Armor Building Complex Explained

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Dan John has spent his life with one foot in the world of lifting and throwing, and the other foot in academia. An All-American discus thrower, Dan has also competed at the highest levels of Olympic lifting, Highland Games and the Weight Pentathlon, an event in which he holds the American record.

Dan spends his work life blending weekly workshops and lectures with full-time writing, and is also an online religious studies instructor for Columbia College of Missouri. As a Fulbright Scholar, he toured the Middle East exploring the foundations of religious education systems. Dan is also a Senior Lecturer for St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London.

His books, on weightlifting, include Intervention, Never Let Go, Mass Made Simple and Easy Strength, written with Pavel Tsatsouline as well as From Dad, To Grad. He and Josh Hillis co-authored “Fat Loss Happens on Monday.”

In 2015, Dan wrote Can You Go? on his approach to assessments and basic training. In addition, Before We Go, another compilation akin to Never Let Go became an Amazon Bestseller.

In early 2017, Dan’s book, Now What?, his approach to Performance and dealing with “life,” became a Bestseller on Amazon. Hardstyle Kettlebell Challenge became available in September 2017, too.

[pepperpeterpiperpickled]

It's cool how he'll walk the walk, He WONT pad out a video for 10 minutes (like 99% of other fitness channels) and it's solid info. 10/10 would recommend

[MousyDogFace]

For the record.... Double 20’s ain’t light for us mere mortals 😁 I love your channel Dan keep em coming 👏👍👍

[konstantinoslymperopoulos]

Been watching Dan John for over 20 years. The guy is a treasure, the quality of info he's sharing is just incredible.
Thank you SIR.

[ericfelder]

Just found out this workout and this man! Did this yesterday and DAMN! Never been so sore. Recommending this to everyone

[cglarsen]

My favorite complex out there. 2 x 24kg 30 min EMOM is the best bang for buck - starts easy enough and builds strength, endurance, and conditioning.

[WeBreakItAllDownRightHere]

This has been a staple of my training for months now. It puts muscle on your entire body, and your ability to handle double kettlebells skyrockets.

Handling heavy double kettlebells like toys with this complex is the goal, and you will get there if you put in smart practice.

I use double 24 kg for one complex EMOM and have built it to twenty minutes

[ndchancefitnessnutrition]

Simplest on paper, much more difficult to execute repeatable training session. My favorite

[alamandrax]

Saw these on @Mark Wildman's channel and did these quite successfully. It was amazing! Thanks Dan!

[atrain]

Wow, who would think that 6 total reps in a minute would be so killer? Well, I just did 17 min., one complex on the minute every minute, with two 35 lb. bells, and I am drenched! I thought I would get to 30 min., but my form started getting sloppy at 17 min., so that was all for now... now I need to build up to that 30 min. threshold! Burning off that Easter brunch! 😄

[chileargentina]

Did this with a pair of 16kg. Those front squats killed my legs. Amazing exercise.

[guisspino]

10/10
Hands down, no contest, my absolute favorite complex. I don’t own doubles. I use a moderately heavy single (probably 8rpm for press). I will do my right side, swing to the left, do the left side, and rest until the next minute. In 10 minutes I get 60 single side squats, 20 presses, and 40 cleans. It’s my go to when I’m short on time. It’s uniquely one of the only “10 minute workouts” where I feel stronger and refreshed when I’m done instead of dying. But I still feel like it’s a decent effort.

[MaShJo]

Hey coach, I love this complex and it has helped increase my athleticism for bjj and sailboat racing. I am up to 15 sets double 24kg emom. The dual 32kg in my garage is calling me!

Something that helped me go from 16kgs to 24kgs (other than varying rest times and sets) is to use one of each and swap sides each set. Really helped me get used to the weight without being such an overwhelming jump. I imagine there are benefits to asymmetrical core load as well. Will try this eventually with one 24 and one 32. The jump from 24kg to dual 32kg is intimidating.

Anyway thanks again much love!

[mukund]

Thanks a lot coach, for these gems. This is a mainstay in my routine.. I feel this is the perfect kB complex ever designed. You won't be out of breath, but you will be toast at the end of 20 minutes 😀. Now aiming for 30.

[nickwolf]

This simple and effective comlex has become a base of my workouts. Mr. John, i am grateful to you for your useful and informative articles on T-Nation and videos on YouTube.
With greetings and respect to you from Russia!

[rodhenderson]

Thanks for posting. Still one of my favorites. I always seem to go back to it.

[stefanwolf]

Thanks for sharing this, Dan! This is my go to KB workout. I alternate between this and Pavel's Simple and Sinister.

[krzychood]

I just did it for the first time with a pair of 24s. Felt good.
After the first 10 minutes my thoughts were: "Hmm, that's way lighter than I expected".
After 20: "Ok, I think this is piling up"
After 30: "Oh, so that's what it's all about". 😂
Just a couple remarks from my side. I was expecting my squat to be the limiting factor, as you're doing 90 reps but turned out Dan was right again (happens way too often with his programs ;-)), and my press felt the weakest at the end. That being said, I think I need to try with a pair of 28s or 32s to get close to failure with my press on this. I've read on a forum that Dan tried it once with a pair of 48s. I cannot imagine how that is humanly possible, I guess I'm way weaker than I thought I am. Cheers.

[Glasshousebc]

Ah, the ‘graduation’ workout... I remember doing this at the SF cert in SLC where you and Pavel taught... superb experience. A few years ago mind. This has become a favoured complex if I want something simple to do (simple not easy, depending on load)... used as a warm up, or the session itself or to round out a session.
Thanks Dan and thoroughly enjoying your 10, 000 swing series on here. (Watching NOT doing... I’m not that crazy )
Stay well my friend.
Steve Mac from BC

[evertonperk]

10/10 complex. Doing 30min 2*24kg a few times a week. I have MS and this helps by hitting the neural drive for the whole body.

[josephdouglas]

Man I've seen a lot of workout videos, tips, explanations, demonstrations etc., I don't know how I didn't find your videos sooner, I finally started to look into kettlebell exercises and you are the real deal sir!