Basically, the Sandwich is placing kettlebell work before and after your barbell work – “sandwiching” your barbell and operating between them.
My latest most liked Kettlebell Sandwich is the Get Up as “movement prep” – in fact more of a “systems check” – to ensure that everything is working accurately at most times. But on the off option that something is stuck or glitches up, the GU lets me know where to go to repair it. Therefore, when my barbell work is through, I use the GU once again as yet another “systems check” – to let me know that I didn’t do anything senseless under the bar and if I did, I know what to correct. More often or not, the Get Up is an effective improvement in and of itself well.
But that’s just me.
If I was really into “conditioning” right now, I’d throw in some Swings after my barbell work and strike some intervals. I may even toss in some Snatches and see what I could get in a certain time period.
It doesn’t matter how you do it, as long as you do what’s right for you at this present point and section of your training. Blending kettlebells into your barbell exercise shouldn’t be disordered – it should have a goal and that main purpose is to move you further ahead to attaining your goals.
Here are three samples of how to build your own Kettlebell Sandwich:
1. Movement Prep/Finisher. You warm up with some movement prep pertinent to your main goal, then perform barbell work du jour, then pick your favorite kettlebell finisher to end the training session to target on conditioning.
Here’s an illustration:
A. Movement Prep: 1/2 GU, 1/2 Kneeling Windmill w/ Press, Get Up
B. Barbell Work: Heavy Pulling – High Pulls, Rows, etc
C. Finisher: H-2-H Swings, 10 minutes, as many as possible.
2. Movement Prep/Movement Recap. Touched on this with the Get Up. But you could also use other workouts like the RKC Armbar, the Windmill, the Single Leg Deadlift, etc. Here is a sample:
A. Movement Prep: RKC Armbar, 1/2 GU, SLDL, Windmill – 3-5 reps each.
B. Main Training Session: Heavy Pushing. Barbell Press. Barbell Incline Press. Board Presses.
C. Movement Recap/Screen: RKC Armbar, Get Up – reps by feel.
3. Feeder/Finisher. You could use kettlebells as feeders for your barbell work (see this post) and after your barbell work was done, use the kettlebells as finishers.
I’m definite there are many more methods to build your own Kettlebell Sandwich, but these three should be a good start off for you. Again, let me once again point out, that you should sandwich your kettlebells around your barbell work in a manner that makes sense for your objectives. It shouldn’t be willy-nilly. (Did I just type “willy-nilly?” Ask yourself where that came from…?) There should be a time and you should be able to calculate changes from it, in both the kettlebell work, your ability to move, and more significantly, your barbell work.