How to Build Muscle & Hit PRs with Kettlebell Training

Us and the team just wrapped up an 8 week training cycle in the ATHLETES program focused on building ridiculous overhead strength.

We started and finished the cycle testing our MAX overhead press and the results speak for themself.

Check out the wins in the video above! 

Needless to say, this program delivered the "holy sh*t" effect & we learned a ton from it.

These are our biggest take aways that can help you along your strength training journey

1. Learn how to FUEL your performance

After coming back from a month long cross country road trip where we lived off of Chipotle, rotisserie chicken, and hard boiled eggs Gab and I dialed in our nutrition during this training cycle and it paid off.

Since we were running 3-4 days a week in our Casual to 10k program and lifting 3 days a week in the ATHLETES program we needed to make sure we had plenty of energy to crush these sessions.

The first step was making sure we were consuming majority minimally processed whole foods.

Our main sources of protein were eggs, non-fat greek yogurt, 93% lean ground beef, and fish.

For carbs we opted for rice, sweet potato, and bread & for fats we cooked with butter, sautéed with olive oil, and ate plenty of avocados and egg yolks.

Second, we made sure we were eating enough calories to fuel our performance.

We increased our carbs so we had plenty of energy for the long runs & intense kettlebell training sessions.

Bijan even had to add an additional meal to make sure he was getting enough calories to build muscle & fuel his performance.

The lesson here is, when you train hard you need to fuel your performance with plenty of high quality food.

2. Prioritize recovery

When we say recovery we aren't talking ice baths, sauna, infrared therapy, supplements, or any of the fancy stuff people try to sell you on.

We're talking about the essentials like sleep, hydration, nutrition, stress management, and daily walks.

Phones went down by 9pm every night and we were asleep by 9:30pm to wake up at 5am.

We didn't drink any alcohol during this training cycle to make sure we got up for that 5am alarm.

When in the right company we sip good tequila (Tres Generaciones Anejo is our go to) and enjoy a mojito on a hot summer day but we know alcohol effects our sleep & recovery and simply couldn't afford having low energy and messing up the flow of our day from sleeping in.

Every morning we started the day with 40oz of water, electrolytes from LMNT, and 5g of creatine monohydrate to hydrate and set our day up for success.

Depending on what was on the agenda we were out the door by 6am for our non negotiable morning walk or run.

With all of the time on our feet we became close with our foam roller and lacrosse balls for soft tissue massage on our feet, ankles, and calves to help with the initial aches and pains that we experienced from ramping up our running volume.

The lesson here is, when you train hard you need to recover harder to avoid injury and burn out.

3. Manage your expectations & emotions

If you are anything like us you set lofty goals for yourself.

Personally, we want to see improvements in our performance every training cycle.

At times, we can put a lot of pressure on ourselves & feel like we're failing if we don't make progress every week.

But that's not how life works, progress is not linear!

Some weeks we CRUSHED our training sessions and made heavy bells fly while others they felt like a thousand pounds.

Staying neutral with our emotions and trusting the process helps us stay level headed and enjoy every opportunity we have to move our body.

It's important to have goals for yourself so you know what you are working towards but when your goals are big you need to extend your time horizon to accomplish them.

The lesson here is, set big goals for yourself while having realistic expectations so that you can enjoy the journey!

Gab and I go in more depth on what we learned during this cycle on this podcast style IG Live, check it out!

4. Programming matters

I didn't add this point until right before sending this blog because I feel like this goes without being said but this piece of the puzzle is so important I need to say it.

We used to get so frustrated that we weren't building the strength or muscle that we wanted to despite how hard and consistently we were exercising.

Turns out how sweaty and sore you are doesn't actually mean you are going to build muscle or get stronger.

All of our programs include the MOST IMPORTANT ingredients for success.

Progressive overload, consistency, simplicity and time!

Once we stopped worrying about getting results in 12 weeks and started focusing on consistently putting INTENTIONAL work in over years our world changed.

We are so FIRED UP about our next training cycle! 🔥

Us & the team are building our pull ups and improving our power with a variety of swings. 

If you've never done a pull up before and have always wanted to this is YOUR time!

If you want to increase the number of pull ups you can do in a row this is the training cycle you're going to want to join.

Side note, when you join the KBA Membership you can bundle in a running program for FREE.

This deal expires on June 1st so jump on it!

It's your time to level up with us and the team as we take off into the second half of the year.

LFG!
B&G

Train with the Athletes!