The barbell is often seen as the best tool for building muscle. I wouldn’t disagree. But limiting yourself to the barbell for building muscle isn’t necessary. It would also be a mistake to think you couldn’t build muscle without a barbell. Because muscle isn’t reliant on equipment. Muscle is reliant on resistance. Bring on the resistance, and you’ll build the muscle, regardless of the equipment you use, or if you’re using any equipment at all.
In the case of kettlebells and muscle, there are four exercises I’d consider FIRST: The Double Clean and Press, Front Squat, Chin Up (or Bent Over Row), and Single Leg Deadlift. (I have tutorials/demonstrations of all these exercises on my YouTube channel.)
Why? Because these are the lifts that invite the most resistance when using kettlebells. The double clean and press for upper body pushing, front squat for lower body pushing, chin ups (not *technically* a kettlebell lift, I know, but you can weight them with kettlebells) for upper body pulling, and single leg deadlift for lower body pulling.
I leave the option for someone to choose rows instead of chins, for this minimalist program we’re creating. I also choose single leg deadlifts over conventional deadlifts, because this is where we run into a problem with kettlebells: We can’t continue to load past a certain point. So to increase resistance, we subtract a limb.
The Prometheus Protocol
What follows is an update on my (I guess you could say) semi-famous Prometheus Protocol, a minimalist, muscle building program I released some years ago with Som, which now serves as a sort of lead up to Kettlebell Maximum (see below), as part of Strong ON!. This was the structure I used to thicken myself considerably with kettlebells in my early days of training. It still works wonders today, so long as you don’t over-complicate it.
Day 1
Double Clean and Press x 10 sets of 5
Front Squat x 10 sets of 5
Day 2
Chin Up x 10 sets of 5
Single Leg Deadlift x 10 sets of 5
Day 3
Burritos and mobility
Day 4
Burritos and mobility
Day 5
Double Clean and Press x 5 sets of 10
Front Squat x 5 sets of 10
Day 6
Chin Up x 5 sets of 10
Single Leg Deadlift x 5 sets of 10
Day 7
Burritos and mobility
…
Now, look, I don’t want to hear any turd-walloping about “where’s the warm up”, or why aren’t we doing this exercise, or that exercise. I’m just not interested in that discussion, right now. So, how about this, instead: Do the program, and then we can talk about it. And do it for a minimum of two months, with one deload week (take everything at 50% volume) 6 weeks in.
The only other thing to be mentioned, aside make sure you eat enough (make sure you eat enough!) is how important load is. If you’re not struggling to finish every set, regardless of the day, regardless of the exercise, you’re not going heavy enough. Prometheus should be painful. That’s the only way it’s going to work.
Strong ON!
– Pat
Kettlebell Maximum
Want a more involved and community based kettlebell muscle-building challenge? Have a look at Strong ON!
We’re just getting started with Kettlebell Maximum, a 21 day charge toward muscle, strength, and mobility.