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Build Muscle

The
The 12-Week
12-Week Muscle-
Muscle-
Building
Building Kettlebell
Kettlebell
Master-Plan
Master-Plan
Geoff Neupert, CSCS
May 27, 2021

Grab two kettlebells, a bit of floor space, and

a timer. That's all you'll need for this
groundbreaking program. In barely an hour of
workout time a week, you'll destroy
expectations and build a body to be
reckoned with!

If you don't associate kettlebell exercises with

building muscle, well, that's understandable.
The way most people are using them in the
gym is as a lightweight way to break a
serious sweat, and nothing else. But make no
mistake: Kettlebells can be a huge ally in the
quest for mass. And, if you're someone who
has been relying largely on barbells or
dumbbells, they could be exactly what you've
been looking for.

As I explained in my article "Grind to Grow:

Try Your Squats and Presses with Kettlebells,"
part of the reason the kettlebell triggers
newfound strength and muscle growth is
because of its offset shape. It forces the body
to stabilize its joints in a different manner
from barbells, dumbbells, and other
traditional bodybuilding equipment. This
forces your muscles to contract in a different
fashion than normal, and increases the
demand placed upon them.

Want an example? Look no further than the

extra depth that every lifter instantly
discovers when they front squat with a pair of
kettlebells in the rack position, versus a
barbell across the back. With this new and
increased range of motion comes increased
muscular growth in your legs, and strength in
your entire torso, from the inside out,
including the all-important core musculature.

Best of all, the kettlebell lends itself to a

simple, but very challenging programing. This
12-week program requires only two
kettlebells and time for three workouts a
week. But after one time through it, you'll find
yourself more muscular in all the areas that
matter: shoulders, upper back, upper chest,
arms, legs, and posterior chain. When you go
back to "traditional" weight training, don't be
surprised if you destroy your old
performances—and have to buy bigger shirts.

Get
Get Programmed
Programmed For
For
Growth
Growth
According to research by Brad Schoenfeld,
PhD, there are three basic ways to stimulate
muscle growth: [1]

Mechanical
Mechanical Tension:
Tension: Lifting heavier
weights for lower reps, similar to the
way powerlifters train; think multiple sets
of 2-5 reps.
Muscular
Muscular Damage:
Damage: Lifting moderate
weights for medium to higher reps,
similar to the way bodybuilders train;
think multiple sets of 8-20 reps.
Metabolic
Metabolic Stress:
Stress: Doing either high
reps or complexes where you don't set
the weight down, producing intense
burning and the release of metabolites
like lactate.

In this program, you'll have a 4-week phase

devoted to each pathway. But in all three
phases, you'll utilize just three kettlebell
exercises: the double-kettlebell military press,
front squat, and swing. That may not sound
like enough variety to grow on, but all major
movement patterns are covered by these
exercises:

Military
Military Press
Press:: Upper body pressing
and pulling (due to the clean that
accompanies the press)
Front
Front Squat
Squat:: Lower body pushing and
upper body pulling (you'll need to clean
again!)
Swing
Swing (single
(single or
or double
double kettlebell):
kettlebell):
Lower body pulling

You'll perform these three days a week, on

alternating days, using an A/B split. An A/B
split is where you alternate workouts
between Workout A and Workout B. So one
week you'll go A/B/A, and the next, B/A/B. It's
one of the most effective total-body
approaches around.

Here's what will comprise your two workouts:

Workout
Workout A:
A:

Military Press
Front Squat

Workout
Workout B:
B:

Swing

You'll perform each workout six times over a

4-week period. Look too easy? Keep reading.

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Weeks
Weeks 1-4:
1-4: Mechanical
Mechanical
Tension
Tension Focus
Focus
Start the program with a pair of matching
kettlebells you can press approximately 4-6
times. You'll use them through the entire
program. By the end, they'll feel like toys.

You should be comfortable swinging these at

least to waist height. If you're at all unsure or
uncertain about your capability, drop back to
swinging one kettlebell. You can use either
the two-handed swing or the one-hand
swing. More important than which variety you
choose is that you focus on making each rep
as explosive as possible, like I explained in
my article "Kettlebell Explosion: Harness the
Power of the Kettlebell Swing."

Workout A: Presses And Squats

Set your timer for 30 minutes. Your goal is to

do as many sets of each exercise, with
perfect form, as you can in that time. In terms
of rest, don't rush it. Use as much as you
need.

To perform the workout, clean the kettlebells

to the rack position, then perform a set of
military presses. Put the kettlebells down and
rest momentarily. Then, when you're ready,
clean the kettlebells back into the rack
position and perform a set of front squats.

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Workout
Workout 1:1: Alternate between sets of 1
and 2 reps
Workout
Workout 2:
2: Sets of 2
Workout
Workout 3:
3: Ladders* of 1,2,3 reps
Workout
Workout 4:
4: Sets of 3
Workout
Workout 5:
5: Ladders. 1,2,3,4
Workout
Workout 6: 6: Alternate between sets of 3
and 4. If you feel weak, stick with sets of
3.

*Ladders:
Ladders: Do a set of 1, then rest. Set of 2,
then rest. Set of 3, then rest. Start over again
at 1 rep.

Workout B: Swings

Set your timer for 20 minutes. Your goal is to

do as many sets of swings as you can, with
perfect form, in that time. Again, with rest,
don't rush it. Use as much as you need. On
workouts 4 through 6, you're repeating
workouts 1 through 3 so aim for more
explosive swings or more total sets.

Workout
Workout 1:
1: Sets of 4
Workout
Workout 2:
2: Sets of 5
Workout
Workout 3:
3: Sets of 6
Workout
Workout 4:
4: Sets of 4
Workout
Workout 5:
5: Sets of 5
Workout
Workout 6:
6: Sets of 6

Weeks
Weeks 5-8:
5-8: Muscular
Muscular
Damage
Damage Focus
Focus
To start this phase, determine your rep max
(RM) with both the military press and the front
squat using your two trusty kettlebells. A rep
max is a set where you do as many reps as
possible using perfect form. When your form
falters at all, terminate the set.

From now on, you are going to work off of

percentages of your RM. For example, if your
military press RM is 10 and you see "50
percent RM" in the program, you'll do 5 reps.
Always round down the number of reps if you
hit a decimal point in your math. This will
keep you from overtraining, and allow you to
keep your force production high.

Finally, don't rush your reps. Your lowering

phase (eccentric) should be 2-3 times slower
than your lifting (concentric) phase.

Workout A: Presses And Squats

Set your timer for 30 minutes. Your goal is to

do as many sets of each exercise, with
perfect form, as you can in that time. But note
that there's more specific rest parameters
here.

Clean the kettlebells to the rack position,

then perform a set of military presses. Put the
kettlebells down, and rest 60-90 seconds.
Clean the kettlebells back into the rack
position, and perform a set of front squats.
Rest another 60-90 seconds before pressing
again.

Workout
Workout 1:
1: 60% RM
Workout
Workout 2:
2: 70% RM
Workout
Workout 3:
3: 80% RM
Workout
Workout 4:
4: 60% RM
Workout
Workout 5:
5: 70% RM
Workout
Workout 6:
6: 80% RM

Workout B

Do an RM test with your pair of kettlebells for

the swing. If you're at 10 or over, then use the
following program. If not, use these weeks to
keep practicing with the one-handed swing,
trying to build up to 20 reps per hand, each
at chest height.

Set your timer for 20 minutes. Your goal is to

do as many sets of swings as you can, with
perfect form, in that time. During this phase,
rest 90 seconds between sets. On workouts
4 through 6, you're repeating workouts 1
through 3 so aim for more explosive swings,
or more total sets if you struggled to keep up
the first time around.

Workout
Workout 1:
1: 60% RM
Workout
Workout 2:
2: 70% RM
Workout
Workout 3:
3: 80% RM
Workout
Workout 4:
4: 60% RM
Workout
Workout 5:
5: 70% RM
Workout
Workout 6:
6: 80% RM

Weeks
Weeks 9-12:
9-12: Metabolic
Metabolic
Stress
Stress Focus
Focus
Once again, find your RM for the military
press and the front squat. You'll do this to
measure your progress. Even a small
increase in your RM numbers means an
increase in strength, so I'd like you to test at
the very end of the program as well, after
taking a week off.

Workout A: Presses And Squats

There's one big difference in these workouts:

You'll clean the kettlebells to the rack position
and perform a set of military presses,
followed immediately by one set of front
squats. Then, put the kettlebells down and
rest. When your rest time is over, clean the
kettlebells back into the rack position and
repeat.

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This slight variation may not seem like much,

but it increases the time under tension you
experience and triggers metabolic stress.
This is due to the increased time in the rack
position and the increased demand on your
accessory respiratory muscles.

Furthermore, combined with this month's set

up, you'll be challenged to your max capacity
each and every set.

Workout
Workout 1:
1: 5 RM* sets. Rest 3 min.
between sets.
Workout
Workout 2:
2: 4 RM sets. Rest 2.5 min.
between sets.
Workout
Workout 3:
3: 3 RM sets. Rest 2 min.
between sets.
Workout
Workout 4:
4: 5 RM sets. Rest 3 min.
between sets.
Workout
Workout 5:
5: 4 RM sets. Rest 2.5 min.
between sets.
Workout
Workout 6:
6: 3 RM sets. Rest 2 min.
between sets.

*Your RM will drop due to fatigue as the sets

progress. That's perfectly normal. Your first
RM may also decrease between workouts. It
does not mean you're getting weaker! It
means there is fatigue in your system.

On workouts 4-6, you'll be repeating

workouts 1-3, so aim for more total reps per
RM set the second time through.

Workout B: Swings

By this point, you should be able to

comfortably swing a pair of kettlebells. Do an
RM test with your pair of kettlebells for the
swing. If you're at 10 or over, then use the
following program. If not, keep on practicing
with the one-handed swing, working up to 20
reps per hand, each at chest height.

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To perform this workout, set your timer for 20

minutes, and try to reach the targeted
minimum number of sets in that time. Your
goal is to perform 10 sets of 10 reps. A
systematic way to approach this is on a 2-
minute cycle: 20-30 seconds of work,
followed by 90 seconds of rest.

Workout
Workout 1:
1: 5-7 sets of 10 reps
Workout
Workout 2:
2: 6-8 sets of 10 reps
Workout
Workout 3:
3: 7-9 sets of 10 reps
Workout
Workout 4:
4: 6-8 sets of 10 reps
Workout
Workout 5:
5: 7-9 sets of 10 reps
Workout
Workout 6:
6: 8-10 sets of 10 reps

The
The Two
Two Most
Most Common
Common
Questions
Questions
What
What about
about ab
ab work?:
work?: You don't need to do
any direct ab work on this program, unless
you really want to. The amount of tension
running through and across your abs will
already be severe, especially combining the
military presses and front squats in the same
day.

However, if you can't live without ab training, I

recommend you do hanging variations, like
hanging leg raises, to decompress your spine
from all the loading.

What
What about
about food?:
food?: Eating is good. Since
this is a strength and muscle program, you
need to eat a lot. How much is "a lot?" That
depends on where you're starting, and how
much you want to grow.

A tried-and-true starting point is to multiply

your body weight (in pounds) by 15-20 for
total calories. Nutrient breakdown? In my
book, you can't beat the time-tested
30/40/30 split of protein/carbohydrates/fat
when growth is the goal.

If you start putting on more fat than you'd like,

cut back. Otherwise, your assignment is
simple: Eat, sleep, lift, and grow.

References
References

1. Schoenfeld, B. J. (2010). The

mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and
their application to resistance training.
The Journal of Strength & Conditioning
Research, 24(10), 2857-2872.

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ABOUT
ABOUT THE
THE AUTHOR
AUTHOR

Geoff
Geoff Neupert,
Neupert, CSCS
CSCS

Geoff has been working in the

fitness industry since 1993, when
he started working in the college
gym. He tours the US to help
people regain strength.

View all articles by this author

Hypertrophy

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TomHarmoni
TomHarmoni
Just want to say that I am really enjoying
this program and making some noticeable
gains, particularly in my general strength
and in shaking off various aches and pains.
Much appreciated.

July 4th, 2022 • Report • Reply