A Slam Ball Complex That Is Brutal, Simple And Effective As Hell

Here's a workout I did yesterday that I wanted to share with you all. 

Simplicity has become somewhat a lost art in the fitness world. There's always some new machine, exercises that some may tell you they're the secret to some crazy results claim and a dozen tools that aren't really NEEDED!!! Sometimes, all you need is a powerhouse of a slam ball. 

It's going to need a bit of space so this would preferably should be done at a park. My kind of place to train in my opinion. Here's a rundown:

Part A

Overhead Slam Ball Throw As Far As Possible

180 Degree Jump

Sprint To The Ball

3x

Part B

Slam Ball Push Press As Far As Possible

Bear Crawl

3x

Rest and Repeat until you've done 3 of them each. Not complicated but they will kick your ass. Doesn't take up much time either. Rest as long as you need. It may not seem like that much in writing but your lungs will feel it. 

What Makes This Effective?

It's not intended be some typical cardio session. This guys, is pure Power Endurance. Being able to explode with great intensity, recover and explode again when you start getting tired. That is part of a solid plan for Combat/Contact Sports.

Let's take a look at how each exercise gives off those intimidating vibes:

-The Overhead Throw For Distance

 We're looking at a triple threat here...talking knees, ankles, hips that are firing on all cylinders. A pattern like a Power Clean, Jumping Vertically, Shooting on a double leg. Say you use a 20 lber for example ok? It's not something you just muscle with the arms, its driving from the damn ground. The core, lats and even the triceps have to transfer that power in order to go overhead. Weak core? It's not going more than a couple feet.

-The 180 Jump

Many train to go forward and back, almost never train that re-orientation. Leaping high enough to turn in mid air. The stability in the ankles and knees while under fatigue. 

-The Sprint

Closing the distance after throwing with max effort and jumping. That's insanity as if it was named Brock Lesnar. Even for a short burst, in football, it'll be like a linebacker going after the QB as if the guy killed his mom. 

-Push Press For Distance

Time to go horizontal. This is some bad intentions for the chest press. A full body shove. If the throw was suplexing the shit out of someone, this would be like a block or a snapdown. 

-Bear Crawl

Do you think this is where most guys would break? A wrestling base or a drive on the gridiron. The ability to stay heavy and move when your tank is practically empty. 

What Are Its Best Uses?

1. As A Standalone Explosive Conditioning Session

For one of those days where you want to get a good sweat going but don't need to put in a ton of time. Give yourself time to prepare; a good 10 min DDP Yoga warm up, some pull aparts with a band, couple easy throws and then go in for the kill bro. Again, rest as long as needed, look to chase the distance, not the timing.  

2. As A Finisher

Murder this after a typical training day (hopefully not leg day unless you are psychotic) a couple times a week. It gives you that last bit of conditioning without getting trashed the next day. 

A tool of the trade, real world strength and busting your ass. Be amazingly awesome and let me know in the comments what you think of this workout or send me a note through the Contact Form.  

Kettlebell Swinging & Pressing: It's Not Fancy But They Do Work For A Good Reason

 Many systems of exercise these days involve complicated moves and schemes that makes you wonder if some of these people should be in the nuthouse. There's always going to be a claim of some secret exercise or machine that does the job for you when in reality, it's bullshit.

Some equipment have their place, some are just out there and wonder how the hell do people work with them? One implement however stands out as a great tool that stands the test of time and has been used by the old timers, average joes and some of the best in athletes in the world including guys like Alexander Karelin and Sig Klein. That implement is the Kettlebell.

Two distinctive moves that stand out and can be done practically anywhere since it doesn't take up a ton of space is the Kettlebell Swing & The Overhead Press. Nothing overhyped and fun as hell to do out in the fresh air. 

-The Conditioning, Power & Muscle Building From The Swing

It isn't a squat move in particular even though some have utilized the squat in order to generate some leg strength. In it's true form, it's a hip hinge movement. Explosive and hits the glutes, core, low back and hamstrings. It develops the posterior chain, creating strength and power that matters. When you need to pick something up, sprint with a vengeance or even wrestle, this gives you the tools for those other methods. The conditioning in and of itself is insane. Bud Jeffries mastered this move to the point where he was doing 1000 reps or more in various workouts in under an hour which in turn helped him lose over 100 lbs. Read about that in his book I Will Be Iron. It builds anaerobic and aerobic endurance at the same time. Great for building grip strength as well because of being able to hold on as you swing.

Don't need to swing heavy to get the benefits. One of the best teachers today on Kettlebell Swinging is Dave Whitley and his knowledge is about as awesome as you can imagine. 

-The Overhead Press: Stimulus Through Control

Strength isn't always in how much you lift, it's the focus and control that really makes the difference. Some like to utilize a jerk to get as much leg drive as possible which isn't necessary a bad in certain cases but you do want to be able to press and work the muscles in a very specific fashion that showcases strength and power. It's not rushing or ego lifting. It's true connection to the muscles you're working. 

The upper body does the most work. Engage the core as you clean and ready to press, focus on the grip, triceps and shoulders. Do your best not to jerk. Building thick shoulders and dense triceps, strengthen the rotator cuff and building tension. Progressive Overload. When you learn to be in control, the strength will follow in time. Creating real functional muscle and not counterfeit muscle that will break you. 

Progress isn't always pretty and perfection is virtually non-existent. The key thing to remember is that we all learn things differently and our progress takes more or less time depending in the individual. Don't chase perfection, chase being functional with solid technique that works in your favor. Even the smallest fraction of progress still leads to the big picture. Control the weight, own your reps and the muscle/conditioning will come. Be amazingly awesome and have fun in your journey. 

Sledgehammer Training: The Kind Of Strength That Also Meets Controlled Violence

 You can train in many different ways and practice methods from several eras. You can be on a machine and get something going, count reps until the cows come home on the bench until someone takes it over once you're done. Then there's the sledgehammer. A tool that just (pun intended), strikes different.

In the video below, working with a hammer isn't about looking like a pretty boy or following someone in a spin class, it's about making a killer piece of steel a part of building a powerful and strong physique that has the go along with the show. Working in unison as if you and that hammer are one. Control, Rotate & Lift as you put explosiveness into it over and over again. It's one of the reasons why Sledgehammer Training is about as bad ass as you can get

Striking with a hammer isn't always in just how the arms move. When done properly, the true power comes from the ground. Your legs, trunk and hips generate that incredible force while the arms create the guide. Scientific studies such as from the American Council on Exercise suggests that training with hammers build solid yet challenging coordination, strength, power and rotation. Emphasizing that the lower body is the engine behind it all.

Most of modern training has become or can be linear as hell. Typical push/pull/squat and all that. In and of itself they're not bad things, they are essential with great importance but us humans don't always live life moving like robots. We're meant to turn, twist, brace and chop to generate force from many angles. That's the beauty of the sledgehammer, it brings that rotation and even anti-rotation into the mix, making our core transfer all that force but also in a controlled manner.

It goes beyond what we know about ab training and not just seeing mirror muscles. It teaches to stabilize as we unleash hell. 

Another is when it puts great emphasis on forearm & grip strength. Just holding the hammer isn't going to make you some wild and crazy strong dude, it's really about controlling that long lever with a heavy head pulling the hands in directions they may not want to go. Each swing demands strength in the lower arms. Ever shook the hands of a man that works with hammers? It's quite noticeable. 

Conditioning is where it really starts to get good. Giving this implement a good swing in a repeated fashion, isn't just some rinky dink stroll on a machine that doesn't go anywhere, it tackles the heart rate with vast vengeance and forces your lungs to work at levels they're not used to. From the shoulders down to the legs, you have to keep producing that force. Some of the best athletes in the world understood this especially boxers and wrestlers. 

The mental aspects are profound. It's practically primal in this regard. The tool, a target and the job at hand. It's not complicated, just pure unadulterated effort. It's one of the reasons why training in this capacity has great attitude. The combination of aggressiveness, conditioning, grip, strength and other things into one nasty entity of equipment. It's a bad ass without even trying to be. It doesn't automatically make you a tough son of a bitch, it just doesn't give a shit what you say online LOL. 

Control the weight, generate the power and keep on trucking, or don't. Simplicity in the implement, the work, not so much. Be amazingly awesome and work on building that kind of strength that challenges the norm and gives you the type of capacity that has insane effects.

A Hammer And A Kettlebell Walk Into A Bar

 Ok, that sounded like the beginning to a terrible joke but hey, I have that weird sense of humor. Yesterday was a fun outing at a park in town on the eastern side. My wife wanted to practice her photography, so we did some filming and photo shooting of me doing stuff with my 70 pound Darth Vader Kettlebell & my Giants Hammer which I emptied out to its original weight of 13 pounds cause I wanted to build some greater speed and explosive. 

We were out there for quite a while, a couple hours max and I couldn't tell how many reps I did moving those damn things. For the filming, we tested out some things with angles and where some good shots of me lifting the bell and slamming down the hammer. Yeah, I rested in between takes and all that but it was still pretty tough to do to maintain my strength with one implement and going in short bursts with another. Hell during one set of filming, I was being so fast with the hammer that it didn't catch one of the reps I wanted to do. Took several takes to get it right but we got it. 

I don't know what was worse LOL, the filming or the photo shooting. With the photo shooting which I will put up a few here and on SM soon, I had to hold the hammer at certain points and yeah that was easier to do cause it is much lighter, but the Kettlebell? Holy shit, There were a few shots where I had to hold it overhead in lockout for an extended period of time because she wanted to get some good shots both straight ahead and from the ground looking up a me. It's one thing to hold up a good 25-30 pounder for promo purposes but to hold up a 70 that is awkwardly shaped? That's a whole other ball game. This is where I'm glad I have strong tendons and ligaments along with functional muscle to do this. 

Some of the photo shooting was to get the idea of how I would slam the hammer down and the power of the thrusts nearly frame by frame. All she told me to do was to rep it out as much as I can which felt like a damn sprint and maintaining that explosiveness. The last of it was doing Kettlebell swings which I don't do very often and don't have the greatest technique but I can do them without killing myself (even with a KB that heavy). So for a 2-3 sets or so of that, I was told to swing for as many reps as I can muster until she told me to stop. It was under 10 reps at a time but you didn't know how many were needed done so you just kept swinging. 

To say that whole session was a workout would be an understatement. With also not even eating anything that day until we got home from the park, I built up a hell of an appetite. Still was a blast though and she just loved getting the practice in. 

Before the session, I got in a little workout of O2 Training for a few minutes and some DDP Yoga for mobility and flexibility. Did a few push-ups and self resistance exercises to get some blood pumping as well. After the session before bed, I did some more O2 Training for several minutes and a Core/Hip Exercise along with an Animal Combo. 

Like I said earlier in the post, I'll put up some of the shots she took and another video of doing Hammer Slams where the camera moves almost in a circular type fashion instead of stationary (maybe). For now, I edited some of the videos to what I wanted to do which you can view below....

Overall, as tough as some of this was, it was a lot of fun and would do it again. One of the videos that I'll eventually put up is hitting 25 reps in under 40 Seconds. That's just freaking nasty man and if you want to talk about a lung burner, it ranks right up there. 

Be amazingly awesome, kill it in your endeavors and train with an adventurous mind. 

 

If You Want More Strength, Don't Ignore The Power Of Tension

 "Tension is the stimulus and Isometrics generate a lot of it."- Paul O'Brien

Simple statement that hits the bullseye. Our muscles don't give a damn whether resistance comes from a machine, our own bodyweight, a barbell or even a band for that matter. The response comes from the work being put in. It responds to the tension.

When it comes to Isometrics, it hits hard in this case. Within Isometric Exercises, it stops being about moving mindless weight from one direction to another. You are the one that is deliberately building and ultimately maintaining the tension. Pushing/Pulling/Squatting by bracing and resisting at a stopping point or in other words generating force by going against something Immovable. Overcoming Isometrics if you will. 

That's the beauty of Isometrics I love the most. Being able to create my own muscular force without relying on a bunch of equipment. Straps, Walls, Rails, Trees and my own bodyweight can be more than enough. Create the tension and make the muscles work with a vengeance.

There are way too many people who are conditioned to believe that when it comes to training, it only counts when things are moving or having some crazy weight on a bar. That's complete bullshit. Movement in and of itself is a tool, just like Isometrics is a tool and when done with proper application, can build powerful amounts of effort.

The big key word here is EFFORT!!! If you're just simply standing there like and acting like you're pretending to push or whatever, it isn't going to matter much. True value comes from the intent you put into a hold. When you perform an Isometric Contraction, you put real power and tension into it, almost as if your life depended on it. Put your mind into the muscles you're working and apply that power and force with pure control. Once those few seconds are up, let yourself relax and recover. 

Isometric Training fits into practically any regimen or goal you want to achieve whether it's getting stronger, more conditioned, rehab/prehab, being more capable as you get older and even being more mobile. It's not a replacement of anything, but ignoring them because you were taught they don't hold any merit from some arm chair twig, makes you miss the bigger picture. 

What it all boils down to at the end of the day, the muscles don't care about a gym membership or whatever equipment you use, the tension is what will get it done and Isometrics provides that in more ways than you may believe. Be amazingly awesome and get your ass going with some Isometrics today.