Review of "Pavel's 5 Week, Whole Body Single Kettlebell Program"

I did this plan a few years ago. It's fine, but like many of these StrongFirst programs I felt like it was unnecessarily complicated.

The goal of the program is building muscle. So why not just do 3 sets of pullups and presses taking each set close to failure. 3 sets x 3 days per week is plenty of volume, especially if each set is taken relatively close to failure. 

Same goes for goblet squats. Assuming you're using the same weight kettlebell as presses and weighted pullups (as the "single bell" aspect eludes), 3x5 reps are not going to be very challenging. Instead, do 3-5 sets close to failure and actually challenge the legs. Better yet, do unilateral leg exercises.

I know a handful of kettlebell coaches hate unilateral leg work, but I think if you're limited by weight options – doing lunges, split squats, single leg box squats (or pistols for those able), and Bulgarian split squats would be far more beneficial than goblet squats – especially if you're trying to keep reps under 12 (not that a specific rep count matters, but high reps do get boring).

I didn't mind the high volume swings, but 10-15 minute EMOM is probably the sweet spot for swings. Beyond that, I just got generally tired and bored, my rep quality decreased, and it felt like cardio. 

I think the program building up to 25 minutes of swings EMOMs was a result of Pavel being deep in the testing phase of the A+A stuff (that's in the kettlebell AXE book) during the time he posted this program to Men's Health. I remember the StrongFirst forum being littered by A+A protocols and test subjects for data collection during that period of time.

The program calls for a lot of work in a very dense period of time, and I found  the program to be more of a conditioning one than a strength or hypertrophy plan.

This much work, with that little rest, is not actually ideal for muscle building or strength gains.

Personally, I think you could use the program's general, minimalist format (4 exercises) but do fewer sets, take more rest, and not worry about specific reps and ladder schemes. Just take each set close to failure. You could still be done in 30 minutes or less with a lot more energy left over and will probably see better body composition changes. The fewer sets would allow you to add other exercises (like pushups, arm work, and even calf work if desired) to the program and still be done in 30-35 minutes per session.

That's just my $0.02, though.

With that said, I've got a free program PDF I'll be dropping this week called "30 Minute Jacked." It's 2 programs actually. I'll share a link to download to this article and write a future article and email (to those on my email list) as soon as I put it up on my Gumroad site (garagegymbro.gumroad.com). 

Talk soon.

-Benen