“Hybrid O-lifting?” The “Best” way for Men Over 40 to Train?
- Geoff Neupert
- 5 hours ago
- 3 min read
If you’re a novice to the double lifts, and want to learn how to do them correctly, use the “Technique Stacking” method here.
If you’re an intermediate, and know your way around some of the lifts and want a “Recomp” program, you’ll find this program will scratch your itch.
And if you’re an advanced lifter, and you crave challenging workouts, pick one of these programs. https://cart.chasingstrength.com/hard3b
It goes without saying that you should know your way around just one kettlebell before you attempt to use two. A pair of KBs are much more unwieldy than a pair of dumbbells or a barbell.
If you’re not sure of the proper technique, use this to learn.
As a competitive Olympic lifter and college strength & conditioning coach, I was frustrated when my athletes couldn’t perform barbell Cleans.
Most of them had tight shoulders, tight lats, and tight wrists from too much benching and not enough restoration work.
(This was back in the mid-to-late 90s when restoration work was practically unheard of.)
So, barbell Cleans became barbell High Pulls.
Or dumbbell Cleans.
Plus, doing higher reps - anything more than 5 - with the Olympic lifts practically guarantees your technique goes down the toilet.
And that’s a great set up for an injury.
And no one wants one of those.
Especially not an athlete training to prepare for competition.
I remember seeing the “Kettle-Stack” advertised in the back of a Muscle & Fiction - uh, Fitness - left on my desk.
I made a mental note to investigate further.
When I transitioned from College Strength Coach to Personal Training Business Owner, I ran into the same issue:
Teaching the Olympic lifts (O-lifts, as some call them), was a “juice that wasn’t worth the squeeze.”
Too technical and clients had to suspend their disbelief.
So, back to the dumbbell versions of the O-lifts.
Then, I saw the Dragon Door ad for kettlebells in 2001.
I bought my first set in January 2002 and started using them with my clients shortly thereafter.
We all loved them for their short, effective brutality.
Higher rep versions of the Olympic lifts did wonders for people’s physiques.
They got leaner, faster.
They got stronger, more flexible, and better conditioned.
Plus, they were hard, so they were mentally engaging.
In fact, I still train one of my clients from 2001 today.
Now she’s in her 50s, the 16kg is a toy, and the 24kg routinely goes over her head.
Back in the early 2010s, I wrote a lot about Olympic lifters' physiques primarily coming from Snatches, Cleans, Overhead work, Squats, and Pulls.
Sure, it’s true that the Chinese - some of the most muscular lifters in the world - do some bodybuilding.
Usually (according to at least one source), it’s in the form of around 6 sets of 10 AFTER all their major lifts for a session have been completed.
“See, Geoff! They didn’t get all that muscle from ‘just’ the O-lifts!”
No, they didn’t.
But they did get most of it - and from Olympic lifting assistance exercises.
“Oh yeah, how can you be so sure?”
Because that’s I got much if not most of mine:
Squats, Deadlifts (a form of a “Pull”), Presses, Bench, Rows, Cleans, and Power Shrugs up until age 22.
Then, I dieted down to 200lbs from 252lbs, and still kept the Squats (deeper this time - and lots more)...
Pulls (LOTS of them!)...
And Overhead work.
Nothing blows up your upper back faster than Snatch Grip High Pulls from above the knee!
And high frequency Squats?
Total. Body. Growth!
Not just the legs!
Which is how I got back up to 230lbs in my late 20s.
So, if your goal is to transform the way you look, feel, and perform, you can’t go wrong by using the “Hybrid” variations of the Olympic lifts found in the kettlebell exercises.
Especially the double kettlebell exercises, which, I’ve found over the last 20+ years, is where much of the true transformations lay.
Exercises like:
Double Clean
Double Press
Double Push Press
Double Jerk
Double Front Squat
Double Clean + Press
Double Clean + Push Press
Double Clean + Jerk
Double High Pull
Double Snatch
They’re just so demanding on the body.
Your body literally cannot resist changing when you use these exercises routinely.
Start with a handful.
Learn the techniques.
Build your strength first. Then your muscle.
And in most cases, your conditioning and even fat loss will “just happen.”
You practically work all the muscles in your body at once.
(You haven’t “lived” until you experience the biceps soreness you get the next day after higher rep / higher volume Double Cleans or Double Snatches.)
Plus, using the double kettlebell lifts is time-efficient.
You can accomplish A LOT of work in just 20 minutes - if you know how to structure your training correctly.
Comments