I recently interviewed Dan John for an upcoming article I'm writing for the February 2010 issue of M&F. John is a competitive lifter (powerlifting and Olympic lifting) in addition to being the strength coach and head track coach at Juan Diego Catholic High School in Draper, Utah. Let me tell you, Dan John knows his stuff. The guy flat out knows training - both how to do it and how to teach it. He gave me some great insights in our 25-30-minute conversation. I'll have to save most of those insights for the February issue, but I thought I'd let you in on one workout he shared with me.

John loves training with kettlebells. He's RKC (Russian Kettlebell Certfication) certified and regards KBs as one of the best training tools out there. His favorite kettlebell exercise is the double kettlebell (overhead) press, and here's what he had to say about it:

"It's the exercise where, when people see me, they say, 'Your shoulders have gotten huge! What do you do for them?' What I do is double kettlebell presses. If you want to add size [to your shoulders], here's a series to do: do a set of 2, then a set of 3, then a set of 5, then a set of 10, and repeat that [up to four more times]. Use the same weight throughout and minimize rest between sets. If you repeat that series five times, you've done 100 kettlebell presses, and that's a huge workout. It's just a marvelous workout for building size."

Once again, that's 2/3/5/10 using the same weight for all 20 reps and resting as little as possible -- up to five times through. Feel free to take a break between each series, though. You'll need it.

I tried that workout myself, and he's right, it's marvelous. The sets of two and three don't feel that tough, but the set of five reps does and the 10 is downright brutal. Five times through and your shoulders will be spent. For many people, a 16- or 20-kg set of KBs will suffice for this workout, but if you're really strong, you may want to bump that up a bit. If you're a beginner, you'd probably be best served to start out lighter than 16 kg, just to be safe. You can always go up from there. Either way, give it a try sometime. You won't be disappointed.

If you're not sure how to do double presses, look it up on YouTube to find video. Here's a written description of how to perform it:

Double Kettlebell Press

Stand holding a pair of kettlebells in front of your shoulders with your palms facing each other and the bells on the outsides of your forearms. Keeping a slight bend in your knees, press the bells straight overhead so that your elbows are fully extended and the bells are hanging behind your forearms at the top. Slowly lower the kettlebells back to the start position. Repeat for reps.

To get more acquainted with Dan John, check out his website, DanJohn.org. I'm telling you, this guy knows what he's doing and knows what he's talking about.

Have a good one, everyone...