designing wind & weight loss routine

[sammybaby]

All,

I've had some time to mess around with my new 15 pound clubbells - just enough to get a sense for which exercises I can do with ease, and which ones are more challenging. Armed with that info, I'm putting together an endurance routine based on interval training with the clubbells and kettlebells, with brief strength workouts on the off days. Bear in mind that I'm still very much a clubbell newbie. Forum advice is very much appreciated.

Goals: lose ten pounds, increase "wind" capability, don't lose muscle.

Also - I'll be outta town the week of August 2. I hate to start a new cycle then disappear for a week partway through, but dems da breaks. :) Number of reps are approximate, designed to keep me a rep or two shy of failure for strength workouts.

Daily (or darn near): Warrior Wellness morning, Performance Breathing, 5x5 kneeling wheel rollouts.

"On" days (3 times a week): Each exercise followed by 1 minute of jump rope, then 1 minute rest. (rest times may decrease a couple of weeks in. all kb exercises with 36 pounder)
10 clubbell swings (each arm)
10 kb snatches
10 cb swings
10 kb clean & jerks
10 cb bullwhips

Finish up with a couple small sets of shield casts for grip.

"Off" days (twice a week, using 53 pound kb. sets & reps approximate. done as a circuit with a minute of rest between stations)
5 x 5 pull-ups
5 x 5 kb mil press with kb
5 x 7 double kb front squat

Thanks again for your advice.

[JasonE]

Sam -

1 - It looks like you are cocktailing, which will keep you from progressing as rapidly as you could.

2 - Put the weight on one day, with rest between sets. On the following day, do your endurance work. On the third day, rest. Repeat, taking an extra rest day when needed, but always in that order. Better yet, read #3.

3 - To achieve massive strength and muscle endurance gains with corresponding weight loss, check out Coach Sonnon's Double Density cycle protocol in the CircularStrengthMag archives. It will do everything you want it to, with less complexity.

[sammybaby]

Jason -

Thanks very much for the reply. To be honest, I'd read Coach Sonnon's Double D article and dismissed it as being too advanced for me. I'm still concerned about falling into the cracks where the kettlebell is concerned - I think I could do the "20 quintuples in 20 minutes" for double clubbell swipes with my pair of fifteen pounders, but I'm not sure I could do the same cleaning & jerking a 53 pound kettlebell. (And the C&J with the 36 pounder... it may sound weird, but it just doesn't feel like a satisfying motion.)

So, here's a Double D question: let's say I fall seriously short of the mark in my morning C&J workout. Do I limp my way to the finish line by reducing the reps per set, as suggested for a normal density workout? If so, should I plunge ahead with the evening workout with the same intensity?

Many thanks for your help!