I decided to shift to one-handed swings from two-handed swings as I moved up from a daily workout that includes 300 swings to one that includes 400 swings. I completed Monday with the 35-pound kettlebell, but the soreness in my back Tuesday morning warned me to drop back to the 26-pound bell for the rest of the week. So here is what I completed Tuesday and will do again on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. What I did Monday was similar, but with 9 pounds more in each swing.

One-handed swings
12 kg kettlebell – 10 x 40 = 400 reps, 10,400 pounds

Chin-ups – 5 x 1 = 5 reps

Clean and Press
12 kg kettlebell – 3 x 6 = 18 reps, 468 pounds

Goblet squats
16 kg kettlebell – 2 x 10 = 20 reps, 700 pounds

Incline push-ups – 1 x 25 = 25 reps

Total: 11,568 pounds
Time: 22 minutes

After reading some of Tracy Reifkind’s swing workouts, I altered my rep scheme to focus on sets of 40 (20 left and then 20 right). The work completes faster with sets of 40 compared to sets of 20 and is more challenging. When I used the 35-pound bell on Monday, I needed more rest time between sets, but was able to keep moving steadily using the 26-pound bell.

The progression I followed was a set of swings, then a chin-up, more swings, etc. After 5 chin-ups, I moved to the clean and press and did three left and three right. After 3 sets of presses, I moved to goblet squats and did 10 reps after my last two sets of swings.

My hands are burning today. I guess the one-handed swings are lighting them up more than two-handed swings did. The soreness in my back felt better as I worked, so I think 35 pounds was too much for now, but 26 pounds works well.

I will probably stay with a 400 swing workout next week too. Depending on how sore I am on Friday, I will either continue with the 26-pound bell all week or do half with the 26 and half with the 35-pound bell. I may stay with 400 swings until I can use the 35-pound bell comfortably for all of them.