Kettlebell Ladder Training
Ladder training is a hugely popular style of programming when it comes to kettlebell training.
Why?
Well, that’s simple. It works.
Ladder training allows you to accumulate a high volume of work without letting your technique turn bad. You can accomplish huge workloads without compromising your form, or burning out.
Put simply, you can do a lot of total reps without the downsides of doing high-rep sets that have a high ‘cost’.
Namely in the fact, they take a long time to recover from and can produce a high level of muscle soreness. But most importantly, though, is the fact you can’t lift heavy weights when doing high-rep sets.
Most of the time, this means you have to lift light weights.
Not good, if your main goal is getting stronger or building muscle.
That’s where ladder training comes in. As a safer, and more effective alternative.
What Is ‘Ladder Training’?
Ladder training is a style of kettlebell training where you vary the number of repetitions you do on a given exercise each set.
You start with a low number of repetitions in set one, and then, in each subsequent set, you increase that number.
Once you reach the end of the ladder, you go back to the beginning.
The amount of “rungs” (individual sets) you complete, and how many reps you do each set, is up to you.
Why Use Ladder Training?
It allows you to do more quality work, using a heavy load, to increase your strength and build more muscle.
This is because you can lift a heavy weight, with low reps, for many ladders (rounds). And not let your technique break down or deviate due to fatigue or having your arms or legs give out.
So long as you don’t let your ego overtake the level of your skill and strength, that is.
Ladder Training Explained
Below is a detailed and deep explanation of how to use ladders in your kettlebell training.
How Does Ladder Training Work?
Like climbing a ladder, you start at the bottom rung (the lowest number of reps) and climb up one rung at a time (to the highest number of reps).
When you reach the peak, you return to the start of the ladder and repeat the process.
Each set gets progressively harder, as the number of reps rises. Then, after your high-rep set, you get a large recovery and then return to the low-rep set.
Ready to do it all over again. Yay!
Ladder Training In Action
Exercise: Military Press
Ladder: 1,2,3 x 5
What to do: One rep on each side, then rest. Two reps on each side, then rest. Three reps on each side, then rest. Repeat five times.
I am currently following a pressing program to work towards my half-bodyweight Military press.
This is important to me so I can achieve my level 2 SFG certification. Ladder training is what I am using to get me there.
As it stands, I am doing tonnes of pressing in practice. Literally.
Per session, I am lifting more than 2 tonnes. To be precise, earlier this week, I pressed 2,592kg over my head.
Herein lies the beauty.
Low Volume Per Set, High Volume Per Session
Here is a recent clip of my kettlebell training in Perth.
Very difficult work indeed, as you can see.
The Difference Between Grinds And Ballistics
When doing grinds, you use a heavier weight (in relation to your 1RM) and perform fewer reps per set.
This is so you can develop your maximal strength. To get stronger, you have to lift heavier kettlebells over time. Hence the low reps.
What you lack in volume per set, you make up for in the total number of sets per session.
Recently, I did 27 individual sets of Military Press.
This is the ladder I did — 1,2,3 x 9, using a 24kg kettlebell.
That’s a lot of presses!
But as the saying goes, “In order to press a lot (weight), you have to press a lot (volume).”
Ladders work due to the fact you need to accumulate volume. And the only way to do that is by many sets of low reps.
This is why grinds are generally done for lower reps.
But when doing your ballistics, the weight is light (again, relative to your 1RM). That’s why you can do more reps per set.
It’s also why you don’t need to perform as many rungs or ladders per session to reach a higher training volume.
The number of lifts per ladder is much higher in the ballistics than in the grinds. As shown below;
Do The Math
To get the most out of your ladder training with kettlebells, you need to understand “the numbers”.
How many reps per set, per ladder, per session, etc?
Not being able to add, subtract, divide, and multiply the numbers on your program accurately will kill your progress.
And, you’ll end up doing way more (or less) work than you need to.
Neither of these scenarios will lead to progress towards your goals.
You need the right stimulus at the right dose to make you stronger, powerful, and to build muscle. Remember that!
Let me break down the math for you so you know what to do, correctly, using the example from above, on the whiteboard.
Example 1 - GRIND
Exercise: Military Press
Ladder: 1,2,3, x 5
Number of Lifts (NL): 60
Kettlebell Weight (W): 24kg
The Math: NL x W = TL
Total Load (TL): 1,440kg
Example 2 - BALLISTIC
Exercise: Two-Arm Swing
Ladder: 10,15,20, x 3
Number of Lifts (NL): 135
Kettlebell Weight (W): 32kg
The Math: NL x W = TL
Total Load (TL): 4,320kg
Take The Following Into Consideration
You can see there are more ladders of the grind — five vs three — yet, the NL is much lower than that of the ballistic.
The volume accumulates much quicker on ballistics compared to grinds.
If you’re paying very close attention, you will also see that in the ballistic you lift exactly 3x the Total Load of the grind.
These are all variables you need to take into account when designing an effective kettlebell training program.
You can’t just slap some sets and reps together and hope things will work out for you.
They won’t!
That’s wishful thinking and it won’t happen.
There is a science and an art to writing a quality strength-training plan.
You must manage the load, volume, intensity, and density of your training over time. Those are the variables that you must work within to elicit the goal you want to achieve.
If you do it correctly, you can make great gains for months on end.
If not, then you’ll just feel ‘busy’. You’ll train hard, and do lots of “stuff” but have little to show for your efforts.
This is what I teach my students when they come in for a kettlebell lesson in Perth with me. How to account for — and manipulate — the training variables that impact your progress.
That’s a secret weapon and the key to your continued improvement.
The bottom line is this.
I don’t want you to do more for the sake of doing more. That has never made sense to me.
Do The Least Amount Of Work And Get The Highest Return On Your Training Investment.
Use ladders intelligently, put in the required reps, and hone your kettlebell skills.
The better your technique is, the more likely you will succeed at getting stronger.
Climb the ladder — one rung at a time.
And lastly, enjoy the process.
Because at the end of the day, getting strong is fun. Or at least, it should be!