Time ladder training is one of the favorite training methods of
top Russian kettlebell lifters. They were invented by the greatest
all-time kettlebell lifter, Sergey Mishin. The idea behind the program
is that instead of doing ladders rep by rep, you count the time
instead. For example, your first set would be a minute. Then you
rest a minute. Your second set is two minutes, followed by two minutes
of rest. Your third set is three minutes of work and rest. It continues
from there. Let's say you reach five minutes, but cannot do six.
At this point, you drop back down to one minute of work and rest.
Then two minutes of work and rest. You continue climbing up the
ladder and dropping back down till one minute is all you can do.
Of course, that was just an example, you can use any unit of time.
You can start with 20 seconds, then 40, 60 80 and so on. The time
ladders are a very effective way to train, as demonstrated by Mishin.
However, for general fitness, another great way to approach the
time ladders is with circuit training. First, pick a few exercises
that fit well into a circuit. They should be exercises that work
different movement patterns, so the fatigue gets spread evenly throughout
your body. Super sets (alternating between working an agonist and
its antagonist muscle) are a good way to approach this, but pretty
much any way you can vary it is good. You can go from upper body
to lower body, agonist to antagonist, grind to ballistic, etc.
For this example, let's choose: a. 1-arm Snatch b. pull-ups
c. front squats
Now that we have selected our exercises, we need to decide how
to arrange our circuits. Here are a few patterns to choose from:
Each exercise separately with its own ladder. Ex. 1a 1b
1c 2a 2b 2c
Perform a ladder of one exercise, then a ladder of the next
exercise. Ex. 1a 2a 3a 1b 2b 3b
And lastly, my personal favorite, performing the entire circuit
within each time block. Ex. 1abc 2abc 3abc
In these example, 1a would refer to the first rung of the ladder
using exercise A. 3abc would refer to the third rung of the ladder
using all three exercises alternated within that interval.
However, there are a few variations within this last option.
For example, you can perform five reps of each exercise and then
repeat for as many cycles as you can perform within each time
block. For example, in the first minute, you do 5 snatches each
arm, 5 pullups and then five front squats. In the second minutes,
you do 5 snatches, 5 pullups, 5 front squats, 5 snatches, 5 pullups,
5 front squats. In the third minute you might get three cycles.
The other method is to perform regular (repetition) ladders within
the time ladders. For example, in the first minute: 1abc, 2abc,
3abc. In the second time block of 2minutes: 1abc, 2abc, 3abc,
4abc. In the third block of three minutes: 1abc, 2abc, 3abc, 4abc,
5abc, 1abc, 2abc. You can go on from here.
The first method of keeping the reps constant makes life simpler
and is probably the best method. However, if you don't mind the
extra mental work, the second method will probably allow you to
cram in more volume.
Now that you have the time ladder basics down, here are some of
my favorite variations.
Power Rings Upper Body Circuit: a. Pull-up b. dip c. body
row d. pushup
After about 15 minutes, your arms will feel like they are about
to pop! I like performing these on the Power Ring Training System.
Kettlebell Upper Body Circuit: a. See-Saw presses b. Renegade
Rows c. Floor Press
For the Renegade Rows, you will need at least a 1.5 pood kettlebell,
otherwise the balance can be shaky.
Lower Body Circuit: a. Front Squat b. Romanian Deadlifts,
c. Overhead Squat, d. One-legged deadlifts.
Total body circuit: a. 1-arm Snatch b. Turkish Get-up c.
Clean and Press
Aerobic Circuit: a. Tuck jumps b. Pushups c. Skipping Rope
In this circuit, you will count the rope skipping by how many
times the rope passes under your feet. A tuck jump is performed
by jumping up as high as you can and touching your knees to your
chest. Try this circuit with an X-vest and prepare to be annihilated!
Over time, you will progress in a variety of ways. One way is
that you will cram more reps into each time block. Another way
is adding more weight. The final and most obvious way is to add
more rungs to the ladder. Each option has its own inherent training
effect. Increasing the weight will result in faster strength gains.
Adding more reps per time block will result in greater gains of
speed-strength and explosiveness. Adding more rungs to the ladder
will result in greater gains in strength-endurance or pure endurance.
Depending on your goals, you will be able to find a wide variety
of ways to apply time ladder circuits to your individual goals.
Tyler Hass is the publisher of Power Athletes Magazine
and a multi-sport athlete. After playing college tennis, he is
now focused on being in shape for anything. He recently founded
Power Athletes, LLC and manufactures the Power Rings. He can be
reached at
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