The Hammer Is Coming Back

It's been a while since I've slammed a hammer down on a tire and after some searching and playing around, I have an intention on getting back to hammer workouts once to twice a week (fingers crossed) to make things a little more practical or should I say TACTICAL!!!! One of my big workouts was doing really high reps with my Epic Sledgehammer (nicknamed Big Bertha) that weighs close to 60 pounds. It's a hell of a workout and it has helped in developing incredible strength but the speed and velocity is not meant for a hammer that big and I want to add that to my workouts.

The other day I took out my 10 lb hammer and hit the tire for 418 reps before I started noticing my left hand was getting a little scrapped. Why 418? I was using a deck of cards as my way of doing reps. I was going more for speed and thrust so I swung it pretty damn hard as fast as I could for each rep. This is why once or twice a week is good for workouts because mostly for recovery purposes but also if you haven't done it in a while, your hands might need some toughening up so you do what you can little by little.

I love hammer training and it has taken me some time to come back to it and doing things a little differently. I had previously trained to go as heavy as I could and do as many reps with a heavy hammer as possible. With Big Bertha, it was to increase weight every time I would beat the deck which at times took up to 3 workouts and I would add about 3-5 lbs or so at a time, started at 26 lbs. I can still do some damage with that heavy thing but not for 1000 or more reps anymore, maybe a few hundred and at that weight, it's more than enough. I decided this time, I wanted to focus more on how fast I can go with a certain weight and got a hammer from Stronger Grip that is lighter and only goes up to no more than 25-26 lbs. This is to take on more of a conditioning and speed style of hammer training. 

This particular hammer is something special though and I'm getting a very cool engraving on it that has a special meaning for me. Not only do I get to train with this thing but I get to have something custom done just for me which is why this company ran by Ryan Pitts is so awesome. The Tactical Sledgehammer is purely meant for conditioning and long term strength training and watch the videos of Ryan & his son Logan as they slam, swing, play and power up. The hammer starts empty at 13 lbs which is a great weight to use and goes up to 26 using shot lead which for conditioning purposes, you don't need to go higher than that. 

Hammer workouts are about as old school as you can get when it comes to training. Boxers, Wrestlers, Football Players, MMA Fighters, Laborers all had done some form of hammer work and had some incredible physiques and powerful upper body strength. When it comes to hammers, no one made it look more intimidating than the legendary strongman Slim The Hammerman who made his living with his hammer, he might as well been the white John Henry. So many exercises you can do with a hammer and you'll never get bored but the time and true swing and slam is a testament to a man's strength in the real world. 

One of the things I noticed about messing with hammers is that after a hard workout, it's not surprising that you would build up an incredible appetite. I can eat pretty good but after one of those high rep workouts, it just blew up and I was as you might say "Super Saiyan" hungry if you're a fan of the Dragon Ball Mythos. If you ever noticed how the Protagonist Goku eats, I wasn't too far off with the way I ate after a workout. Another great benefit is the amount of testosterone that is built up, this aids in muscle building and heightening up the metabolism. The more consistent, the more your body will change into a natural and powerful physique. When it comes to calorie burning, it ranks right up there.

Women can do really well using hammers too, it's impossible to build as much muscle as a man unless you take some form of TRT but with proper training, women can build incredible physiques that have very strong tendons, naturally muscular arms, shoulders, back and core. In my opinion, women have every right to be as strong as they need to whether physically, mentally, emotionally or whatever. 

Get your hands on a hammer and go to town. This is real functional strength and has more carryover to the real world than we are lead to believe. It's a working man's exercise but it also has benefits for both sexes or those who choose to be Non-Binary or whatever you choose to make of yourself, it benefits many and builds strength you can't get in the gym. Become strong and powerful no matter what.