5-10-20-10-5 Pyramid Workout Kettlebell Basics

So the other week I thought, “Lets try a pyramid style workout with kettlebells”.
I would the 5 basics combo (press, row, swing, squat, farmers walk), single handed on each side in sets of 5 reps, 10 reps, 20 reps, 10 reps and finally 5 reps again.
Start and end with the 24 kg kettlebell for the 5 rep sets and use the 16 kg kettlebell for the 10 and 20 rep sets.

Sounds easy and decent right? 🙂
Here are the sets:

Back to back with no or minimal rest between moves, first for right hand all the way, then left hand (24 kg Kettlebell):
5 Kettlebell Presses Over Head
5 Kettlebell Rows
5 Kettlebell Swings
5 Kettlebell Squats
Kettlebell Farmers Walk (SHORT side of Basketball field and back)

Rest for a minute or less

With 16 kg Kettlebell, same pattern as above:
10 Kettlebell Presses Over Head
10 Kettlebell Rows
10 Kettlebell Swings
10 Kettlebell Squats
Kettlebell Farmers Walk (LONG side of Basketball field and back)

With 16 kg Kettlebell, same pattern as above:
20 Kettlebell Presses Over Head
20 Kettlebell Rows
20 Kettlebell Swings
20 Kettlebell Squats
Kettlebell Farmers Walk (Around the Basketball field)

Now we go back down on the Pyramid;
With 16 kg Kettlebell, same pattern as above:
10 Kettlebell Presses Over Head
10 Kettlebell Rows
10 Kettlebell Swings
10 Kettlebell Squats
Kettlebell Farmers Walk (LONG side of Basketball field and back)

And finally with the 24 kg Kettlebell:
5 Kettlebell Presses Over Head
5 Kettlebell Rows
5 Kettlebell Swings
5 Kettlebell Squats
Kettlebell Farmers Walk (SHORT side of Basketball field and back)

No big deal I tought, but was extremely wasted afterwards, I wondered why since I originally figured it would a 50 reps (5 10 20 10 5) workout.

Only after the third workout session I really added up all the reps and the number come out as 400 reps total! Well these reps are for each hand over four different moves:

(5+10+20+10+5)x 2 x 4 = 400
Farmers walk around the basketball field for 3 laps!

Taking in account I used a 24 kg and a 16 kg kettlebell this yields to a total 1760 kg moved arround for each move (press, row, swing, squat) and a grand total of 7040 kg ~ 7 metric tons about 15500 lbs. WTF??? 🙂

Grease the Groove with TGU Extended Version

Well I’m afraid this is getting beyond the GtG definition approaching a full workout set status:

10 TGUs (slow 5 on each side)

10 One legged squats aka pistols (5 on each side)

3×10 slow pushups

In addition I did some stair running, box jumps, ninja squats and farmer walks today but usual routine is the above one. One at noon and one in the evening where possible.

I am very happy that I am finally able to do proper one legged squats 5 times back to back. Pretty sure this is the work of the TGUs I do regularly lately as it forces you to improve cross body muscle coordination which helps a lot with the pistols IMHO.