We are now midway through week 3 of our month of 10,000 swings. I’m really incredibly happy with the level of commitment that people have shown over the last several weeks, with almost everyone having done over 2000 swings, and about a bit over a quarter of the people on track to hit the mammoth 10,000 swing target.

Here are some things that I’ve learned since the last time I posted about this:

1. I really, really don’t like doing sets of 50... I typically find myself only doing the odd set of 50 (meaning, I’ve deviated pretty significantly from the written plan).

2. I was nowhere near as sore after the first week. The first Wednesday was tough! From the Friday of that first week i’ve been pretty happy with how comfortable my body has felt.

3. 10,000 swings actually improves form

   It might be because we are doing it as a group with eyes on each other, and a whole bunch of instructors in the room giving each other and everyone else feedback, but I think that almost everyone who has been consistent with the program has a much, much nicer swing now because of it - I was a bit concerned about this aspect because quality and condensed volume are not necessarily things that go hand in hand, but it was unfounded. People’s swings have been getting better and better.

4. My rhomboids are key drivers in my swing posture

   This was a weird one. I’ll unpack it more at some point, but it’s been a bit of a game changer.

5. Our community loves a challenge

   I’ve been stoked to see how committed people have been to getting in and doing what they can. We’ve had a bunch of people really push themselves (on one end), but I’ve also been heartened to see a bunch of people be clever and come in and do Original Strength instead of their swings on some days because they haven’t felt like swings would be a good choice - so good!

   It’s a great attitude that I absolutely try and foster within my clients - follow the plan, don’t be afraid to push a little if you can maintain form and it feels like it’s there, and don’t be afraid to back off if you can’t maintain form, or you feel like there is a missed rep around the corner. If something feels wrong in your body, why take a chance? It’s really not as bad as I thought it would be.

I’ve needed a lot of sleep, and I’ve had to prioritise protein so that I don’t eat everything around me, but, as I touched on before, I’ve been surprised by how comfortably I’ve been able to maintain my martial arts, my pressing, and my general activity level.

It’s been fatiguing but not unpleasantly so...We are halfway and a couple million kilograms through. I’ve been really pleased with how folks have done, and how nice it’s been to have our community working hard and hanging out together. I’m really looking forward to seeing folk lock it in and crush the last half as we make our way to 5 million kgs!