Continuous Bruiser Swipes 4x7

A little over 56 days ago, I had worked myself up to being able to do a grand total of one Swipe with my Bruiser Clubbell®. For some reason, it’s one of those exercises that I could never work up the courage to tackle. Well, enough is enough I thought to myself.

So I made a plan. The pillar of the plan was Scott Sonon’s 4x7 protocol. It cycles through an intensity wave of No, Low, Moderate and High intensity over the course of four days, and repeats seven times. The secret sauce in this formula is the cycle of waving intensity which often allows you to hit a Personal Best (PB) on most of the High Intensity training days.

In this case, I managed PBs on every cycle over the course of two full 4x7 rotations. The end result, after 56 days, was a 1000% performance increase, taking my PB from a grand total of 1 to a new record of 10 consecutive Bruiser Swipes.

This is how it played out:

4x7 #1

5 sets of 1/1 reps per arm
5 sets of 2/2 reps per arm
4 sets of 3/3 reps per arm
5 sets of 3/3 reps per arm
6 sets of 3/3 reps per arm
4 sets of 4/4 reps per arm
5 sets of 4/4 reps per arm

4x7 #2

4 sets of 5/5 reps per arm
5 sets of 5/5 reps per arm
6 sets of 5/5 reps per arm
7 sets of 5/5 reps per arm
5 sets of 6/6 reps per arm
6 sets of 6/6 reps per arm
Set of 10/10, 8/8, 6/6, 4/4, 2/2 reps per arm

The power of the 4x7 formula –– married here with a progression which echoes CST’s approach to the Density Cycle –– is a recipe for impressive results with minimal breakdown of the body’s tissues. Throughout the entire process, I never felt that my training was interfering with my daily life through fatigue or soreness. By making recovery a planned and integral part of your training, health-first outcomes are much more consistently attainable.

For more reading on the 4x7 phenomenon, you can check out this 4x7 Squidoo lens. It also provides examples of what activities can be used to achieve the various exercise intensities required of the program. Enjoy!