10,000+ Kettlebell Swings – 1,000 Down|Fitness Challenge

Welcome to April and the start off my Got Milk and 10,000 Swings? challenge. The challenge is to perform 10,000+ Kettlebell Swings during the month and consume 32 oz of milk each day. Today was day 1 so mark 1,000 down for me.

10,000 + Kettlebell Swings

Ten thousand – talk about high repetitions. It sounds daunting, but like any major accomplishment it just needs to be broken down into manageable chunks. Just lik complex projects we deal with every day as Cube Dwellers. This challenge is no different.

With four weeks in the month, I plan to workout 3 times every week. If I do 1,000 swings per workout I’ll be above the bar. I like having some reserve; I know how life goes and how easily my schedule can get shuffled. So even considering a workout with 1,000 repetitions sounds bit unreal. Here’s how I broke it down:

Interval Training

That’s right, this is a perfect workout to use with interval training. I setup my Tabata timer for 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest. Within 40 seconds I know I can do 25 kettlebell swings. So as they say rinse, repeat. I setup my Tabata timer for 40 intervals.

With that pace I performed 1,000 kettlebell swings in less than 40 minutes. A perfect way to meet my challenge of 10,000+ kettlebell swings.

Grip Variation

I tried several grip variations through the intervals. Here are some that I used today:

1. One Hand Kettlebell Swings for the entire set.
2. Alternating One Hand Kettlebell Swings:
   • 5 each side, then alternate hands.
   • 10 each side, alternate
3. Two Hand Kettlebell Swings for the entire set.
4. One Hand and Two Hand Kettlebell Swings:
   • 5 one hand, alternate
   • 5 one hand
   • 15 two hand

Variation helped keep my grip alive. Even with the varied grips the last 5 intervals were tough. My grip was starting to fail. What an awesome workout.

Got Milk

Part of my Got Milk and 10,000 Swings? challenge is to consume 32 oz of milk every day.

Growing up I drank a lot of 2% milk and I loved it. Somewhere along the line we switched to skim milk. Somewhere after that I just, quit. Yup, I just quit drinking milk. After reading many recommendations on how milk is a great recovery drink to build muscle I decided it would be a great addition to my April Got Milk and 10,000 Swings? challenge.

Today I will polish off my second gallon of 1% chocolate milk. With each glass I get to relive childhood memories of loving milk – strange, but true. Also with each glass I am supposedly fueling my body with the nutrients it needs to build lean muscle mass.

Welcome to April! Welcome to spring. Join me in my Got Milk and 10,000 Swings? challenge. Bring it on!