.

So once we know what our kit is and isn't good for, we can choose the exercise variant to get us to our desired outcome.

Corkscrew rows on a TRX, Bent over rows with a Kettlebell, Meadows rows with a landmine...

Split Squats with the foot in the TRX, Split Squats with 1 or 2 Kettlebells held suitcase/Racked/Overhead, staggered, Split Squats with a bar, Split squat jumps with the Bulgarian Bag

Who uses varied exercise selection like this?

None other than the world famous Westside Barbell under the late great Louis Simmons.

Westside is a powerlifting gym, Louis it's creative genius founder. He would have lifters use a different variation of each lift for a few weeks then swap it. I may be a stance change or a kit change. He knew that the changes would alter the movement just enough to challenge the muscles slightly differently and bring reduce any gaps/eliminate any training scars present.

Just don't change too frequently, give yourself 3-6 good weeks before making a change.

5: Functional Patterns

The less said about Naudi the better. However, in the spirit of "the stopped clock is right twice a day" he has some good ideas.

And setting up bands and moving in a variety of ways is always worth doing.

Go to Youtube and look up wrestlers and Judo players training with bands.

Right now I have a keen amateur golfer doing some banded wrestling drills simply to open up his movement vocabulary and help him rotate better through the thoracic spine.

Kettlebells, Why?

Dave Hedges
May 13
5 min read

This was a Facebook comment (I think) which I just copied in a hurry without taking note of the persons name, so I apologise. I often grab these questions in a hurry while using my phone.

If you recognise the question as your, please shout out.

"Hey Dave!

Quick question....

Kettlebell training, why?

Excuse my ignorance in asking this question.

Why do people do kettlebells instead of free weights etc."

And if you aren't the person, be the person who asks the next question…..

So, why kettlebells?

Back in the early 2000's after I had got back from wandering the earth and had returned to Dublin with the intention of settling there as a base of operations.

A place to have an actual address, job, training but could bounce out and back with ease.

I was training in the Martial Arts Academy in its old location on Leeson St, and was there while they (poorly) planned the move to the Magennis Place location which became Wild Geese a few years later.

In the Magennis place martial arts academy I trained with the exercise weights set.

1 inch plates, some metal, some concrete. A bar and dumbells with spin lock collars and one bar that had spring collars.

It was basic, but functional.

Got me fighting fit, both for working the doors and training up for my Kenpo 2nd degree black belt and anything else I fancied doing.

In this time I, in reading various articles and forums about fitness and martial arts, started to read about this thing called a kettlebell.

It seemed to be this mysterious tool from Russia that was making waves in the US.

I read a good deal, always cynical as most of the info was from one source, Dragon Door and this guy called Pavel.

Then I got injured. Seriously damaging my back.

So I spent the time I would usually have spent training reading.

And reading.

I bought one of Pavels books and sourced a kettlebell. Which was not easy back then, it was a 16kg and I believe it is still being used in Wild Geese.

With the book “Enter the Kettlebell” and a 16kg bell I started learning and practicing at home before going to the martial arts academy.

I learned the Turkish Get Up and the Swing from that book

Slowly.

Carefully

I genuinely believe that my recovery from injury started to speed up with the practice.

The swing seemed to be a tonic for the pain and gradually improved my ability to hip hinge and tolerate spine flexion.

I genuinely fell in love with the kettlebell.

So I bought a 24, bought more of Pavels work and kept training at home, slowly getting myself back to strength.

By the time the Martial Arts Academy folded and Paulie and I took it over at Wild Geese Martial Arts, I had taken a personal trainer course and built a significant library of books and downloads.

I was transitioning into Coach.

And the kettlebell became my weapon of choice.

I found that growing up in martial arts studios and rural areas, I got great results with bodyweight exercises and improvisation.

Kettlebells slotted right into that mindset.

Looking at Steve Maxwells work, combining Kettlebells with Bodyweight drills as a way to train for BJJ made sense to me and mirrored my own thinking.

I began realising a training philosophy that I'd always followed but never consciously thought about.

In 2005 or 6, Vasily Ginko came to Ireland to teach Kettlebells in a workshop hosted by a fledgling All Ireland Kettlebell Lifting Federation which at that time was basically one guy, the late Jason Kelly.

Vasily and Jason taught the actual Russian way of training and the sport of Kettlebell Lifting.

Vasily told me to start teaching in a way that was difficult to say no to.

The following year when Vasiky was back certifying instructors we had a more or less the same conversation, except this time about competing in Kettlebell Sport.

And that is where Wild Geese Fitness Training (WG-FIT) really started. You can thank Vasily for telling to teach people to use kettlebells!

Later in 2007 I brought Steve Cotter over and we became friends, I had Steve back several times over the years. Hosting his CKT level 1 & 2 instructor courses and other courses he taught.

So, to get back to the question, “Why Kettlebells?”

And my own question based on observation, why were so many early adopters of the kettlebell martial arts or boxing enthusiasts?

Simply put, efficiency.

One tool, that doesn't take up much room, can do many things.

A tool that has many uses.

And in a group setting, I can train twice as many people in a given space using kettlebells then I could using bars.

The swinging movements work great for work capacity while targeting the common weak areas of the body (hamstrings, hips, upper back, grip, heart, lungs, mental discipline)

And strength came from pressing, squatting (mostly single leg variations due to the limitations in loading) and a few other drills.

Combining these with bodywork exercises, push ups, pull ups, jumps, crawls, sprints and all of a sudden you have a tool that helps you unlock athletic potential.

Add more kettlebells to the collection and that potential increases more.

Back in the day, I started training folks with a single 16kg, one 24 and one 32kg bells, a Trx and plenty of floor space.

I had people who had trained in fully equipped gyms now feeling they moved better and had more endurance.

I had people with aches and pains feeling fresher and moving easier.

I had kickboxers turn their competitive careers around, going from losing streaks to consistently winning (see the WMD ebook for the program that I ran for them, go tothe shop page on either wg-fit.com or davehedges.net)

Older "retired" athletes started returning to sport

As we expanded our equipment and attracted more clients, the results really started speaking for themselves.

There is something about a swinging implement, which includes Mace, Indian Clubs and Bulgarian Bags as well as kettlebells that just works.

Yes for maximal strength, barbells all the way.

Squats, Deadlifts, Olympic lift variants can be overloaded the most and with more careful increments with a barbell.

If we think in terms of energy systems, much of the Anaerobic work, the strength and power based training is maybe best done with a bar.

The other energy systems are where our kettlebell and the whole category of swinging / ballistic lifting tools live.

Getting that athletic, bouncy, “joined up” feeling, getting a back that is resilient and strong, an upper back you can see from space with the work capacity to match, swing stuff.

Right now, as the weather is so good, I am training with a Bulgarian Bag as it's soft and won't damage the sports field I use.

It does much of what the kettlebell does.

And my body is feeling amazing, much better than it has the past couple of years where I've mostly lifted bars.

It takes your strength and glues it all together, it adds a turbo and puts in a bigger fuel tank.

And, and this is important, it's fun!

When I did bodybuilding type training, it was dull. Granted I got bigger and stronger, but it wasn't that great for my movement and martial skills.

So kettlebells are about efficiency, about moving well and about covering as many bases as possible with the least amount of space or equipment,

And after training for a while with kettlebells and swinging implements, they leave you wondering if you actually could take that gorilla……

(You can't……but you can always wonder….)

Regards

Dave Hedges

www.davehedges.net

Is Hyrox Good For MMA Training?

Dave Hedges
Apr 29
2 min read

“Can I use Hyrox training as conditioning work for my MMA?”

I forgot to note the name of the person who sent this.

But this is a repeat of 15 years ago wh3n people were asking the same about crossfit for MMA

In terms of the two formats, Hyrox and Crossfit, they are separate enough entities that the many comparisons between then are unfounded.

But the general premise of “can I use “X” as training for “Y” is a poor question.

Here's why.

We have this thing called the Internet and on it we can find out almost anything about anything.

We can look up what kind of training the top level people in our chosen pursuit undertake, hell, ChatGPT will even write you a program if you ask it to!

My point being, no one who successfully competes at a given sport does so by training as:

A Hyrox competitor

A Crossfit athlete

A powerlifter

An Olympic Lifter

A Kettlebell Sport Athlete

And so on and so forth.

Now, taking a Hrox or other conditioning based exercise class may be helpful to you.

It could be well structured and run and be quite motivating for you to attend.

It may even offer some conditioning benefits that are useful to you.

Does that make it optimal?

But if I'm honest, we don't always need optimal, sometimes we just need to show up, an exercise class may be the answer to that question.

Now, look at what Hyrox is. It's an endurance event.

So by its nature it is aerobic.

You need to operate for an hour or so at a high heart rate.

But then, your average MMA session is the same.

60+ minutes, mostly at a relatively high heart rate.

And it's doing the actual thing you want to be good at.

Which would carry more benefit there do you think?

So, for MMA training, we would want to focus get in 1-3 strength sessions.

Include plyos, jumps, throes, Olympic variants and maybe the power lifts.

You will want 1-2 pure aerobic sessions, maybe on the bike or mobility circuits done at conversation pace.

And 1-2 higher intensity type sessions that are pointed, directed to elicit particular outcomes.

Maybe cardiac power, maybe lactate tolerance, maybe aerobic threshold.

But most importantly, you need to train the sport.

And if I'm honest, a well trained combat sport athlete should be able to walk into a Hyrox event and do quite well with zero extra work.

I don't think the Hyrox athlete would do too well in a combat sport training event though..

Regards

Dave Hedges