Maximizing Kettlebell Training with Heavy Duty GTG
By Mike Mahler
For www.EliteFTS.com

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Americans are an all or nothing people. Moderation does not appear to be in our vocabulary. We either go all out and eventually burn out or apply no effort and of course accomplish nothing. This phenomenon can be seen in the work place, gym, and just about every other facet of our society. Going to extremes is not always bad, and there is a place for both. Sometimes we need to work super hard and other times we are better off doing nothing at all and relaxing. However, when it comes to training, the combination of frequent practice with moderate training loads and infrequent max efforts will serve you very well on your quest to might and power.

By modifying Mike Mentzer’s controversial “Heavy Duty” program and mixing it with two other controversial programs, you can supercharge your kettlebell workouts. This is a perfect mix for strength and size or just strength if that is your goal. What are the other controversial programs? Well, you are just going to have to read this article to find out.

Many years ago, Mike Mentzer, a famous bodybuilder, realized that the super high volume, high frequency, and high intensity programs that his peers were following were not the best way to go. Unless you had superior genetics and chemical assistance, you didn’t stand a chance with these programs. After meeting with the innovative and eccentric Arthur Jones, Mentzer was convinced that brief and frequent high intensity training was the way to go. This entailed doing one set to failure on several exercises three times per week. The program worked very well for Mentzer, and he was back on the road to progress. Some time down the road, he concluded that high intensity training where you take an exercise to muscle failure had a tremendous stress on the body and could not be done frequently. He started doing infrequent high intensity workouts and started making progress again.

Mentzer called this new program “Heavy Duty” (HD). Basically, Mentzer advocated doing one set to failure and then taking several days to over a week off. For example, pick a weight that you can do on the bench press and do as many reps as possible. Do the set one time and then wait several days before doing the bench press again.

In theory, the HD program sounds great. Hit training hard and then rest up before doing another session. However, in practice, the program did not work too well for most trainees. Sure, many people had great results for the first month that they tried HD, especially trainees that are stimulus freaks and severely over trained. However, after a month or so, the trainee adapts to the stimulus, or in the case of HD, lack of stimulus and progress desists.

One of the main reasons why the HD program didn’t work well for many trainees isn’t because it called for training to failure (although that can be problematic) but because the workouts were far too infrequent. Mentzer recommended that trainees take 7–14 days off between each exercise to maximize recovery. To illustrate further, if you do the military press on November 1, you will wait until up to November 14 before doing it again. Imagine applying this concept to playing the piano or gymnastics. At best you would maintain your skill level, and more likely your skill level would decline dramatically. I know what you are thinking, “What does playing the piano or doing gymnastics have to do with productive strength training?” Far more than you may realize.

Similar to playing the piano, strength training is a skill that requires practice. The more practice you get without burning out, the more efficient you will become and the faster you will make progress. The problem with the HD program is that it did not take into account the fact that lifting weights is a skill. Don't agree? Think that doing an exercise such as the military press is as simple as pressing a weight from your chest to the lockout position? Then how come you have not been able to press your bodyweight after ten years of training? Back in the day, 200 lbs standing military presses were common. Now they are as rare as women in Los Angeles without breast implants (not that I have a problem with that). But I digress.

Think about a time when you had to take several months off from training. Remember that first workout back in the gym? Remember how everything just felt off? In addition to your muscles getting weaker, your CNS lost efficiency, which resulted in strength decreases. Fortunately, it doesn’t take too long to get back into synch. Regardless, the best way to get back into synch is to practice the skill of strength training.

One more time—strength training is a skill. The more you practice the skill of strength training, the more you refine your form and the more efficient you get. Translation? You get stronger. The key is to practice the skill of strength training without burning out. As Vladamir Zatsiorsky states in The Science and Practice of Strength Training, “practice as often as possible while staying as fresh as possible.”

One major thing that Mike Mentzer was correct about was that maximum effort sessions should be infrequent. Maximum efforts do take a big toll on your central nervous system and cannot be executed frequently. Only average people are at their strength peak daily. Serious strength athletes only peak a few times a year if even that. What Mentzer was wrong on was that all training should be very infrequent. Training infrequently will make you feel like you have never done the exercise before. Each time you train an exercise you will have trouble getting into the groove.

So how can we make HD effective? Simple. Practice the skill of strength frequently with moderate training loads and avoid training to failure. Then once a month, ramp up training intensity and go all out. By combining the concept of training frequently with the concept of doing maximum efforts infrequently, we have a superior version of HD that will work very well.

One of the strongest proponents of the concept of treating strength training as a practice is top strength coach, Pavel Tsatsouline, author of Beyond Bodybuilding. Pavel refers to practicing strength training as “greasing the groove” (GTG). Here is how it works. Take your 70 percent max on an exercise and do several low rep sets throughout the day. For example, do a few sets of the military press in the morning, afternoon, and evening. Avoid training to failure. In fact, don’t even come close to training to failure. You should feel fresh and strong after each set. Another way to look at it is to take your six rep max on an exercise and do sets of three several times a day 5–6 times per week.

Of course, unless you work in a gym or work at home, it will not be easy to get in several sets throughout the day. Not a problem. Just do 2–3 sets of 3–5, five times per week and take two days off. Once a month, take a dose of HD and go all out on each exercise. Then take five days off and adjust your practice sets accordingly. Focus on compound kettlebell exercises that will provide the most bang for your buck.

Here are some sample programs that you can follow:

Option 1 (strength focus)*

Double kettlebell clean and military press or sots press, 2 X 3


Renegade row, 2 X 3


Turkish get-up, 2 X 3 (left and right)


Double front squat, 2 X 3


Double snatch, 2 X 3

Take three minute breaks between each set and one minute breaks between each exercise.

Option 2 (strength and size focus)*

Double kettlebell clean and military press, 2 X 6

Double windmill, 2 X 5 (left and right)


Double bent over row, 2 X 6


Double front squat, 2 X 6 (2 second pause at bottom)

Double swing, 2 X 6

Take one minute breaks in between each set and exercise.

*For tips on these exercises, see my free online exercise guide at https://www.mikemahler.com/exercises_page.html.

Next, at the risk of having too many concepts on the table, we are going to apply one more. To avoid boredom and more importantly training plateaus due to burning out pathways by doing the same exercises over and over again, we are going to apply top powerlifting coach, Louie Simmons’, “Conjugate Approach” to the mix.

Louie has his athletes rotate exercises every few weeks. They work up to a max on a given exercise and then rotate it with another drill. For example, work up to a max set on the double kettlebell military press and then switch to alternating presses. Work up to a PR on double front squats and then switch to double lunges. In addition to being much fun, the conjugate approach is very effective and certainly worth taking advantage. After one month of applying GTG and HD to the same exercises, rotate them out for a while with some other effective selections.

Enough reading! It’s time to practice the art of strength training and go all out once a month. Get started today and email me with your results at mahler25@yahoo.com.

Mike Mahler is a strength coach based in Los Angeles, California. Sign up for tons of free training tips at https://mikemahler.com/mailman/listin...mikemahler.com.