I just finished an 8-week run of Armor Building Formula with double 16kg kettlebells from Yes4All. Since the Armor Building Complex gets mentioned here daily, I figured it was worth writing up how the full program actually felt.
Background
I’m 28, 5’10, and currently around 163 lbs. I was around 157 in February after a three-month cut, so I wasn’t starting this from a big bulk. I’m back around my original weight now, but the composition feels different. My shoulders, chest, arms, and legs feel a lot more solid.
For measurements, (red shorts from today) from Feb 21 to today, my chest went from 37 to 40 inches, shoulders from 16.5 to 17, arms from 13.5 to 14, and both thighs came up about half an inch. My waist also went from 29.5 to 32.5, so not all of the weight gain was lean tissue, but visually and performance-wise this feels like a productive block.
I’m a massage therapist and I climb 3x/week, so I needed a program that wouldn’t leave me too trashed to work or get on the wall. I also do yoga, mostly Yin and Vinyasa, and some basic trunk work like ab wheel, back extension and woodchoppers a few times a week.
The Program
The program is built around double pressing and the ABC.
I trained 3 days per week. I used double 16kg bells for the whole block and hit both targets:
Week 1-2 I did as prescribed in the book
30 rounds ABC EMOM in Week 7
100 double kettlebell presses in Week 8 using 2-3-5-10 ladders
35 total ABC rounds in the final week
How it felt
At the start, the 16s felt heavy. The cleans were work and the front squats were a struggle. My early ABC rounds took about 30 seconds to complete, and I was really trying to hit ass-to-grass depth on the squats instead of cutting them at parallel.
By the end, most rounds were taking closer to 10–20 seconds. The cleans became automatic, the rack position felt natural, and the squats felt much smoother. That was the clearest sign of progress for me. The bells didn’t change, but my relationship to them did.
The pressing volume did a lot for my left shoulder. I had a parachuting accident in the Army that messed up my back and shoulder, leaving that side weak and prone to subluxation. It never felt fully locked in. The 100-rep press sessions made a noticeable difference. My shoulders feel more stable and connected now than they have in years.
The ABC conditioning was exactly what I wanted. It isn’t like running, but it forces you to recover between rounds and keep your breathing under control. If I let my breathing get away from me, the rounds got much harder. Staying calm in the rack, and focusing on my breath during and between sets was the secret.
Carryover
As a massage therapist, my job asks a lot of my hands, grip, shoulders, and posture. The cleans, presses, and rack work built a lot of tissue tolerance that made my workdays easier. The overhead pressing especially seemed to carry over into work. My shoulders feel more stable when I’m using pressure, changing angles, and holding positions for longer sessions. I feel a lot more comfortable maneuvering my clients, and could general get on and off the table for assisted stretching more confidently.
For climbing, I just feel sturdier. It didn’t make me better at technical climbing, but my trunk and shoulders feel more resilient. However weeks 5-8 fatigue from the ABF crept in and I certainly was not able to push my self as hard climbing and opted to spend my time on problems below my grade.
What worked
Training 3 days a week was nice and left me with a lot of time to do other things. I didn’t add extra upper body work, which was smart since climbing and pressing was already plenty. The yoga helped improve my quality of life, and kept me mobile for the ABC.
The program is simple enough that I actually stayed consistent with it. I never dreaded doing my presses or abc, and that made it easy to keep coming back every other day.
Next steps
I’m taking a light week, then moving into Easy Strength for the summer while I spend more time in the Rockies and get back to my barbell. I’m planning to move up to double 20kg bells in August.
TL;DR:
Ran ABF for 8 weeks with double 16s. Ended around 162 lbs, hit the 30-round ABC EMOM and 100-press milestones, added size through my chest/arms/legs, shoulders feel way more stable, and the 16s feel much more manageable now.