Dustin Lebel Training

New Site!

2009-07-28T15:33:00.002-04:00

Hey guys, although its far from finished and much a work in progress, here is my new blog site http://www.dustinlebeltraining.com

Check out today's post on some pretty killer kettlebell complexes!

See you over there!

http://www.dustinlebeltraining.com

Same But Different - Sandbag Density Circuit!

2009-07-26T18:43:00.009-04:00

The russians have a pretty neat philosophy when it comes to periodizing their training...using a conjugated and "same but different" approach, you can change around many variables within your program so that you can continue to avoid adaptation and continue to progress.

So why is this of interest of you? Well, if you're like me and only have one single sandbag or one single kettlebell, then you have to learn to manipulate volume, intensity and exercise variation to prevent not only boredom, but also bring your work capacity, power endurance and overall strength to new heights.

For fighters that don't have a ton of extra time or energy to devote to strength training, this is humungously important! That, and I like simplicity. One sandbag, one kettlebell, one man (heh)...

But anyway, since I've decided to devote my summer to getting as creative as I can with just a few tools, I'm staying the path and always searching for that "same but different".

Here's a pretty challenging sandbag circuit I put myself through the other day - taxing exactly the energy system used in combat sports.

After a warm up using bands and calisthenics, I put a 15 minute time cap and tried to complete as many rounds as possible of the following. Just 3 movements - total body movement, an upperbody pushing movement and an upperbody pulling movement.

1. sandbag shouldering x 8 (4 each side)
2. sandbag floor press x 8
3. sandbag bent over row x 8

This form of training is called "density training" made popular by Charles Staley and Ethan Reeve and is amazing at getting you to "step your game up" just so that you don't get outdone by yourself!

I love using density training as a simple means of tracking my progress in a super efficient, time effective manner. You either get more reps or you don't.

This is so simple, yet can be deceptively HARD trying to beat your own records every time out!

Litvi Band Sprints!

2009-07-25T08:59:00.006-04:00

(Linford Christie looking JACKED...train like a sprinter, hint, hint!)

Throughout the week I get in 3 solid sandbag strength training sessions, and then twice per week I leave open for any other additional "gpp" type stuff...high rep kettlebell work, calisthenics, or sometimes just some light mobility work followed by an extended "dynamic warm up".

It differs, and I give myself the option to maybe try some new shit out and experiment a little.

Right now my goals are a little loose and more along the lines of just bumping up my overall work capacity, so I can do this.

Well the other day I REALLY wanted to get outside and run some sprints - litvi sprints to be exact. You know, swing or snatch a kettlebell and then sprint 40, 50, or 60 yards, rest, and then repeat just twice or maybe 3 times more. Its such a simple workout that can leave you ON THE FLOOR...Dan John says it might be the shortest workout of all time!

The only problem was that once again it was freakin' POURING outside (what else is new for the summer??). But then I got a little "innovation out of necessity" and decided to try doing some litvi BAND sprints...which begs the question, why didn't I think of this before?

Band sprints can be especially brutal, especially if you sprint against the top resistence for a second or two before being "thrown" backwards. Coupled with some FAST highish rep kettbell swings, the combo is hell on your heart and lungs (and never mind your legs feeling like JELL-O!).

So here's the workout, warm up and all...

Stationary Warm Up x 2 sets
Squats x 10
Jumping Jacks x 10
Seal Jumps x 10
Highland Flings x 10
Pogo Jumps x 10
Lunges x 10 (5 ea)
Side Lunges x 10 (5 ea)
Wideouts x 10
Gateswings x 10

Upperbody Bear Crawl Series:
Forward Bear Crawls 2x10 yards
Backward Bear Crawls 2x10 yards
Lateral Bear Crawls 2x10 yards
Spiderman Walks 2x10 yards

Litvi Band Sprints x 3 sets
Kettlebell Swings (2 hands) x 20-30 (depending on size of kettlebell)
Band Sprints x 10

Finish with maybe some upperbody work like dips and chins...or do nothing else and call it a day!

Short and sweet, baby!

Get After It!

2009-07-24T14:30:00.002-04:00

"get up, sucker!"

In sports, lifting, business, and life the mind is a very powerful weapon and it can either work for you or against you - all depending on your thoughts and actions each and every day. There are two sides of the pendulum...you can either have a mindset for prosperity, wealth, and limitless opportunity, or you can be on the other side...always complaining, blaming others, wondering "why me" and never getting anywhere.

What most people fail to understand is that you CAN change the way your mind works and you CAN acheive the success that most people think of as impossible or "not for me"...but it all starts with your HABITS and your priorities.

Here's just 2 things to daily that will literally transform your life and start leading you down the path to success...all you have to do is start. NOW.

1. Study mindset and attitude every. single. day. Read books by Napolean Hill, Dale Carnegie, Dan Kennedy, Donald Trump, Jeffrey Gitomer, etc...watch motivational videos online (there are tons on youtube) and constantly be in a state of positive energy. I'm not saying that you need to be happy go lucky every second of everyday, but you need to FLOOD yourself with positive thoughts and affirmations CONSTANTLY for your own attitude to change. Start thinking like the people who's books you read and soon you will start BEING like the people who's books you read. One of my favorite videos to help me "flip the switch" is this one with Will Smith...

..."JUST DECIDE" is perfect. Just decide to do something, and then START doing it. It might not be perfect, but you're doing it and there's no turning back.

2. Write down your goals. Not just one time and then leave the piece of paper sitting in a drawer, but EVERY DAY and leave the pieces of paper visible so that you can't stand the thought of seeing them again without having acheived those goals.

That's part 1.

Part 2, you need to write down the precise steps that you need to take to acheive those goals. If you want to "lean up", then write down EXACTLY what bodyfat percentage you want to be at, what weight, etc and then write down everything you need to do lose that body fat...your grocery lists, your dialy meal plans, your daily and weekly goals, the whole nine yards. If you want to put 50lb on your squat, then you need to write down how you are going train to acheive that goal, how you are going to deload, how you are going to EAT to support that goal and so on.

If you read something or think of something new that will help you, then WRITE IT DOWN. I carry a little notebook with me pretty much at all times and am constantly jotting things down..this keeps me "mentally organized" and allows me to retain a lot of those thought impulses that often times people just forget about.

Fun Odd Object Workout!

2009-07-23T10:35:00.001-04:00

Here's a fun workout to try, using a heavy sandbag, keg, and sled...quite the mixed bag!

I am having so much fun with my workouts lately, but not only are they "fun" (my word for f'n crazy!), but my strength and muscular endurance have gone through! I feel stronger than ever and I'm breaking density records left and right with my trusty sandbag.

Just because you are limited on time, equipment, space, or anything else, that does not leave you with ANY excuses. There are no rules or limits...just the balls and desire to succeed and make it happen!

Here's the workout:

warm up w/light sled dragging...presses, rows, forward dragging, and backward dragging 2x150' each...it was hot and humid out yesterday and this brief warm up served me plenty!

on to the good stuff...

a1) sandbag floor press x 5 sets
a2) sandbag bent over rows x 5 sets

...the floor presses supersetted with rows are an awesome upper body combo...try and limit your rest periods to next to nothing for more power endurance - simulating a grappling match!

b1) HEAVY sled dragging 4x200'
b2) keg carries (zercher/bearhug) 4x200'

...the sled dragging should be done as heavy as possible for those sets of 200 feet...walk forward and backwards. The keg carries are just torture after a heavy set of dragging. Grapplers or fighters need to learn how to hold static positions even when under huge amounts of fatigue and heavy carries will do the trick!

P.S. You need to pick this up...Zach Even Esh's 12 Month BEAST Program!

New Article Over At Diesel Crew!

2009-07-22T06:49:00.003-04:00

Hey guys, check out this article I wrote for the Diesel Crew, where I discuss even MORE sandbag training strategies! Just Click Here for the article!

P.S. Let me know what you think in the comments section!

Insane Transformation!

2009-07-21T16:47:00.002-04:00

Check out this vid of one Zach Even Esh's athletes going through a classic Underground Strength Session.

This beast went from 160 to 220lb in just 2 years and still has plenty of room left to grow! While this seemingly overnight transformation might sound crazy, down in Edison New Jersy this kind of stuff is common place.

What's really crazy is that this is just one example of the many BEASTS that Zach is creating down in the Dirty Jersey, and they ALL follow his program from the Underground Strength Manual!

From wrestlers, to mma fighters, to football players, to baseball players, to brazilian jiu jitsu competitors to law enforcement, the Underground Strength Manual has been in an integral part of their training.

While the training is very hard and for the serious ONLY, I suggest you make your path a little easier and get on board...CLICK HERE FOR ULTIMATE NO B.S. STRENGTH TRAINING MANUAL!

How Do You Thrive? 3 Things That Have Been Helping Me Along The Way

2009-07-21T10:05:00.004-04:00

I think in order to be successful in sports, in lifting, in life, you need to find what you THRIVE on...what habits produce the best results FOR YOU.

For me, its taken some time and some discipline to discover these things, but when I "strike gold" - it was well worth the effort and my life is easier and far more productive.

Here's a list of some things that I've noticed help me along the way...

1. Waking up early and having at least 30 minutes of quiet time to myself. This is GOLDEN and not enough people do it. I like to get up at least 60-90 minutes before I have to leave to go somewhere, and take that time to drink coffee and write, read, watch motivational videos, or just eat breakfast and reflect.
When I was fighting, I would spend that time shadow boxing. Its a small amount of time that payed (and pays) huge divedends, and knowing that my first hour of being awake is super productive and focused allows me to relax a little the rest of the day.

2. Taking the time to plan ahead. My workouts, my meals, my clients training programs, my day, my week, my month...I'm not completely on point with this time management stuff yet, but making the effort sure has made me a lot better! It boils down to being pro active with your life and taking just a little bit of time to save a whole lot of hassle.
The people that don't want to do this are probably very satisfied where they are with their income, their lifting and their physique and live completely stress free lives. Oh wait...

3. Eating like a caveman/Low carb/whatever...it's taken a long time to finally accept this, but I thrive off of low carb eatin'...I feel better, look better, and perform better, so why should I ever change? I decided a few weeks ago to take the plunge and did a full 12 days of as close to zero carbs as I could before I did a 2 day carb up (more on that later).
Days 1-5 were tough, including dreams about eating carbs and some crappy workouts, but once my body made the "switch", I swear I have never felt or performed better! For the past 2 weekends, I have done 2 full day refeeds, but after this past weekend, I'm thinking that's not such a great idea and I'm better off eating mostly meat & veggies with some fruit thrown in once in awhile. The carb ups, while delicious, made me feel bloated, tired, and not feeling like doing jack shit. Without carbs, I think more clearly, am more focused and have energy throughout the day. I'm not saying carbs are evil by any means, but this has just been my experience so far!

So what are some of the things that you do make yourself more productive, more efficient and better at what you do? Let's see some comments!

Making The Time!

2009-07-20T09:42:00.008-04:00

Hey everybody, I hope that you all had a kick ass weekend and were able to get in at least a little R&R (or if you worked, it was super productive!)!

Being that today is Monday, its a perfect time to "start fresh" and really get things cookin' for the rest of summer.

Can you believe that it's already July 20th?! Where does the time go??? Are you on track to acheive your goals?

Unfortunately, time does not slow down or stop...we can only make the most of what little we have.

Its easy to blame our circumstances or to blame other people for our "lack of time", but excuses are a dime a dozen.

What are you doing EVERY SINGLE DAY to set yourself apart, to attack your goals, and maximize your time?

Are you watching reality tv re-runs, or going through what Eban Pagan calls the "ocd loop?"

Do you find yourself obscessing over the details and never getting anything accomplished towards getting the major reward?

Now think about your training or athletic goals...are you still doing the same things you were a year ago? 2 years ago? When was the last time you made any REAL progress?

As Dan John has said, success is a habit. If you want to make big changes to your performance, then you need to take a serious look at your habits.

Start everyday off with a bang...read something or watch something motivational. Get inspired. Then eat a good breakfast. If it means getting up 30 minutes earlier, then do it...that time to yourself is invaluable and will set the tone for the rest of your day.

Quit letting other people and mindless activities suck away at your time. Be ruthless and cut off the fat. Prioritize your time and who you spend it with, or it will slip away and you'll be left wondering where it all went.

P.S. If you're looking to TRULY maximize your time with your training, Zach Even-Esh has an awesome product out...The Real Man Muscle Building Course...it's definately worth a shot if you're serious about your results and you're tired of wasting time!

My Way...

2009-07-19T13:50:00.003-04:00

I love fast paced, high intensity workouts that deliver a knockout punch - the kind that builds strength, power endurance, and ridiculous work capacity.

I know, I know, its not exactly "by the books", but really not much in life is. Think about the most successful people that you know of, and they probably - in some way or another - do things THEIR WAY.

Sure, they might have mentors and the most successful people are always learning from others, but its their own path that gets them to where they are.

If you're trying to take your game to the next level then you absolutely HAVE to think outside the box and as Bruce Lee would say, "absorb what is useful".

Building raw, aggressive strength and conditioning is not rocket science, but with the right mindset and willingness to go against conventional wisdom - you can CRUSH your competition to dust.

The tools are basic...barbells, sandbags, kegs, kettlebells or dumbbells, a pull up bar, a makeshift dragging sled, and maybe some bands and you have yourself an entire arsenal for forging yourself into a monster.

The best guys in the strength and conditioning biz are the guys who threw away the key and never looked back...you need to start doing the same and finding your own way!

5 Sandbag Routines That Take 15 Minutes Or Less!

2009-07-18T11:18:00.002-04:00

While sandbag training offers a ton of variety within one's training program, most of the time, guys like you and me just want the meat and potatoes - hit it hard and heavy and get the heck out!

While smaller sandbags can be used for a multitude of movements, and are definitely worthy of being in any athletes strength program, most of the time guys will make 1 general sized sandbag and want to tear it up asap.

There are DOZENS of movements, if not more, that can be done with a medium to heavy sized bag, but today we're going to take a look at the BARE BONE BASICS and see all of the different routines you can do using the same movements.

The Russians call this "same but different" - you see, training is all about manipulating volume (how much you do) with intensity (how "heavy" relative to a 1 rep max, but often just though of as how hard you work - either way, both need to regulated). If all you did was the exact same routine week after week, well, don't expect any different results.

You will be just as strong, in the same condition, and just as muscular as you are now. Once you learn how to apply the "same but different" philosophy to your training, you will find that there are HUNDREDS of ways to attack the same movements and continue to get results.

So here are my top 5 sandbag training routines, each taking 15 minutes or LESS, using a medium to heavy sized bag. For most hard training athletes, this is around 100-150lb give or take. The movements performed are the essentials of sandbag training and will get you stronger from head to toe.

Routine 1: Nifty 50
Pick ONE full body movement and get a total of 50 reps, broken up however is necessary to get the job done most efficiently. Record your time and try to beat it the next time out.

Sample Movements for Nifty 50 (using a bag around 60-70% of your bodyweight for advanced trainees)
power clean
shouldering
clean and press
loading to a 36" or greater platform
power clean & zercher squat
shoulder + shoulder squat

Routine 2: Nifty 50 Divided by 5
Take 5 sandbag movements and perform each for 10 reps, not moving on until all reps are completed for each movement.

Example
1. clean and press x 10
2. shouldering x 10
3. power clean & zercher squat x 10
4. shoulder + squat x 10 (5 each side)
5. power clean x 10

Routine 3: 5 minutes per movement
Pick 3 movements and work each for 5 minutes; trying to get maximum reps in the allotted time.

example 1:
clean and press x 5 minutes
shouldering x 5 minutes
zercher squats x 5 minutes

example 2:
shoulder & squat x 5 minutes
power clean x 5 minutes
bent over row x 5 minutes

sample 3:
power clean + zercher squat x 5 minutes
clean and press x 5 minutes
bearhug or zercher goodmornings x 5 minutes

Routine 4: Make It Complex
This is a sandbag complex in which you are going for maximum rounds in 15 minutes
1. clean & press x 4-6
2. shouldering x 4-6
3. zercher squats x 4-6
4. bent over rows x 4-6

Routine 5: 100 reps of Misery!
Complete all 20 reps of each movement before moving on to the next...this is brutal!
1. clean and press x 20
2. shouldering x 20
3. bent over rows x 20
4. zercher or bear hug reverse lunges x 20 (10 ea)
5. goodmornings x 20

So gives these a try, on alternating days if possible and let me know how they work out (no pun intended) for you! Once you get a general idea on how to program your training, start mixing and matching movements on your own! Good luck!

5 Quick Finishers For The Weekend

2009-07-17T14:06:00.003-04:00

Hey everybody, just a quick one for today, but I wanted to give you guys a few quick n' dirty finishers that you can throw in at the end of your workouts this weekend. Finishers are an awesome way to improve work capacity, energy system development, and mental toughness. Not everyone believes in them, but I do!

Here are a few that will really get things cookin' after a tough workout...

1. Carries of any kind...keg, sandbag, farmer, sloshpipe...pick something up and carry it for time or max distance...better yet, do it with a bunch of different implements!

2. Kettlebell Quickies...I like doing snatches for 20, 15, 10, and 5 reps each arm w/out putting the kettlebell down. The "combat complex", which I stole from Zach Even-Esh is also a favorite. 1-3 sets will be plenty!

Here it is:
1. snatch x 5
2. clean and press x 5
3. squats x 10
4. reverse lunges x 5 each leg
5. high pulls x 5
6. bent over rows x 5
7. 2H swings x 10

3. HEAVY sled dragging...while I love to use the sled as an extra workout and usually just drag for a set time, putting on a bunch of weight and dragging for shorter distances of 100-200' is a great way to finish a workout.

4. Band Pulling...great for grapplers, working various pulls for a set time will torch your grip, lats, and upperback. Everyone needs to be doing more back work, so this is a perfect addition to your workout! Check out Jim Smith's aka Smitty's article HERE

5. Timed Keg Shouldering or Timed Picking Up Anything Heavy....sandbag power cleans, sandbag loading,sandbag shouldering, and tire flipping all work good here. Check out this vid from Synergy Athletics...

So give 1 or two of these a try and let me know how it went! I hope everyone trains hard over the weekend (or rests hard haha) and enjoys some of this summer weather...it won't last forever!

Recovery 101: 5 Quick Tips

2009-07-15T14:12:00.010-04:00

Recovery and Regeneration are finally getting some recognition in the world of sports performance, but while many people are searching for a magic cure, they would cover a lot of ground by just focusing on a few things...

1. Sleep. I know, how many times do we need to hear it...but sleep is important. More important is to NOT stress out on the days you don't get that much (shit happens). In the meantime, pick up some ZMA (zinc, magnesium & b6 will do), some melatonin and sleepy time tea for the best nights sleep of your life! I think that whether you get 8 hours, 9 hours, or 6 hours, the key is the quality of the sleep.

2. Nutrition. Post workout, during, post workout...obviously this stuff is important, but recently I've been reminded how important FAT and protein is. I've ignored this advice from guys like Dan John, Steve Maxwell and Charles Poliquin until now and I've been experience some of my best workouts ever. Do you need 300 grams of protein per day? No. But, if you're anything like me, drop your carb intake, jack up your fats and watch some pretty amazing things happen.

3. Daily Meditation/Relaxation/Time To Yourself. Its amazing to me just how undervalued "alone time" is...but you should take some time every day to visualize your goals and remember the things that are important to YOU. So take a few minutes to shut down your engines, recharge your batteries and get back to neutral...

4. Deload! So you push, push, push...every workout is a total thrasher, you feel good, you're setting pr's and then all of the sudden the warm ups start feeling heavy, you feel sluggish during the day, and you can't fall asleep at night...but you keep on going. And going. And then you wonder why you can't make any progress. There's alot of information out there about this, but a good idea is every 3-6 weeks to cut your intensity and volume in half. As Dan John says, make sure your Highs are HIGH and your lows are LOW.

5. Cut the excess. Similar to deloading, but a look more in the overall picture, get rid of the shit that isn't doing anything for you but cutting into your recovery time. I'm all for building a huge work capacity, and throwing in extra workouts and such, but sometimes you need to be ruthless with your approach and just cut down to the essentials. Cut to the core of your training and start to understand what's working and what's not.

If I Could Start All Over Again - Building The Base For Strength!

2009-07-15T08:40:00.002-04:00

Although this post can be for "newbies", this is more for the guys who have been doing this for a long time and need to revamp their program. One thing that I frequently think about, is "what if I could start all over again?" - what if, knowing what I know now, I could go back in time and start training myself all over again?

One thing for sure is that I would first build an excellent base using bodyweight only exercise, and I would MASTER those movements. I would learn how to do push ups CORRECTLY, bodyweight squats CORRECTLY, lunges in all directions, recline rows using some thick rope or tow straps, tons of bear crawl variations in all directions and hand walking drills like partner wheelbarell walks.

As I got stronger I would do harder variations of push ups, like divebomber push ups and incline push ups. I would do tons of parallel bar dips, pull ups and chin ups with different grips, and a ton of posterior chain work in the form of glute ham raises and single leg hip pops. I would practice handstand push up holds until I could knock out some reps, single leg squats aka pistols, one arm push ups and single arm recline rows. I would get in insane shape using a simple jump rope and by doing tons of burpees.

Wait a second, I already do all of this stuff - even at my "advanced" training age. The point I'm making is that even when you have youre base already built, its important to go under regularly scheduled maintenence. If you're an athlete looking to get stronger and more "functional", bodyweight training will help you get there. How many weak guys do know that knock off 20 strict pull ups or sets of hanstand push ups? The problem with bodyweight stuff is that its HARD and can be very humbling especially if you're a "weights only" guy. No one likes going from being strong in the weightroom, to just average or worse when it comes to basic bodyweight movements.

I'm not saying that bodyweight training is the ONLY way to build your base up, but it should be the FIRST step towards developing strength, conditioning and overall athleticism. Bodyweight training will ALWAYS let you know how you're progressing (or regressing) and will keep you in fight shape for the long haul if you make it a regular part of your program.

If you're a wrestler or combat athlete reading this, then this should all be a "no duh" for you - nothing is more functional than moving your own bodyweight around in different planes of motion. But if you're a gym rat or athlete from another sport, then bodyweight training still has its place to help shed bodyfat and pack on some slabs of muscle!

Look Like a Spartan..Try This Simple Kettlebell Routine!

2009-07-14T19:31:00.005-04:00

Hey guys, give this quick total body workout a try using just one kettlebell and a chair or bench. Its so simple that many would over look something like this, but a 24kg kettlebell will put most men on the floor!

Warm Up with some light calisthenics and/or mobility & activation work and then on to the good stuff...

a) clean and press x 10/8/6/4

b1) single arm kb floor presses 4x10-15
b2) single arm kb rows (strict)4x10-15

c1) bulgarian split squat 3x12-20
c2) single leg rdl 3x12-20

Breakin' it down:
* For the clean and presses, rest only as needed, but for a real burner try and get all the reps in without putting the kb down.

* Be sure to roll to the side and use your opposite hand to help get the kb into position for the floor presses to protect your rotator cuff. Pause every rep with your tricep completely on the floor and keep your elbow tucked. When rowing, keep a flat back and the kettlebell on the outside of your legs.

* For your bulgarian split squats (what you'll need the chair or bench for) and the single leg rdls, you will holding the kb in the opposite hand of the leg doing the work. Use perfect form and be sure to get a full range of motion.

* No or very little rest between upper body and lower body supersets. Your sets should look this floor press left/floor press right/row left/row right x 4; quick break; b.split squat left/b.split squat right/sl rdl left/sl rdl right x 3. Over.

For muscular endurance, work capacity and yes, even hypertrophy, throwing this guy in once in awhile as a change of pace would not be a bad idea! Have at it!

Accelerated Muscular Devlopment...With Sandbags & Kettlebells!

2009-07-14T15:39:00.004-04:00

Hey guys, I hope everyone had a great weekend and If you live in New England then you I hope definately enjoyed the beautiful weather and maybe got some outdoor training in!

Speaking of outdoor training, Jim Smith over at Diesel Crew has put out his 3rd installment of their sandbag and kettlebell training program. If you already didn't know, Jim is also the creator AMD - Accelerated Muscular Devlopment, a super powerful muscle and strength building system. What Jim has done is taken the proven AMD system and has applied it to sandbag and kettlebell training - which is right up your ally! Really, this is great stuff and the fact that it's F-R-E-E makes it a no brainer to at least give an honest try!

All of the workouts are posted on the Diesel site, but for convenience sake, here they are right here...

Week 1 (also posted a few weeks ago on this blog):
1) Sandbag Clean and Press, 3x6
2) Sandbag Clean and Squat, 4x8
3) Sandbag Floor Press, 4x8
4) Sandbag Good Morning, 3x12

Week 2
1) Sandbag Back Squats, 4x8
2) Sandbag Lunges, 3x6 each leg
3) Kettlebell Swings, 4x15
4) Kettlebell Step-up to Press, 3x6 each leg

Week 3
1) Sandbag Overhead Squat, 3×8
2) Sandbag Rows, 4×10
3) Sandbag Rowed Good Mornings, 4×8
4) Sandbag Turkish Get-ups, 3×8

So that's 3 kickass (and free) sandbag and kettlebell routines that you can use throughout the course of the week or as an "odd object day" in addition to your regular barbell and dumbbell training.

P.S. Don't forget to take a look at AMD - Accelerated Muscular Devlopment and get yourself a copy TODAY. Action takers only, though....the weak get eaten!

Its What You Don't Do

2009-07-09T15:06:00.006-04:00

"Sometimes, instead of what you do in the weight room, it's what you don't do that will lead to success."

That quote is from Jim Wendler in an interview he did for TMuscle. First of all, his approach to strength training is brilliant and over looked and you should read the article and buy his e-book just for that.

But what really struck me was that one quote...and that's a pretty good philosophy for success in anything, not just the weightroom.

Most people get so overwhelmed by the little stuff that they forget about what's important and what will actually drive them forward. All too often people spend a lot of time in that "middle zone" and never push them selves to that edge.

They are their own worst enemies.

You see, getting anything worth having is hard. And it takes a lot of work.

But not as hard as most people think and not nearly as long, either.

Its funny how it happens, but a clear focus on your goals while using your biggest levers with ultra consistency will lead to some pretty amazing things.

In order to do this and to understand this you have no choice but to cut the fat and get rid of what's not working and what is simply not necessary.

This takes a little bit of ruthlessness and honesty on your behalf, but the pay off is peace of mind and actually getting results for once.

With that said, let's look at 3 things NOT to do in regards to strength and conditioning...

1. Don't stress out over which "program" to follow. Have a plan, have a goal, and know that you have to do xy and z to get there...but leave a little wiggle room. Follow a program that works, yes, but keep a general plan in mind and realize that sometimes life happens.

2. Don't obscess over the details. A row is a row, a chin is a chin, a press is a press, a lunge is a lunge (any single leg movement)...3 days a week or 4? Sled dragging or prowler pushing? None of this stuff really matters...train hard using movements that work a lot of muscle, vary your intensity and volume, rinse and repeat.

3. Don't drive yourself into the ground week after week...you have to learn how to deload and give the body a break so that it can come back stronger. This is hard to do for guys like you and I, but absolutely necessary. A down week every so often (every 3-6 weeks, usually) is good for the body and mind. I like the advice of "working out" with your nutrition...use that time to really dial in on your eating and your habits.

Let's face it, anyone who has been strength training for a long time has done all 3 at some point. Its human nature to tinker, and we all like to fool ourselves sometimes that we're "different" and that we don't need to back off or take breaks (newsflash: we are not all like snowflakes). Be concise with your goals, clear with your limitations, and let the big things take care of everything else.

How I Passed The SSST...EASILY

2009-07-08T14:08:00.006-04:00

So yesterday I had full intentions on just getting in a quick 15 or 20 minute sled dragging session - hittin' up my lower and upper body - as an extra workout mainly because I just felt like doing "something". Their are numereous benefits to dragging a sled for distance or time on your "off" days, and during the summer this is one of my favorite ways to train.

However, as luck would have it, right as I was about to head on outside, it started POURING. Shit.

Not to be outdone, I still felt like getting in a quick workout and decided to do some kettlebell snatches in the form of the Secret Service Snatch Test. For those that don't know, the SSST is very simple - complete as many total snatches with a 24kg bell as possible in 10 minutes. You can switch hands as often as you'd like and set the kettlebell down whenever you want. To pass the test you have to complete 200 total repetitions.

Now, I didn't psyche up for this or do anything special to train for this. In fact, I didn't even warm up. I just went into the garage and started snatching away.

10 minutes later, I'm wondering what all of the fuss is about. I didn't break any records, but I did get in exactly 200 total reps in the 10 minutes. The cool part? I took my time, didn't really rush to get the reps in, and had room to spare. I also wasn't anywhere near to being the "hot mess" that people describe themselves being after they take the test.

So how have I been "training" for the SSST?

For starters, I use a basic strength program probably 75-90% of the year - lots of squatting, pulling, pressing, weighted chins and the like. I'm not crazy strong by any means, but I have a decent base. I've noticed on the forums that too many guys are trying specialized routines to pass the test and they can't even deadlift double bodyweight. Number 1, get stronger.

For the last few months I have also been building up my work capacity using sandbags, sled dragging, bodyweight, bands, and of course kettlebells. Sure, I'm having "fun" with my training, but don't get me wrong - this stuff is BRUTAL! Take for example a quick sandbag circuit that I did today for 4 sets:

1. sandbag shouldering x 6
2. sandbag power cleans x 6
3. sandbag zercher squats x 6

I finished with some kb floor presses and single arm rows EDT style and called it a day.

Its workouts like these that have shot my work capacity through the roof...they're short, yes, but I pack in a lot of volume in those 15-30 (rarely ever more) minutes. So I think that you have to train with a variety of intensities, volumes, and movements to get the best results...not just a 24kg kettlebell.

My point? You can use many different means to get to the end...build a huge base and usually just getting stronger is a great cure all.

Mutant Work Capacity Using Sandbags!

2009-07-07T11:04:00.004-04:00

For developing MUTANT work capacity and insane trunk, back, hip and back strength sandbag training delivers on every level.

For grapplers and fighters, training with sandbags will get as close to "sport specific" as you can get - every movement is literally a FIGHT with the bag!

For guys looking to put on some muscle, shed some fat, and get stronger, sandbags will challenge you in ways you never thought possible.

So get yourself a moderately heavy sandbag (60-70% of your bodyweight will do) and set a timer for 15 minutes. This is a simple workout, but don't let that fool you! You are going to be doing just two movements, with the goal being to squeeze in as many rounds as possible in the 15 minutes.

1. Sandbag Clean and Press x 3-5
2. Sandbag Carry (zercher, bearhug, etc) x 100'

Although you wouldn't really need to do anything else, but if so inclined - throw in some sled dragging for the upper and lower body and then call it a day. Good luck!

Attack Your Weaknesses!

2009-07-06T10:21:00.003-04:00

Today's post is about something that i've been thinking a lot about lately, and it relates to attaining anything worth having in life.

You see, most of the people around you probably live their life in constant multi tasking mode - they have a million different things to get done and they try to get it all done all of the time. In training, in business, in relationships - multi tasking sucks.

We're all guilty of this at some point, and that's what usually keeps us from ever being GREAT at something - not our genetics, not drugs, not our childhood, not any other excuse that we can come up with - just the fact that we never have clear, consise goals and never take deliberate action to achieve them.

Unfortunately we live in a world of instant gratification - we want things yesterday - and this mentality keeps us in a constant state of mediocrity because we're never giving ourselves enough time to ever truly master anything.

The truth is that if we actually had the discipline to take immediate action on our weaknesses and to attack our problems at the core, instead of finding a million different excuses to move on to the next thing - we would make progress that much faster.

In life, the best thing to do is to block off your time. Quit procrastinating and get things done according to the schedule you set for yourself. This is a little secret that all successful entrepreneurs use to maximize their time and minimize the bull shit. Get the big things done first and forget the minutia. Even if you don't own your own business, this works for planning your meals, your workouts, time with your family, etc around your busy schedule so that you can fit everything in...no more excuses!

In training, you need to make an honest self evaluation and attack what is weak. If you are 20% bodyfat, then you need to spend the next 3 or 4 months hunkering down and losing the fat. Set up your training and performance goals accordingly and don't try and do what most people do - ie "I want to be 5% bodyfat, increase my squat by 200lb, have a 40" vertical, climb mount everest,...". Focus on that ONE thing, check it off, then move on to the next. Same thing if you need to get stronger - don't go try creating your own bastardized program while following the velocity diet and running HIIT sprints 5 days a week. That hasn't worked and it won't work. Instead, follow in the " footsteps of greatness" and try a simple program that works such as Westside for Skinny Bastards, Jim Wenlders 5-3-1, Glenn Pendlay's 5x5, etc and spend a long time devoted to adding weight to the bar.

Take the time to sit down and think about your goals and take immediate action to get the most important things out of the way first. Check it off, then move on. Live in the now, but stay laser focused on the big picture.

28 Things I Like

2009-07-04T10:07:00.001-04:00

Alright, here's a quick 28 really cool things that you can do for strength, conditioning, or overall athletic development. These are in no particular order and straight off the top of my head. Here we go

1. Sled dragging for time - 10, 15, 20 or even up to 40 minutes for strength, muscular endurance and overall gpp.

2. Timed sets with bands - goodmornings, leg curls, rows, face pulls, tricep extensions, pull throughs, pull aparts, curls. Try for sets of 2-5 minutes.

3. Litvi sprints. perform 8 crisp front squats, snatches, swings, or overhead squats and immediately sprint 40-60 yards. rest as needed and repeat for 3 sets. You can do this with a sled also.

4. Using a towel for all of your upperbody pulling work - rows, chins, shrugs and watch your grip strength go through the roof.

5. Complexes - use a barbell, dumbbells, kettlebell, sandbag, keg - whatever. for fatloss, condtioning and even hypertrophy, complexes are the ultimate bang for your buck.

6. Pendlay rows. Made popular by olympic weightlifting coach and monster, Glenn pendlay, you want to keep your back parallel to the floor and row explosively to your abdomen and return the bar to the ground each rep. Read why here http://stronglifts.com/how-to-perform-the-pendlay-row-with-correct-technique/

7. Heavy dumbbell snatches. I love these for explosive power and power endurance. Perhaps my best "indicator" lift when I want to find out how things are going with my training.

8. Blast strap upper back work. recline rows, face pulls and scarecrows should be done by everybody - weighted, unweighted, high reps, low reps - just do a lot of them!

9. Kroc Rows. Heavy high rep one arm dumbbell rows helped powerlifter Matt Kroczaleski bring his deadlift up to over 800lb once he started using over 200lb dumbbells for CRAZY high reps (30+). His pr is 300x12 (that's with one arm) I think, so get to work!

10. Rope climbing. For serious grip and pulling strength, rope pulling and recline rope pulling is a must have, especially for wrestlers and combat athletes.

11. Zercher squats, lunges and goodmornings. I like these with a barbell, sandbag or even a keg. For lowerbody strength, isometric upperbody strength and core strength zercher movements pack a serious punch.

12. Kenneth Jay's vo2 max snatch protocol. Snatch for 15 seconds, rest for 15 seconds, snatch with other hand for 15 seconds and repeat while trying to keep a 7-8 rep cadence.

13. Pull ups of all kinds with all different kinds of grips. Harry Selkow has some cool ideas related to pull up performance over at the elitefts q&a...check it out. Bottom line is that everyone should do a lot of pull ups.

14. Density Training ala Ethan Reeve...I love his 10 minute barbell combos (power clean-hang clean-power clean or power clean-hang clean-push jerk every 30 seconds for 10 minutes). Using the "reps on the minute" approach is a great way to pack in a ton of volume and keep your reps crisp.

15. Chaos shrugs courtesy of the Diesel Crew...loop an average band through your dumbbell or kettlebell handles and shrug away.

16. Weighted timed push ups ala Joe Defranco. Throw some chains over your back and get in as many reps as possible in 30 seconds. rest and repeat for 3 sets.

17. Timed sets with a kettlebell...swings, snatches, and recently Rob Pilger said that Louie Simmons reccomended timed single hand cleans for his fighters...generally, Louie Simmons is right about a lot of things.

18. Josh Henkin's Ultimate Fitness Challenge. This involves shouldering a heavy sandbag for 10 reps in 1 minute, resting for a minute, and then repeating for 2 more sets. Guys 180 or under have to use a 120lb sandbag, 180-220lb a 150lb bag, 220-270lb a 170lb bag, and for any monsters that are 270 and up - a 200lb bag.

19. Sled dragging for strength. Load up that sucker and do sets of 30 yards (backward and forward) with a lot of weight as a great finisher for a lower body session.

20. Thick bar rollout + cleans or clean and presses which I stole from Joe Hashey over @ Synergy Athletics. Serious core + upper body work. Make your own thick bar by just wrapping a towel around the bar. Do these heavy for sets of 5-8 or lighten up and go for time in the 2-5 min range.

21. Hill sprints. Very little if any technique is needed, and it only takes a few trips to get in a serious conditioning session.

22. Jumping rope. For coordination, foot speed, timing, rythym, and conditioning, jumping rope is tough to beat. Most people get frustrated because they suck at first, but its just like riding a bike...

23. Sandbag carries. Most people probably these off because they're so simple, but bear hug or get a heavy sandbag in the zercher position and just walk for time or distance and you will quickly realize a missing component in your strength and conditioning program.

24. Scap push ups, prone y's, t's,w's, wall slides, and some soft tissue work for healthy shoulders (in addition to deadlifting, rowing, face pulls, and the like). A lot of people write this stuff off as pussy prehab work - that is until they tear a labrum (as I have). Start doing this stuff frequently and make sure to pull A LOT.

25. Prehab circuits on "off" days - in addition to what I said above, putting that stuff along with some glute activation work, core stability stuff (I know), hip mobility work, etc together in a circuit is a good way to break a sweat and still feel like you're doing "something" without thrashing your body.

26. Thick bar curls, rows, pull ups, presses, and deadlifts. If you use nothing but a thick bar for everything for a little while, you would probably get seriously freaking strong. If you don't have a thick bar, make your own by wrapping a towel around your barbell.

27. Tabata front squats. Courtesy of Dan John, the 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off protocol of front squats is a brilliant idea for fat loss, conditioning, and mental toughness. You can "tabata" just about anything, but front squats work best. Strong guys, try these with 95-115lb, weak guys try ~65lb. Get 8-14 reps per 20 second set...that 10 second rest goes by QUICK.

28. Front squats in general... with a CLEAN grip. Besides the obvious of jacking up your legs, your upper back, core and everything in between will get crushed from front squats. Nobody does 'em because they hurt, but somewhere in Bulgaria there is a 165 pound guy front squatting 550 for a double.

So there's some food for thought...don't forget to check out my article 22 Mistakes That Fighters Make! Have a great weekeend!

New Article Over At Synergy Athletics!

2009-07-02T13:30:00.002-04:00

Hey everybody, I hope everyone is kicking ass and taking names with their training and having a freakin' ball getting stronger!

Check out this article I wrote for Synergy-Athletics, where I go off about 22 of the biggest mistakes I see fighters and martial artists making with their training. I pull no punches and give you just the straight talk!

Just Click Here! to check out the article and feel free to give me any feedback over at Synergy-Athletics or over here in the comments section!

Keep on killin' it!

Backyard Strongman Training 101

2009-07-01T21:25:00.003-04:00

When it comes to building raw strength and a rugged physique, there are many training methods and tools to get the job done. Whether its powerlifting, old school bodybuilding, hardcore calisthenics, kettlebells - there are many ways to skin the cat - and once you "break the chains" of the regular gym routine, you'll be pleasantly surprised with how much FASTER you achieve results (and how much more FUN training can be!). However, an often overlooked form of training, a kind of training that builds super human strength, conditioning and mental toughness, is old school strongman / odd object training. Using just bare bone basic equipment, and a hell of alot of attitude, you can be well on your way to unleashing the beast and building a tough, rugged physique that is stronger than it looks!

The fact of the matter is, that if you're stuck in the cozy confines of your local or home gym - you've become comfortable, you've become complacent. Barbells and dumbbells are excellent training tools, no doubt, but there's just something about getting outside with some heavy, awkward implements and carrying them, dragging them, loading them, throwing them overhead, etc. Your body's stabilizers will go into overload... your grip, upperback, core, and the muscles of the posterior chain will be challenged far beyond that of a regular squat or deadlift.

The best part is that most of this basic equipment can be either found for free or purchased for very cheap. With just a few various odd objects, you have yourself a complete outdoor gym, with only your imagination limiting the possibilities. Here are some of the bare bone basics for your new "backyard strogman" training course:

- Sandbags. You can start out with one medium sized bag (~50-70% of your bodyweight), or maybe make several different sized bags. A lighter one for various rotational and throwing movements, a medium sized one for clean and presses, shouldering, loading, etc and a heavier one for carries and low rep loading drills.

- Kegs. Similar to a sandbag, but just a different feel overall. The water sloshing around inside makes a 100lb keg will rock your "core" in ways you've never felt before! Like sandbags, you can start out with one medium sized keg, but eventually try to acquire (ahem!) several different sizes.

- Dragging Sled or Tire. You can purchase a sled from company's such as EliteFTS, or simply go to your local tire yard and find a tire in the 100-200lb range, attach an eye hook to it, and get 2 10' tow straps and you'll have your own homemade sled. Sled dragging for the lower and upperbody is an awesome way to jack up your conditioning, muscular endurance, or even hypertrophy for lagging bodyparts.

- Sledgehammer. Using a 12-20lb sledgehammer for various swings and chops is an oldschool to jack up your grip, upperbody, core, and is a super hard conditioning workout.

So now what do you do? I'm glad you asked, here's a sample training day using some of this basic equipment.

- General Warm Up X 5-10 Minutes (jumping jacks, squats, push ups, chin ups, mountain climbers, walking lunges, etc)...get a sweat going!

First we'll get in one of my favorite total body strength & power movements - sandbag shouldering.

a) sandbag shouldering x 20 total reps (10 each side). Break as long as needed in between each rep or break the sets of up into 4's or 5's.

Next we'll hit up an energy system circuit for 3-4 rounds. Try to move through this circuit quickly and only rest once all 3 movements have been completed.

b1) keg clean and press x 10
b2) backward sled drag x 100'
b3) sledgehammer swings into large tire x 15 left & right

Finally, you're going to finish the workout with a heavy sandbag carry

c) sandbag carry 2x200'. This will have your heart beating out of your chest and will fry your grip, upperback and core! A great way to finish a workout and develop some old school rugged strength!

So there you have it - 5 pieces of equipment that are virtually free (or very cheap) and a sample training day that will send your body into shock and have you wondering why you've spent all that time in a regular gym!

2 Day Template For The Busy MMA Fighter

2009-06-30T14:02:00.004-04:00

Hanging around a lot of fighters and martial artists, I've noticed that when it comes to their strength and conditioning, most of them are merely doing a lot of guess work. Maybe they're like you and they've read articles online or in magazines, or maybe they got advice from a coach or someone else in their gym. Either way, it seems like everyone has an opinion nowadays as to how fighters should train...and most of them are DEAD WRONG. I could write an entire book on the subject of strength & conditioning for fights, but for the purpose of this article I just want to guide you in the right direction.

First, here's 3 things off the top of my head I've observed

1. Most fighters are OVER TRAINED. In MMA for example, you might train 2 or 3 disciplines in one day, with each coach having their own agenda and their own opinion of how much work you should be doing. I get that and I see that there's not much we can do right now to fix it.

2. Most fighters feel the need to be doing SOME type of daily conditioning work. Read above. The fact is that your skill sessions are going to the most specific conditioning sessions that you can do, and much more than that is over kill.

3. Most fighters just don't have a CLUE as to how to structure their strength & conditioning sessions, monitor volume & intensity, and now when and how much to push or back off. With fighters this is an extremely fine line, more so than any other sport, in my opinion.

So now that we know that you're just plain old doing too much work, its always a safe bet to start with a minimalist approach and then add things if needed or warranted. Remember, you're a fighter first and foremost - strength training is just general work to get you stronger and in better condition so that you can display your skills harder, longer, faster than the other guy.

With that said, here's a sample 2 day program for an MMA fighter who trains 1-2x a day, 5-6 days a week, but still needs to get a little stronger and maintain his or her conditioning. This is a TEMPLATE and not a specific routine, so feel free to play around with different movements...get stronger but HAVE FUN!

Day 1:

- warm up x 2-3 sets

1. push ups x 15
2. band or recline rows x 15-20
3. bodyweight squats x 30
4. reverse lunges x 15 each leg
5. mountain climbers/groiner series x 6 each (ea side)

a) total body movement 4-5x3-5

- sandbag shouldering
- clean and press (sandbag, dumbbell, kettlebell, barbell)
- dumbbell snatches
- dumbbell clean and jerks
- sandbag loading drill

b1) upper body push 3x6-15.

- weighted push ups
- parallel bar dips
- dumbbell pressing (flat, incline, or or overhead)
- barbell floor presses
- hanstand push ups

b2) upper body pull 3x6-15.

- chin ups/pull ups
- weighted recline rows
- barbell rows
- sandbag rows
- dumbbell rows

c) lowerbody (knee extension) 2-3x6-12; but don't be afraid to hit up some super high reps once in awhile in the 20-30 rep range.

- squat variation (barbell, kettlebell, sandbag, zercher, front etc)
- lunge variation (barbell, kettlebell, sandbag, etc)
- step up variation (" ")
- bulgarian split squat variation (" ")

d) posterior chain (hip extension) 2-3x6-12
- romanian deadlifts (barbell or dumbbell)
- glute ham raises
- snatch grip deadlifts
- pull throughs
- sandbag beyond the range pull throughs
- sandbag power cleans
- sandbag good mornings

So there you have it, a sample template to follow 2 days a week. Allow 2-3 days between each workout and keep track of your progress!

Sandbag and Kettlebell Mania!

2009-06-28T18:11:00.007-04:00

Check out this training session I did over the weekend...

All you'll need for this killer workout is a heavy sandbag, a kettlebell and some jumpstretch bands. I kept my rest periods super short and was able to finish in about30 minutes.

Warm Up x 3 sets
1. kb squats x 10
2. kb swings x 15
3. push ups x 10
4. band rows x 15

a) sandbag clean and press 3x5
b1) kb one arm floor press w/light band 4x8-12
b2) kb one arm rows w/light band 4x8-12
c) sandbag shoulder + squat 3x6
d) timed snatches (15:15 protocol) x 5 minutes

The 15:15 protocol snatches were something I tried after reading about guys like Kenneth Jay and Jon Hinds using similar programs to get their VO2 Maxes through the roof. It consists 15 seconds of work followed by 15 minutes of rest - alternating hands for each interval - and can be brutal when you get in the 10+ minute range if you maintain an 8 rep cadence with a 53lb kettlebell.

So give it a try and post a commnet if you come up with any sandbag and kettlebell combo workouts of your own!

Top 8 Kettlebell Movements For Fighters!

2009-06-28T10:43:00.002-04:00

Above, one of the BEASTS that trains at the Undeground Strength Gym, courtesy of Zach Even-Esh

Kettlebells are all the craze these days, and for good reason. They are an excellent training tool for developing a strong grip, upper back and posterior chain, especially. The problem that I see with most athletes training with them, is that they are trying every new movement under the sun without paying attention the to basics first. Its fine to have a lot of variety in one's training program, but remember what you're trying to accomplish. If you're trying to get in "fight shape" or shred body fat, the most grueling of kettlebell movements are what you need to be doing - there is no way around it! Unfortunately, this leaves only a handful of movements compared to the plethora that you can find else where on the likes of YouTube.

Done for timed sets, complexes, or circuits with hardcore calisthenics, they will be a fine addition to whatever else you're doing now. For building a "bullet proof" body and the type of conditioning needed to dominate opponents in the ring, I recommend most men getting a single 24kg kettlebell and start hacking away with the following movements.

1. Snatches
2. Swings (one handed, two handed, or even with a towel for added grip work)
3. Clean and Presses
4. High Pulls
5. Bent Over Rows
6. Squats (with both hands, or single hand in the "rack" position)
7. Lunges
8. Turkish Get Ups

There are a ton more variations of the them, but these 7 movements are the basics and, in my opinion, should be drilled and used to their maximum benefit before going on and purchasing a heavier bell. Just the snatch and swing alone, done for super high reps or time, are excellent for building lactic acid tolerance. I often will throw in a quick 2-5 minute set at the end of my workouts, where I switch hands every 5-10 reps without putting the sucker down. Everything from my grip to my calves get torched with these short "finishers".

I also love toting my kettlebell around to various outdoor locations, where I'll mix in various movements with pull ups, dips, push ups, sprints and jumps for an awesome total body workout. There's nothing like tossing around a cast iron kettlebell and pumping out natural body weight movements outdoors on a hot, sunny day. Get out of the gym once in awhile this summer, forget about your "routine", and just work hard for 30-45 minutes. I'm convinced this stuff does wonders for the body and soul.

So, go ahead, shell out the dough and get yourself what everyone's been talking about. You will literally never outgrow it, and there are a ton of different ways to kick your own ass!

5 Movements For a Devestating Clinch!

2009-06-25T08:07:00.002-04:00

Anyone who has seen the utter destruction of Rich Franklin at the hands of Anderson Silva - on two occasions - knows just how important a strong clinch game is. While the technical nuances of the clinch need to be PRACTICED and practiced often in order to become super efficient, there are ways to increase the type of strength needed to have a clinch that sends shockwaves of fear into your opponents. If we examine the clinch, it's obvious that you need tremendous grip strength, neck strength, lat and upper back strength, crushing or isometric strength from the upper body, core stability and rotational strength, as well as a super strong posterior chain to deliver powerful blows and throw your opponent around the ring or cage. Yes, actual sport practice is THE BEST way to hone your skills, but by increasing your strength across the board while building your skill base at the same time, you will get the best of both worlds.

While most of the so called "MMA strength coaches" out there would prescribe a whole bunch of sport specific drills that have little actual training effect, I'm going to give out some of the methods I know for increasing strength and muscular endurance for a truly devastating clinch. Here are five of my favorite movements to use

1) Zercher Squats

Our first order of business is building a tremendous BASE to work from, and what better movement to do that the zercher squat. By holding the bar in the crooks of your arms, not only is this a powerful lower body movement, but also a great core and upper back lift with emphasis on upper body isometric strength. Ideally, these can be done for a 'sub max' effort. Something like 4-8 sets of 2-6 reps, depending on your training goal for the day.

2) Thick Bar Chins

Secondly, we want to develop insane pulling and grip strength. Thick grip pull ups and chin ups are what the doctor ordered. You can make a thick bar by simply wrapping a towel around your chin up bar. This will force your grip to work very hard while building a strong back and biceps. Use different grips - palms facing you, palms facing away, close grips, medium grips, wide grips, etc - they are all good and you should try to incorporate as much variety as possible.

3) Full Contact Twists

My next favorite movement for developing a seriously strong clinch is the full contact twist or barbell Russian twist - whatever you want to call it. You can either grab the end of the bar or grab the plates and rotate from side to side. This is called a "core exercise", but really your lats, shoulders, and chest are also very actively involved.

4) Thick Bar Curls

What?! Curls?! Before you think I'm crazy, we are going to be doing HEAVY thick bar cheat curls. Once again using a towel to turn our barbell into a thick bar, these will hammer your grip, biceps, and upper back -crucial for strength in the clinch.

5) Reverse Rope Climbs

Using a thick rope you are going to start in the face down position and climb hand over hand until you are just about standing and then lower back under control. The lower you go and the more you keep your body forward, the more difficult this movement will be. This movement is a personal favorite that will BLOW UP your forearms, triceps, chest, shoulders and lats and not to mention is an excellent core stability movement (yeah, I can't believe I said it either!).

So give some of these a try, and maybe even have 1 day per week be your "clinch" strength day and you work each of these movements or their variations on that day for a full body training session.

Give this full body "clinch strength" session a try:

a1) Zercher squats 5x5
a2) Thick bar chins 5 x max reps
b1) Reverse rope climbs 3x6 up and down
b2) Thick bar cheat curls 3x8
c) Full contact twists 2x8 each side

All Pulls Day!

2009-06-23T23:04:00.003-04:00

Many people think that balanced training is to use a 1:1 ratio of pushes to pulls, thinking that this simple approach would solve their muscular imbalances.

They include a horizontal pull for every horizontal push, a vertical pull for every vertical push, a hip extension movement for every knee extension movement and so forth. Unfortunately this is NOT fixing the problem.

In actuality, most people need AT LEAST a 2:1 ratio, if not even greater. You're upper back musculature, glutes and hamstrings can never be too strong!

A great way to combat this is to include a total body pull only day in your weekly programming. So if you train 3 days a week using a lower/upper/total split or 3 days per week total body, that third workout would include nothing but lower and upper body pulls.

While most people tend to just throw in extra posterior chain work and upperback work as an afterthought (after their squats and benches), by having a completely seperate and extra day set aside you would be able to use sufficient load and get in a good amount of volume - more than you normally would, anyway.

A good example of one of these days would be (after a warm up, of course)

a1) snatch grip deadlifts off platform 5x4
a2) mixed grip pull ups 5x6-8
b1) weighted glute ham raises 4x8
b2) weighted recline rows, chest supported rows or thick bar cable rows 4x8-12
c) sled dragging upper back complex x 5-10 consecutive minutes
sled scare crows x 12
sled face pulls x 12
sled rows x 12

So for packing some serious muscle to your posterior chain, lats, and upperback and not to mention taking a preventive measure in correcting your imbalances, try throwing in an all pulls day once a week in addition to your other days with various pushes, squats, single leg work and of course, more pulling.

Complexes For Muscle Growth?

2009-06-22T08:41:00.005-04:00

When most people think of classic hypertrophy training, they refer to the usual "8-12reps with a 4-2-0 tempo", but as Russian Weightlifter Vasily Alexeev found out, tempo - besides being incredibly boring - is not nearly as important as total time under tension.

This article (pg 3 - Science of Big) gives us some more insight into how time under tension and FAST eccentrics (weight lowering) can lead to muscle growth. This would explain the phenomenom of guys getting jacked with stuff like barbell complexes, high rep kettlebell work, sled dragging, and the like.

While most tend to think of that kind of work as just "conditioning", Vasily used complexes and such to pack muscle on to his students.

Check this out...

“Usually the athletes lift barbells and then immediately drop them. This takes several seconds,” comments Dmitri Ivanov who interviewed the maverick lifter. “According to Alexeev’s method, the athlete finds himself under the weight for a period of two or three minutes. The entire body must sustain this prolonged effort, as the athlete completes several consecutive exercises
without letting go of the equipment. The weight of the barbell is relatively light, but the varied work with it affects every muscle cell. By the end of the two-week session, all of Alexeev’s students had increased their bodyweight as a result of muscle growth—and at the same time they’d increased their abilities.”

Pretty cool stuff, huh?

In talking about complexes, Dan John also notes the increases of muscle growth in his athletes.

His explanation?

"When you watch a sophomore boy handle Complex A with 155 for three complexes of three reps each, you have to realize that this is a very strong human being, even if he's just 15."

The great part about complexes is that you can get in a serious workout in just 15 or 20 minutes (and sometimes even way less) - packing in a ton of volume in a very short amount of time.

Let's take a look at some of our options with complexes and all the different tools that you can use...

Barbell Complexes
Dumbbell Complexes (two handed or single hand)
Kettlebell Complexes
Sandbag Complexes
Keg Complexes
Sled Dragging Complexes
Grappler Complexes (or just take two barbells and throw them in a corner)

I'm going to say that one should train exclusively with complexes, but definately throwing them in a few times a week would be a great addition to your training. Any athlete can benefit from complexes, but combat athletes especially would benefit from the huge amount of time under tension. Its one thing to have great levels of maximal strength - and its the base for all athletes to work from - but its another thing to be able to express that strength for a period of several minutes.

For the guys looking to pack on some size, try one of Dan John's or Alwyn Cosgrove's complexes for 3 or 4 sets with some decent weight and wonder how they wouldn't help put on some muscle.

Here's a new video from the Diesel Crew, demonstrating a serious sandbag complex

If its good enough for the Diesel Crew, then its good enough for me! Start rethinking your hypertrophy training and don't be afraid to sway from the masses!

The Power of Sled Dragging!

2009-06-21T13:06:00.004-04:00

above, one of the FREAKS at Joe Defranco's gym crankin' out some sled pulls

Hope everyone is having a great weekend and is killing it with the weights (or sandbags, kegs, tires, and sledgehammers haha!)...I just got done with a serious sled dragging session and was reminded how POWERFUL this simple tool really is!

I began with a lighter sled and did the following:
- scarecrows
- face pulls
- tricep extensions
- ankle dragging (forward, backward, laterally)

I just rotated between those for about 10 minutes before adding some plates, where I hit the "meat" of my sled dragging session for another 10-12 consecutive minutes:
- forward dragging
- backward dragging
- pressing
- rowing
- explosive "cleans"/high pulls

So think about it - in just around 20 minutes I crushed every single muscle on my body, especially the posterior chain and upperback. My heart rate was through the roof and I was sweating bullets, and I'm not going to lie I had a great "pump" going on! The best part is that I won't even be sore tomorrow because there is no eccentric when you are dragging the sled... which is exactly why if you're looking to pack on some size, then sled dragging is a great addition to your program either at the end of your regular workouts or as a an "extra workout" like I did today.

What I did today was just a small sample of what's possible with the sled, so be afraid to keep trying new things and being innovative with your dragging! This stuff has serious carry to every single sport I can possibly think of (even bodybuilding!) - so get to it!

Sandbag Quickie!

2009-06-17T08:13:00.006-04:00

Above, Ross Enamait killing it with his sandbag

While I love being able to spend a good solid hour training - getting my mobility work in, a good 10 minute warm up, and then 45 minutes of gut busting strength work -I have to be honest, sometimes I just have to get in and get it the hell over with.

These sessions might be 25-30 minutes TOPS, but are ultra productive and leave me a sense of accomplishment.

If you've been following this blog, then you know that i'm a big fan of short, condensed sessions that give me a huge bang for my buck. And while most people gripe about not having enough time to train, I find that these "quickies" give me my best results!

But you can't possibly fit EVERYTHING into a 20 or 30 minute workout, right?

Here's you're soultion...I've talked about "chunking" a little before, and its actually a term I stole from Zach Even-Esh, but it allows me to get in everything I need or want to get in without dedicating a big block of time out of my day.

So I might get in a quick 5-6 minute warm up followed by a 20-25 minute strenght session in the morning and then foam roll and get my mobility work in at night or vice versa. Or I might get in the "meat" of my strength session in the morning and then come back in the evening for some mobility work and more accessory stuff.

So here's a quick sandbag complex I'll be doing this morning after a brief gpp warm up with bands and calisthenics:

1. clean and press x 6
2. shoulder + squat x 6 (3 each side)
3. Rotations x 8
4. Bent Over Rows x 8

I might do this for 3 or 4 sets and then I plan on getting in some soft tissue/mobility work in later tonight followed up by some upper and lower body sled dragging and probably some heavy band goodmornings.

Time is on your side...if you know how to use it!

Building Strong Legs With Sandbags!

2009-06-14T17:40:00.009-04:00

Many people think that you need to stick with just barbells and dumbbells to build strength, but odd objects such as sandbags certainly have their place - especially concerning lowerbody development.

Using a heavy sandbag, there are many options to consider that will jack up your not only your legs, but also your upperback as well as various core stabilizers!

Yep, sandbags pack quite the punch and are excellent as a single training tool alone or used as accessory movements to improve your squat and deadlift. The synergistic effect of the various sandbag movements will have tremendous carry over to your standard barbell movements.

If you're a combat athlete, then I would say that sandbag training is a MUST HAVE in your arsenal. For isometric strength and energy system development, along with developing insane grip strength, not much else will give you a bigger bang for your buck!

But what we're going to talk about today is how to incorporate sandbags into your lowerbody training program. A method that alot of people have had alot of success with is Joe Defranco's Westside For Skinny Bastards Program. Its concept is simple - get freakin' strong by lifting maximal weights, and then pick 2 or 3 accessory movements to help pack on some muscle mass. What Joe found was that most of his younger athletes were just too weak to be doing dynamic effort work ala the Louie Simmon's Westside program, and that by simply getting stronger and gaining muscle, his athletes made some incredible transformations.

What's the point i'm trying to make? Don't F*ck with a good thing. The principles behind Joe's template WORK and are working for other strength coaches around the world. But, its just a template and you can always play around and experiment so that the program fits your needs and that you can keep making progress.

With that said, one idea using Joe's template is to hit up your max effort or sub max effort (something like 6x3 or 5x5) main lift - a squat or deadlift variation - and then pick 2 or 3 sandbag movements and get in your repetition work with those.

An example would be:
a) Box Squat: sets of 5 up to a 3-5 rep max
b1) Sandbag Zercher Reverse Lunges 4x6-8 each leg
b2) Sandbag Power Cleans 4x6-8

Another idea, thanks to Zach Even-Esh, is to train 3 days per week getting in one upper body day, one lower body day, and then a total body day. You could mix up barbell & dumbbell work with sandbags and really get cranking with various combo drills on the total body day.

Here's a breakdown of some of the different movements that you can do with a moderate to heavy sandbag...

Squat/Lunge Variations:
zercher squats
zercher reverse lunges
zercher walking lunges
zercher step ups
shoulder squats
(not to mention back squats, reverse lunges, walking lunges, step ups, and goodmornings)

Posterior Chain/Hip Extension Movements:
shouldering
power cleans
zercher goodmornings
bear hug pull throughs

Combos:
shoulder + squat
power clean + zercher squat
power clean + zercher reverse lunge
power clean + zercher goodmorning
power clean + zercher squat + zercher reverse lunge
power clean + zercher squat + goodmorning
power clean + zercher reverse lunge + zercher goodmorning
power clean + zercher squat + zercher reverse lunge + zercher goodmorning
shoulder + squat + power clean + ...you get the point

So go ahead and break the "rules" and start getting stronger using a wide array of training tools and leave your competition in the dust!

Components of a Good Training Program (In a Nutshell)

2009-06-13T13:12:00.006-04:00

People often ask me to review their training programs or routines and they seem confused when I say that its tough to just give a quick 5 minute answer and I give just a few general bits of information. While most people just want a quick fix and a "do this" explanation, we know that REAL strength training is more in depth than that. However, I got to thinking - what if I had to just give a quick 5 to 10 minute run down of what makes up a good program? What would be my key points and what would I just leave for them to figure out on their own?

So here goes - the most basic elements of a good strength and conditioning program no matter what sport you play or what you're goals are...

1. Soft Tissue and Mobility Work (pre workout)

If you're not doing soft tissue work with a foam roller and lacrosse ball, then number 1, you're in for a whole new world of pain when start and 2, what the hell are you thinking? Guys like Eric Cressey (google him) have tons of information and self myofascial release techniques to get you healthy and feeling good with only 5 minutes of dedication per day. Read his stuff and just do it.

As far as mobility work, we're not Yoga instructors, so do a little research and start implementing the stuff that will give you the biggest bang for your buck. For starters, you're pecs, lats, hips, and ankles are probably tight as hell and are forcing you to compensate big time (and you probably don't even realize it).

2. GPP Warm Ups

You want to establish and maitain some sort of base, and in the words of Dan Gable, "if its important, do it everyday". Not literally EVERYDAY, but stuff like push ups, recline rows, band face pulls, pull aparts, bodyweight squats and lunges, goodmornings, sled dragging, etc is a great way to not only "warm up" but to increase and maintain your work capacity. Over time you can correct imbalances and get a little better at doing the things most people tend to overlook.

3. Strength Training

AH, the meat and potatoes - the good stuff. Basically watch what everyone else does in your gym and do the opposite. Since i'm trying to keep this short, here's a general list to help you keep track...

- Training Economy -
Squats, deadlifts, presses and pulls will always reign supreme. Um, try to get really strong on those movements. You only have so much time and energy to devote to training, so pick the stuff that will give you the best results in the quickest amount of time.

- More Pulls than Pushes
Do lots of rowing, mixed grip pull ups, deadlift variations, etc. For healthy shoulders and good posture, make sure you are doing a minimum of 2 pulls for every 1 push. The back can handle a ton volume, so get to pulling!

- Throw in some Closed Chain Pushing Movements
Some people think that push ups are over rated, but I just think that those people haven't explored all of their options. Push up variations with external resistence from bands, chains, plates or a weighted vest are one of the best upperbody and "core" strengtheners there is! Oh, and the fact that people are OUT OF SHAPE makes it easy to dismiss them and say that they are too easy. Push ups are good for you, so do them.

- Single Leg Work (at least 1x per week)
Besides HAMMERING your glutes, hamstrings, quads, and various stabilizers, single leg work also forces you to work your non dominant side to help correct imbalances. For healthy hips and a lowerback, you can't go wrong with various lunges, bulgarian split squats, step ups and single leg squats. For some reason, people think of single leg work as "sissy" stuff and that's because they've never had 225lb on their back doing reverse lunges off a platform. Get seriously strong on single leg work and watch your athletic performance go through the roof.

- Lots of posterior chain work
I know its cliche, but if you want to run faster, hit harder, gain muscle mass, and have chicks gawk at you, then you need to be doing a shitload of heavy posterior chain work (in addition to your squats and deadlifts). Goodmorning variations, romanian deadlifts, glute ham raises, heavy dumbbell or kettlebell swings, pull throughs and heavy sled dragging is a MUST in everybody's strength program.

- Lots of rear delt/upperback work
I'll say it again - you need to be doing WAY more pulling than pushing and by throwing in various rear delt and upperback movements such as blast strap scarecrows, face pulls with bands or blast straps, band pull aparts, dumbbell "cleans" and dumbbell rear delt raises, you will go a long way in not only beefing up your upperback, but maintaining strong, healthy shoulders.

- Variations in Training Intensity & Volume
There are lots of books and articles pertaining to periodization and such, but basically you want to learn how to vary your training intensity (in relation to your 1 rep max, not how "hard" you train) and your training volume (how much total work that you do). If you don't, then you are doomed to just running in circles and never making the kind of progress that you should be.

4. Energy System Work

Ok, we know that long boring cardio is out, but alot of people are still confused on when to implement conditioning or energy system work. Here's a really broad answer - it depends. Generally speaking however, throwing in a finisher at the end of your strength sessions or maybe reserving a seperate day or two for GPP work are your best options. Sled dragging, bodyweight circuits, band circuits, sledgehammer swinging, complexes using barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, and sandbags, medball circuits, and good old fashioned hill sprints are great choices. Just stay in shape year round and know when to make adjustments with this stuff.

5. Regeneration

If you're an athlete or just a regular dude, its important to never forget the other aspect of training - RECOVERY. The body doesn't differentiate between stresses whether its from training, your job, money, family, whatever the case may be. Doing daily soft tissue and mobility work is a step in the right direction as is stuff like contrast showers. Most important however, is nutrition, sleep, and general relaxation techniques/meditation/whatever you want to call it. Find your inner chi and try to take a short break from it all everyday.

So that's it in a nutshell, any questions? Really, i'm missing a whole of stuff and a lot of specifics, but this should give you a general idea of where your program should be headed and what you need to fix.

GPP In 10 Minutes A Day

2009-06-12T10:22:00.002-04:00

GPP, or general physical preparedness, is a term that has recently been brought into the vocabulary of the strength world, but is still largely misunderstood. Essentially it is exercises or movements to increase our GENERAL level of fitness and the amount of WORK we are capable of doing over time.

There are many ways to increase your GPP, but a favorite of mine that is great for adding muscle and helping out with restoration is through the use of jump stretch bands. Lets face it - most people and youth athletes especially are out of shape, and have a serious lack of muscle on their glutes, hamstrings and upper back - aka the posterior chain.

Between bad coaching, reading muscle rags, and playing video games or spending all day chatting on Facebook, most athletes have terribly weak backsides and horrible posture to boot. While normal training with an emphasis on doing the right stuff in the weight room can certainly help, often times that just isn't enough and this where high rep band work comes into play.

By picking 1, 2 or 3 at the most band movements and doing 100 reps of each movement per day, we are getting added volume to the muscles needed without taxing the system too much as a whole. The added blood flow not only aids in slowly building up the posterior chain, but also in the recovery process by transporting nutrients faster than the athlete had just sat around all day.

The goal of these short training sessions to is to increase our work capacity so that we can train HARDER during our main sessions so that we can keep getting stronger - so don't treat these as 'real' training sessions!

Here are some basic combinations to use aiming for 100 total reps of each movement. Use a band well below your limit at first, and use moderately good form.

1. band goodmornings and band pull aparts
2. band pull throughs and band face pulls
3. band leg curls and band rows
4. band curls and band tricep extensions

You can mix and match these exercises any way you like, but try and keep the sessions ultra short and just break a sweat. Louie Simmons, creator of the Westside Barbell System, can be credited for first introducing GPP to the strength world. His methods have been getting world class results for over 30 years, so if he's not right, then I don't know who is! While most people wait a whole week to recover from training a muscle, Louie has been advocating a different approach - by incorporating these "extra workouts" - and has had phenomenal results.

Another Case For Bodyweight Training

2009-06-11T08:51:00.003-04:00

I found this vid over @ Zach Even-Esh's Blog and thought you guys would enjoy it. This is the Polish Olympic Weightlifting team going through some "GPP" training...pretty cool, so check it out and never forget your BASE!

Quick Kettlebell & Band Session

2009-06-11T08:12:00.002-04:00

Combining kettlebells and bands is a great way to get the best of both worlds while saving some cashola at the same time (kettlebells can get expensive1). By adding extra resistence via jumpstretch bands, you can get in a powerfull full body workout using just a 24kg kettlebell - which is exactly what I did yesterday.

The guys at the Diesel Crew came up with some pretty cool variations HERE, and I added a few different twists of my own to get in a quick 15 minute session that hit my entire body.

While I usually advocate doing a thourough warm up, I just didn't have the time yesterday and I wanted to get right into it. I began by alternating a single arm push with a single arm pull for 3 sets and then a squat variation alternated with a hip extension. The added tension of the bands literally forced the kettlebells back down, making the eccentric very difficult (and me very sore today haha!).

Here's how it went down:

a1) single arm kb floor press w/mini band 3x12 each arm

a2) single arm kb rows w/light band 3x12 each arm

b1) kb squats (holding w/both hands @ chest level) w/light band 3x15

b2) kb swings w/light band (set up as if I was doing a band goodmorning) 3x20

I did each superset with no or very little rest between exercises for all 3 sets and was done in less than 15 minutes. Not something I would do all the time, but definately great for a change of pace!

3 Sandbag Combos For Fighters!

2009-06-11T05:38:00.002-04:00

Besides being great time savers that hit a boatload of muscle mass in a very short amount of time, not to mention great energy system developers, combo drills - using a variety of training equipment - are one of the best ways for athletes to train with a lot of time under tension while still using a decent load.

While complexes can be defined as performing multiple reps of one movement before moving to the next of a particular sequence, combos are typically performed by doing just 1 repetition of a movement before moving on to the next movement. The Clean and Jerk that is performed in Olympic lifting competitions is a great example of a combo - its one explosive pull, followed by one near max front squat, followed by one explosive jerk overhead - a combination of maximal strength, power, speed, and agility. Its no wonder that Olympic weightlifters are some of the strongest and best athletes on the planet!

But for the purpose of most combat athletes, combos can be done using a variety of movements with a variety of equipment. Barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells are fine choices, but with the unique needs of combat athletes, I believe that SANDBAG combos are one of the best tools for the specific strength and energy system development that a fighter needs. In grappling sports like wrestling, jiu jitsu and judo, no movement is every directly linear. You are constantly pushing and pulling, many times isometrically, against a live opponent. I believe that sandbag training is one of the best ways to simulate this. All you need is a bag in the 100-140lb range, and some open space to train.

There are tons of sandbag combos, and I can literally come up with dozens just off the top of my head, but here are 3 super effective combos.

1. Bent Over Row + Clean & Press + Zercher Squat

Perform one explosive bent over row followed by one clean and press followed by one zercher squat. Lower to the ground and repeat.

2. Goodmorning + Shoulder + Squat

With a bear hug grip, do a goodmorning followed by explosively shouldering the bag and then performing one squat. Lower and repeat to the other side. This will crush your posterior chain, and even your upperbody from having to isometrically hold the bag.

3. Power Clean + Zercher Squat + Zercher Reverse Lunge

Rip the sandbag from the floor and "catch" the bag in the zercher position. Perform one deep squat followed by an alternating reverse lunge with each leg. Lower to the floor and repat.

All of these movements can be done for sets and reps, keeping the reps in the 3-6 range (if you have a heavy enough bag) or if you prefer, you can set a timer for 5-10minutes and shoot for total maximum reps. The sandbag, along with some weighted calisthenics, can be used alone for a complete training program, or these combos can incorporated along with your heavy barbell and dumbbell work.

Breaking The Rules

2009-06-09T05:42:00.002-04:00

Its time for a change, people.

Its time to step up and start training the way YOU want to train, the way we were MADE to train.

Its time to stop worrying about all the little so called "rules" of strength and conditioning and start focusing on following a few basic principles and just BUSTING ASS.

If you are not getting stronger, then you're wasting your time. If you add weight to the bar, if you add reps, if you do more work in less time - you are getting stronger.

Its such a simple concept, but often forgotten.

Once upon a time, I was a teenager so focused on my "routine" that I would lose sight on what was really important, on what really mattered.

You know the principles already, you know the templates, the exercises, the set/rep ranges - you know all that. Now apply it and start getting freakin' strong. Maybe you're goals don't revolve around maximal strength - that's fine. Start getting more done in less time - increase your training "density". Try sandbag training, try keg training, do a ton of
Bodyweight Training, flip some heavy tires, drag a heavy sled a bunch of different ways - whatever is you do, don't forget to actually GET stronger in some manner and forget the rules that everyone else is crying over.

11 Best Playground Movements For Real World Strength!

2009-06-08T13:45:00.002-04:00

"You will never reach your potential if you stay in the cozy confines of your gym." - Dan John

There is just something about taking some basic, primitive equipment (or no equipment) and heading out to a field or park and just working hard for 30-45 minutes. Even Arnold used to take a barbell set out to the woods and do endless sets of squats, rows, or presses. Too many people get caught up in all of the hype of magazines and the internet, think way too much, and just don't know how to work hard.

You don't need alot of equipment - if any at all! In fact, your best gym might be down the road at your local playground! With various monkey bars, parallel bars, park benches and more - the playground is the ultimate training facility! You can certainly take along a kettle bell or two, or maybe some bands and a sandbag, but for this article I'm going to give away the best body weight only movements that can be done at just about any playground. For improving general physical preparedness and work capacity, the playground should be your new hang out zone. Don't worry about perfect programming or using percentages that don't matter in the real world.

Just go out, have some fun, and sweat buckets! So here they are, the best of the best in playground training...

Monkeying Around:

1) Regular Pull Ups and Chin Ups - using an overhand, underhand, or neutral grips. Close, Wide, Medium - whatever - just do em!

2) Lateral Pull Ups
Starting on one end of the bar, perform one pull up, slide your hands down to the left or right, perform another pull up - stop 1 rep shy of failure

3) Monkey Bar Walks w/Pull Ups
Perform 5-10 pull ups, monkey your down to the other side, perform 5-10 pull ups

4) Hanging Abdominal Work
Windshield wipers, Leg Raises, Scissor Kicks, Knees to Elbows can be done as a complex, by themselves, or in combination with pull ups (1 windshield wiper + 1 pull up = 1 "rep"). Brutal on the core, grip, and lats!

Push Ups Of All Kinds:

5) Incline Push Ups
These can be done with your feet on a park bench, or a harder variation - feet on a picnic table or even higher surface.

6) Lateral Walking Push Ups
For core and upper body strength, these will humble anybody pretty quickly! Begin with your feet on a bench all the way to the right or left, do 1 push up, then "walk" one step, do another push up, and continue for sets of 8-15 (might have to go 3-5 steps to the left, 3-5 to the right with shorter benches)

Parallel Bars

7) Parallel Bar Dips
Dips are a great upper body strength and size builder, everyone should have a goal of being able to do 20 unassisted reps!

8) Parallel Bar Leg Raise + Dip
Pefrom One Leg Raise followed by one dip and repeat for reps

9) Parallel Bar Rotational Leg Raises
Raise your legs up and over one side of the parallel bars and repeat to the other side for reps....these are super tough!

The Lower body:

10) Bulgarian Split Squat Jumps
Set up as if performing a bulgarian split squat with your back foot elevated on a park bench, drop down to a full split squat and explode back up. Repeat for sets of 8 per leg

11) Single Leg Squats
Standing with one leg on a park bench, squat down using your arms to counter balance and stand back up. Sets of 5 are a good start, but once you get the groove down, hit up sets of 15-20 or more!

Bonus:

Some Posterior Chain Pain!

Hip Pops off a Park Bench:
For some hamstring torture, lay on your back with your heels on a park bench and legs bent at 90 degrees. Using your glutes and hamstrings, raise your hips to the sky and pause before lowering back to the ground. Try these with two legs or single leg, or a mix of both! Throw in some long isometric pauses mixed with short, fast timed sets for variety!

There you have it, a bunch of upper body, lower body, and core variations to keep challenging yourself and build some muscle while having some fun outdoors!

Don't Be a Victim!

2009-06-07T18:51:00.002-04:00

Here's something to think about today, and its often a question that i'm faced with from mma fighters and strength nuts alike.

You see, there is a fine line in strength training and high level sports performance that most people don't always adhere to and its important to recognize the difference.

What i'm talking about is the fine line between MAXIMAL training and OPTIMAL training. There are always two sides to the fence. One one side you have the die hard "train til you puke" guys and on the other you have the super technical "the CNS is like a delicate flower" guys. Neither guy is completely right, but both guys can add value and insight to your training.

Number one, MOST PEOPLE just don't know how to work hard. Really, if more people just FOCUSED and worked really hard on a few things - they would triple their results. But with most "type A" personality types, that is rarely the case. For us, its important to know when to push it and when to back off...when to go hard and CRUSH IT and when to take a step back. Not just with lifting, but with anything in life.

Where alot of people fail is that they just push, push, push without ever taking a breath and often just fall flat on their face. Don't fall victim like most people, accept that you aren't superman and know when to put on the brakes.

But before you do this - and this is real important - you have to EARN IT. If you're not putting in the work, if you're being - for lack of a better term - a pussy, if you're not straining, hustling, and always attempting to better yourself, then frankly you don't DESERVE to back off.

Energy is either moving forward or backward, but never at a stand still. This is true for getting stronger, building a business, developing relationships - you name it. Try to go forward as much as and as often you can - go for those PR's and make those huge jumps - and then don't afraid to get back to neutral. Rinse and repeat.

Total Body Template Using Sandbags & Bodyweight

2009-06-06T19:15:00.002-04:00

A lot of people think that its impossible to build strength and muscle mass using just a simple tool such as the sandbag. They think you need intricate program design and lots of fancy equipment. The fact is that the body only recognizes tension, not what is applying the tension.

While I encourage people to train with alot of different equipment such as barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, bodyweight and the like, its important to know that no matter what you use to train with, as long as you adhere to some sort of template you're gonna be money.

Something i've been using for quite awhile now and originally stole from Underground Strength Coach, Zach Even-Esh is a total body template designed to train the entire body and various planes of motion in one workout.

Its simple, really and all you have to do is plug in whatever piece of equipment you're using with whatever movements are applicable with that training tool.

a) Total body movement
example: sandbag clean and press, sandbag shouldering, sandbag loading

b1) upperbody pressing movement:
example: weighted push up variation or parallel dip variation

b2) upperbody pulling movement:
example: sandbag bent over rows, weighted recline rows, or weighted pull up variation

c1) squat or lunge variation
example: sandbag zercher squat, shoulder squat, zercher lunge or shoulder lunge

c2) posterior chain movement
example: sandbag zercher goodmornings, bear hug goodmornings, sandbag pull throughs

Sets and reps can vary, and you can even work all the movements in a strength circuit (a great way to train if you're short on time). By following this general template you have a vast array of movements to choose from, but each training session will still have some sort of rhyme and reason and keep you progressing forward.

As an example, here's what I did today

warm up w/bodyweight and bands x 2 sets
1. push ups x 15
2. squats x 20
3. reverse lunges x 20
4. iron corss goodmornings x 20

a) sandbag clean and press: max reps in 5 minutes

b1) chain push ups 3 x max reps

b2) sandbag bent over rows 3 x 8-10

c1) sandbag zercher squats 2 x 8

c2) sandbag zercher goodmornings 2x8

This took only 25 minutes or so from start to finish and completely roasted me. My upperback, grip, core, and lowerbody were thrashed from all the sandbag work and the chain push ups blew up my upperbody.

Don't make this stuff more complicated than it is and don't be afraid to have some fun with your training! Yes, you have to work hard, but don't limit yourself to one training tool over another. Experiment, find out what works, and don't let the "rules" hold you down!

7 Movements To Crush Your Posterior Chain!

2009-06-05T10:54:00.002-04:00

When it comes to knockin' down your 40 time, shooting in for a powerful double leg takedown, or putting on massive amounts of muscle mass to your frame, training the group of muscles known as the posterior chain is an absolute MUST. The upperback, lowerback/spinal erectors, hip complex, glutes, hamstrings, and calves all make up the posterior chain. If you want to run faster, hit harder, get bigger, and stay injury free you need to be HAMMERING them multiple times per week. While there are lots of interesting ways to train the posterior chain, our main objective is to GET STRONGER. And to do this, we need to use heavy weights and use BIG movements that work alot of muscle mass. Leg extensions and leg curls are out, and compound movements are in! Certain activation and pre habilitative movements are fine as a warm up, but we need to be attacking the weights and trying to set personal records on a regular basis.

With that said, here are my top 7 movements for packing on strength and size to your backside...

1) Deadlifts
- rack deadlifts
- from a defecit
- sumo

Grip it and rip it...what could be more simple? Deadlifts are the KING because of the loads used. If you want to get super strong from head to toe, then deadlifts are in top order. Typically deadlifting is best done for lower reps, sets of 5 or less as technique becomes an issue much past that.

2) Snatch Grip Deadlifts
- from rack
- from defecit

Perhaps my favorite pulling movement of all time, snatch grip deadlifts will hammer your glutes, hamstrings and upperback unlike anything else. Hit these from a variety of positions for sets in the 6-12 range for hypertrophy or as a max effort movement for a top set of 1-5.

3) Box Squats

We all know that regular barbell squats are the "king of lifts", but box squats force you to sit back break up the eccentric/concentric chain, forcing your hips, glutes and hamstrings to do all of the work. Sets of 2-5 are generally desired, unless working up to a 1 rep max or once in awhile performing some light higher rep work to promote recovery.

4) Goodmorings
- wide stance
- Anderson (from rack or suspended from chains)
- bands (for higher reps)

Goodmornings get a bad rep by people who do them wrong, but they are an excellenet movement for crushing the post chain. With a barbell, I prefer a low bar setting and use either a close or wide stance being sure to keep my back flat. Doing these from a rack aka Anderson goodmornings are also a great way to build starting strength. Generally sets in the 3-8 rep range are used, but higher reps with jump stretch bands can also be done in the 15-30+ range.

5) Romanian Deadlifts
- dumbbell or barbell

A favorite among the old soviet weightlifters, romanian deadlifts are basically a goodmorning while holding the bar in your hands with the extra benefit being more recruitment from the upperback and of course the grip!

6) Pull Throughs
- sled
- bands

I prefer doing these with bands or a sled over a cable, usually for higher reps at the end of a training session to hammer the glutes, hamstrings and erectors. Doing these with the sled the day after an intensive lowerbody day is also great for recovery purposes.

7) Swings (single arm)

These can be done with a single dumbbell or kettlebell, and usually for reps in the 8+ range. If I am using a heavy dumbbell, I might do 2-3 sets of 8-15 or sometimes I will do timed sets with a lighter (24kg) kettlebell for extra gpp work and conditioning.

So there you have it - 7 hardcore movements, each with their own variations that can be rotated throughout your training program. You'll notice that I didn't include movements such as glute ham raises or 45 degree hyper extensions, and while they are great movements, not many people have access to those pieces of equipment. All the movements I gave can be done with a barbell, dumbbells, bands, or a sled - all affordable pieces of equipment that you can have in your home gym.

Top 14 Partner Bodyweight Exercises For Combat Athletes

2009-06-04T13:50:00.003-04:00

For combat athletes, getting "strong" is not just a matter of increasing their squat, deadlift, or any other weightroom number. While barbell and dumbbell training is often necessary for building a great base, fighters and grapplers need a different kind of strength - the kind that doesn't always tell the full story through the weightroom. Combat athletes need a great deal of strength and explosive power, but they need to be able to express that strength and power repeatedly for multiple rounds of 3-5 minutes or for a 6 minute wrestling match against a live opponent that is trying to do the same thing to you. And this is where the confusion for most athletes starts, and why there are more and more of these "mma strength coaches" popping up - most of these guys having never thrown a single punch in their lives - putting athletes through ridiculous circuits, throwing together anything that comes off the top of their heads (or so it seems). But I digress...that could be a 3 part installment article in itself!

But what I want to talk about today is some functional, bare bones, real world strength and conditioning for grapplers and fighters. Here are my TOP 13 partner bodyweight movements that don't require ANY equipment, just a killer instinct and willingness to CRUSH IT. These movements can be used as a "warm up" before skill practices, but they also work great as a finisher (and you don't have to worry about burning yourself out). Oh, and I lied about using zero equipment. You'll need a simple bath or beach towel for some of these (I was close).

Here ya go, in no particular order, the baddest of the bad of partner bodyweight calisthenics:

Total Body:

1. Partner Pick Ups

2. Partner Rotations

3. Partner Carries

Upperbody Pushing:

4. Partner Wheel Barrow Push Ups / Forward Walks / Backward Walks / Lateral Walks / Clapping Push Ups

5. Partner Push Ups

Upperbody Pulling:

6. Partner Recline Pulls / Alternating Recline Pulls

7. Partner Towel Rows / Alternating Towel Rows / One Arm Towel Rows

8. Partner Towel Curls (work great at the end of sessions to fry grip and arms!)

Lowerbody:

9. Partner Drags

10. Partner Squats

11. Partner Lateral Hops

12. Partner Push Lunge / Push Lateral Lunge

Posterior Chain:

13. Partner Glute Ham Raises

14. Partner Hip Pops / Single Leg Hip Pops

So how do we organize these for a training session? Well first of all, you don't need to use all of them every time you train. Secondly, its best to pick one movement from each category and work these movements in a circuit.

Here are two examples, but you can mix and match these any you want - and feel free to come up with your own variations! Repeat each circuit for 2-4 sets, or if you want, do 1-2 sets of circuit 1 and then 1-2 sets of circuit 2 for a complete workout.

Circuit 1:
1. Partner Pick Ups x max reps in 30 seconds
2. Wheel Barrow Push Ups x 12
3. Partner Towel Rows x 12
4. Partner Drags x 50'
5. Partner Single Leg Hip Pops x max reps in 30 seconds per leg

Circuit 2:
1. Partner Rotations x 5 each side
2. Partner Carry x 50'
3. Partner Push Ups aka Partner Bench Press x 10-12
4. Partner Recline Rows x 10-12
5. Parner Squats x 15
6. Partner Glute Ham Raises x 10

Give these a try and watch your "mat strength" and conditioning go through the roof!

P.S. Martin Rooney of Parisi Speed School has an excellent book out called Training For Warriors with detailed descriptions of many of these exercises. I highly reccomend checking out that book and his Training For Warriors You Tube Channel.

8 Things We Can Learn From Louie Simmons!

2009-06-02T20:56:00.009-04:00

So last week I did something I hadn't done in years and I was long over due.

I went to the old deepsquatter.com page and to westside-barbell.com and re read all of Louie Simmon's old articles.

Years ago I had these all printed out and in a binder - this became my new training bible.

I studied every word, learned and understood all of the concepts he talked about, and tried to apply them the best I could. I was obscessed, and like the rest of the strength training world, Louie (Mr. Simmons!) had a tremendous impact on my own training and now what I do for a living.

What stands out most, however, is not just Louie's knowledge, but his character. You see, at the end of every article you will find the number to Westside Barbell. He literally invites thousands of people from around the world to call him and ask him questions about his infamous Westside system, or strength training in general. I'll never forget the TWO occassions I called Louie and he answered any question I had and gave me whatever insight he could. I remember both calls being over 30 minutes long. The kicker? I was a 15 year old kid with a 250lb squat! It wasn't like I was some world class lifter or athlete calling him out of the blue. I was just a snot nosed kid and he gave me just as much attention as he would to anyone else. To me, this had a lasting impact and is something I now strive to do today.

So enough blabbering, here are 8 things that we can learn from Louie Simmons that we can apply to our everyday lives and find our own personal paths to success.

1) Have PASSION for what you do. Find what makes you most happy in life and GO AFTER IT! Louie is over 60 years old and still trains with the young guns at his gym, doing dynamic effort and max effort workouts weekly.

2) Give Back. The law of reciprocity is very real, and as revealed through my 2 phone conversations with Louie, he genuinely cares and gives back as much as he can. Do this and the return will be ten fold.

3) Never stop learning. Louie is THE innovator in the world of strength training and powerlifting, and he is always learning, always growing, and always searching for a better way. If you want to become the best at what you do, then education is an ongoing process.

4) Take a stand. How many people just go through life without any definate opinions? Louie has STRONG opinions on strength and conditioning and is not afraid to share them. Some people don't agree, but A LOT do. Stand by your beliefs, but don't be afraid to admit when you're wrong.

5) Surround yourself with positive people. Or people you wish to emulate. Louie is 60+ years old, but still trains with guys in their 20's and 30's and he doesn't give a fuck. The strong hang around the strong, not just in the weight room, but in all walks of life. Don't associate with people who drag you down or waste your time.

6) Walk the Walk. If you're going to have a strong opinion about something, then you had better be prepared to back it up. Louie is not only strong as hell himself, but he has had hundreds of lifters come through his Westside gym and become world class.

7) Dream Big. If you have a goal, nothing should ever EVER stop you. It doesn't matter if its squatting the house, or owning a successfull business - you need to approach life with a do or die mentality. To do this, you need to have high expectations and only be around people who support your dream. A 600lb bench press at Westside is just average. Huge to me and you, but just average in Louie's world. You need to attack your dreams and don't stop.

8) It all boils down to PASSION. This needs to be repeated, because their no reason to walk through life doing stuff you hate. Louie has an UNDYING passion for strength training. He eats, sleeps and breathes this stuff. It is his life. Period. Find what you love to do and pursue your goals with everything that you have.

15 Things You Can Do This Week To Get Stronger!

2009-05-31T20:37:00.006-04:00

In no particular order, here are some useful tips you can start implementing THIS WEEK to get stronger, put on muscle, and increase your conditioning.

1. Train your posterior chain. Squat variations, deadlift variations, heavy goodmornings, romanian deadlifts, glute ham raises, 45 degree hyperextensions, pull throughs, high rep band goodmornings, dumbbell swings, kettlebell swings, etc. Work your posterior chain HARD 1-3 times per week.

2. Master the pull up. Learn as many variations as you can and get really, really good at them. Do them weighted, do them unweighted, do high reps, do low reps. Just do them...and OFTEN!

3. Quit doing crunches and other boring ab work in favor of stuff like tire chops, sledgehammer swinging, single arm overhead work, barbell rollouts, band woodchoppers, and medicine ball throws.

4. Warm up! Before diving into your first exercise of the day, be sure to get in a good general warm up using calisthenics, band work, light barbell complexes, kettlebells, movement prep drills, and the like. Not only will you be better preparing yourself for the workout ahead, but you'll also increase work capacity and gpp.

5. Think outside the box. Throw in some "strongman" training in the way of sandbags, kegs, and various other odd objects for some sick strength and conditioning workouts. Mixed in with heavy barbell work and bodyweight calisthenics, you will have one kick ass training program.

6. Buy a pair of rings or get some tow straps. And use them for a variety of upperbody movements. Push ups, dips, recline rows, face pulls, and scarecrows should be a part of everyone's program and will help pack on some serious upperbody size.

7. Buy or make a sled and start dragging! For lower and upperbody gpp work, and even strength work, the sled is awesome tool. The lack of eccentric will negate any soreness (well, for the most part), allowing you to get in a ton of volume without loading your spine.

8. Train outdoors. At least once in awhile. Its good to break away from the "routine" and just focus on working hard while getting some fresh air. Take a dumbbell or sandbag outside or go to a playground and just kill it for 30-45 minutes.

9. Do Push ups. I know, too easy, right? Well first, do them CORRECTLY. Second, throw them in warm ups or do them with extra resistence via bands and chains (or a weighted vest). Third, there are a zillion variations - try em all! For upperbody and core strength, the push up reigns supreme!

10. Train your grip. I prefer doing this with stuff like towel chins, thick bar work, or sandbag training. This is a no brainer for combat athletes, but everyone should want a strong grip so that they can handle more weight in their pulling movements such as deadlifts and rows.

11. Keep your workouts under 45 minutes, sometimes much less. If you're TRULY working hard, I find it very difficult to believe that anyone needs to spend more than that (an hour TOPS depending on the type of training session) in the gym.

12. Read all of Louie Simmon's old articles. This stuff is a goldmine and everyone who has an interest in strength and conditioning should look at his work like its the bible.

13. Finish Strong. Add some sort of finisher to your workout. Whether it be a timed set of kettlebell snatches, sandbag loading for reps, or sled dragging for max distance in a set time, finishers are great tests of conditioning and mental toughness. I know, so not cool to talk about things like mental toughness (the nerds hate that), but it matters and it needs to trained!

14. Do some active restoration work. Play a game of basketball, hit up some gpp minute drills, do some light calisthenics...whatever you do, pick something to aid in recovery and conditioning. Throw in some foam rolling, activation work, and some stretching and you're golden.

15. Keep checking out my blog! Haha, ok, I know this is lame, but look forward to some of my workouts i'll be posting that you can use for yourself. Not to mention guest articles and blog posts. Thanks to everyone who checks this thing out everyday and the people who show their support in Twitter!

Getting Stronger With Kettlebells and Sandbags!

2009-05-30T16:42:00.002-04:00

If you're a combat athlete, there are many ways to get stronger.

Using kettlebells and sandbags may seem too 'simplistic', but these tools have been used to make men into monsters for years.

Its hard work, yeah, but that's the price you pay if you want to improve - get stronger,put on muscle mass, and sky rocket your gpp.

Here's a quick session I just cranked out, using a 24kg kettlebell, and a 130lb sandbag.

warm up: kettlebell combat complex x 2 sets

I did the following 7 movement complex w/out putting the kettlebell down for 2 sets w/approx 1 minute between each set. Maybe not "typical" for a warm up, but it got the job done and was a great start to the session.

1. snatch x 5
2. clean and press x 5
3. squats x 10
4. reverse lunges x 10 (5 ea)
5. high pulls x 5
6. rows x 5
7. two handed swings x 10

Next, I went through a 4 movement sandbag complex for 3 sets, attempting to finish all the sets as quickly as possible. For total body strength and power endurance, sandbag complexes will bust you up. Perfect for grapplers!

1. clean and press x 6
2. shouldering x 6 (3 ea)
3. zercher squats x 6
4. bent over rows x 6

Lastly, I finished with some weighted pull up - strapping on a couple of heavy chains and performing a quick descending set of 5/4/3/2/1 and calling it a day.

This just goes to show that you don't need a lot of equipment or a lot of time to get strong (maybe in a different way than "gym" strength) and be in awesome shape for your sport.

More Busy Guy Training: Underground Style!

2009-05-30T12:56:00.003-04:00

So as you know, I'm a big believer in short, intense workouts. I like getting the biggest bang for my buck, and taking no prisoners.

With 15-30 minute workouts, that's the only attitude you can have.

There is no wasted no movements, no wasted effort. And it gets RESULTS. If you're not getting stronger, in some way or another, then you're wasting your time.

Let's take a glimpse into Zach Even-Esh's Underground Gym - where he and a couple of Canadian Pro Strongman bust out a 15 minute training session.

Heavy dumbbell snatching, clean and pressing, along with a variety of weighted pull ups. Simple. To the point, and clearly very effective.

These guys are throwing around 150lb dumbbells like its their job. And cranking out weighted pull ups from all different angles, and they all weigh well over 200lb.

2, maybe 3 movements are all you need for an effective workout. Sometimes less, but rarely ever more. Lets take a look at some other short workout variations...

deadlifts, weighted dips, and recline rows

box squats, bent over rows, weighted push ups

sandbag shouldering, pull ups, sled dragging

sandbag clean and press, dumbbell rows, sledgehammer strikes on a tractor tire

These are just a few examples, but you can see how it doesn't take much to get in a great workout.

Fighters, in season athletes, and busy guys in general who want to kill it, should start looking into these short 15-30 minute sessions. Start charting your progress and see what's working for you, and what needs to cut out.

If you're ready to committ and pay the price, Zach's Real Man Muscle Building Course (Busy Guy Fitness) is a step in the right direction. Stop using the excuse of being busy, and start busting ass in the gym.

Welcome To The Gun Show - Building Massive Arms Quickly

2009-05-30T12:49:00.002-04:00

Here's an article from Jim Smith aka Smitty on how to jack your arms up QUICK. Jim's new muscle building course,
Accelerated Muscular Development (AMD), has been touted as one of THE BEST training programs of its kind and is putting muscle on busy guys and athletes LIKE CRAZY. Check out this article and you can see why...

Welcome to The Gun Show! No, I do not mean the one where you see a lot of Battle Dress Uniform’s or old men with beards down to their chest, looking at a Luger that Rommel had strapped around his ankle. I mean The Gun Show were the armory consists of your GUNS! That’s right, your biceps and your triceps!

When you fist started to lift weights, chances are the first exercises you did where:

1. Barbell Curls
2. Barbell Triceps Extensions.

While these are fine exercises, there is much more to building huge guns. Read on and I will tell you how to turn your .22’s in to .50 caliber Desert Eagles.

1. Train Compound Movements: I don’t know if I can say anything else that hasn’t already been said about compound movements. They use a ton of muscle and they get you thick and strong. You train your legs and upper body with compound movements, so your arm training should be no different. Also, before we get on a roll here, remember that the triceps account for about 2/3 of all of your upper arm size, so prioritize accordingly. For the biceps I like to use chin ups. When you do curls (barbell or dumbbell) it is a single joint movement. We kick this up a notch when we do chins, especially close grip chins. Action is taking place at the elbow joint (elbow flexion) as well as the shoulder joint (shoulder flexion). Few biceps movements allow this to occur. Also, when doing chins you are using your body weight which is probably more than you could ever curl with a barbell or a dumbbell. Added to that, you can externally load the movement to increase it’s difficulty. For triceps, I have found that close grip 3 or 4 Board presses are excellent strength and mass builders. For big triceps just press and extended and do it heavy!

2. PUMP IT UP!: After you blast your biceps and triceps with heavy compound movements, get some blood pumping through the muscles with some basic single joint movement exercises. DB curls, DB hammer curls, Incline DB Curls, triceps push downs, DB extensions, single arm cable extensions etc., all work well to get blood rushing into your muscles. This helps with growth and recovery. By getting blood moving through the muscle you promote recovery via oxygen and nutrient rich blood, and you also promote growth via cross sectional increases to the muscle fibers. Think high rep stuff here.

3. Form is everything: Just like any other exercise, form is everything when doing Gun Show work. One of the reasons I like doing chins for the biceps is that it is impossible to cheat. You cannot hyperextend your back to get extra reps. It’s either you get it or you don’t. Either way, when doing bicep and tricep work, make sure to pinch your shoulders together and keep your wrists and elbows in-line. Do not cheat for the sake of handling more weight. Remember, you can’t get big Guns if you are injured.

I hope this gives you some insight on how to train your arms for the Gun Show. Follow the sample below and watch your Guns become something that will make Dirty Harry’s Day.

Sample Vanity Work Day:
1. Chins: 5 sets of max reps (2 min rest)
2. Close Grip 3 Board Press: 5 x 5
3. DB Incline Curls: 3 x 12
4. Band Triceps Pushdown: 3 x 20

Jim Smith, CSCS is a highly sought after lecturer, author and renowned strength coach. Jim is an expert for Men’s Fitness and a member of the Elite Fitness Q/A staff. He speaks regularly at clinics, conferences and seminars about the Diesel Method. His distinctive and comprehensive training approach has helped athletes and fitness enthusiasts of all skill levels attain their goals and "Achieve Beyond Potential". Jim is an active student of strength athletics and is always seeking new ways to innovate and provide a unique perspective for gaining muscle, rehabbing injuries, improving performance and building better athletics.

A Fighter's Number One Priority

2009-05-29T11:37:00.004-04:00

When preparing for a fight its important to remember your NUMBER ONE GOAL as a fighter...

And that is to take your current skill level and be able to best translate your abilities under the intense pressure of a FIGHT. The ABSOLUTE BEST WAY to do that is through actual sparring - hard sparring - with various scenarios, being put in awful positions and best simulating the type of PRESSURE you are going to feel during a fight. In other words, you gotta practice your sport and everything involved to the upmost degree, and become as efficient as possible in all facets of the game. This should all be a no brainer, but some people for lack of a better term, get it twisted.

So we now know that everything else (namely your strength and conditioning) is SECONDARY, but still largely important. It does not matter HOW MUCH you do, but rather its WHAT you do. Remember, you're already training takedowns,grappling, and striking maybe several hours per day - you don't have much left in your reserves! And while everyone freaks out about their conditioning before a fight, you should be getting MOST OF THAT from your actual fight training.

Leading up to a fight, your main goals are maintain your strength and power while getting in condition. Its important to remember the phrase "All Else Equal.." ...meaning, all else equal, the better technician will win, all else equal the better conditioned fighter will win, all else equal the stronger fighter will win, etc, etc. In other words, don't neglect one thing for the other.

Throw in some strength work - using a HEAVY sandbag, or some HEAVY dumbbells or barbells, or some WEIGHTED calisthenics.

Keep your lactic acid tolerance through the roof by mixing in some SHORT energy system finishers to your strength sessions.

2-3 strength & conditioning sessions are all a fighter needs.

And above all, your skill practices COME FIRST and FOREMOST. Get strong, get in condition, and never be the guy with less technical skill.

Quadzilla - Massive Muscle Building For Your Legs

2009-05-29T11:07:00.004-04:00

Hey guys, here's another guest article from Jim Smith, who's brand new product, Accelerated Muscular Devlopment, was just launched on Memorial Day.

Massive Muscle Building For Your Legs
by Jim Smith
Accelerated Muscular Devlopment

You enter the gym, mind made up that you are going to have the training session of a lifetime. You have your camo Chuck’s on, your Affliction t-shirt two sizes too small, and your head phones blasting DMX. Then you see him. Standing over by the curl rack (squat rack); the inverted triangle of manhood, the one, the only, Captain Upper Body. Pecs pumped, shoulders rippling, back wide as the day is long. Then you look down to see two toothpicks known as legs poking out of the bottom of his shorts. “That just ain’t right”, you think to yourself and get to work.

Seriously, how many of us have seen the scenario go down at our training centers? More often than not right? What many people fail to realize is that the human body, just like trees, grow from the roots up (or legs up in our case). Many people neglect to train legs for various reasons, but the truth is this-you can tell who is serious and who is not in the gym by seeing if they are training legs. So get serious with these three tips and make like a tree and grow!

1. You gotta squat and deadlift:
Sorry, but you MUST squat and you must deadlift. No, leg press is not acceptable (unless you have an injury that prevents you from squatting and/or deadlifting). These two movements utilize a TON of muscle and really work your body from head to toe. Not to mention the insane amount of growth hormone they dump into your blood. Try any and all variations of these two lifts. Box squats, rack pulls, zercher squats, deficit deadlifts. The point is this-SQUAT AND DEADLIFT.

2. Overload to Overcome:
You cannot rep 185 for months on end and expect either your squat or deadlift to go up. It won’t happen. The human body is the most efficient machine at adapting the world has ever known. Coach Buddy Morris has said that it takes the body two-three weeks to adapt to a new training stimulus. With this knowledge plan your workouts wisely. By using progressive overload, you can disrupt this adaptation so that you continue to get stronger and build more muscle. Simply put, add 5-10 pounds to the weights you are using and try to set rep PR’s. Once progress stalls, drop the weights down a little bit and start the same process over again.

3. Single Leg Work:
Make sure to include single leg work into your routine. Not only does it stabilize the knee, it also activates the quads and helps to eliminate any imbalances you may have. Try lunges, step ups, split squats, anything that requires one of your legs to be the prime mover without the aid of the other leg. In addition, it requires tremendous core musculature recruitment to stabilize yourself when doing these lifts so you have the added benefit of getting in a good “core” workout as well.

If you are sleeping on your lower body training you need to wake up and get to work. As your lower body grows so to will the rest of your body. Leg training, the Kryptonite of Captain Upper Body-get on it NOW!

Sample Low body Workout:
1. Squat 5 x 5
2. Rack Pull work up to a 3 rep max
3. Romanian Deadlift: 3 x 8 @ 65% of DL max
4. DB Split Squat 3 x 10
5. Weighted Crunches 3 x 10

Act NOW and get this kick ass, a-z muscle builing course TODAY! CLICK HERE FOR AMD!

Jim Smith, CSCS is a highly sought after lecturer, author and renowned strength coach. Jim is an expert for Men’s Fitness and a member of the Elite Fitness Q/A staff. He speaks regularly at clinics, conferences and seminars about the Diesel Method. His distinctive and comprehensive training approach has helped athletes and fitness enthusiasts of all skill levels attain their goals and "Achieve Beyond Potential". Jim is an active student of strength athletics and is always seeking new ways to innovate and provide a unique perspective for gaining muscle, rehabbing injuries, improving performance and building better athletics.

The Ultimate Home Gym: 10 MUST HAVE Pieces of Equipment

2009-05-28T23:26:00.002-04:00

So you're sick of working out in a commercial gym, and you have space in your garage or basement for a your own "mini" hardcore training facility and a few hundred dollars to spare on training equipment. Lots of the training I prescribe can be done with single pieces of equipment, with most if it being very cheap if not 100% FREE! However, if you have some cash to spend on building an ultimate, kick butt iron dungeon of you're very own, you can still get great equipment without going completely "all out". Its just a matter of cutting out the crap you don't need, and starting off with the absolute BARE ESSENTIALS. The freedom of being able to train when you want, listen to whatever music you want to listen to, and not have a bunch of people practically breathing down your neck is PRICELESS and is well worth whatever you would spend.

Here is a list of the most basic pieces of equipment, and why you need them.

1) Olympic Barbell with at least 300lb of plates
From all of the various deadlift variations to olympic pulls to rows to overhead presses to various squats, lunges and goodmornings, the barbell with plenty if iron to spare is THE MOST necessary piece of equipment for any home gym.

2) Power Rack with a Chinning Bar and attachable Parallel Bars
Listen, lots of people will try and sell you on power racks that are over a grand, but i've had my power rack for almost 10 years and its gone through as much use and abuse as anything could possibly ever handle...and it cost $250. For heavy squats, rack deadlifts, goodmorning variations, zercher deadlifts, super heavy shrugs, benching, incline benching and the like, a power rack is A MUST HAVE. Most power racks already come with a chin up bar, and the attachable parallel bars that I have were like 30 bucks and are solid as hell. Dips and chins are THE upperbody movements, and should be included in everyone's training program.

3) Adjustable Dumbbells
Ok, I guess depending on your space, these COULD go before a barbell, but it really doesn't matter. Get a solid pair of adjustable dumbbells (you can get them welded if you need to) that are loadable to at least 100lb. For heavy overhead work, to various lunges and single leg work, heavy one arm and two arms rows, shrugs, snatches and swings, a good pair of adjustable dumbbells will add endless variety to your program.

4) Tow Straps or Gymnastic Rings
There are various "suspension" products out there from Rings to Elitefts' blast straps to the TRX to Jon Hinds' Jungle Gym - they're all good, but can run you $50-150. I personally just use my tow straps from my elitefts dragging sled for various recline rows, scarecrows, facepulls, push ups, dips, muscle ups, tricep extensions, and curls. For upperbody training, ring training (we'll just generalize it) is an awesome addition and will rock you unlike anything else. Get em, make em, whatever - just use 'em!

5) Sandbags
Go to your local Army-Navy Surplus store, pick up a duffell bag, then go to home depot and buy 2-3 50lb bags of sand, some contractor bags, and gorilla tape. Make 4-6 mini contractor sandbags - double or triple them up, and duct tape the hell out of them. Throw those guys into the duffell bag and duct tape the duffell bag shut. Bam! You're very own sandbag. Great for clean and presses, shouldering, squats, lunges, goodmornings, carries, loading drills and a whole bunch of other painful variations. They're super cheap and easy to make. Get one.

6) Kegs
Acquire empty keg. Fill with 70-150lb of water. Dirt cheap or free, so why not just have one? Great for a variety of movements, and a completely different feel from sandbags.

7) Kettlebells.
As much as I love kettlebell training, its towards the bottom of the list, because these suckers ARE expensive. However, once you have one, you'll have it for life, and can use it for a variety of movements. I reccomend most guys get a 24kg and use it primarily as a GPP tool, doing tons of high rep swings, snatches, clean and presses, and complexes with it. If money is no concern, then definately pick up a pair or get some heavier kettlebells as well.

8) Dragging Sled
You can buy one, or if you want, make one using a large tire, an eye hook and some tow straps. Sled dragging is a MUST HAVE for lowerbody leg strength, conditioning and mental toughness. Also great for upperbody work like rows, scarecrows, facepulls, and various presses/flyes.

9) Jump Stretch Bands
Besides adding them for accomodating resistence to your squats, deadlifts or bench presses, bands are a great way to get in extra workouts for upperbody, core and posterior chain. High rep band circuits for the upperbody are great as a warm up or as gpp work, and high rep band goodmornings along with pull throughs are an excellent way to bring up lowerback, glute and hamstring strength.

10) Heavy Chains
Again, great for accomodating resistence when added to various squats, deadlifts and presses, the chains also act as an easy way to add weight to various upperbody movements like dips, chins, push ups, recline rows and facepulls. Get 2-4 of these from elitefts (they weigh 20lb each) and you'll have a "weighted vest" that will last you for life.

Interview With Creator Of AMD!

2009-05-28T09:46:00.004-04:00

Prior to the release of his new muscle building product, I was able to talk with my friend and strength coach Jim Smith.

1. Smitty, what’s this latest product you’ve been working on?

Jim: First off, let me say thank you for allowing me to talk to you and your readers.My new product is called Accelerated Muscular Development and as the name implies it is as muscle building program. But it is unlike any program on the net right now. It shows people not only why muscle is built but how muscle is built. Everyone will be in for a big surprise if they think it is a program with tons of volume. I actually shouldn’t say program, because it is much more than that. It is a complete system.

2. Complete system? Tell me more about that.

Jim: When I was formulating the AMD Accelerated Muscular Development system, I didn’t want it to be like everyone else’s program and be just a bunch of workouts. When you go through a product like that and finish the workouts, you’re stuck. You don’t know what to do next. You don’t know what exercises, what sets or what reps you should be doing according to your specific goals or individual needs. Also, you don’t gain the knowledge of how to design your own programs.

3. So how is AMD different?
Jim: First of all, everything in Accelerated Muscular Developmentis backed by science. Scientific studies that support why I set up the system the way I did. So, it is not my opinion, it is proven. And the results of the people in the AMD testimonials are proof positive as well.
Now, I call AMD a complete system because it not only teaches why you’re doing what you’re doing, but it also provides a step-by-step protocol of what you should do from the time you step into the gym or your garage or where ever you train, until you leave.
Most programs, like I said, give you your workouts with the sets and reps and that is it. What about the dynamic warm-up, what about the soft-tissue work, what about the activation exercises and what about the rehab component; they’re all missing. AMD covers all of these and shows you how to put it together in a simple, easy-to-modify template.

4. One of the biggest problems I see is that when some people buy a muscle building product they get real excited and go to the gym to get started. But they end up doing the exercises with horrible form.

Jim: Let me cut you off there. Not only did I provide you with the step-by-step sequential pictures that show you have to do the exercises in the AMD exercise index, I created a whole Youtube channel dedicated to the system. I am currently loading it up with all of the exercises in AMD and I will show you the right way to do each one. There is no more need to go and search Youtube to find how to do an exercise correctly (plus you have to be very careful what you find). Now you have a video library showing you the right way each exercise should be performed.
If you want to see more of Smitty’s new program, go to Accelerated Muscular Development the AMD site and check out this killer exclusive look at the site.

Dustin Lebel
Accelerated Muscular Development

Just go here....
Accelerated Muscular Development

Thanks,

PS: For an exclusive first look at AMD and the exercises in the program, check out this video

PPS: Get ready for this innovative new product Accelerated Muscular Development

Underground Leg Training Secrets!

2009-05-27T20:09:00.003-04:00

For strong, powerful legs there are multiple ways to train, but really it boils down to hard work. For a strong lower body and posterior chain, sandbag training can certainly help you reach your goals. For maximal strength, barbell squatting and deadlift are obvious choices, but for general strength and conditioning purposes, various sandbag squats, lunges and goodmornings will do the trick (and then some!).

So today I wanted to get in a great workout, and I decided to use a routine from Zach Even-Esh, owner of the Underground Strength Gymnasium and author of
The Underground Strength Manual and Real Man Muscle Building Course (Busy Guy Fitness). It was a pretty simple and one of those that looked easy on paper. Boy was I mistaken! After a warm up of push ups, reverse lunge + band pull aparts,and kettlebell swings, I hit up Zach's "easy" leg routine using my 130lb sandbag...

a1) sandbag zercher squats 3x5
a2) sandbag zercher goodmornings 3x5
b1) sandbag zercher reverse lunges 3x5 (each leg)
b2) sandbag power cleans 3x5

This turned out to be one TOUGH workout - not only on the lowerbody, but the core and upperbody as well from isometrically holding the bag.

After my leg workout, I wanted to get in some upperbody work, so I did some heavy single arm kettlebell overhead presses and some single arm kettlebell rows with extra resistence using a jump stretch band.

For more strength training secrets, you gotta check out Zach's training courses...

Underground Strength Manual

Real Man Muscle Building Course

Back Off! Massive Muscle Building For Your Back!

2009-05-26T16:06:00.005-04:00

Here's a guest article from Jim Smith aka Smitty about building a big, strong back using basic movements. Jim just put out his new training manual, Accelerated Muscular Development(AMD), where he fasts tracks you to packing on muscle and getting stronger like never before!

How To Build Muscle and Get a Big Back With This Effective Workout
by Jim Smith

Having a strong back is critical for success in athletics, in staying healthy during training and for overall well-being. With that said, what does it take to get a strong back? Read on and find out how to build a back side that will make everybody take notice.

1. Pull Ups and Chins Ups form the foundation:
Pull ups and chin ups are to your back as squatting is to your legs. You need to do them and do them often. Not only do they use a tremendous amount of muscle, but they also get you BRUTE STRONG. All the connective tissues of your shoulders and back get noticeably stronger when you perform these exercises. Many people get bogged down with trying to do max reps on pull ups and chin ups. If you have ever read the Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding, Arnold recommends that you pick a goal number of reps you want to achieve and do as many sets as it takes you to reach your goal number. I feel that this is one of the best ways to increase your pull up and chin up strength.

2. Go heavy on big lifts:
By this I mean go heavy on the deadlifts, the barbell shrugs, barbell rows, back extensions etc. All of these lifts require the back musculature to work overtime in a big way to engage and lockout the movement. You will be hard pressed to find a single exercise that does not require the back musculature to be engaged to some degree to help with the execution of the lift.

3. Balance you back budget:
Make sure you train your back with a sense of balance. Make sure to hit a horizontal row (seated rows, DB rows, barbell rows), a vertical pulling motion (shrugs, pull ups, chin ups), also make sure to get your external rotators with some band external rotation, DB external rotations, or cable external rotations. Lastly hit some retractions before or after your work out.

If you follow these three steps, in no time at all you will have a back that legends are made of. Imagine going to the beach and hitting a lat spread and making people wonder if a solar eclipse is occurring. Now tell me that doesn’t sound cool.

Sample Back Workout:

Warm Up:
A. Plate Halos 2 x 15
B. DB Retractions 2 x 20
C. Static Pec Stretch 3 x 10 s (each side)

Strength Training Workout:
1. Chins Ups: 10 x 3
2. Barbell Rows 5 x 8
3. DB Shrugs 3 x 10
4. Seated Low Row 3 x 12
5. Band External Rotations 2 x 20

Jim Smith, CSCS is a highly sought after lecturer, author and renowned strength coach. Jim is an expert for Men’s Fitness and a member of the Elite Fitness Q/A staff. He speaks regularly at clinics, conferences and seminars about the Diesel Method. His distinctive and comprehensive training approach has helped athletes and fitness enthusiasts of all skill levels attain their goals and "Achieve Beyond Potential". Jim is an active student of strength athletics and is always seeking new ways to innovate and provide a unique perspective for gaining muscle, rehabbing injuries, improving performance and building better athletics.

P.S. For a ton more info on getting stronger and gaining muscle from Jim, go here: Accelerated Muscular Development(AMD)

Find Out What Most Programs Are Missing!

2009-05-26T15:58:00.005-04:00

If you remember, I told you that most muscle building products show you a bunch of exercises and give you a 12 week program AND THAT'S IT! They don't show you how to CREATE YOUR OWN STRENGTH ROUTINES, so you can learn and educate yourself on what it takes to add muscle and get stronger.

Accelerated Muscular Development(AMD), from Jim Smith, gives you the knowledge and structure about strength training, so that you can make informed decisions according to your own needs.

And he has had some amazing results. A busy Dad on the program added 9 lbs of muscle in only 8 weeks, while working, being active in the Army and taking care of a new infant at home.

Gone are the days where you have to spend endless hours of unproductive training just to see mediocre results.

Jim has setup the program where you can get in and out of the gym in 30 minutes or less.

Check out this vid to see what most programs are missing

Get Accelerated Muscular Development Today!

50 Reps To Getting In Fight Shape

2009-05-26T08:37:00.003-04:00

Hope everyone is recovery after the long weekend! Here's a FREE article I recently wrote for ezine articles that hasn't been published yet (you guys are the first to see it!). Enjoy...

When it comes to training for combat sports or getting in "fight shape" as we call it, there are many variables to take into consideration. You want to be super strong - no doubt about it - strength is the MOTHER of all skills. You also want to be in great condition, but for our purpose, there's no reason to be running for miles on end hanging out on an elliptical for hours a week. Even if you're just a dude looking to get in shape and be as strong as you look, these things still don't make any sense. You want to do activities that will turn your metabolism into a fat burning machine and preserve the precious muscle that you have, not waste it away with the likes of long, drawn out "cardio" sessions.Can you say boring and not to mention, unmanly? I mean, what guy wants to say he does the same thing as the cardio bunny 3 treadmills over as part of his training routine? Its time that men take a stand and actually start training like men! But that's a whole different topic for another article.

The problem with most fighters and gym rats alike, is that when it comes to their strength & conditioning program they are generally doing too much. Not necessarily too much volume, but just too much bull sh#t in general. Between what you see in various magazines and online, most people just want to "try it all" and never really FOCUS and get strong at a few basic movements. This, unfortunately, takes commitment and an iron will. You have to FORCE your body to change - whether it be to get stronger, put on muscle, or lose fat. You're body does not want to do these things and frankly its pretty comfortable where its at right now. But we're going to change, and we're going to change in a big way.

This sample routine is for the guy who's been "trying it all" and needs to get back to just working hard on a few basic things. This is such a simple concept, but very difficult to actually do. These sample programs will serve as both your strength AND conditioning sessions - no more long, boring cardio workouts. You will work VERY HARD on just a few movements and you WILL progress every single session. This gun to the head mentality is crucial to your success in all walks of life and you'll be very surprised what results this type of thinking can yield.

Ok, enough blabbering...on to the details of the program. This workout is originally inspired by guys like Dan John from his "one lift a day" concept and Charles Staley from his "escalating density" workouts, but this training is nothing new. We're taking it back to the old school and GRINDING away to get in fight shape in a very short amount of time.

After warming up on your own, maybe with calisthenics and band work, you're going to pick just ONE movement and perform 50 reps for time. If using a sandbag, pick a weight that's fairly challenging for 4-8 reps and stay in the 2-5 rep range for your sets.

But we're not going to be doing curls or dumbbell flies, here. I urge you to pick FULL BODY movements that require a TON of muscle mass. We're trying to IGNITE our metabolisms and blast our energy systems and a get a huge hormonal response in just a short amount of time. I love using heavy, awkward sandbags for type of training, but barbells, dumbbells and kettlebells are also great choices.

My favorite movements for the 50 rep drill are as follows:

1. Sandbag Clean and Press
*** Rip the bag from the floor and press that sucker overhead...use leg drive if needed (you will if you have a heavy enough bag). A Barbell, dumbells, kettlebells, or strongman log are fine substitutes here.

2. Sandbag Shouldering
*** Straddling the bag, explode and toss the bag onto one shoulder. Lower and repeat to the other side. Not much else can mimic the feel of these, so I reccomend making a bag!

3. Sandbag Power Cleans
*** Clean the bag from the floor and "catch" the bag in the rack position. Lower to the floor and repeat. These can be done fairly rapidly, so be push the pace! Barbell power cleans are ok, just watch for form breakdowns. Wake Forrest Strength Coach, Ethan Reeve, used to have his wrestlers perform 10 sets of 10 as a conditioning workout!

4. Sandbag Power Clean + Zercher Squat
*** After catching the bag in the "zercher" position, keep your elbows high and back flat while squatting deep. Stand up, and lower the bag to the ground. Repeat. A power clean & front squat would also work fine.

5. Sandbag Loading on to a 36+" platform
*** You can do these straight on or rotationally. Not much explanation here, just get the bag up to the platform any way you can, lower and repeat. If doing the rotational variation, repeat sides every rep.

7. HeavyOne Arm Dumbbell or Kettlebell Snatches
*** These are great and can be done pretty heavy. If using a dumbbell, 40-50% of your bodyweight would be pretty good for this, with a kettlebell you can do this for strength or use this as a short conditioning drill and get in 50 reps each side without putting the kettlebell down.

8. Barbell Deadlift Variation
*** I prefer something like SNATCH GRIP deadlifts here, but any variation will do. Use perfect form (not "competition" form, please) and get ready for some serious soreness for the next few days.

9. Barbell Squat Variation
*** Olympic back squats or Front Squats are good choices here. Pretend you're Eric Heiden (a speed skater famous for his insane high rep squatting) for a day and crush it! Not too much else will create the hormanal surge of high volume squatting

These workouts will take anywhere from 10-20 minutes and will leave you absolutely thrashed. Record your time and try to beat it the next time out. Its that simple, but when you're working against the clock you need that do or die mentality, much like in the ring or on the mat.

P.S. Smitty of the Diesel Crew put out his LONG AWAITED Muscle Building Course on Memorial Day, so be sure to check back here often for some exclusive FREE articles and videos because I'll be posting up a ton over the next few weeks. Smitty and his crew are the real deal and never fail to OVER DELIVER. Get your hands on it NOW Accelerated Muscular Development and thank me later when you've packed on a ton of muscle mass and shredded bodyfat faster than ever before.

Get Your Accelerated Muscular Development Course Here!

Bad Trainers Will Hurt You!

2009-05-25T16:22:00.008-04:00

Whats Up Everybody,

Have you ever bought a muscle building product and gotten injured because you didn't know how to do the exercises in the program?

Have you ever felt confused when trying to follow a program you've found online and gotten discouraged that you weren't making any progress?

Everybody’s reason for working out is different. You might want confidence, you might want to lead a healthier, stronger life, you might want to get noticed and not always be the skinny kid in the room. Whatever the reason, you seek advice online from a “qualified” trainer.

Be Warned!

Most internet gurus and trainers will injure you. They demonstrate and teach bad form in their videos and probably have never really lifted heavy weights.

If you don't practice good form and you’ve never really been under the bar, how can teach it to others!

Jim Smith, a strength coach in the industry and a good friend of mine, just developed a new muscle building program called Accelerated Muscular Development (AMD).

AMD provides a step-by-step guide for a complete muscle building system. The system shows you how to:

- incorporate a dynamic warm-up prior to your workout
- activate muscles and improve mobility
- rehab injuries
- improve your movement
- BUILD SOLID MUSCLE AND GET STRONGER

ALL WITH PROPER FORM AND IN 3 SHORT WORKOUTS A WEEK!

When Jim sent me his new Accelerated Muscular Development muscle building system, I realized it was very unique. He is passionate about teaching people the right way to train that he not only does he provide step-by-step visual exercise pics in the program but he also created a Youtube site dedicated to correct form for all of the exercises in the program.

Most muscle building products show you a bunch of exercises and give you a 12 week program – AND THAT'S IT! They don't show you how to CREATE YOUR OWN STRENGTH ROUTINES, so you can learn and educate yourself on how to add muscle and get stronger according to your needs.

PS: Get ready for this innovative new product Accelerated Muscular Development

Memorial Day Training

2009-05-25T14:43:00.002-04:00

I hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend and spent alot of time with friends and family grillin' n chillin' - I know I did!

But today was back to business as usual - which means hard training and a few days of low carbin' to get back to neutral.

What was supposed to be a cool, rainy day ended up being hot and muggy - perfect for training, if you ask me! So off I went to a local playground that I found last week that is vacant most of the time and has a pretty dope set up for getting in a great workout...parallel dip bars, long parallel bars that are great for dips, handwalking, and recline rows, different height pull up bars (perfect for practicing muscle ups!), monkey bars, you name it. So I brought my sandbag, tow straps (I just use them as homemade blast straps), some heavy chains, and a pair of jump stretch bands.

Here's how it went...

warm up x 2 sets
1. push ups x 15
2. band rows x 20
3. squats x 20
4. reverse lunges x 20

a1) sandbag clean and press 4x5
a2) mixed grip pull ups 4 x reps
b1) parallel bar dips 3 x reps
b2) weighted recline rows 3 x reps
c) sandbag bear hug squats x max reps in 5 minutes
d1) band tricep extensions 2x20
d2) band curls 2x20

Not to mention the 300+ foot sandbag carry from my car to the playground and then back again!

So that's it from me...enjoy the rest of the day and I hope you got some good training in yourself!

Gain 31 Pounds Before Football Trainign Camp Part 3!

2009-05-23T09:29:00.004-04:00

Alright folks, here's the third and last installment of Elliott Hulse's article on how to gain MASS for football. Even if you're not an athlete, these tips will definately guide you in the right direction to pack on muscle and get super strong and fast.

Gain 31 Pounds Before Football Training Camp - part 3

By Elliott Hulse, CSCS

Gridiron Strongman Program

This strength program is a combination of several styles and programs that I have discovered in my 10 years of experience. You will read about systems that I’ve learned from Joe DeFranco, Dave Tate and Louie Simmons . You will learn philosophies that I’ve adopted from BFS’s Greg Shepard, Mike Boyle and Paul Chek. I’ve learned a ton by training with Strongman Champion Tom Mitchell and watching videos from the Parisi School. I enjoy reading Ian King, Charles Poliquin, Dan John and Arizona States Joe Kenn. I’ve combined systems from Power lifting, Strongman, Olympic lifting, Track and Field and Bodybuilding. I can tell you that there are probably hundreds of more coaches, books and seminars that I've learned from and they have all contributed in some way to my design for this incredible football training system.

As the title of this series insinuates, our main purpose is to gain MASS. But, we would like that mass to be in the form of MUSCLE MASS and in order to do so we must adhere to the principles outlined below. Getting big and fat is not an option for football players, you need to be big and strong while maintaining a level of relative body strength and of course, blazing speed.

“The Mixed Tool Bag” Training System

Getting bigger, getting stronger and getting faster requires that an athlete performs exercises that are associated with each one of those goals. There are exercises and systems of training that will get you strong, but not necessarily bigger. In the same light, there are exercises and training systems that will get you bigger but in the processes an athlete may become slower. But imagine a system that allows an athlete to get bigger, stronger and faster at the same time!

A “concurrent” approach to training is one in which several strength qualities are trained with in the same micro-cycle or week. Basically, we will use training systems that will get us stronger such as power lifting; systems that will get us bigger such as bodybuilding; and systems that will get us faster, such as jump training all at the same time.

If you are a football coach or a strength coach that has been in this field for some considerable amount of time you will be familiar with the old linear form or periodization. Basically, with linear periodization there are phases of training periods divided throughout an annual plan. It may look something like this – Hypertrophy, Strength, Power and Transition phases. These phases are broken down into sub-phases and macro or micro cycles. Reps, sets, exercises and percentages are varied to help an athlete reach a peak level of performance at a particular time.

Although this system seems logical at first there are a few, HUGE drawbacks.
First, when you move from one phase to another in linear periodization you leave behind the strength quality that had been developed during the previous phase.

For example if have just spent the last 5 weeks developing maximal strength with my athletes and it is now time to move into a power / speed phase… with the traditional western linear form of periodization I will be spending the next 5 weeks on Power while leaving behind the maximal strength method. What happens to our maximal strength you ask? It’s capacity decreases. My athletes will get faster and more explosive but they will lose a huge chunk of the hard earned strength that was amassed in the prior phase.

With Concurrent periodization you train ALL strength qualities at the same time. This includes Hypertrophy (bodybuilding), Strength, Speed and Power all in the same program at the same time! I will also show you how to implement this program to receive the greatest results in the minimum time.

The next big problem with linear periodization is that it is based on percentages. So for example in the first phase you may be training with 65% of your one rep max on the bench press and in the second phase it may be 90%.

My first question is “how accurate can these percentages be?” And what about these so-called “maxes”? Lets say Joey Guns can bench press 300lbs and suppose he’s training with 75% – 225lbs. Yet, when he comes to my gym and sees all the HUGE records on the board and hears 50 cent or Avenge 7 Fold blasting on the stereo he gets super pumped up and presses 355lbs! So now what? In all probability his training with 225 for the past 8 weeks was a complete waste of time.

With my system athletes are will always be training very close to their one rep max. Every week we perform ALL OUT maximal effort exercises, not puny percentages based on a number that was established during last months test day, which also happened to be the same day that Joey Guns’ girlfriend dumped him.

Also, according to Vladimir Zatsiorsky in the text, Science and Practice of Strength Training, long breaks (from working at percentages close to your 1RM) can ruin physical fitness. Vladimir asks, "If a mountaineer wants to climb to the summit, will he climb halfway up then back down to go back up again?" These long breaks are detrimental because motor abilities are built and retained at different rates, which are fairly specific to each individual. Some may be lost very quickly while others will be held.

Finally, what about your multi-sport athlete? According to Dr. Greg Shepherd of Bigger, Faster, Stronger a periodization program done halfway properly can drive a coach nuts with its complexities. You’ve got 12 kids going out for basketball after the football season is over. Half of them will continue with a spring sport. The rest will join your lifting program with the other 24 kids that have been doing it for the last 8 weeks. In the summer you get 9 new kids come out for the football team and have to fit them into the lifting program with the other who have been lifting all spring. If this sounds like a nightmare to you, your right – it is!

Imagine a system that allows your athletes to transition from sport to sport and from in season to off seasons with incredible ease. Imagine your athletes could continually progress all year long and reach their fullest potential. Well that is exactly what I am going to show you how to do.

Tool #1 - Power lifting

With this method you will get Super Strong. When you lift heavy weights your nervous system and endocrine system are forced to adapt. First, the strain on the nervous system causes an increase in intermuscular and intra muscular coordination. It is this type of demand that causes your muscles to grow stronger. Also, whenever you strain with a heavy weight your endocrine system responds by increasing the release of anabolic hormones including testosterone and growth hormone. So basically you are causing your body to release its own form of Anabolic Steroids – naturally.
The one downside to using this method is that you can't train with weights above 90 percent RM for much longer than three to four weeks before the nervous system begins to become overwhelmed and weaken. When this happens your strength will begin to diminish.
The way to overcome this strength barrier is to change the exercises used for the max effort method every three weeks. This keeps the body fresh so the method can be used all-year round, in-season, off-season and rabbit season. Also, we have found that athletes enjoy the constant change of max effort exercises as they many become bored after a few weeks.

Tool #2 – Bodybuilding

Want to get HUGE? Do you want to gain a significant amount of muscle mass and strength? Then do what the biggest, most muscular, muscle mass monsters on earth do – Body build.
With this method we train all supplemental or auxiliary exercises meant to support your power lifting exercises. Generally, body builders use this method by training each muscle or exercise to its momentary failure (you cant move the weight any longer) with a lighter weight. When you train a muscle to failure the maximal number of motor units are recruited. This system of training is great for the development of muscle mass, which is why it's become so popular among the bodybuilding population.

The big drawback with this type of training, if done alone, is that it is done with sub-maximal weights and will fail to build your absolute strength. Just because a muscle is huge, doesn’t mean that it is strong. We have all seen the guy at the gym or have had the kid on our team that LOOKS like a monster but the moment you put a barbell on his back he looks like he’s going to have a seizure. Also, by training to failure on several sets you fatigue your nervous system to such a degree that it takes several days to recover and may hamper your strength gains.
In order to get the greatest benefit from this method without the drawbacks we will modify it slightly. Instead of performing every set to failure, we train with a weight until our form breaks down. So, if you are performing a set of biceps curls (ooh, did I say biceps curls in a football program?), for 4 sets of 12 and on the final set you begin to lose decent form on the 8th rep – simply stop. By training to failure on every set you'd be taking away from the general purpose of the movements, which is to increase work capacity and add to your overall strength not detract from it.

Tool #3 – Jump Training (Super Speed)

It is with this method that we take all that hard-earned muscle and turn them into weapons. This is when your arms actually become guns! Building strength is great and it is the foundation of improving all athletic capacity. Also, building size is not only great for knocking your opponents onto their heels the extra size will help you prevent injuries. But, none of this will get you a college scholarship, championship ring or professional contract if you’re SLOW and unauthentic.

I call this method Super Speed because we use several different modalities to build Strength-Speed and Speed Strength. Basically there are times when we move moderate weight as fast as possible and times when we simply move our bodyweight as fast as possible as in plyometrics.

The objective here is to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible in the shortest period of time. This improves an athlete’s ability to run faster, jump higher and change directions on a dime! Because of the enormous carryover of this method into sports performance a great deal of emphasis is put into this method, but it is often used improperly.

Please remember that although it would seem that the exercises used in this method alone would make you faster don’t forget that your expression of speed is determined by your foundation of strength. Many coaches make the mistake of over emphasizing this method without first building the proper relative body strength that most young athletes lack. This would be analogous to putting the cart before the horse or putting on your tie before your suit.

Putting it all together (Sample Program)

Monday – Power Lifting Upper

Power Lifting Upper: Barbell Bench Press, work up to a 3-5 rep max.

Body Building Upper: Incline DB Bench Press, perform 3-4 sets of 6-10 reps.
Body Building Pull: Chin Ups super set with Band Face Pulls, perform 3-4 super sets of 8-12 reps.

Traps / Neck: Barbell Shrugs – 4 sets of 10
Arms: Barbell Curls – 4 sets of 10
Tuesday – Super Speed (Low volume early in the off season to high volume close to the season)

Dynamic Warm Up
Vertical Jumps x 5 -10
Broad Jumps x 5 - 10
20 Yard Dash x 5 - 10
Wednesday – Power Lifting Lower

Power Lifting Lower: Back Squats, work up to a 3-5 rep max.
Quads / Unilateral: Dumbbell Step Ups, perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps.
Posterior Chain: Glute Ham Bench, perform 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps.
Abdominal Circuit –
V-ups x 10
Push Through x 10
Knee Push x 10
Bicycles x 10
Single leg pushes x 10
Straight Leg sit ups x 10
Thursday – Super Speed (Low volume to high volume)

Dynamic Warm Up
Box Jumps x 5 -10
Bounding for distance (20 yards) x 6
20 Yard Dash x 5 – 10
Friday – Bodybuilding

Body Building Upper: Barbell Band Push Ups, perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps
Body Building Pull: Lat Pull downs super set with Rear Delt Flys Perform 3-4 super sets of 8-12 reps.
Body Building Push: Standing Dumbbell Press, perform 3-4 sets of 8-15 reps:
Grip: Plate Pinches for time

Abdominal: Weighted Crunches 4 x 8-12
You may have noticed that there is nothing ‘cutting edge’ or unique about this program. But, if you read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series you’ll remember that it’s not built on special gadgets and secret systems. This program is built on ATTITUDE!

If you’ve decided that football is the world to you and you’ve forgone all other “filler sports” during your off-season, you will concentrate single mindedly on getting massive, strong and super fast.

Next year you will be older, perhaps in a bigger program and twice the athlete you were last season. You need to get bigger, you need to get stronger and you need to get faster, and I just showed you how.

By: Elliott Hulse, CSCS
Gridiron Strongman Program

About the Author

Learn about the "Top 10 Gym Exercises For Explosive Speed" in the free report from Elliott Hulse at Gridiron Strongman Program Elliott is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist who trains football players to get bigger, stronger and faster at his gym in St. Petersburg, Florida. His Football Strength System has helped hundreds of football players, coaches and parents prepare for game winning football seasons. For more information on the Football Strength Systems that will help you gain serious mass, strength and speed visit his Gridiron Strongman Program.

Top 5 Keg Movements For Crushing Strength!

2009-05-22T11:12:00.002-04:00

Here's an article I just wrote for EzineArticles.com about building "Crushing" Strength for combat sports. Isometric strength is rarely trained, mainly because its just not that "sexy", but here are a few ways to kill two birds with one stone.

The single most missing component from most grapplers training programs are movements that help build isometric strength and endurance. Some might call this crushing strength, or bear hug strength, but whatever you want to call it, there is such a thing and if you've ever wrestled somebody with this then you know that its very real. Most training programs focus on just concentric and eccentric movements - the raising and lowering of weights. But in combat sports, not only do we need to be able to deliever force and absorb force, but we also need crazy amounts of isometric strength to wear opponents down in the clinch, or crush them on the ground. Typical movements in the weight room alone will not do the trick, and this is where various odd objects can come into place.

One of my favorite odd objects to use is a water filled keg. The water sloshing around inside makes every movement extremely unstable, forcing you to literally wrestle the keg into position. A simple clean and press that might be easy with a barbell is now a complete CHORE with a keg. And because of the circumerence of the keg, they are perfect tools for building that "crushing" strength through a variety of movements.These can be done as standalone workouts, incorporated with over keg movements and calisthenics or as a finisher to your normal strength sessions. Either way, this is extremely tough training that will tax your body from head to toe, and build strength in a way unlike you ever have before.

My my top 5 movements for crushing strength all involve using a simple bear hug grip and should be done with a moderately heavy keg. A 100lb waterfilled keg is a nice ballpark figure to go by.

1. Bear Hug Shouldering. This is the toughest of the bunch and may require some practice, but with a bear hug grip you are going to explode and throw the keg to one shoulder, maintaining your grip. Lower under control and repeat to the opposite side.

2. Bear Hug Rotations aka "Moving Men". I got this one from Joe Hashley, Creator of The Bull Strength Manual and its awesome! Using the same bear grip and fairly wide stance, rotate to one side while pivoting your feet and dropping to about a half lunge position and repeat to the other side.

3. Bear Hug Cleans. Explode with the keg from a low position (just above the ground) to a fully hip extended position and lower back under control

4. Bear Hug Squats. Simple - just keep a flat back and squat DEEP. Medium to high reps work great here.

5. Bear Hug Carries. Bear hug that sucker and carry it for either time or distance. Make a set distance of maybe 100-200 total yards or carry for max distance in 5-10 minutes.

So there you have it, 5 awesome movements using just a keg to building crushing strength to dominate your opponents!

For a ton more info like this, Joe has an awesome training manual out thats loaded with all sorts of crazy training methods. Check it out here Bull Strength Training Manual

Upperbody "Chunking" (For Busy Guys!)

2009-05-21T08:15:00.004-04:00

Waaay too many people think that you need to spend 2 hours a day in the gym to get results. Waaay too many people think that you need a full dynamic warm up before you even just wipe your ass. Waaay too many people obscess over ever little detail of their precious "routines" without leaving an inch left for any FUN.

The fact is that you can get in great workouts in sometimes just 10 or 15 minutes, and if you're a Busy Guy knowing this is super important and vital for you to continue to make progress. One thing that guys like Zach Even-Esh have talked about is something called "chunking", which is basically a time management principle used for business but also works AWESOME when it comes to training. By spreading out some short, mini workouts through out the week or even the day, you can get in alot of training in without having to worry about dedicating a full hour or more to the gym.

Recently i've been KILLING it with the sandbag training on alternate days, but these sessions are super short - around 15 minutes or so. I hit up some full body movements like power cleans, clean and presses, shouldering, or whatever else and call it a day. These, I guess you can say, are my "main" training sessions for the week. However, on alternating days i've been tearing it up with some bodyweight training. I just jump right in and start alternating sets of various kinds of pull ups, push ups, recline rows, handstand push ups, blast strap tricep and bicep work - just working non stop, not worry about sets and reps, just as long as I keep moving. These workouts take 5,10 or 15 minutes and I just feel so GOOD afterwards and am able to attack the rest of my day - which is usually training people, writing articles, reading, training martial arts, and hanging out with my girlfriend.

Zach goes into this in great detail in his Real Man Muscle Building Course and gives you tons of different routines that will put on muscle and strip off bodyfat FASTER than those lame 2 hour marathon sessions. But, these workouts are NOT a quick fix, and require a ton of intensity and a "gun to the head" mentality.

So, go ahead, piss off all of those people you know who slave away in the gym. Take action NOW, and tell Zach I sent ya!

The ULTIMATE Ass Kicking 15 Minute Workout Training Course EVER Made!

Gain 31 Pounds Before Football Training Camp Part 2

2009-05-20T10:04:00.003-04:00

I posted Part of 1 of this installment last week where Elliott talks about the mindset needed to succeed, so here's Part 2 where he gets into the nitty gritty of just how you should be eating to pack on size like never before!

By: Elliott Hulse, CSCS
Gridiron Strongman Program

“Eat Iron & Lift Food”

On this program you’ve got to eat. If you are skinny and weak, you need to eat a ton of food. And don’t just tell me that you “eat a lot”, I get this answer from a lot of kids and when I take one look at what they really consume it turns out to be nothing more than a few slices of Elio’s Pizza and some cereal all day long. If you plan on skipping this section because you think:

you already eat enough and eat well
you don’t have time to eat…
Pack it up right now and just forget the whole thing, because you are fooling yourself and you will never reach your potential no matter what program you use. You’ve got to eat more food, plain and simple.

Even you fat kids. You’re not only eating crappy food, you too are not eating enough or as frequently as you need to. An example of a typical fat kids diet would look like this:

Breakfast: Cheerios & Skim Milk

Lunch: Taco Bell’s Grande Cheesy Chalupa (hold the sour cream)

Snack: A Lean Hot Pocket & Diet Soda

Dinner: Spaghetti O’s with Hot Dog Pieces, Purple Kool Aid & Cookies

From the meal plan above it would seem like this kid would be skinny because he barely eats all day, but the truth is that he is fat - because he his malnourished. I don’t have time now to go into the reasons why eating too few empty calories per day makes you fat, but trust me… if this kid ate even 2,000 more calories per day, on my program he would not only get build massive muscles he will lose fat. When you eat more food your body also responds by releasing greater amounts of growth hormone and testosterone, yet another form of natural steroids.

Chances are that you or your athletes are either skinny and weak or plain old fat. And that’s why I thought it was important to write this section. Also, many athletes today are severely injury prone. This has to do with the fact that their bones, joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles are literally made up of Twizzlers and Coca Cola.

You become what you eat. Every cell in your body has to me made of something, right? Well every 30-90 days billions of cells are replaced with new ones and they are made up of the foods that you have been eating. So if you’ve been eating chips and soda then guess what your ACL is made of. Look at it this way, if you lifting weights and expect to get stronger, and the building blocks for that muscle is garbage food, how strong can you expect to become?

Eat more, and eat higher quality foods. In fact, just eat food! This may sound strange but most of what you eat is not even considered food. What the heck is a Hot Pocket anyway, and if you tell me meat and bread then I urge you to read the labels. This is NOT food. In my opinion if it wasn’t here 10,000 years ago then it isn’t food. Chicken, rice, spinach all comes from the earth. Even hamburgers, peanut butter and milk can all be traced back to something that was here 10,000 years ago.

Also, don’t be fooled by the term all-natural. Monkey balls and dog feces are all-natural but I wouldn’t eat them if I wanted to get stronger.

“OK Elliott, so what the heck should I do?”

Here is a sort list of my favorite nutrition principles as they relate to getting jacked and strong for football.

#1 Eat Like A Man

Dr. Weston A Price was a dentist in the late 1930’s who has documented the most comprehensive study ever, of the primitive man and his diet / lifestyle in his groundbreaking book Nutrition & Physical Degeneration. In this documentary he recounts the nutrition and lifestyle habits of several “uncivilized” tribes in order to uncover the means for their extraordinary strength and health. Among the 14 different tribes he observed were:

The North American Indians

The Native American’s lived for thousands of years completely isolated from “The White Man”. These folks have adapted to their given environments and have learned how to live WITH the land, not just on it.

They ate meat, meat and meat with some meat on the side. Every part of the animal was eaten. Of greatest importance were the organs of the animals that they ate. These wise people knew that it was in the organs that all of the potent nutrition resided… not in the lean meat. In fact if the meat wasn’t fatty enough it was fed to the dogs!

Think about that the next time some puppet tells you to eat only lean meats and chicken breast and fish.

I make this point only to bring to your attention the blatend disconnect between what is commonly called ‘good nutrition’ and what man is meant to thrive on. When choosing foods, always make choices that most closely resemble what primitive man would eat (and I don’t mean Fruity Pebbles).

#2 High Octane Fuel

The quality of what you eat is just as important and how much you eat.

Remember, ‘You Are What You Eat’… from the moment that you put something into your mouth your body begins using it to create new cells somewhere in your system. Are you going to be made of Cheese-Its and Pop-Rocks or are you going to be made of a robust free-range, organic turkey and unprocessed milk?

The Choice is ALWAYS yours! Here is a short list of pointers to consider with regards to food quality:

1. Eat Whole Food - the soil that organic food is grown in is much more nutritious than that of conventionally raised crops. If the nutrients aren’t in the soil, they can’t get into the plant. If the nutrients are not present in the plants, they will not be present in you when you eat it… its as simple as that.

2. Avoid Processed Food - I am appalled at what people think is food these days! Just look at some of the garbage that we are feeding our children… what this heck is hotdog anyway? Nothing on the labels of any of these foods even resembles a food. I guarantee that over half of the “stuff” on the ingredient labels, you can’t even pronounce! It looks more like a label for nail polish remover than a food. If you can’t pronounce it, don’t eat it!

#3 The Mighty Calorie

The calorie has gotten such a bad reputation lately, and it’s a shame. “Low Calorie” this… “Low Calorie” that… “Cut Calories”… blah, blah, blah! But in my program, the Mighty Calorie has made a comeback! We eat tons of this stuff and it makes my football players super strong, jacked and fast. In fact with my incredible “High Calorie Breakthrough” kids gain as much as 10 pounds in the first 2 weeks at my gym. (while at the same time improving relative body strength)

The Groundbreaking, Earth Shattering, Never-Has-Been-Seen-Before, Super Brand New formula that I use to calculate calories for my athletes!

Total Daily Calories for getting jacked for football:

Bodyweight X 20 (18 if you’re a little chubby) =
Total Daily Calories
(Total Calories / number of meals per day or 6) = Calories Per Meal
Next, we need to calculate your nutrient breakdown. This mass building diet will consist of 30% protein, 40% carbs and 30% fat.

First, we calculate your total amount of protein in calories. Simply multiply 2,430 (total calorie intake) by .30 (30%). This gives us 729 total daily calories of protein. Next we need to determine how many grams of protein these 729 calories should contain. Since protein is 4 calories per gram, we just divide 729 by 4. This gives us 182g. Now we know we need to eat 182 grams of protein each day. To find out how much we eat at each meal, just divide that by the number of meals or 6. This gives us 30 grams. So, to get 30% of my total calories from protein, I have to eat about 30g at each meal.

To get the total calories for fats and carbs we follow the formulas below:

Carbs

Total daily carb intake in calories: (2,430 x .40) = 972 calories
Total daily carb intake in grams: (972 / 4) = 243 grams
Amount of carbs needed at each meal: (243 / 6) = 41 grams
Fat

Total daily fat intake in calories: (2,430 x .30) = 729 calories
Total daily fat intake in grams: ( 729 / 9) = 81 grams
Amount of fat needed at each meal: (81 / 6) = 14 grams
So, at each meal we will eat roughly 30g protein, 41g carbs and 14g of fat. Remember this is just an overview to help you understand how to spread your calories through the day. Also, I provide actual meal plan breakdowns that you can follow to the letter without all of the mind-boggling calculations in my Football Strength System.

Stay tuned for part 3 of this series: Lift, Jump, Drag and Win!

Elliott Hulse, CSCS
Author, Gridiron Strongman Program

About the Author

Learn about the "Top 10 Gym Exercises For Explosive Speed" in the free report from Elliott Hulse at Gridiron Strongman Program Elliott is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist who trains football players to get bigger, stronger and faster at his gym in St. Petersburg, Florida. His Football Strength System has helped hundreds of football players, coaches and parents prepare for game winning football seasons. For more information on the Football Strength Systems that will help you gain serious mass, strength and speed visit Gridiron Strongman Program

Training On The Cheap

2009-05-19T09:54:00.003-04:00

Here are two pretty awesome videos showing how you don't need fancy equipment nor do you need to shell out alot of dough to get some great training in.

The first video is from Joe Hashley of Synergy-Athletics and creator of The Bull Strength Training Manual. He's showing an awesome core circuit using just an old car tire. I mentioned this a few weeks back, but here's Joe putting it into action.

And second, here's Matt Wichilinski of The Strength Shop showing how to save a boatload of cashola and make your very own bulgarian training bag. These bags are awesome for devloping core and rotational strength, grip strength, and not to mention ridiculous work capacity. The only problem is that they're super expensive! But in this vid, Matt breaks it down step by step on how to make one yourself. Also, be sure to check out Matt's website here The Strength Shop

12 Minute / 1 Movement Workout!

2009-05-19T07:36:00.008-04:00

A Short but pretty grueling workout yesterday, I did what I could despite an aggrivated left knee.

warm up
1. push ups 3x15
2. pull ups 3x8
3. squats 2x20
4. reverse lunges 2x20

a) sandbag power cleans (w/130lb bag) x 50 reps for time. This took just over 12 minutes, but I was toast afterwards! One of my all time favorite workouts is picking just one big movement and working against the clock. Other great choices would be sandbag shouldering, dumbbell snatches, sandbag clean and presses, front squats, etc. It forces you to work HARD while using your entire body - no wasted movement or effort.

You might have noticed that i've been training almost exclusively with Sandbags, Kettlebells, and bodyweight calisthenics. For those wondering, NO, I have not "given up" training with barbells and dumbbells - these tools still reign KING when it comes to strength development. However, I'm loving the change of pace and challenging myself in new ways. Not to mention that its summer, and there is nothing better than training outdoors! Come fall/winter, I'll be sure to be attacking the iron again, but for the time being I am having just too much fun!

Minimalist Strength Training For MMA Fighters!

2009-05-18T14:10:00.004-04:00

Hey all, here's an article I just wrote for EzineArticles.com, detailing a basic 2 day training split for busy MMA Fighters. I just started writing articles last week, and currently have 7 published and 6 more pending (including this one). Here's the link so that you can read all of the articles that have been published My Ezine Article Page

And here's the article that I just wrote. Enjoy!

Minimalist Strength Training For MMA Fighters
by Dustin Lebel

While there are literally tons of intricate routines specifically for "MMA Fighters" out these days, many of them trying to mimic the sport specific movements and components of the actual event, few are actually written by people who are around real fighters on a daily basis or who have actually trained and fought themselves. Strength training and conditioning are meant to increase an athletes GENERAL capacities, and any training outside of that realm is just plain nonsense. As an MMA fighter, your objectives are to pracitce your sport and its components - boxing,muay thai,brazilian jiu jitsu,wrestling, judo, etc and to get really, really good at them. That alone will leave very little in the way of recovery time to do much else, therefore when doing our strength and conditioning work, your number one goal is to MAXIMIZE your time. Get strong, train various energy systems, and watch it translate on the mat or in the ring. If you do this WHILE concurrently practicing your sport, you will see vast improvements and be on your way to dominating your opponents.

But before we do anything, its important to understand what your needs really are as a fighter when it comes to strength and conditioning. Too many athletes are focused on the WRONG things and wonder why they are always tired, run down, and generally not seeing their hardwork in the weight room translate into the gym.

1) You need to be "generally" strong all over your entire body. While improving your squat or deadlift can certainly help you, all too often I see athletes focus all of their attention on just getting bigger numbers in the weight room and it hurts their performance BIG TIME.

2) You need to be able to handle your own bodyweight. I'm talking various push up variations (from the standard push up done CORRECTLY to more advanced variations, to handstand push ups, to recline rows, to being able knock out a ton of PULL UPS!

3) You need to train the body as one unit, and not as a bunch of seperate bodyparts. Upper - Lower splits are fine, but for most MMA athletes I like to see them using total body sessions.

4) Get in and get out! If you are training striking and grappling for a total of 2-3 hours every day, then there is no need to be spending hours in the weight room! 30-40 minutes tops, and in some cases, as little as 15 minutes will be PLENTY to get in a great session.

For this program, you are going to NEED just 2 pieces of equipment, but if you have access to more then feel free to substitute anything else in. First, I reccomend making a sandbag anywhere from 50-70% of your own bodyweight. If you already have alot of experience in the weight room, lean towards 60-70%, if you're new to all of this, go with a bag around 40-50% of your weight. Next, all you'll need is a pull up bar. Just these 2 things alone, along with your own bodyweight, is plenty to keep you improving for a long time. This is just a 2 day program, leaving plenty of time to get better at punching people and wrapping them up like a python on the ground.

day 1:

warm up: 3 sets done in a circuit
push ups x 10
squats x 15
sprawls x 10
reverse lunges x 10 (5 each side)
mountain climbers x 10 (5 each side

a1) sandbag clean and press 4x3-5
***clean the bag to the "rack" position on your shoulders and power it overhead. lower to the ground and repeat.

a2) mixed grip pull ups 4 x reps (stop 1-2 short of failure)
***use a different grip each set (overhand, underhand, towel, wide, close, etc)

b1) advanced push up variation (divebomber push ups, incline push ups, etc) 3x reps
***pick one TOUGH push up variation and stop 1-2 reps short of failure

b2) bent over sandbag rows 3x6-10
***just like a regular barbell row, maintain a flat back and explosively row into your abdomen.

c) sandbag bear hug squats x 20 total reps (try to do so in as few sets as possible)
***bear hug your sandbag and sit back just like a regular squat. Be sure to squat deep and maintain a flat back. Don't let that chest cave!

day 2:
warm up: 3 sets done in a circuit
robot push ups (from plank position to push up position back to plank ) x 10
squats x 15
sprawls x 10
lateral lunges x 10 (5 each side)
groiners (bringing feet to outside of hands) x 10 (5 each side)

a1) sandbag shouldering 4x4-8 (2-4 each side)
*** rip the sandbag from the floor to one shoulder. lower to ground and repeat for other side.

a2) handstand push ups 4x reps
*** Kick your feet up onto a wall and use your arms to lower your self to the ground and back up. If you cant do a full handstand push up, just hold the static position for time.

a3) mixed grip pull ups 4 x reps
***like on day 1, try to use a different grip on each set. don't get comfortable!

b1) sandbag bear hug reverse lunges 2x8-10 (4-5 each side)
*** bear hug the bag and perform reverse lunges in alternating fashion.

b2) sandbag bear hug goodmornings 2x8-10
***just like a regular goodmorning or romanian deadlift, bear hug the bag and push your butt back keeping your knees slightly bent and weight on your heels.

c) Carry for distance.
***Bear hug your sandbag and carry that sucker for distance. Try and cover at least 200'.

Gain 31 Pounds Before Football Training Camp Part 1!

2009-05-18T12:27:00.004-04:00

Happy Monday everyone...hope you either trained hard or at least relaxed a little bit to get ready for another 5 day grind :) Here's a guest article from Pro Strongman and Strength Camp CEO Elliott Hulse, the first of 3 installments on how to gain a ton of MASS before Football Training camp. Check it out and tell me what you think!

Gain 31 Pounds Before Football Training Camp - part 1

By: Elliott Hulse, CSCS
Gridiron Strongman Program

Football season has just ended and you’ve quickly realized that your only half the man you were in August. Losing 10 –20 pounds durring the football season is typical for most high school and small college athletes. But your not typical.
You’re done licking your wounds and are ready to get back in the weigth room and being construction on the machine that will lead you to victory next season. You’ve decided that football is the world to you and you’ve forgone all other “filler sports” durring your off-season. You will concentrate single mindedly on getting massive, strong and super fast.

Next year you will be older, perhaps in a bigger program and twice the athlete you were last season. You need to get bigger, you need to get stronger and you need to get faster… I am going to show you how.

This article is part 1 in my Gain 31 Pounds Before Football Training Camp series.
Who is this series written for?1. High School and College football players who need to get massive and strong for next season. If you are skinny and weak and would like to “strap up” and play nose guard next year, this series is for you.
If you are a “Neion Deion” wanna-be and would rather stay skinny and avoid tackling your opponents so that you look good with all those wrist bands around your puny arms…. This series is NOT for you.2. Athletes looking to play at the “Next Level”. If you are a high school football player going to college or a JUCO player moving up to D1, this series will be your guide to your “Next Level” success.
The athletes at the “Next Level” are bigger than you meaner than you and faster than you. Let this series be your sling-shot aginst goliath.3. Football Coaches and parents who don’t know what the heck to do with the skinny, weak little punks. You’ve tried sending them to the YMCA only to find that your membeship dues have only given them a lesson on how to spot breast implants and tip over vending machines.

You need a system and you need some guidance on how to squeeze every bit of potential out of your ‘Little Tigers’. You can print this series, roll it up and use it as a “whacking paddle” when your athletes give you less than 100%.
Let’s rock! - Part 1 - Stinkin’ Attitude
(This article is part 1 of the series. I begin, not with training protocol or meal plans, because it is my firm conviction that if you don’t have the right attitude and mind –set nothing else matters.)

Attitude is the driving force behind this program. The techniques contained in it come from a variety of sources but the only source that really matters is the one beating in your OWN chest. No one can give this to you – YOU must seek and use it on your own. I’ve trained several athletes who are physically gifted but never amount to very much because of a lack-luster attitude. I have also worked with athletes who were not super strong or fast by nature but excelled in their sports due to a championship attitude.

Now, when I speak of attitude it is not in the same manner that your parents, teachers, church leaders or mentors may be referring to - this generally conjures up ideas of a “nice-young man” with his hair neatly combed to the side sitting upright in a church pew. When I speak about attitude I am referring to the rebel that spits in the face of convention because he’d rather die than to be average… he despises the mediocrity that he sees around him and is willing to stand out (if he must) to make sure that his life is different.

Most people you know are sheep and they are just following all of the other sheep off of the cliff. They may look OK right now or even for a few years… perhaps well into adulthood, but they are going to fall and fall hard because most people follow each other rather than following their hearts.
Most people are cowards. Notice that I didn’t say scared – everyone is scared at one time or another, but cowards run away from their fears – this is not for you, you do what your heart tells you to do NO MATTER WHAT or how crazy it may seem to others.
There is another word that I would like you to remember and it is the foundation on which your attitude stands, the word is…

Responsibility
Again I warn you that I don’t mean this word in the conventional sense – such as making sure you take the trash out on time or being a snitch when your see some one cheating on a test. When I use the word responsibility I am speaking about holding yourself 100% responsible for all of the results in your life.
We live in a time when everyone is looking to blame someone or something else… either your too black or your too white, too fast or too slow, your too short or too tall, your can blame your genetics, you can blame your parents, teachers, coaches, you can blame God. Just watch the TV, fat people blame the fast food restaurants for their fatness, smokers blame the cigarette companies for their smoking, and people blame their kids and boss for their depression or even their so-called chemical imbalance.

I accept none of this. I believe that everything that happens to you – good or bad is a result of some choice that you have made in the past. Sure, freak things happen like accidents but then too you have a choice about how you are going to react to it – you can fold up and get depressed, start drinking or doing drugs or you can “MAN UP” and turn your tragedy into triumph. Join a wheelchair basketball or better yet doge ball team! Just get up – its your choice – its your responsibility.
You want to be stronger, you want to win more games, you want your team to respect your wishes to “not party” during the in-season. What ever it is that you want you can get – if and only if you take FULL responsibility for the results or your reaction to it. “Within a desire is the seed for its creation” YOU create your life.

Choose to be a victor not a victim. And notice when those options are being presented. Most people are not willing to take responsibility for themselves because of one simple and very sneaky behavior – LAZIENESS. Most people are down right lazy and in various forms. They would much rather be victims of their circumstances rather than taking the time to look at what they have done to create their situation or how they can change their behaviors to create a better future.
A beast in the weight room

I sum it up with on phrase – “Turn off your brain.” I learned this trick when my college buddies used to come and train with me and my brother in our basement during the summers. One day we were performing back squats for reps… and I told everyone that I had an idea “Lets continue to perform reps beyond what we were used to 8-12 and see how many we can do and the way we are going to make this happen is by reminding the guy performing the set to turn off his brain when he got tired.
The results were amazing! What would normally be a 15 rep set turned into a 25-30 rep set!!! Why did this happen? Because when you remind yourself to Turn your brain off – you destroy 2 things, first is the ego, this little voice that tells you what you should or shouldn’t do or the remnants of your mommy’s voice saying “my poor baby is going to get hurt, come here let me kiss you.” The next is inhibition…. This again is a little voice that warns you ‘that you are getting out of your comfort zone’ and that it may be scary out there. This voice is not you friend. He aims to keep you mediocre, normal and sane.

Remember this “The Same old thing equals the same old thing” - you’ve got to get uncomfortable if you want to be the best! Discomfort will become your friend because it is a reminder that you are getting better. And something new is on its way. You’ve got to break a few eggs to make an omelet.

Shut Your Brain Off whenever you hear a voice tell you that “you cant” or “that’s too dangerous” or “you’re not smart enough or good enough” in any fashion. Sure, your body can get tired but a heart full of intensity of purpose never grows tired!!!
Scream & shout when you train! I do, that why I train in a warehouse hidden deep in the Florida swamps. When we train we make so much noise that alligators run scared!!! Why do you think Bruce Lee made all of those wild Kung Fu noises when he was kicking some poor guys butt?

Don’t be afraid to make noise – literally and figuratively. Shut your brain off and do what needs to be done. Notice when the ego or mommas voice gets in your way, shut them out... fast. (sorry mom) Know exactly what you want, keep your thoughts focused on it and be thankful for it as if it were already at hand.

Elliott Hulse, CSCSAuthor, Football Strength Program

About the Author
Elliott is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist who trains football players to get bigger, stronger and faster at his gym in St. Petersburg, Florida. His Football Strength System has helped hundreds of football players, coaches and parents prepare for game winning football seasons. For more information on the Football Strength Systems that will help you gain serious mass, strength and speed visit Gridiron Strongman Program

Barbell Training For Gladiators!

2009-05-16T09:44:00.005-04:00

Alright dudes, here's a guest article from the Underground Strength Coach himself, Zach Even-Esh. Here he talks about bare bones barbell training, and something we call "power bodybuilding". That's right, its possible to add slabs of muscle while getting crazy strong using just a single piece of equipment!

Gladiator Barbell Training
by Zach Even-Esh
Underground Strength Manual

All you need is a barbell for this workout. Simplicity is often the name of my game, but my priority is getting results fast, and you’re about to experience exactly how to get fast results in developing strength endurance, power endurance and speed!

These exercises are very basic and can be done with the help of a partner or by placing your barbell on milk crates or a few cinder blocks in place of power racks, especially if you’re training in your own home. Your resources don’t need to be anything fancy as you’re about to see.

You will not be training with traditional bodybuilding methods. Instead, you will perform a high number of sets with low reps and minimal rest time. This method is what produces strength and power endurance. The exercises you’re going to perform are the following:

1.Zercher Squat – wrap a towel in the center of the barbell, using double underhooks, place the crook of your elbows under the barbell, and perform deep squats. Your posture must remain upright and your elbows should remain high. Do not allow the weight to pull your posture down or pull your hands down. Choose an appropriate weight allowing for perfect technique. This movement is awesome for developing takedown strength and overall full body strength. Your upper body will work extremely hard just to keep the barbell in position and of course your legs will be working hard to move that heavy barbell!

2.Towel Deadlift – Every 2 – 3 workouts you will switch from the zercher squat to the towel deadlift. This will avoid burn out in either movement and still works a similar movement. This is a great way to continuously keep improving strength while avoiding overuse injuries. The towels can be grabbed or wrapped around the bar. Both are excellent for grip and full body strength.

3. Floor Press – Great for developing pushing strength from your back. If you’re weak on your back, get strong here. This will develop pushing strength and power helping you escape your hips and create angles from the bottom, ultimately making you a better submission specialist from your back! There should be no bouncing of the bar off the floor. Lower the bar slowly as if it were going to touch your lower chest, once your triceps touch the floor, blast the weight upward! Arm Bars anyone?!?!

4. Barbell Row with Towels – Use the towels if you want added grip work. Wrap the towels around the bar or hang the towels around the bar, each of which give you a different grip and pulling effect. Grips can be overhand or underhand. Keep your low back neutral and your upper back flat, NO rounding allowed. If you round out your back, lighten up until your form is perfect. Your lower body will also work just to stabilize your upper body so this is truly a full body exercise. Pull the weight towards your low abdomen and squeeze your shoulder blades together. This is excellent for developing pulling strength, a must in all combat sports.

5. Barbell Cheat Curls – No one ever would expect me to encourage these, as many equate this movement to bodybuilding training. This exercise is going to look like a barbell hang clean, except with a reverse grip. It will develop hip power and strength in your entire upper body. Don’t knock these, they work, especially when you push for HEAVY weights! They will also work your hands and grip very intensely, a critical aspect in any type of combat sport using gi as well as no gi.

Here’s your Underground workout:

* Exercises A & B are performed back to back. As your work capacity improves, you should aim to have zero rest through each superset!

1A) Barbell Floor Press 6 x 3 – 5 reps
1B) Barbell Zercher Squat / Towel Deadlift 6 x 3 – 5 reps

2A) Bent Over Barbell Row with Towels 3 x 8 - 12 reps
2B) Any Push Up Variation 3 x Max Reps

3A) Barbell Cheat Curls 3 x 5 reps
3B) Any Abdominal Exercise 3 x 20 reps

Get Your Hands On The Ultimate Undergound Strength Blue Print Now!

A "Complex" Friday

2009-05-15T16:02:00.003-04:00

Its the freakin' weekend, and as usual I love getting in a great training session on fridays. I had my 130lb sandbag, 1.5 pood kettlebell, and unlike wednesday, a ride or die attitude to just kill it today!

The Warm Up
1. Push Ups 3x15
2. Pull Ups 3x8
3. Squats 2x20
4. Reverse Lunges 2x20 (10 ea)

Sandbag Complex x 4 sets
1. Clean & Press x 4
2. Shouldering x 4 (2 ea side)
3. Bear Hug Squats x 4
4. Bentover Rows x 4
***this little complex tore me up and smashed every muscle in my body. Sandbag complexes are an awesome way to kill 2 (or more) birds with one stone.

Litvisprints:
***these were inspired from this article by Dan John Litvinov Workout
1. Kb Snatches x 8 (left & right)+ 50 yard sprint x 3 sets
***this looked almost too easy on paper, but as Dan John points out in the article, you just feel kinda "funny" after one of these. Really, 3 sets is all you need.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Sandbag - Bodyweight Power Combo + Sled Rowing!

2009-05-14T08:44:00.004-04:00

We all have those days where we're not particularly motivated to train, and while we need to know when to just take time off, there's also a time where you need to push through and maybe just cut the volume and/or intensity a little bit. With the beautiful weather yesterday, I just couldn't help but take a trip to the local soccer field and get in a session.

As always, I like to get in a good warm up
1. spider man walks x 20 steps
2. walking lunges x 20 steps
3. push ups x 20
4. walking lateral lunges x 10 each side
5. lateral bear crawls x 10 steps each side
6. squats x 20
7. band rows x 20

On to the main workout; simple and brief

a1) sandbag power cleans 5x5
a2) clapping push ups (double when I could) 5x10
*** completed all 5 sets in under 9 minutes
b) sled rowing x 100 yards
*** nice finisher, and a great way to pump up your upperback and get your pulling volume through the roof (especially if you have shoulder issues).

Give this a try if you're short on time and need a quick full body session to get your day moving.

P.S. If you're looking for a kick ass sandbag, pick up one of Josh Henkin's Ultimate Sandbags Here!

Strongman Vs. Power Cleans For Explosive Football Gains Part 2

2009-05-13T18:03:00.002-04:00

Here's part 2 of last week's guest article by Elliott Hulse, author of the Gridiron Strongman Program. So what are your opinions, is Strongman more beneficial for young athletes vs power cleans and other olympic lift variations?

By: Elliott Hulse, CSCS
Gridiron Strongman Program

In Part 1 of this series on Strongman Training for athletes I make the argument that Strongman Training may be a great option for building strong and explosive athletes and a viable substitute for Olympic Lifting.

Here I will discuss some of my favorite Strongman exercises for making your athletes super fast and angry!

Tire Flipping

This exercise is a staple in Strong Man and a big part of the football strength programs that I design for my athletes. If there ever was an exercise that trains the entire body from “The Rooter To The Tooter”- It’s tire flipping.

Getting your hands on a 300, 400 or 700 pound tire is a lot easier than most people think. Also, the best part of this piece of equipment is that it is FREE! All you need to do is look in your phone book for a tire company in your city. They’ve got tons of these things and they need to dispose of them, and this costs them money. They are as happy as hell when someone calls and says that they are willing to take one off of their hands for free. This biggest issue will be finding a way to transport it to your facility. Many times the tire yard will drop it off for you; make sure you give the delivery guy a nice tip.

Car Push

It’s as simple as it sounds – push a car. That’s it. But make no mistake, this exercise is not only fun and brutal – it’s actually very useful. When pushing a car it is essential that you lean forward which creates a “positive knee angle”. This develops the quads which are the dominant muscles being activated during short sprints and change of direction.

This is probably the most practical exercise to perform, from an equipment stand point. All you need it an automobile, the bigger the better. I’ve heard stories about Mike Alstott and how he used to push his Jeep around campus in college to get in football condition. If Mike Alstott does it, it’s got to be good!

Farmers Carries
I am often asked, “What are the best overall exercises for strength AND conditioning?” My answer without hesitation is always – Farmers Carries. There is NOTHING that this exercise doesn’t do. Besides a killer conditioner, farmers carries trains the arms, legs, core, shoulders, neck, grip, eye lids, eye brows and ear lobes like nothing that I have ever discovered.

What makes this exercise even more incredible is that anyone can do it, anywhere, with little or no equipment. Everything from the Torpedoes that you see those beasts on ESPN2 carry; to milk jugs filled with sand will get you strong and crazy fast.

Sand Bag Carry

This is another exercise that is easy to put together. In fact, when I first began training athletes at a local park, this is all I had to use. I simply went to Home Depot (there may be one in your city) bought a few 80 pound bags of pea gravel, threw them into contractor bag and duct taped them shut. After a while I noticed that we needed heavier bags so I bought a few large army duffle bags and tossed the smaller bags into it. Now I’ve got bags from 40 pounds to almost 300!

This exercise is as simple as – pick it up and go! But make no mistake, it is NOT easy. This exercise goes on my list of the best overall body conditioners as well.

Keg Clean & Press

We’ve all used or taught someone to use the famous Olympic lifts, in particular the power clean and press. And for good reason, they train the whole body and they produce faster and stronger athletes. But I do them a bit different.

When you use a half filled keg to clean and press, you are playing a whole new game. First of all, the neutral grip is more specific to football especially if you are a lineman. Second, the water (or beer) that you have used to fill your keg will be sloshing around in there, which turns this exercise into a real core conditioner!

If you want to get brutally strong and fast, you’ve got to add this super strong man exercise to your routine.

Sled Dragging

This is a staple is all of my training programs and I use this exercise for several different reasons.

First, upright forward sled dragging is a great posterior chain builder. Nothing gets those lazy glutes into tip-top shape like sled drags. Second, backwards sled drags does for the quads what forward dragging does for the glutes… fries em! Third, when done for distances greater than 50 yards or with short rest intervals this is one of my favorite work capacity / conditioning exercises. Finally, because your legs are always moving in a concentric fashion there is minimal soreness associated with doing this exercise. You can drag today and max effort squat tomorrow.

Keg Carries

A thick, strong and powerful upper back is paramount for building upper body strength that lasts. Everything from an increased bench press to decreased risk of shoulder injuries are associated with having a strong set of traps, rhomboids and rear delts.

Nothing builds a strong upper back in conjunction with leg strength and agility like keg carries. Caring kegs weighing between 50 to 300 pounds for short distances is one of my favorite ways of training generally weak and unathletic athletes to build endurance, strength and mental toughness.

I’ve got a video at http://HulseStrength.com about a great example of how to set up a “keg run”. You can train several athletes at the same time with a set up like this.

Keg or Sand Bag Loading

Want to increase speed and jumping capacity?
Keg, Sandbag or stone loading takes even the flattest ass and turns it into a J-Lo. And we all know that a strong set of glutes in synonymous with explosive hip extension and speed.
Strong Man Training is not only for those 300 pound beasts on ESPN2, it is a great way to train even the most deconditioned athlete and turn average boys into hulking men.

Gridiron Strongman Program

Hip Pops For The Posterior Chain

2009-05-12T07:46:00.002-04:00

Ok, we all know that the posterior chain is our "gateway to athletic prowess", but often times it can be difficult or young or very weak athletes to do movements such as romanian deadlifts or goodmorning variations without building some type of base first. Not only that, but you don't need a glute ham bench, or a reverse hyper, or a super heavy pulldown machine for pull throughs - in fact, for these bad boys, all you need is a bench or box of some sort (your couch will work fine if you need to get in an extra workout @ home).

That all said, one of my favorite ways to crush the posterior chain of my clients (and myself - you're never too advanced for these!) is through hip pop variations and progressions. Using a bench or box to put your heels on, lay on your back and place your heels at the edge of the box/bench - with your legs bent at about 90 degrees. Push through your heels to "pop" your hips to the sky and lower under control. These can be done double leg or single leg, with several different progressions. Check out this vid from Martin Rooney showing a few...

A Case of the Mondays

2009-05-11T15:06:00.002-04:00

Ok, we get it - Mondays are typically not everyone's favorite day of the week, but after a busy weekend, I love to get after it - get closer to accomplishing my goals and kick start a great week with a kick ass training session. While everyone else loathes mondays, you're different - you see them as opportunity. Get after it!

For today's session, I began with my lowerbody activation work, movement prep and some work on my start along with wall drills and various run-bound sequeunces. For my upperbody warm up, I did 2 sets of 15 reps each of push ups and recline rows.

On to the good stuff...

a) 10 Minute Density Round: Sandbag Loading w/130lb bag onto a ~36-42" platform. I alternated between loading the bag straight on and laterally. Sandbag loading for time is a great test of fortitude and total body strength and conditioning.

Here's Elliott Hulse, author of the
Gridiron Strongman Program explaining the benefits of sandbag loading:

b1) weighted push ups 3x8-12
b2) weighted recline rows 3x8-12

c) sled dragging x 200 total yards (on grass). I alternated between forward dragging, backward dragging and pull throughs. Its summer time (practically) and in my world, that means dragging the sled and dragging it OFTEN!

I've got a few hours now to recover and i'm off to teach boxing & muay thai @ the Connecitcut IMB Academy later tonight. All in a days work, baby!

Chain & Crazy Training Day From Synergy Athletics

2009-05-09T18:08:00.002-04:00

Here's Joe Hashley & The Boys from Synergy Athletics killing it on one of their "crazy" training days - lots of variety here, something Joe never lacks in his Training Programs

Strongman Vs. Power Cleans For Explosive Football Gains Part 1

2009-05-09T09:12:00.003-04:00

Today's post is a guest article from Elliott Hulse and his opinion on power cleans vs strongman movements for explosive power and speed development. I have to agree with his point of view (and i've on both sides of the fence here) - young athletes just want to CRUSH IT, and the learning curve to load a heavy sandbag or flip a tire is next to zero while still acheiving triple extension. Strongman training is tough and its primal, but it gets results and turns young athletes into BEASTS!

By: Elliott Hulse, CSCS
Gridiron Strongman

You might disagree, but hear me out on this… as an ex-college football player and currently as a strength coach, I have found the utilization and teaching of Olympic lifts to be tedious, inefficient and down-right boring.

As a college athlete I hardly found the patience to learn the correct lifting technique for the power clean. Although I held the St. John’s University power clean record my freshman season, muscling 335 lbs. (152 kg) off the platform – my technique was completely flawed and the attempt looked more like an Axle C&P in Strongman than the smooth pull of an Olympic Weightlifter.

After undergrad I studied Exercise Science at the graduate level. The director of the Masters program was an avid Olympic Weightlifting coach and ex-competitor. He spent hours with the students teaching us the finer points and intricacies of how to perform a proper Clean & Jerk. Once we were proficient enough at performing these lifts we were granted permission to then coach the university’s athletes on how to use these lifts to better their sports performance.

I remember the very first day that I was given the “OK” to start coaching the athletes; I was assigned to the football team. Since I had been a former college football player myself, I felt that I would instantly be greeted with fellowship and amity. This was NOT the case! In fact, there were a few of the kids who hated the fact that I was there. I sensed their apprehension in allowing me to coach them, and they especially hated it when I taught them how to Olympic lift.

As it happened, many of the more “meat head-ish” type football players confided in me that they wanted to, “lift heavier weights and stop wasting time with this BS.” It turned out, it was during the off-season prior to my debut that these athletes were first exposed to the technicalities of OL. It was also the first time that they were coached in the weight room by graduate students instead of their sports coach. They have previously been using a power lifting model that yielded great size and strength gains.

I do believe that including power cleans and other Olympic lifts into a Strength and Conditioning Program for football players is beneficial. But, I also believe that - the less an athlete has to “think” about a movement, the more ATTITUDE he can bring to its accomplishment. Also, I am a big advocate for saving time. I hate nothing more than “getting things RIGHT before getting them going”. It is a personal philosophy of mine that ‘success is more a product of attitude… than of technique’ (granted, that you’re not taking foolish risks and causing injury).

Consider for a moment – when you are coaching a player on the Kick-Off Team do you tell him…

“Look Johnny, you’ve gotta sprint down there with your elbows at a 90 degree angle, your jaw relaxed, hands in a loose fist and be sure to breathe through pursed lips. Now, when you get to the first blocker take a short inhalation and hold your breath, brace your abdominals and furrow your brow and your dip your hips, lower your shoulder and explode though him by extending your ankles, knees and hips in a simultaneous manner.”

If this sounds crazy to you, consider that this is the way that Olympic lifts are typically taught. Instead of letting the athlete “do his thing”, we spend hours ‘breaking down’ and analyzing the movement for them. These valuable hours spent “teaching” could very well be used for building real strength and speed in a timely fashion.

In the same manner that you coach your athletes to go “balls to the wall” on the football field, you can coach them to go “balls to the wall” in the weight room as well. Also, besides getting bigger, faster and stronger by training like a maniac, these kids will then bring this type of ATTITUDE to the field more often. Like they say, “you play the way you practice.”

Training in the weight room should be just as intense and as fun as training on the field. When athletes learn to “attack” an exercise in the gym like they attack a tackling dummy, they will develop size, strength, speed and, ATTITUDE faster than ever before. Also, for weight training to become a REAL part of your schools program, you’ve got to promote it as a benefit of being on the team, not just a necessity. I remember looking at a few small colleges when I graduated high school and one of the most important questions I asked was, “what kind of strength and conditioning program do you have?”

So, what the heck do you do if Olympic Lifts are not working?

Train like the World’s Strongest Men! Not only are Strongmen great examples of brute strength, they are also well conditioned, and possess great speed and power. Strongman exercises build functional strength, speed, power and most importantly ATTITUDE! Besides the performance benefits of flipping tires and loading sandbags, Strongman training is FUN and easy to teach.

In Part 2 I will give you my list of the best Strongman Exercises for building explosive strength, speed , size and attitude.

Elliott Hulse, CSCS
Author,Gridiron Strongman

TGIF Training Mania!

2009-05-08T16:19:00.003-04:00

Who doesn't love fridays? And if you're anything like me, what don't you love more than having a KILLER training session on a sunny friday afternoon? After a few days of rain and straight up crappy weather, today ended up being a beautiful day here in CT and I wanted to take full advantage. So off I went to a nearby soccer field - lugging my sandbag, dragging sled, tow straps, chains and all!

For a warm up, I did 2 sets of the following:
1. push ups x 15
2. recline rows x 15
3. walking lunges x 30 steps
4. lateral walking lunges x 10 steps left/right

then it was ON...

first off, some more density style work - this time using a sandbag movement and one of my all time favorite calithenic movements for max rounds in 15 minutes

a1) sandbag clean and press x 3 (w/130lb sandbag)
a2) pull ups x 5

Next, I was inspired by today's blog post from Zach Even-Esh over @ Zach's Blog so I did 10 continuous (or best I could) of sled dragging - alternating between forward dragging, backward dragging, and pull throughs. 10 minutes never seemed so long! For leg strength, conditioning and mental toughness not much else can beat sled dragging (or prowler pushing). For the people to lazy to actually go to Zach's site and check out the video, you can view it right here

To cap off the workout I did some upperbody work...
c1) weighted divebomber push ups 2x10
c2) sandbag bent over rows 2x10

And that was a wrap! I hope you all crushed it today with your own training and have a great weekend!

P.S. Be sure to get Zach's
Underground Strength Manual for his Underground Strength and Conditioning secrets to take your game to whole new level!

Kettlebell Quickie!

2009-05-07T07:48:00.003-04:00

Summer is fast approaching, and i always like to sneak in a couple extra short sessions around this time of year to help lean out a little. One of the best and most productive ways to do this is to do timed sets and/or complexes with a light to medium heavy kettlebell - great way to get the heart rate through the roof and to hit every muscle in the body, especially the posterior chain. Check out what I did yesterday, with only a few minutes of time to spare...

Warm Up (5 minutes w/out putting the kettlebell down)
kb sling shots x 2 min (to the left x 1 min/to the right x 1 min)
kb figure 8's x 2 min
kb waiters bow x 1 min

Combat Complex x 2 sets (60 seconds rest)
1. snatches x 5 (l/r)
2. clean and press x 5
3. squats x 10
4. reverse lunges x 10
5. high pulls x 5
6. bent over rows x 5
7. 2H swings x 10

total time of workout: about 12 minutes

Here's a video of Elliott Hulse's athletes going through the above complex. For more cutting edge info for speed and strength training, be sure to get Eliott's
Gridiron Strongman Program!

No BS In Season Football Training!

2009-05-06T08:20:00.002-04:00

Today's blog post is a guest article from Strength Camp owner and Pro Strongman Elliot Hulse. I've mentioned Elliot on this blog a few times and have posted some of his videos, but here's a look into his view of in season training for football. Elliot's Gridiron Strongman Program has helped countless highschool and collegiate athletes pack on muscle mass, get brutally strong, and shave points of their 40 times!

No BS In Season Football Training

By Elliott Hulse, CSCS
Gridiron Strongman - The Ultimate Football Strength & Speed Program!

No BS In Season Football Training

The recent release of my Football Strength System has sparked some debate amongst football and strength coaches.

It seems that my bare bones, no BS - style of program design and communication has created 2 classes of people…

Those who think I’m full of it and those who KNOW I’m full of it! (*joke*)

Here are some great questions about My Football Strength Training System from Coach Billy Sexton, Strength & Conditioning Coach at Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma.

One thing i disagreed with at the college level, athletes are smart enough to pick up Olympic lifting, pretty quick, i have realized if they cant they probably are not athletic enough to play, so we spend a year developing them anyways.

Billy, I make some bold statements about Olympic Lifting in The Football Strength System - but the truth is that I use them myself, especially in preparation for strongman events.

When training HS athletes I have simply found that it is more economical for me to use the the time allotted to get them lifting heavy and jumping. Performing exercises like Squats and Dead Lifts followed by Box Jumps or Hurdle Jumps elicits a similar response as a Power Snatch, but with 1/4 the teaching time.

Also, since it may take a few weeks to learn an Olympic Lift - the weights used will typically remain low until proper technique can be executed. (I hate wasting time with light weights) With in that same time, I can take a kid who has never squatted and have him using at lest his body weight for reps in a few days and double that in a 6-8 weeks.

#1. I have had some problems with AC joint injuries, I think from the Snatch exercise, what exercises would you recommend to correct these injuries?

AC joint injuries from the snatch exercise is typically due to a muscular imbalance in the shoulder joint. Namely the pec minors, sides and back of the neck (SCM and cervical extensors) and lats and traps are over developed or simply tight and the scapular abductors, deep cervical flexors (infra- and omo-hyoid sp?) are weak.

Some people might tell you that the upper traps are weak, but I disagree - I think that they may actually be too tight. Notice the over developed traps in the pic below, this causes the shoulders to round and the head to come forward during the shrug / snatch, the line of gravity moves forward, as indicated by the dotted arrow. Such faulty head and shoulder position predisposes the middle and lower cervical vertebra to excessive sheer forces because the fibers in this region (C3-C6) are optimally arranged to elevate the load from this position.

Try this: stretch the neck, lats and pec minor prior to snatches (ooh, did I say static stretch before lifting… damn right!) and add prone cobras, external rotations and bend over rows to the strength program.

Out of curiosity, ask the guys that are having shoulder issues with the snatch if they get headaches and/or their skull feels tight. Let me know.

(Since this email Coach Saxon has confirmed that many his athletes DO get headaches - this is due to the pressure created in C3-C6 region from cervical hyper extension created from an over developed upper back muscles in relation to the mid-back and scapular adductor muscles.)

#2. If you have time, i would like to see an example program for what you would do in the in-season. we lift twice a week Monday and Thursday. i would like to see your progressions on percentages as well with what exercises you would use. Your program is well designed with a lot of good things, I have implemented most of it in my program already. it really helped me out with the three stretches, best part of the program for me, really interesting.

As you know, the biggest benefit of an in-season strength training program is to maintain the size and strength that you developed through out the off-season. In-season is for football and you don’t want to over burden the nervous or muscular system with too many unnecessary exercises or sets.

Before I give you my opinion of a good 2-day per week in-season training program I’d like to offer you a point to consider.

1. Your guys need to EAT during the in-season. It is essential that their calories don’t drop too low or they may be at risk of severe weight loss. During my freshmen year at SJU I remember some of the 270+ lb linemen finishing the season at 190lbs. (I SWEAR). Our coach had us doing too much bullshit conditioning and the kids would just go home and fall asleep after practice. You don’t want weak skinny bastards at playoff time.

Here is a sample in-season program for 2 days per week following the principles stated in my Football Strength System. You’ll notice that I don’t follow percentages, sets 1-4 work up in weight until set 5 - maximal effort. I think percentages are BS! Train with max weights for 3 weeks and take the 4th week off. Many will disagree - I guess I am full of shit!

Day 1 Monday

1) Hang Cleans - 5 x 5
2) Squats - 5 x 5
3) Barbell Russian Twists 3 x 12

Day 2 Thursday

1) Bench Press - 5 x 5
2) Bend Over Rows - 3 x 10
3) Seated Front Plate Raise 3 x 10

GO CRIMSON STORM!!!

Gridiron Strongman - The Ultimate Football Strength & Speed Program!

Elliott Hulse, CSCS
Author, Football Strength Program

Sandbag & Bodyweight Triplet!

2009-05-05T17:38:00.002-04:00

Throwing around heavy objects utilizing the entire body is a proven method for gaining power, strength and muscular size (if you so desire). It doesn't matter if its a barbell, a heavy dumbbell, kettlebells, sandbags, kegs - you name it - the body only knows tension, not what piece of equipment you're using. Not only is this stuff highly productive, but it is flat out FUN! Cleaning, Pressing, Snatching, Loading, Swinging, etc heavy stuff around is invigorating and lets you know that you're alive - there's nothing like it!

Besides the 'grunt' work of heavy lifting, I also LOVE training with my own bodyweight, and as a martial artist, it is one of the most "sport specific" (I hate that word!) ways to train. Being able to knock off endless push ups, pull ups, bodyweight rows is just plain cool (not to mention functional) - nevermind when you get to the more advanced variations - the possibilities are ENDLESS!

Well today I wanted to get the best of both worlds...I was itching for a kick ass training session, and I definately got it with this one.

After a warm up with some calisthenics, I ripped through the following for 5 rounds:
a1) sandbag power clean & catch + zercher squat x 5
*** crazy for total body power and especially power endurance...these suckers will have your heart feeling like its going to jump out of your chest!
a2) reverse hand over hand rope climb x 5
*** from your grip to your triceps to your chest to your lats to your core stabilizers, this is just a flat out awesome upperbody movement. The key is to keep your bodyweight forward and not get lazy by letting back.
a3) recline rope climbs x 5
*** in terms of overall upperbody pulling strength, these, along with pull ups and rows, should be a mainstay in everybody's program.

And that's it. 3 Movements, 20 minutes or so of my time, and a shitload of attitude!

Walking The Walk!

2009-05-02T11:56:00.001-04:00

Here's Elliot Hulse of StrengthCamp.com showing what its all about and WALKING THE WALK...there's alot of arm chair experts out there, but there is nothing like proof in the pudding!

Yesterday's Workout + New Sandbag Leg Complex!

2009-05-02T10:34:00.005-04:00

Another great session yesterday - I just love sharing these with you guys, giving you a view into my world! Here ya go...

After my usual warm up of push ups, recline rows, squats and reverse lunges I decided to hit up another 10 minute density round, but this time using the sandbag clean and press - with the goal trying to pack in as many reps as possible in the alloted time frame. If one were ever extremely short on time, you could definately get away with this one movement and call it a day! Tremendous total body movement, that when done in a fast pace like I did today will jack up your muscular and power endurance.

After the clean and presses, I did some upperbody work - 3 sets of dips and chins, going for maximum reps each set. I love this particular superset and dips n' chins never do the upperbody wrong - just take a look at the upperbody development of any gymnast!

If I wasn't already wasted enough, I wanted to get in some lowerbody work - so I hit up a killer of a lowerbody complex with my 130lb sandbag. The complex looks like this -
1. sandbag shoulder squats x 3 each side
2. bearhug reverse lunges x 6 (3 each side)
3. bearhug goodmornings x 8

While obviously this was very difficult on the lowerbody/posterior chain, the systematic fatigue from this was INSANE! Your entire body has to work hard to stabilize the sandbag - especially during the shoulder squats! Only two sets of this sucker proved to be plenty!

Finally to finish off for the day, I did a 2 minute set of D.A.R.C swings (where you release the 'bell and catch it with the opposite hand each rep) with my 24kg kettlebell followed immediately by a 2 minute set of hand over hand rope climbs. As if my grip and forearms were'nt already fried, this really capped the session off and I just lied a pool of my own sweat once the round of rope climbs was up!

Carry It!

2009-05-01T14:59:00.002-04:00

Today's post is an article on odd object training by Zach Even-Esh. Zach runs his Underground Strength Gym in Edison New Jersey and has a KICK ASS manual out -
The Underground Strength Manual all about the underground methods used to get himself and his athletes crazy strong and in awesome condition!

Carry Like Crazy!
By Zach Even – Esh

The simplest movements can often yield the most powerful results. Is this why I never saw anyone doing farmer walks with the 180 lb dumbbells at some gyms I’ve been to?

Or heavy rack pulls, heavy squats, heavy military presses (standing not seated) or heavy barbell rows?

These movements pack on the real muscle and make you stronger than a Bull! What about farmer walks with the farmer walk bars?

I snagged a great pair of farmer handles from http://elitefts.com

I used the econo farmer bars and they arrived 2 days later! These long bars make the carries much harder and really hammer the lower body. Normally we used our 130 lb dumbbells or heavy kettlebells but these long bars were different and better for full body work!

You can also perform the other basic carries with dumbbells and sandbags. These movements will develop full body strength and you want to include these HEAVY in your workouts on a regular basis. These are the basics. After the basics you can start getting more advanced by using cross carries or mixed carries. I'm talking about zercher carries and bear hug carries using sandbags or carrying a stone around the backyard in between sets of kettlebell work.

The cross carries can be used with dumbbells, kettlebells and even sandbags. All you need to do is hold them in two different positions. This awkward loading of the body strengthens the muscles and the body from unique angles that don’t get worked through traditional movements.

some more of my favorite are rack walk + overhead carries or overhead and farmer walk mixed together.

Carrying heavy objects of any type are awesome for full body strength development and work capacity.

In addition, the first rep of every set is some form of a power clean and / or deadlift just to get the weight off the ground. Putting the weights down requires control, so no dropping, only squatting / deadlifting the weights down under control.

I’ve met some seriously strong men who never touch free weights, their strength came from manual labor carrying objects, lifting them, throwing them, power cleaning them into truck beds, etc.

The guy who used to pick up our garbage when we were remodeling our house had an old pick up truck, it seriously looked like Steve Justa’s truck!

This guy’s name was Tony. Tony picked up junk for people as a side job, but it was always heavy stuff. Odd objects that makes you stronger than a freight train.

He would pick up all our stuff: toilet bowls, dish washers, heavy contractor bags filled with sheet rock, an old deck and more! I remember talking to him about strength training (as I always did) while we were loading his pick up with 20 + bags of sheet rock. He was holding one bag with a straight arm as he causally spoke with me! I was using two arms and my entire body to heave those bags up and I was starting to sweat bullets.

Tony was used to carrying car parts, scrap metal and other seriously heavy and odd objects. Essentially, all he did was carry junk. But, remember, like I said, when you carry objects, you power clean them up / down as well as deadlift the weight up / down.

It can’t get any simpler than that!

Now it’s time you begin to carry some odd objects!

The Best Of Both Worlds: Josh Henkin's Synergy Training Program

2009-04-30T12:17:00.003-04:00

If you can't tell already, I love using a variety of training tools...training "no rules" style, I don't get caught up in all of the hoopla (aka "bullsh#t) and dogma of alot of the different training styles out there. I just love to train hard using a variety of methods and implements.

Lucky for you and I, Josh Henkin - creator of the Ultimate Sandbag and owner of Sandbag Fitness Systems has created a dvd and manual combining two POWERFUL training tools: sandbags and kettlebells! There are over 40 DIFFERENT TRAINING ROUTINES, plus 3 insande result gaurenteed methods,the 10 BEST FOODS TO DROP BODY, and MORE! This DVD-Manual Combo is JAM PACKED with info - its crazy that Josh is practically giving it away for the price he is!

Click Here To Get The Synergy Training Program Today!

Motivation From 'Scrubs"

2009-04-30T08:55:00.001-04:00

Say Word.

Density Sandbag Shouldering + Bodyweight/Kettlebell/Sled Circuit

2009-04-29T14:28:00.003-04:00

owner of the Underground Strength Gym, Zach Even-Esh shouldering a heavy sandbag

The weather has cooled off a little around here, but it still makes for perfect training conditions and today I hauled my equipment to a local soccer field and crushed it with another grueling workout!

After a warm up with some calistheincs, I decided to hit up some density style sandbag shouldering - seeing how many times I could shoulder my 130lb sandbag in 10 minutes. Sandbag shouldering is a phenomenal full body movement that works everything from your finger tips to your calves! This is just one way to use density training - using just a single movement - but definately one of my favorite ways to train and measure progress - elegance in simplicity! If I beat my record for the amount of reps performed in the 10 minutes the next I try it - I got stronger. Period.

After I finished up with the density shouldering, I did the following circuit for 3 rounds - and it was a MOTHER!
1. weighted push ups x 15
2. pull ups (on soccer goal) x 10
3. kettlebell snatches x 15 (left & right)
4. sled drag x ~100'

While this workout lasted a little longer than some of the workouts in Zach Even Esh's
Real Man Muscle Building Course, you can clearly see that it doesn't take very much time to get alot accomplished. Do yourself a favor and check out Zach's course to help get you ripped and rugged, even if you "don't have the time".

The Single Best Tool For Speed, Agility & Conditioning?

2009-04-29T08:36:00.004-04:00

If I had to pick just ONE tool or one "thing" in general to do for footspeed, agility, coordination, conditioning, quickness, and the "cool" factor (once you get good) it would have to be the JUMP ROPE. In my opinion, all of the form running drills, agility drills, & quickness drills don't hold a CANDLE to jumping rope - and if it were up to me, all young athletes would learn how to jump rope and jump rope well before ever screwing around with a bunch of fancy drills. If you're a combat athlete - whether it be a boxer, mma fighter, wrestler, etc or even someone just looking to shed some bodyfat for the summer - you can definately benefit from some serious rope work. Once you get the coordination down, using the rope for gpp and intense metabolic conditioning is hands down one of the best ways to get in "fighting shape". Mixed in with calisthenics such as squats, push ups, or more challenging variations such as jump squats, clapping push ups and burpees - you have a complete conditioning workout using little space and a piece of equipment that costs around $5.

Here's a video from Ross Enamait of RossTraining.com, showing some various jump rope drills. And if there's any doubt of the jump ropes effectiveness - just take one look at Ross!

The F U Neutralizing Factor

2009-04-28T07:47:00.004-04:00

No matter what your goals and aspirations, there are going to be haters - that's just the way it is. But here's a very motivating (some might call it controversial) post by the Underground Strength Coach himself, Zach Even-Esh, putting the haters to rest and calling on everyone else to step their games up.

The F U Neutralizing Factor

P.S. The blog that was posted on is run by Internet/Fitness Marketing Guru Chris McCombs. If you're reading this and maybe thinking that you would one day like to own your own fitness biz, be an independent personal trainer, or maybe put out fitness related information products, Chris's blog is JAM PACKED with tips, strategies, and pointers for people like you and me who want to do what we love and get PAID for it. Check it out here at
Kickbacklife.com

Sandbag Power Cleans + An Upperbody Assualt Using Just a Tire!

2009-04-27T14:11:00.003-04:00

Another beautiful day here in New England - summer definately came early! Of course, I love to take advantage of these days by training outdoors with just some basic equipment and fresh air.

After a warm up w/calisthenics, I ripped into a sandbag power clean and pull up super set for a total of 4 sets. The sandbag powerclean is awesome for the entire body, but epsecially the posterior chain, grip and upperback. Unlike a powerclean with a barbell, you have to WRESTLE the weight up - there is no easy portion to the lift. Here's a video from Zach Even-Esh, creator of the
The Underground Strength Manual with one of his athletes tearing into a heavy set.

After the powercleans and pull ups, I moved on to one of my favorite combos for the upperbody - reverse rope climbs supersetted with simulated rope climbs aka hand over hand pull ups. 3 sets of this and my forearms, biceps, triceps, lats and even my chest were FRIED.

Next I hit up some bearhug squats and goodmornings for a few sets...if you haven't tried these, they are a total different feel from a normal barbell squat. Make sure you squat DEEP!

Finally, to cap off the session I finished with 3 rounds of Joe Hashley's Chop Circuit using a tire and a tree. Sounds primal (well, it is!), but this smashed my grip, upperback, core, and had my heart jumping out of my chest! To see the article that I got this from, check it out here
Farm Boy Strength and for more of Joe's innovative training techniques, be sure to get his Bull Strength Training Manual

Until next time!

A Brutal Kettlebell Complex

2009-04-25T13:45:00.004-04:00

The following is a brutal kettlebell complex, brought to you by Mike Bergener. This sucker is 100 total reps without putting the kettlebell down - if you're strong and in SERIOUS condition, a 53lber will be all you need! In the past, I have done this for 3-5 sets as a stand alone session, but 1 set (2 if you're feelin' lucky!) will be plenty after a total body strength based session.

1. 2 Handed High Pulls x 20
2. High Pulls x 10 (left & right)
3. 2 Handed Swings x 20
4. Swings x 10 (left & right)
5. Snatches x 10 (left and right)

I am warning you - you're heart is going to be beating out of your chest and lactic acid will be surging from your fingertips down to your calves - but if you're looking for an intense metabolic conditioner if you're a combat athlete, or for a SERIOUS fat loss kettlebell drill if you're just a dude trying to look good for summer, then look no further!

Friday Total Body Smasher!

2009-04-24T13:38:00.003-04:00

Dudes (and dudettes), there's nothing quite like a total body workout that leaves you drenched in sweat and swearing to the strength and conditioning gods :)! I love training hard, especially on a day like today where its 70 someodd degrees and not a cloud in the sky - you gotta appreciate the good things in life!

I went at it again today, this time using sandbags, bodyweight and finishing with some sled dragging - I love this Sh#t!

the warm up, per usual, for 2 sets
1. push ups x 15
2. recline rows x 15
3. squats x 20
4. reverse lunges x 20 (10 ea)

a1) sandbag shouldering 4x6 (3 each side)
a2) mixed grip pull ups 4xreps
***shouldering a sandbag is an intense total body movement - primary a lowerbody movement, but your uppperbody is working very hard isometrically to hold on to the sandbag. Follow those suckers up with pull ups and you have a great 1-2 punch!
b1) sandbag bent over rows 3x8
b2) blast strap push ups 3xreps
***with minimal rest between each superset, this combo is ridiculous for upperbody power and strength endurace.
c) sled dragging (HEAVY!) 3X100' (2 trips forward, 1 backward)
***I love spring and summer for this alone - not too much else will demolish the lowerbody in as athletic of fashion as sled dragging. Great for strength, lactic acid tolerance training, or recovery, sled dragging should be in EVERY athletes arsenal.

And now i'm about to enjoy the rest of this day, maybe hit up a light recovery session tomorrow and then kill it again on Sunday or Monday.

Sandbag Clean & Press Mania!

2009-04-24T12:17:00.002-04:00

Cool vid of some of the athletes from Zach Even-Esh's Underground Gym in Edison New Jersey tearing it up with heavy sandbag clean and presses. The clean and press - with any piece of equipment - is an old standby for total body strength and power. With the sandbag you add an element of grip strength that you just can't get with any other piece of equipment.

George Tech Strength & Conditioning Summer 2007

2009-04-24T11:28:00.003-04:00

Joe Hashley of Synergy-Athletics.com posted this on his blog and made a few comments of some of the stuff he liked in the video, but to add to what he said, here's some of the things that I liked -

1. Good form/technique on all of the lifts shown! Whenever you see highlight vids of college athletes cleaning,squatting, or benching, their form is usuallyatrocious. Not only are these kids in the video crazy strong, but they are doing everything with pretty much textbook technique. Those 300+ lb power cleans and 400+ lb benches are LEGIT.

2. Its hard to gauge what exactly goes on in a college football strength program from just a short highlight clip, but you can tell that these guys have excellent bases and focus on the basics - cleans, squats, benches, hill sprints, etc. There's no fluff, no "functional exercise", just hard friggin work.

Kettlebell Thruster / Snatch Countdown!

2009-04-23T09:41:00.003-04:00

Try this brutal superset using just a 53lb kettlebell for crazy muscular endurance and fortitude!

a1) single hand kettlebell thrusters x 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1
a2) kettlebell snatches x 10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2/1

This can be done as a stand alone conditioning workout, or as a finisher after some strength work such as sub max effort deadlifts, weighted dips, and weighted pull ups.

I love countdowns using kettlebells and bodyweight movements! Another favorite is the squat jump/plyo push up countdown - you'll know you're in shape when you can get from 10 down to 1 without ANY breaks between each set and the best part is that you don't need any equipment!

Brutal Workout With Sandbags, Bodyweight and a Kettlebell!

2009-04-22T17:45:00.002-04:00

After monday's session with the 110lb. bag, my upperback, hips and grip were shot to shit yesterday, but I was ready to go at it again today. I just love to train hard and use my body as an experiment, so today was no different.

After a good warm up with calisthenics and bands, I did the following for 3 rounds; with as little rest as possible between each rd. I used a 130lb. sandbag and a 53lb. kettlebell...

a1) sandbag powercleans x 5
a2) divebomber push ups x 10
a3) sandbag bentover rows x 10
a4) bear hug squats x 10
a5) kettlebell swings x 15 (left/right)

Onpaper, this looked kind of easy, but I was DEAD wrong - the powercleans alone wiped me out and the bear hug squats (even with just a 130lb!) are very tough on the entire lowerbody/hip complex and core. Until next time...

Your Standards Determine Your Attitude

2009-04-21T09:45:00.003-04:00

I was listening to a 2 year old podcast with Dr. Ken Leistner (if you don't know, you better ask somebody...Dr. Ken is an iron game legend who was written alot of great material over the years), and the interviewer brought up his 407x23 squat video from back in April of 2000. At the time of the famed 23 rep squat workout, Dr. Ken was 53 years old and weighed about 160lb - and according to every nerd and geek on the internet, there was NO WAY that squatting 407lb for 23 reps was possible under those circumstances. But Dr. Ken didn't understand what all the fuss was about - to him, this was something he's done hundreds of times before with even MORE weight (he used to weigh 230lb. at 5'6"), and has seen countless other individuals squat 400-500 or more pounds for 20-30 reps in his old gym in Long Island. You see, his standards and his training partners standards were so high, that to them this feat was no big deal - just another day in the office sort of speak.

The problem is that most people are so comfortable where they currently are, either in fitness, business, or relationships, that they can't stand to see other people succeed and do things deemed "impossible". They're comfortable and want to stay that way. You and me - we're different. I wan't more and i'm hungry to get it, and its absolutely VITAL to your success that you have this same mindset. Only until you really try do you see whats actually possible - belive that!

Sangbag Training - Day 1!

2009-04-20T13:20:00.004-04:00

After taking a 3 day mini vacation from training, I was definately ready to tear into a workout today - especially because over the weekend I had made my first ever sandbag and was anxious to see what all of the hoopla was all about (just kiddin). The bag I made is 110lb - which, if you've never trained with a sandbag before (and as I quickly found out), will crush even the fittest/strongest dudes out there!

Here was the workout

warm up x 2 sets
1. push ups x 15
2. recline rows x 15
3. squats x 20
4. reverse lunges x 20

a1) sandbag clean and press 3x5
a2) mixed grip pull ups 3xreps
***no rest from the clean and press to the pull ups, and minimal rest between sets
b1) parallel bar dips 3xreps
b2) sandbag bent over rows 3x10
***basically done without any rest periods, just blasted through all 3 sets without taking a break
c1) sandbag zercher squats 2x12
c2) sandbag bearhug goodmornings 2x10
***so I thought I'd be able to bang out sets of 20 on the zerchers no problem...boy was I mistaken!
d) kettlebell combat complex x 1 set
***one of my favorite finishers of all time, this complex always looks easy on paper, but just 1 set w/ a 53lb kb is enough to cap off a session.

I was finished in just under 30 minutes and was sweating bullets! With sandbags, there is no break, no easy part of a lift - every single movement involves the grip, back, and core to a huge degree. If you're a combat athlete, the sandbag is perhaps the perfect addition to your strength and conditioning program - the full body nature of all of the movements, not too mention the hand and finger strength that would be developed from sandbag training would be of immense value. Even if you're just a fitness or strength nut, sandbag training definately offers unique benefits that you otherwise would not get from barbells or dumbbells.

While I'm never going to say that any one implement is better than another, if you're looking for a change from a typical barbell/dumbbell routine (still the undisputed kings of the weightroom), give sandbags, kettlebells, and bodyweight training a serious try!

Iron Cross Banded Goodmornings

2009-04-16T08:19:00.002-04:00

pretty cool movement, brought to you from Defranco's Gym (but thought of by the dudes over @ Diesel Crew), to activate & engage the posterior chain and upperback. Basically you're just combining a goodmorning with an isometric band pull apart hold...who wouldathunkit?

New Barbell Complex!

2009-04-16T08:01:00.003-04:00

Check out this sucker for some power endurance! This is a little shorter and uses lower reps than most other complexes you'll see, but 3-5 rounds will put you into the ground! I had two of my clients this morning do 5 rounds and then they finished up with 3 sets of the dreaded plate push - a great way to start the day!

Ok, so here's the complex - be warned, it is BRUTAL, especially on the pulling muscles and GRIP!

After a good warm up...

a1) thrusters x 5
a2) burpee + power clean combo x 5 (do these WITH the push up!)
a3) bent over row x 5
a4) romanian deadlifts x 5

A good starting point for most males would be around 95lb, but once you get into the 135, 155lb+ range, now we're talkin'!

(Can't Live Without) The Underground Strength Manual !

2009-04-15T08:16:00.004-04:00

If you haven't already seen it on the sidebar over there ---->, I have a link to my "underground strength blog", which is basically a compilation alot of the material that Zach Even-Esh has put out over the last few years. Now, I don't just go around endorsing just anyone's stuff, but Zach's manual is a MUST HAVE for the people that are into hardcore fitness and old school style strength training. In fact, I would go ahead and put Zach as the LEADING authority on this style of training, and his articles and videos from years back are what have inspired me to do what I am doing today.

His methods, program design, and crazy enthusiasm for training are contagious and will have you making gains like NEVER before. I know that his manual is selling fast, so make sure you get your kit TODAY! The people that get what they want in this world are ACTION TAKERS, so don't delay and be ready to take your strength and conditioning to a whole new level!

Get Underground Strength Manual Now... Click Here!

Secrets of Success In 3 Minutes

2009-04-14T08:39:00.000-04:00

Kegs, Sleds, & Bodyweight!

2009-04-13T13:30:00.002-04:00

Here's a quick workout that I did today utilizing a variety of training tools...

warm up x 2 sets
1. push ups x 15
2. recline rows x 15
3. squats x 20
4. reverse lunges x 20 (10 ea)

a1) keg power cleans 3x10
a2) mixed grip pull ups 3xmax reps
b1) keg high pulls 2x10
b2) thick grip or rope recline rows 2xmax reps
c1) incline push ups (feet on upright keg) 2xmax reps
c2) keg bent over rows 2x15
d) backward sled drag 2x40 yards (heavy)
e) power wheel jacknives x 50 total reps
* if you don't have a powerwheel, just use a towel on a smooth surfaced floor like I do!