Rite of Passage Classic and RKC Ladders

 

Rite of Passage Classic and RKC Ladders

By Adam Mundorf

Rite of Passage Classic and RKC Ladders

There is no program I am more familiar with than the Rite of Passage and the more hypertrophy focused version 'RKC Ladders' from Beyond Bodybuilding.  The goal of these programs is as follows : 1/2 bodyweight press with one arm and 200 snatches in 10 minutes with the 24kg kettlebell.  In the following sections I'll explain each program's approach, how I will be cycling to reach the goals above and my approach to testing.

Keep in mind all mobility, flexibility and lifestyle guidelines are in the parent blog of this whole thing.

Rite of Passage Classic

You may organize these days however you like to match your lifestyle, energy demands and schedule.  

• Light Day
• Military Press
• Superset
• Chin Ups (Optional)
• Only do as many chin ups as comfortable and don't be afraid to nix them if you're too tired.
• Snatches
• Roll 2 Dice to determine time.
• 50-60% Effort.
• Variety Day (Optional)
• +8kg Loaded Carry Cook Drill
• Medium Day
• Clean and Press
• Superset
• Chin Ups (Optional)
• Only do as many chin ups as comfortable and don't be afraid to nix them if you're too tired.
• Swings
• Roll 2 Dice to determine time.
• 70-80% Effort.
• Variety Day (Optional)
• +8kg Loaded Carry Cook Drill
• Off Day
• Trifecta (20 Second Holds)(Various Regressions and Progressions)
• Bridge
• L-Sit
• Twist
• 5 Minute Squat Hold
• Passive Bar Hang
• Heavy Day
• Clean and Press
• Superset
• Chin Ups (Optional)
• Only do as many chin ups as comfortable and don't be afraid to nix them if you're too tired.
• Swings
• Roll 2 Dice to determine time.
• 100% Effort.
• Off Day
• Trifecta (20 Second Holds)(Various Regressions and Progressions)
• Bridge
• L-Sit
• Twist
• 5 Minute Squat Hold
• Passive Bar Hang

A bit more on the programming above.  For the press days : Light - 2 rungs lower than your tallest ladder of your previous heavy day.  Medium - 1 rung lower than your tallest ladder of your previous heavy day.  Heavy - there are many ways to cook heavy days, some people like to push heavy days as hard as they can, some people can ride a Rite of Passage wave for years by adding only a rung a week to each ladder but I prefer a more regimented approach.  It goes without saying to only increase your ladders/rungs as safely as you can without failure.  Have patience and take as long as you need, I may even have to be more gradual as I move up in weight :

• Heavy Day Progression (For me)
• 3(1,2,3)
• 4(1,2,3)
• 5(1,2,3)
• 5(1,2,3,4)
• 5(1,2,3,4,5)

A couple other notes about the program.  Don't be afraid to nix the chin ups if they are too taxing or you just don't feel like doing them but never exceed your press reps.  Feel completely free to take variety days off.

RKC Ladders (-4kg from Rite of Passage Classic)

RKC Ladders is a Rite of Passage variant from Pavel's Beyond Bodybuilding.  You may have heard it mentioned in StrongFirst material as Rite of Passage Jurassic with some slight changes.  It is a much simpler and streamlined progression than Rite of Passage Classic.  All you do is clean and press plus two mandatory variety days a week that I focus on the double kettlebell floor press.  

• Day 1
• 5(1,2,3) Clean and Press
• Day 2
• 5(5) +12kg Double Kettlebell Floor Press
• Day 3
• 6(1,2,3) Clean and Press
• Day 4
• 5(5) +12kg Double Kettlebell Floor Press
• Day 5
• Off
• Day 6
• 7(1,2,3) Clean and Press
• Day 7
• Off
• Day 10
• 8(1,2,3) Clean and Press
• Day 11
• 5(5) +12kg Double Kettlebell Floor Press
• Day 12
• 9(1,2,3) Clean and Press
• Day 13
• 5(5) +12kg Double Kettlebell Floor Press
• Day 14
• Off
• Day 15
• 10(1,2,3) Clean and Press
• Day 16
• Off
• Day 17
• 3(1,2,3,4) Clean and Press
• Day 18
• 5(5) +12kg Double Kettlebell Floor Press
• Day 19
• 4(1,2,3,4) Clean and Press
• Day 20
• 5(5) +12kg Double Kettlebell Floor Press
• Day 21
• Off
• Day 22
• 5(1,2,3,4) Clean and Press
• Day 23
• Off
• Day 24
• 6(1,2,3,4) Clean and Press
• Day 25
• 5(5) +12kg Double Kettlebell Floor Press
• Day 26
• 2(1,2,3,4,5) Clean and Press
• Day 27
• 5(5) +12kg Double Kettlebell Floor Press
• Day 28
• Off
• Day 29
• 3(1,2,3,4,5) Clean and Press
• Day 30
• Off
• Day 31
• 4(1,2,3,4,5) Clean and Press

All ladders and rungs are done within 30 seconds of rest.  All of my clean and presses are done -4kg from your Rite of Passage Classic weight.  My double kettlebell floor presses are done with 12kg more than Rite of Passage Classic.  

Cycling and Testing

This is my schedule for cycling and testing :

• Rite of Passage Classic 16kg
• RKC Ladder 12kg
• Test
• Etc.

After every cycle of RKC Ladder I take two days off and test my kettlebell press +12kg from my Rite of Passage Classic weight. I then test my 10 minute snatch test with my main pulling bell.  Once I exceed 24kg in my Rite of Passage Classic training for pulls, I will test with only 24kg.

I find this method of training to be solid because a +12kg from your press isn't unreachable and plus once you reach around 32kg for the Rite of Passage, it starts getting a little bit finicky.  We all have a limit on how much strength we can build based on our structure and most people can't do that type of volume with that heavy of a weight.

I hope you enjoyed reading all of this and it might look complicated but I assure you it's not.

Thank you for reading.