Anyone here do this kettlebell ladder (or similar) to increase VO2 max early on?
This has been going viral in recent days, but the concept itself is not really new:
https://www.tiktok.com/@hermes.the.cynic/video/7332226257435905310
For those that want to avoid the clock app, the summary is this:
To dramatically increase VO2 max, regularly do kettlebell swing ladders for a few weeks. The gist for the ladder is:
- Do 1 swing, place the kb down, rest for 1 breath
- Pick up, do 2 swings, set down, rest for 2 breaths
- Pick up, do 3 swings, set down, rest for 3 breaths
- ....
- Keep doing this until you reach 20 swings, and a 20 breath rest
- Work you way back down the latter, 19, 18, 17, etc with rests continuing to match swing count.
The intention here is that you do this training BEFORE you start to get into actual running, so that when you go out for your first run, your cardio system is already in better shape and you don't suffer so bad.
I've had some on-again/off-again attempts at running in the past, which usually end up with injury because I'm trying to do too much too fast. I'm about to start adding running back into my routine again for the first time in a while, but this time I've been working on flexibility and strengthening/stability issues first so that hopefully I'm less likely to hurt myself this time. I'm thinking of doing a couple weeks worth of these kettlebell ladders before really getting back into the running.
Just wondering if anyone else has done this, and if the benefit is as impactful as the guy in the video claims when it comes to newbie running.