PR your kettlebell overhead press with this programming tip

There is a famous Russian saying about overhead pressing and it goes like this…

“If you want to press a lot then you have to press a lot.”

It’s a phrase that I learned from Pavel Tsatsouline when I attended the Strong Endurance seminar.

Now, we’re not referring to intensity or weight when saying “press a lot”.

This quote refers to the amount of volume and repetitions you’ll be performing.

The reason why getting lots of reps helps is because strength is a skill and the only way we can improve skill is through repetition.

Traditional sets and reps like 3x10 are a fine entry point but if you want to get stronger, you need to move beyond that rep scheme.

So…what should we do instead?

Ladder sets

The standard 3x10 can be broken into 3x1/3/5 repetitions with varying weights.

Let’s say that you’re starting 1-rep max(1RM) is 50lbs.

If you did a set of 10 then you might be doing 10 repetitions at 30lbs but that’s about 60% of your 1RM.

Instead of doing 3x10 at 30lbs, you might perform 3 sets of 1 repetition at 45lbs, 3 repetitions at 40lbs, 5 repetitions at 35lbs.

You can immediately train at higher percentages of your 1RM which has a better carry-over to improving strength.

The 1/3/5 repetition is NOT a magical number, you can actually mix it up.

Here’s what it looks like in practice:

1. Month 1: 3 sets of 1 repetition at 45lbs, 3 repetitions at 40lbs, 5 repetitions at 35lbs,

2. Month 2: 3 sets of 2 repetitions at 45lbs, 4 repetitions at 40lbs, 6 repetitions at 35lbs

3. Month 3: 3 sets of 1 repetition at 50lbs, 3 repetitions at 45lbs, 5 repetitions at 40lbs

If you re-establish a new 1RM after 3 months at 55-60lbs then you can train higher repetitions afterwards.

Here’s what a higher repetition ladder sets might look like with that newly established 1RM:

1. Month 1: 3 sets of 3 repetitions at 45lbs, 6 repetitions at 40lbs, 9 repetitions at 35lbs

2. Month 2: 3 sets of 2 repetitions at 50lbs, 4 repetitions at 45lbs, 6 repetitions at 40lbs

3. Month 3: 3 sets of 3 repetitions at 50lbs, 6 repetitions at 45lbs, 9 repetitions at 40lbs

The key is to create ladder sets that allow you to at higher percentages but not to failure.

If you’re doing a set of 10 then maybe the last three repetitions are challenging but if you train at a higher percentage with ladders then every repetition is depositing into your strength bucket.

Benefits of ladder sets

1. Increasing your volume training at a higher percentage of your 1RM

2. Develop the actual skill of strength and pressing a kettlebell

3. More exposures to the kettlebell clean which improves work capacity

4. Safe way to train and develop strength because you never train to failure

5. Extremely scalable to your fitness by manipulating the repetition scheme and weight selection

If you’re struggling to PR your overhead press then I would recommend sitting down with a pen and paper to create these ladder sets to add into your program.

They have helped me go from a 32kg(70lbs) press to a 40kg(88lbs) press within two months.

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