Ladders and Pyramids: Kettlebell Training Tips
Maximizing Your Kettlebell Workouts with Ladders and Pyramids
In the world of fitness, there are countless training methodologies, each promising to be the key to unlocking your full potential. But today, we're going to dive into the dynamic and effective techniques of kettlebell ladders and pyramids.
Ladders and pyramids aren't exclusive to any specific exercise, and they can be used to train strength, hypertrophy, and even endurance.
Whether you're into bench presses, curls, squats, olympic lifting, powerlifting, or bodybuilding, these techniques can work great. While they work well for many forms of weight training, their true power shines when it comes to enhancing strength, especially for exercises that demand concentration and technical precision.
Personally, I have found kettlebell ladders and pyramids to be instrumental in strength gains and an enjoyable element of my kettlebell sport practice (kettlebell jerk, snatch, and long cycle), so we’re going to dive into details of kettlebell specific ladders and pyramids today.
Section 1: Understanding Ladders and Pyramids
If you're not familiar with these terms in weight or kettlebell training, let's break it down:
Ladders: A ladder involves performing sets with progressively decreasing or increasing reps and/or weights, typically followed by rest intervals. For example, snatching 16/18/20/22/24 kg kettlebells, one minute on and 30 seconds off of each. You can either ascend the ladder (going up in weight) or descend the ladder (going down in weight).
Pyramids: Pyramids follow a similar concept but involve working your way up and then back down in a pyramid shape. For instance, you start with 16 kg, move to 18, then 20, 22, 24 kg, and then reverse the order (24, 22, 20, 18, 16 kg).
Section 2: The Beauty of Ladders and Pyramids
Now that you know what ladders and pyramids are, let's discuss why they're so beneficial for your kettlebell workouts:
1. Warm-Up: Starting with lighter weights in ladders and pyramids helps warm up your body. It complements your pre-workout warm-up routine, increasing joint fluid, elevating blood pressure, and raising your heart rate.
2. Nervous System Activation: Ladders and pyramids are excellent for preparing your nervous system. They are ideal for movements requiring speed and coordination. Starting with lighter weights allows you to fine-tune your technique before moving to heavier loads.
3. Establishing Tempo: Using lighter weights at the beginning of your workout allows you to work at a quicker tempo. This tempo can be maintained as you progress to heavier weights.
4. Reinforcing Good Habits: Training with lighter weights enables you to focus on perfecting your technique and developing good habits. The muscle memory you build with lighter loads will carry over when you move to heavier weights.
5. Increased Volume: Rather than jumping straight to your working weight, ladders and pyramids let you accumulate more volume. You perform multiple sets with progressively heavier weights, maximizing your practice.
Section 3: Leveraging Pyramids for a Cool Down
One unique feature of pyramids is their ability to provide a structured cool-down within your workout. Here's how it works:
1. Drop Sets: As you fatigue and complete your working sets with the heaviest weight (e.g., 24 kg), you can start doing drop sets. This means reducing the weight, like switching from 24 kg to 22 kg, and then 20 kg.
2. Survival Grip Training: By incorporating drop sets in a pyramid fashion, you get the opportunity to squeeze in more practice and volume than if you stuck solely with your heavy working weights; you'll safely continue to work your grip as you drop weight and squeeze every available rep from your workout.
3. Safe Cool Down: The pyramid structure helps your body cool down gradually. After pushing yourself with the heaviest weight, transitioning to lighter weights during the descent phase allows your body and heart rate to return to baseline more safely.
Section 4: Implementation and Variations
Your approach to kettlebell ladders and pyramids should also evolve over the course of your training cycles. For example, if you are on a six-week training program (where you peak at the end of the sixth week) consider this:
Changing Weights
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Weeks 1-4: Gradually increase by bumping up the starting weight of your ladders and pyramids by 2kg each week. This will help you adapt and build strength over time.
Weeks 5-6: Start reducing the weight as you approach competition time or your peak. This tapering approach is essential to avoid overtraining and perform at your best when it matters most.
Changing Work Duration
The length of your sets plays a significant role in determining the training effect. Here are some examples and recommendations of durations that allow you to maintain a fast pace while still focusing on precision and control.
30 Seconds: Ideal for exercises that require quick bursts of power, such as jerks. Short and intense, this duration can help you develop explosive strength.
1 Minute: Perfect for demanding exercises that require longer to complete each rep, like long cycle (the kettlebell clean & jerk).
2 Minutes: A perfect duration to snatch, one-minute per arm (no rest in between) provides a balance between strength, technique and endurance, which are all critical to overall snatch performance.
Changing Rest Duration
In addition to the set duration, the rest between sets is equally important:
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30 Seconds to 2 Minutes: Match your rest time to the intensity of the exercise. Shorter rests for high-intensity exercises and longer rests for more demanding sets ensure optimal recovery and performance.
Conclusion:
This blog is nowhere near a comprehensive guide to kettlebell ladders and pyramids, but we hope we've provided enough information to help you understand how incorporating ladders and pyramids into your kettlebell workouts can be a fun and effective game-changer.
These methods provide an effective warm-up, prepare your nervous system, help establish tempo, reinforce good habits, and allow you to do more volume. Plus, pyramids offer a structured cool-down.
If you have any questions or need guidance on incorporating ladders and pyramids into your workouts, I'd love to coach you. You can book an introductory online coaching call with me here.
Stay strong and keep training! Thanks for reading and see you soon!
