Achieving Kettlebell Sinister Challenge: My Takeaways & Suggestions
by Arryn Grogan
Since the time I first cracked open the hot-off-the-press pages of the book Simple & Sinister in 2013, when I was still a noob lifter, I knew I wanted to one day achieve Sinister.
I didn’t know how and I didn’t know when.
But I did know I would get there someday.
I proudly did it almost exactly five years later in 2018.
Maybe this blog post seems late, but here I am, another five years later, reflecting on my experience.
In this article, I’m going to share my journey toward completing it as well as my recommendations for getting there yourself.
Shameless plug: If you want a program specifically designed to get you there, I’ve written one called Sinister Special, that’s helped five people achieve Sinister thus far. Find it HERE.
Recap of What Simple & Sinister is
Simple & Sinister is a training program by Pavel Tsatsouline that consists of 100 1-Arm Swings and 10 Turkish Get-Ups. It’s one of the foundational texts in the Hardstyle kettlebell world.
“Simple” or “Sinister” mark completion of the program with corresponding weights in 16 minutes (5 minutes for the 100 swings, one minute of rest, then 10 minutes for the 10 get-ups):
Simple for women is 24kg for swings and 16kg for get-ups.
Simple for men is 32kg for both swings and get-ups.
Sinister for women is 32kg for swings and 24kg for get-ups.
Sinister for men is 48kg for both swings and get-ups.
(Unfortunately, no guidelines are provided if you identify outside of the gender binary.)
Do I think Simple & Sinister (as a program) is a good bang for your buck? Generally, yes.
Is following it the best way to achieve Sinister? Nope.
It wasn’t designed for that.
“Sinister is not the goal of this book–it is a challenge for a select few readers.” (This is according to the revised version of S&S.)
I’ll get to my suggestions after telling you how I got there.
How I Got to Sinister
I successfully completed the Sinister challenge on November 2nd, 2018. At the time of publishing this, only 65 other men have done it, at least according to StrongFirst’s website.
The road to this achievement was long—very long. I started Simple & Sinister when the book was first released in 2013, and I did nothing but the program (aside from martial arts classes) for 15 months straight. I would NOT recommend that, by the way ;)
The Journey Begins
During those 15 months, I did S&S 4-6 times per week. I started with 20kg and was able to achieve the time requirements within just a couple of weeks. I moved up to 24kg then 28kg for both swings and get-ups and kept going. I slowly but surely progressed to 32kg and eventually achieved the Simple standard.
I needed a break from it, though.
By month 10, I developed elbow issues (medial epicondylitis), which nagged me occasionally over the next 10 years. (It’s not guaranteed you would develop any issue - that’s just my experience. I have since found some ways to manage it that actually worked for me after trying countless things that didn’t.)
I got my SFG 1 (kettlebell instructor certification) in March 2015. In May of that year, I moved across the country and started coaching people at a gym in Portland, OR.
As a new coach, I had to learn other exercises from my bread and butter (swings and get-ups). I learned and trained various barbell lifts to get stronger overall. And I almost completely quit training any kind of kettlebell ballistics for a year or so.
Though I added snatches back in after that year off from ballistics, my training went on like this for a while. Get-ups eventually reappeared in my training schedule in 2017 when my goal for the year was to do one with 60kg. To avoid flaring up my elbows, I trained get-ups with less frequency and volume, and more variations than the original S&S program dictates. My main practice with swings was when demonstrating for clients.
With a regimen of snatches plus heavy barbell lifts, I definitely got stronger and more conditioned. I was ever closer to my lofty goal.
In the beginning of 2018, I could handle the 48kg for swings due to all the heavy snatches I’d been doing. (I was already regularly doing get-ups with 48kg.) I started training swings consistently, but not just 1-arm swings and not just 10 regular ol’ get-ups.
I was doing 2-arm swings with 60kg, double-kettlebell swings with a pair of 36kg bells, and snatches with 32, 36, and 40kg too. All for a fairly high volume.
For Turkish Get-Ups, I was training multiple reps in a row (without setting the bell down). I once got 3.5 reps in a row with the 48kg! I also did get-up ladders and kettlebell bent presses. A few months earlier, I hit 60kg for both a get-up and a bent press.
I even did a human get-up with Holly, who weighed 60kg at the time!
I didn't stop training barbell lifts, though. They were absolutely integral to my success in achieving Sinister.
First Attempts
In the summer of 2018, I attempted Sinister two times. Holly (who was also training for it then) didn’t make her first two attempts either, which is pretty typical.
On the first attempt, I got 88 reps before the 5 minutes ran out. I tested the get-ups too (just to see), and only got 2 per side before I was too fatigued to continue. I needed a week to recover.
On the second attempt a month later, I was just shy of 100 swings in 5 minutes, getting to 97 at the very last second. I rested one minute (as per the rules) and went for the get-ups after. I did one on each side every sixty seconds forrrr..... six minutes this time. After those utterly exhausting swings, my legs were absolute jelly.
Are We There Yet?
I was getting very, very close. I needed a new program to get me there, however. I wanted one that was very high in reps/set density.
I chose a six-week program that started with 13 swings on the left side and 12 swings on the right side (using a swing switch to change sides)—multiple sets of that. And the reps only went up from there!
This protocol also trained the 1-Arm Military Press, supersetting them with the swings. I set a personal record with presses at the end of the cycle, too.
Of course, I practiced get-ups as well, but not a ton. I thought I didn't need them since my heaviest get-up was 60 kilos. I was wrong. More on that in a moment.
A deload week was in order after the 6-week protocol and then I tested the following.
My Last Attempt
During my successful attempt, I remember getting to the 2nd set of swings on my 2nd side and thinking, “I would like to stop now”. I hate performing and have always had anxiety any time I knew I was about to be seriously challenged physically.
I just wanted it to be over. Forever.
So I kept going.
The first three get-ups were the hardest of all the reps. In fact, they were the hardest part of the whole test.
As in previous attempts, my legs and abs were absolutely smoked. Standing up from the lunge took an incredible amount of willpower.
Somehow, my legs caught up (not so much my abs), and I was able to finish the last two reps with a tad more ease than the prior three. A far cry from easy, though.
I FINALLY made it!! It was the hardest thing I had ever done physically.
We celebrated with pizza from my favorite spot (Scottie's Pizza Parlour) and some kind of dessert, in true Holly and Arryn fashion.
My Biggest Findings
It would have behooved me to do something that would condition my legs for the lunge part of the TGU when my legs were shaking like a baby deer post-swings.
Training sets of more than 10 swings served me very well (grip was not an issue and my power output stayed pretty consistent throughout based on bell height.)
I overestimated my get-up abilities for the test, so in retrospect, I would have trained them more leading up to it. I was too casual with them.
How to Achieve Sinister
Build From the Foundation
Have at least a couple of months of training the original program under your belt. You need to experience what it’s like to do the 100 swings followed by the 10 get-ups. Make sure to employ the suggested effort recommendations from the book.
Then, move on and train swings and get-ups in a way that notably differs from the Simple & Sinister protocol.
Movement Variety is Key
There’s this idea that you have to do a ton of repetitions of the specific thing you want to do to improve your skill. I’ve found in lifting, martial arts training, and in everyday skills and activities that that isn’t always true. It’s why an MMA fighter who has taken the time to learn a variety of fighting styles would very likely win in a fight against someone with higher skill in just a singular art.
I started making more progress with my own strength and conditioning training when I drastically reduced my main lifts’ volume and frequency and increased variations of those movements instead. Say my main lifts for a training cycle are double-kettlebell press and pull-ups. Instead of doing a ton of volume of just those two movements, I might incorporate floor press and log press to assist presses, and chin-ups and Pendlay rows to assist pull-ups. This method has worked well with hundreds of clients I’ve coached as well.
Going back to my story earlier, remember that I took a break from 1-arm swings and primarily did kettlebell snatches for a while. When I came back to S&S training again, I bypassed 36-, 40-, and 44-kilo bells and went straight for the 48.
When I first learned about Louie Simmons and his Conjugate Method, it was doubly affirming that movement variety really is almost like a magic pill.
Ever since these findings, using exercise variety intentionally has played a large role in how I’ve helped others reach Sinister and other goals, big and small.
The Kettlebell-Only Way
Getting to Sinister with just kettlebell training I’m sure can be done, but why? It's likely the hardest path to get there. But if it’s your only choice, here’s how to go about that.
I would consider S&S’s swing reps (10) to be in the medium-rep range. So, do some low-rep or high-rep swings instead. Vary the type of swings you do too. There are double-kettlebell swings, 2-arm swings, alternating 1-arm swings, dead-stop swings. Even snatches could be beneficial too. Change the timing. Change the intensity.
For get-ups, consider adding other movements like the windmill or the bent press in addition to or in place of get-ups. Or utilize some variations of the classic TGU. You could do partials, continuous reps, add presses, add lunges or split squats, or add pauses.
I suggest picking one or two that will benefit the portion of your get-up that challenges you the most. The roll up to the elbow giving you the most trouble? Use partial get-ups, going only up to the hand and back down. All of these can be done for multiple reps in a row too.
Heavy and high-rep lunges and split squat exercises will be truly invaluable during the test when you have to stand up 10 times with that heavy-ass kettlebell overhead. So, do them outside of get-ups too. Hold a pair of kettlebells by your sides (so as not to be limited by your overhead capacity) and go to town.
Press and row unilaterally. Not only will this strengthen the shoulder, lats, etc. on the side that’s working, they will also work the stabilizing and supporting parts on the other side of the body. The 1-arm swing and get-up both need all the help they can get in that department.
If you have access to a pull-up bar, add some pull-ups and variations to counterbalance all the get-ups. You likely won’t need too much volume if you’re rowing with heavy kettlebells.
Just Get Stronger
Makes sense, right? Queue the barbell.
While a low-bar back squat or a hinge-y Zercher squat are exceptional lower-body strength exercises, instead, I suggest using any bilateral squat variation that keeps your torso more upright to emphasize the quads more than the hips when training for Sinister. This includes high-bar back squats, barbell front squats, or barbell goblet squats.
Personally, I would choose hip thrusts and good mornings over deadlifts to assist my swings. Not that the deadlift couldn’t help–I just think it would likely tax the CNS too much for training swings intensely enough in the same program.
Otherwise, do some of the movement variations and extra exercises recommended in the kettlebell-only section, along with my suggestions on ballistics.
All this should get you at least most of the way there.
In Closing
Sinister felt like the loftiest of goals when I first started training Simple & Sinister. Though it took many trials and tribulations over five years, I am proud that I stuck it out.
I hope that reading about my experience has benefitted you and that you can implement at least one thing from this article.
If you’re on the heels of achieving Sinister, but are still struggling to get to the finish line, we have written a peaking program that helps with just that.
The program incorporates all the insights gleaned from my personal journey to get there as detailed above, plus what I’ve learned by coaching folks since 2015.
It’s called Sinister Special. So far, it’s helped five people join the ranks of Sinister achievers, along with many others who’ve moved up in weight, getting that much closer.
Check out Sinister Special HERE.