TJ's Homeric Fitness Challenge

With the quarantine now in its second month, perhaps your initial fitness resolutions are in need of a reboot.  Perhaps you didn’t even have an initial fitness resolution!  Regardless—TJ has just the thing for you!

An old friend of mine introduced me to the 10,000 Kettlebell Swing Challenge. We’ve been using kettlebells at TJ for the past dozen years.  If you’re unfamiliar with them, they look like this.

Over the years, we’ve incorporated these weights into countless exercises (ask some of our recent fitness participants about “the gladiator”), but for the next five weeks, we’re inviting you to join us in one of the more basic kettlebell exercises: the two-handed kettlebell swing. 

Here’s are the parts of the swing:

Here is the movement in motion

Think you can do it?  Of course you can!  (BTW: I realize that not everyone has a kettlebell around the house.  You can order one from Target, Amazon, etc.  Until it arrives, substitute with a dumbbell, a textbook, a soup can, etc.  Let me add that I plan on starting with a 10 lb  kettlebell and then moving to 15 or 20 lbs. if I feel my strength increasing).  

So here’s how the challenge goes.  In five weeks, we’ll swing the kettlebell 10,000 times (no misprint—10,000 swings!).  That means each week, we’ll swing 2,000 times.  Since we’ll lift five days a week, each day we need to swing 400 times.  We’ll break down these 400 repetitions into four groups of 100 swings.  Still with me?  Good.  We won't do 100 in a row.  Here’s how a group of 100 swings are structured.

Set One: 10 swings followed by a 30-second stationary low-plank

Set Two: 15 swings followed by a 30-second stationary low-plank

Set Three: 20 swings followed by a 30-second stationary low-plank

Set Four: 25 swings followed by a 30-second stationary low-plank

Set Five: 30 swings followed by a 30-second stationary low-plank

After the swings, we’ll get on our elbows and toes for 30 seconds (in week 1) for a low plank.  You’ve probably seen these—they look like the picture below

I envision hitting a group of 100 and then grading papers for a while before returning to the next 100.  Doubtless you’ll find the best routine to suit your schedule.  I’m not opposed to finding times during the day to work out together on Zoom, but if the best thing for you is to lift on your own, great!  

Contact me at broth@tjs.org, and I’ll include you on the spreadsheet of Homeric Warriors.  Let me add what really doesn’t need saying: this challenge is open to anyone who wants in.  Students, staff, parents, alumni, friends of TJ, and even enemies of TJ (they’ll start with 60-second planks).  At TJ we all benefit when many are involved, so I hope you’ll take the plunge and get in shape together. 

ἡ ἀρετη!