All Hands On Deck: Another Look At Step Ups And Squats

 Training the legs can be done in a variety of ways and some of the best exercises don't always involve weights. Working them with weights have their place and many people have been successful at it. Some of us just go in a different direction in how we keep them going as we move along through life.

As you know, I'm a big advocate for Step Ups and how they are one of the best exercises for the legs you can do. They're not superior to other exercises like squats or lunges but they're also not to be underestimated either. They have a way of creeping up on you and they can be a challenging with the way you can go about it. Some of the best athletes in the world have done them from wrestlers to baseball players and others. Bob Backlund made them a huge piece of his training to the point where he can go as long as he wanted, he was just that crazy. Other wrestlers like William Regal did them and even the real Suplex Machine Taz taught them to his students at his school many years ago (he has it on film). 

When it comes to squats, they're awesome in their own right. Hindu Squats were the exercise that helped me get back into shape after my accident but you already know that chestnut by now. The only time I really do them now is when I do my deck of cards workout with the Step Ups and the numbers vary. They're not a huge part of my training where there are some exercises I find better for me but the squats do hold a place in my heart and when I do them, they're firing. When combined with Step Ups, it's a recipe for some killer leg conditioning, there's no way around that and if anyone says different hasn't fully understood the magnitude of them.

My deck of cards workouts for the legs is combining these two powerhouses to the point where on average these days I'll do 500 Step Ups & 250 Squats respectively and that's within roughly 30 minutes, maybe a little longer but I do the whole deck and it's an incredible feeling afterwards. It's conditioning that matters and utilizing both unilateral and bilateral movements together to form incredible stamina and strength. Training this way is fun, challenging and although you reach the same destination, you never take the same road twice when you do the cards. 

Card Workouts have been around for decades, maybe longer and if anyone truly made that with the best of intentions was Karl Gotch and his system of Squats & Push-Ups. Hell, I've done enough of them to where I did 400 Squats & 250 Push-ups on several occasions, it's brutal. Long ass time since I've done it that way and who knows, one day I may do it again, never say never. The point here is, You want to get the best out of your training and make strides to get a little better but also keep yourself healthy. It's not easy by any stretch and it's not meant to be but you do what is possible and expand on it. You can do it everyday if you want or do it a few times a week, it's up to you but you progress to what your body is able to handle. If you need to back off of it, do so and when you're ready, get back at it. You got this.

When you do the workouts with the cards, start with as many cards as you can possibly do. If you can do the whole deck on the first try, that's awesome, you're ahead of the curve, but not everybody is able to do that. Even I had to build up to it and once I did, it felt glorious. A deck of cards can be deceiving and it will kick your ass. It's one thing to do one exercise for the legs in this manner, it's another when you add one more to it and it's all legs. Be humble and don't think it's just a workout to weez on by, it'll make you think twice and it'll put you down for the count if you don't pay attention. 

Take a shot at it, you never know what you're capable of and it's a unique way of training the body that has incredible perks and benefits. Keep being amazingly awesome and kill it in your own training.    

750 Reps Of Blissful Leg Training Heaven

Yeah and monkeys might fly out of my ass. Anybody who's ever trained Leg Day hard knows that it's anything but blissful, let alone like heaven. I guess it depends on what you do but when it's done right, it puts you into another state of mind and have a euphoric feeling before feeling like you had your legs chopped off the next day and you're crawling in agony. 

For me, I just do enough to know that I won't be as sore (if at all) the next day and have gas left in the tank. That was on the menu for me today. Started out with some Joint Loosening, had a drink to get some energy going, watched a documentary episode about Serial Killers and did some Leg Work that had me sweating like a waterfall in the amazon. Got in my Deck Of Cards Leg Workout doing a total of 500 Step Ups & 250 Hindu Squats in roughly over 30 min. 

It has been a while since I've done this workout and I didn't go as fast as I normally would, so I focused on technique and let the speed come naturally. Went by really well and feel great. Getting the best of both worlds in old school squats and the Harvard Step Test is something that just hits differently. Some will do one or the other but I'm thinking "why not both"? You get the benefits of both cardio and strength training, working the legs unilaterally and with both legs, you're channeling a different perspective of Growth Hormone & Testosterone Boosting and you're benefiting heart health. 

It's a hell of a conditioner as well and can be beneficial to your training in Wrestling, MMA, Football or just overall fitness. You can do it everyday or every other day (depending on your condition), it can be part of your workout as a "warm up" or "cool down" to get that extra calorie burning or it can be a workout all by itself. Working with a deck of cards has been a big part of some athletes' regimen such as Ric Flair, Karl Gotch, Ray Lewis, Antonio Inoki and others. This specific workout tackles the legs with a vengeance without having so much lactic acid built up; the reason why is because the step ups provide a barrier between making the legs feel heavy and having a "breather" to help you keep going. The squats make the legs burn like crazy and jack up the heart rate so when you get to the step ups, you can keep going because it helps the legs "calm down" while still building that strength and cardio working one leg at a time. This is why I say you get the best of both worlds.

I have said before that squats weren't a big thing to me as much as they use to and the reason is because doing hundreds of reps consecutively with squats became tedious to me and I lost interest doing 500 over and over the same way. Now that doesn't mean you can't do 500 or more differently and come out the same number of reps. If I were to do 500 again, it would be with a deck of cards or a countdown workout cause that way, I don't have to do the same routine twice and still come out to the same destination. Hell, the last time I did 500 Squats in a workout was when I did my double decker deck of cards workout when I did 1000 Step Ups & 500 Squats in just over an hour. Shit, I rather do that than do 500 by counting 1, 2, 3 and so on and not do anything else, it works for me. 

When it comes to Step Ups, for me, they're the best for leg training because you can go for a long period of time and not get as winded as you would with Squats. That in no way shape or form does this mean Step Ups are superior to Squats, quite frankly I don't give a rat's ass what's superior, I just know my preference. Besides, why the fuck would you debate what's superior like some Marvel or Star Wars Fanboy, it becomes petty and downright stupid. Some people put certain things up on a pedestal and act like nothing else works better or this exercise is like the Mount Rushmore of fitness and everything else is beneath you. Anyway, use what's useful to you and keeps you coming back training over and over with excitement, interest and something that challenges you with a smile on your face. You may not always look forward to it and some days can be tough as hell, but you know what leads to all of that.

 For me, there's no Mount Rushmore or some Mount Olympus type of training format that are the gods of all exercises, I just want to train and help others find success in what can work for them because if I try to act like this or that is superior and nothing will work unless I says it works, what does that make me? It makes me an asshole with an fragile ego that is so insecure that I would need some serious therapy to tackle the issue. Train to what gives you an advantage whether in life, sports or whatever and be successful to where you can do it within reason and it brings you a good challenge while being comfortable to expand on it. Stay amazingly awesome. 

Getting Back Into The Swing Of Things

With some of the workouts I've done since healing up, it's a process of just getting back into things progressively and at a pace that I'm comfortable doing to get back at the speed that I normally can do. Not easy but it hasn't been so damn slow it barely feels like anything. 

I've done the Bear Crawl Sprint Workout (10 on, 20 off for 5 min.) twice now and so far that feels pretty good but may need to cut back on doing it every 3-4 days instead of around 2 days. The loaded carries and step up workouts are getting better; while I was recovering, I would do my 2x sandbell carry and 20 step ups for 10 minutes or just do step ups for 10-15 min instead of the normal 30. Yesterday, I went a full 30 min doing the carries and step up superset, that felt incredible along with some post workout stretching to keep up with maintenance. Today, I tried out my Deck Of Cards Leg Workout of Step Ups & Hindu Squats. Been quite a while since I've done that and just wanted to see what I can do. I didn't have any expectations of beating the deck, so I managed 280 Step Ups & 130 Hindu Squats. That's a huge start in my book and didn't think I'd get that far. Normally, I'll do up to 450-500 Step Ups & 225-250 Squats within the 30 min mark or just over completing the deck.

For those that think I'm lying, here's a video of completing 450 & 225 so I'm quite capable of doing this. 

It's a journey and forming a perspective on healing up and doing what's possible onward until you're 100% at your best. There are days where you may only do a little of something, others you just go nuts with the energy you have. It's also important to be aware however of what your body tells you and not to push further than you have to. It's not a sprint to get back at your strongest or even your best condition, it's a marathon and making sure you're doing the right things and being intuitive. Things will come back when they're ready, forcing it may come back to bite you in the ass. 

That DOC workout is no joke and it will condition your legs like crazy, it just takes little steps to get better at it and consistently beating the deck. That one workout doing 1000 Step Ups and 500 Hindu Squats within an hour made me humble that's for sure and only did that just the one time. As far as that goes, it's one of the most brutal leg workouts you can do and it's only two exercises. How does it go?

2-10 Each Leg or Set of Squats

Face Cards: 10 Each Leg or 10 Squats

Aces: 16 Each Leg or 16 Squats

Jokers: Superset of 25 Each Leg & 25 Squats

Full Deck is equivalent to 500 & 250 Total. You can double the deck to reach 1000 & 500 Respectively or go back and forth between two full decks (Double Decker). Either way, you're working your ass off and let the speed be natural and not try to break world records. If you can blast through it with ease, you might as well be Superhuman. Give it a go if you dare.

In all seriousness, be adaptable and let things flow naturally, some things you may pick up on quick, others take time so remember to take in the journey and you'll never know where you'll end up. Be bold but smart, don't try to break a record every workout, progressively add workload but on certain days go a little light depending on how your body responds and be respectful to the technique and the exercises themselves because if you don't, you'll not like what follows. Kill it and keep being amazingly awesome.

If you're interested in getting some bad ass decks of cards, check these out.

The Animal Deck Of Madness

A great workout is when you can play with certain exercises and make a little game out of them and making training more enjoyable while also getting the most out of your conditioning in a short period of time. Animal Exercises is one of those methods that really throws boredom out the window and into a world of imagination, playful movement and being free. 

When it comes to Deck Of Cards workouts; over the years I've done various types from doing Combat Conditioning Exercises, totaling 500 Hindu Squats, 1000 Step Ups, Ab Wheel/Step Ups duets and doing hundreds to a thousand reps or more with sledgehammer training. Some of these workouts go from 20 minutes to over an hour depending on what I'm doing. The 1000 Step Up Card workout lasted 50 minutes at my fastest. Some workouts are about speed but others were more precise and keeping form as best as possible and letting the speed come naturally. Some workouts required rest periods and others were straight through the deck where flipping the card was your only rest. You do what you like and make progress little by little.

When I came up with the animal movements for the cards, it naturally became a favorite. It was fast, quick and didn't require almost any rest and just go straight through. It consisted of 4 Animals: The Bear, The Crab, The Duck & The Chimp. At a good clip, it should take about 15 minutes or less to complete but don't forget, the faster you go, the more you need to be aware of your balance because if you move too quickly and the body doesn't line up, you can trip and fall on your face or ass. So although this workout requires speed and agility, it also requires a solid amount of balance and awareness. This was my morning workout today and finished the deck in 13:28. Got a great sweat going and feeling energetic plus the endorphin high just fucking rocks man. 

Here's how you number out the reps/steps to reach 500 (in this case for the animals)....

Hearts: Bear Crawls

Diamonds: Crab Walks

Spades: Duck Waddle

Clubs: Chimp Walk

2-10 Cards are as is.

Kings/Queens/Jacks Are 10

Aces Are 16

Jokers Are 50 Steps Of The Bear Crawl

All cards should lead up to 500 Reps/Steps. I learned this specific numbers game from an article that legendary catch wrestler Billy Robinson had said that he would do this with wrestlers from time to time on Hindu Squats because you can do 500 in various ways but with the cards, it's never the same order twice. 

This is an awesome workout that hits practically every muscle in the body and has awesome benefits for conditioning, continuous strength, balance, agility and cardio. Requires no equipment and if you're short on space, just move back and forth with the space you do have (for this particular workout, it's a lot more fun to do it out at a park or on a grassy area. Be wild, free and amazingly awesome.