Sandbell Front Squats And Squat To Stand

 Sandbag Training can be a hell of a method to getting some of the kinks out of your training and teaching you how to stabilize the body with an object where the weight shifts. When it comes to Sandbells, it's a great way to utilize this in that regard. From Shouldering to Carrying to doing all sorts of stuff with these things.

Training the Legs with a Sandbell offers great resistance and added benefits to working the muscles to a greater capacity than with a typical barbell or dumbbell which could add some cool benefit to what you're already doing. 2 Exercises that I've worked on for a couple days now that hammered out the legs hard was doing the Squat To Stand and the Front Squat or a better name for it, the Bear Hug Squat. The STS is an exercise similar to lifting a stone where you get the Bell into position in a deep squat and once you have it in a good grip, stand up, drop it and repeat. Because of the shifting of the weight, it's not always easy to get a good grip every time. Here's a demo here to see what I mean....A few sets of these and you'll be feeling it.

The Bear Hug Squat is pretty damn simple, pick up the Bell, squeeze it against you and start going up and down. Unlike a barbell, dumbbell or kettlebell for that matter, you're working a bit more of the core in my opinion as you work on keeping the back steady and in control. You may lean a little bit and create more of that natural feel like picking up a box or a sack of flour. When you work these like a madman, you'll be jacking up some hefty hormones and building some incredible strength. Some guys work light or heavy depending on their goal. I've only got the 70 lb which in itself can be a bitch and others work as heavy as 200 lbs or more (strongmen mostly) but for the best weight in this manner, 100 lbs would be more than enough for many. Personally, I may go 150 if I work hard enough but that's the highest I'll go, maybe 170 if I'm ambitious but I don't need to go that heavy to get something cooking.

These two simple exercise will give you some insane strength and power. With a good clip, you can get some serious cardio out of it as well especially if you're an athlete training for a sport like Football, Wrestling or MMA. It's the classic moves of the Old Time Strongmen that gave rise to what is possible to have that ruggedness and mental toughness. Squats are no joke and Sandbells or Sangbags for that matter are just going to murder you with a vengeance. It builds real strength.

You know you busted your ass when you feel things you normally don't feel after a training session as you'll find out your fingers may be sore, your core is sore, your shoulders are on fire and your traps feel like they went to war. Not saying being sore is the greatest factor to determine a good workout, I' am saying that your muscles are being used in a way you're not used to because of how awkward the bag is. Go old school and you can't go wrong. Have an amazingly awesome day and I'm going to check out the Freestyle Wrestling that starts today at the Olympics....USA USA USA!!!

Taking It One Day At A Time

 Being aware of what you can and can't do can be hard at times but it's also important to know what you need to do in order to stay healthy in the long run. DDP Yoga has done wonders for me beyond the healing of my sciatica and it's one of the things I will continue to do regularly, not as a necessity but as a program to enjoy so I can do other things as well. I've even started filming again and getting back into doing what I love such as the demo below showcasing some of the moves I do in DDP Yoga. 

I don't flare up as much anymore and have been doing more walking lately especially wearing my 40 lb weight vest which I have done 2-3 times now. Another thing I'm excited to have done again was 500 Step Ups which I hit last night. Paced myself and listened to my body. The last few times I started at about 50, then 100 and 250. Last night, I hit 250, it felt easy and did 300 and felt like I can keep going and 500 wasn't too difficult so I went after it. No pain, no flare up or anything. I got a little emotional afterwards because Step Ups is one of my favorite leg exercises and doing 500 reps again made me incredibly happy. I have to thank DDP Yoga for giving my legs the strength and conditioning to pull that off again. 

Today, did a 25 min or so DDP Yoga workout from the APP called Super Body Flow which Dallas would transition from one move to the next in quick sequence fashion and it felt great. Mostly just basic stuff but it got me loosened up and get that heart rate going. Normally just stick to the DVDs which are great as is. Have yet to do the Extreme Psycho Workout again, have done the Diamond Cutter & Double Black Diamond workouts a couple times now which are roughly an hour to over an hour a piece. Those are nasty motherfuckers to do so I'm building myself up. Most workouts are around 30 minutes to an hour doing either stand alone workouts or doing a mix of workouts into one to keep things flowing like Fat Burner & Energy, The 10 min Warm Up mixed with Below The Belt or something like that. 

I've even tried a couple Sandbell Workouts recently as well doing my 2x shoulder carry workout using my 20 lber to work up to doing that type of training again. Did a 10 min workout with that and then filmed myself doing a 5 min micro workout of rowing to chest and shouldering my 70 lb Sandbell. That was hard to do since it has been a while and didn't go as fast as I normally would but I did ok with it being some time away from it. There were concerns about my form but I' am good and I will do better next time. It's a work in progress to training myself to do some of what I did before. There are things however that I won't be doing again and that's doing explosive twisting movements again like I did with the Dopa Band or hundreds of squats in a row, if I'm doing hundreds of squats again, it'll be a deck of cards type workout mixing in step ups but doing 500 Squats in a row isn't in the cards for me, I get plenty of Squat Work with the DDP Yoga, doing slower and holding positions and that feels way better to me than doing hundreds of squats. 

It's all about taking it one day at a time man and doing things that are of value to you in the long run. I'm just itching to get the hammer back out and hitting the tire again, carrying a rock, swimming in the lake, hiking and doing all sorts of stuff. You do what you can and make the most of it. Train to do things that help yourself and others and strengthen your body while being flexible and able to keep the blood flowing to the joints. Mobility work is a key ingredient to having a healthy body long term. Strength is definitely a part of it but temporary strength will only get you so far, be able to use that strength as long as needed and not always what you can lift in the moment. 

Have an amazingly awesome day and hope you have a good start to the week.   

 

A Dinosaur Style Thanksgiving Workout

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I'd get in a workout that will build a serious appetite later when me and the wife will visit family tonight. Not just a typical workout I do but one that's in the style of Brooks Kubik's Dinosaur Training. It's nothing special but it's brutal, nasty and really hard. It hits every muscle in the body and all it takes is 3 exercises. You don't need to do tons of exercises that only hit a one or two muscles at a time, just pick a few that hit multiple groups at the same time and go at it hard. In this case, it was using only one implement; the 50 lb Sandbell.

50 pounds may not seem like much, hell it's just a few pounds over a barbell plate right? The main takeaway, this is live weight and it shifts so this isn't just a solid implement, it makes you bust your ass in more ways than one. Sandbag training has been around for ages and has been used by the strongest athletes on the planet. When you work a bag hard, you're hitting the body in places that most conventional training can't even touch. Some guys work with up to more than 200-300 lbs (that's for truly elite powerhouses) but 50-100 can be just as beneficial and tough when you get after it like a madman with a thirst for hardcore training. 

This workout consists of the Clean & Press, Bear Hug Squat & Bent Over Row; it is done in a Tri Set which means you do one right after the other and then rest. Do 10 Reps each exercise and then walk it off getting as much rest as needed for the next set. It'll get you breathing hard quick so you'll want to catch your breath just enough to be fresh for the next round. The more sets you do, the heavier that bag will start to feel. It's very simple but sure as hell isn't easy. I managed 10 full sets of this workout and it was so thrilling for it to be over. I wanted to quit around the 6th or 7th set but something in me wanted to just keep going and really test my mental toughness. If I had to pick an exercise out of the three that made me rethink things, it was the Squats for sure. Around the 4th or 5th set, my legs felt heavy. 

Once it was over, instant relief, a much felt endorphin high and a high level of gratitude for it to be over. What are the benefits of this type of workout? A full blown level of strength and power, a good string of cardio because of doing three exercises back to back, Testosterone and HGH booster, great calorie burner and some serious muscular strength & endurance. Keep it simple but never underestimate what it can do especially when exercises like these with a sandbag has some real carryover into areas of regular life. 

I' am thankful for today, to my readers and to my friends and family. Have a great and wonderful Thanksgiving, eat well and train hard, earn that Turkey and those amazingly awesome sides.   

Taking The Duck Walk To Another Level

Experimenting and trying various exercises is always fun for me because I get to learn and discover things that could potentially be useful later on. Having being inspired by the wrestlers and other athletes doing crazy things with the Dopa Band along with the various workouts and exercises Eero Westerburg does with Animal Moves and his recent course with Clubs, Bags and the Mace, I wanted to take a leg exercise to another level. 

During my workout back on Saturday, I wanted to see if what I could do with the Dopa Band attached to me & taking my 50 lb Sandbell and do the classic Duck Walk with them. I've seen wrestlers do Duck Walks with the band far better than I can ever do and seen Eero do it with a Sandbag that's over 100 lbs and do it. Just the thought of one or the other would've been nutty but seeing that I can be quite mad myself (have you you not read about the 1500 Rep Leg Challenge?) I just wanted to see what both felt like. It's quite the interesting feel and with the crazier thing to add in Squats to the mix was just nasty.

Adding squats to a movement like that really jacks up the strength and power in the legs. Consistently done, you can build some awesome muscle that is not only functional but very much conditioned as well. My idea was to duck walk out as far out as the band can go or at least to the far end of the room and than proceed to do a few squats, repeat that a few times to equal one set. When the band is fighting against you while practically bear hugging a sandbag, it brings a different type of strength training very few people do unless you're in wrestling or a mad scientist like Nick Nilsson. 

First starting out with the exercise, I did a total of 7 sets (3, 2, 2) so that's walking out and doing 5 squats, walk back and repeat that set multiple times. It got me breathing hard quick and it's a full body blast with a heavy emphasis on the legs. I loved how it felt and might see how many I can do in one set. Do you have to do 5 squats for the set? No, you can 1-10 or more if you wish but if you're doing multiple sets of up to double digits with the squats, it's going to really test you. This is more of an advanced exercise so if you're not use to the duck walk itself, just do the bodyweight version as best as you can and even that alone has bad ass benefits for leg strength, health and conditioning. 

The duck walk is a classic exercise used by athletes for eons, even Olympic Speedskater Eric Heiden did them as part of his training that helped him win 5 Gold Medals in the 1980 Games (The 1st athlete to do so). Wrestlers use this exercise to strengthen their legs for other drills, Japanese athletes use this to build strength in their knees. It's simply getting into a full squat and walking in that position. Many today have trouble just getting into a squat let alone walk in one so it's important to learn the mechanics first and foremost. I learned a bit of it during high school but after I got Combat Conditioning, I became more familiar with it. I didn't think much of it at first but once Ed Baran brought out his Animal Kingdom Conditioning course back in '08, it became a favorite because of the way he presented it. It was a great exercise to do with my Animal Dice Game Workouts that I've been fond of for years. 

Although just another exercise that can be used in training, it doesn't take away how badass the bodyweight version of the Duck Walk is. Just walking a few yards would burn out most people but to go for a couple minutes or more is just nuts because of how much the legs are being pushed especially in the thighs and calves. You can squat hundreds of pounds and still be taken down after a few yards of the duck walk. It builds awesome hypertrophy and it has even been used to help with injuries (modified versions of course) such as strengthening the knee joints, back pain and shin bones. When I first learned this after doing Squats and Push-ups for month as part of my self-rehab, it hurt but it gave me an opportunity to get better at it and once I got use to it, it just became another exercise to do off and on until I really put effort into it with the animal workouts. 

Keep discovering things and make your training interesting, fun and something that works for you. Naturally let it be a part of your life and don't take it for granted. It is ok to be a little mad sometimes in the head but don't go so far as to getting yourself injured or doing such crazy things you end up in the hospital on an often basis. Keep being amazingly awesome. Don't forget the 10% Discount at Dopamineo when you punch in POWERANDMIGHT for the checkout code. 

Getting The Most Out Of A Workout In Under 30 Minutes

One of the things I've always advocated about training was the importance of self discovery. Finding out what you're capable of doing and testing waters you've never been in, or at least took things to a different level. Just about any workout should be done using simplistic exercises and programming a progressive system that amplifies the workout's ability to make you stronger, more agile and as injury proof as possible. 

This workout I did yesterday went up a notch for me. Did only three exercises by doing the first two as a superset and used the third as a finisher to get that extra oomph in the conditioning department. A very rugged conditioning workout you might say that hits just about everything and can be a hell of a carryover. Here's how it went.....

-Superset (20 minutes non stop)

Bear Hug Carry 50 lb Sandbell for 20 Yards

20 Step Ups (10 per leg)

Immediately went into the finisher by doing my Bear Crawl Sprints for 10 Rounds at 10 Sec on/20 Sec off for approximately 5 minutes. 

The finisher was pretty brutal because my muscles were already hammered from the 20 min superset workout. It was a test to see what I can push on while fatigued. Just starting out on it is hard enough, imagine it as a finisher to something else. Felt great though, I didn't end up on my knees and beg the universe to let me breathe and didn't lie down to catch my breath. After it was over, I walked around and feeling everything in my body and breathing as deeply as I can. Talk about the best damn shower you can ever take. 

Once everything settled and felt "normal" (I hate that word), got some good food in me by having leftover eggs and sausage with a touch of shredded cheese and sliced up chinese pork. Tasted incredible man. Conditioning can go a long way and making you a machine. If you want to give this a shot, just remember that it doesn't discriminate and will try to beat your ass into the ground. It's simple but hard as hell and most people may not be able to handle it cause there's no literally almost no rest with the exception of walking back and getting into the bear crawl position. This isn't your typical run of the mill gym/home type workout, it's meant to try and break you and pin you to the ground. For nearly 30 minutes you're testing your mental strength and seeing what's possible without acting like you're going to die. The moment you start bringing it into your mind, you're dead. 

I never push to the brink of passing out or being so damn fatigued that I can't move my body because that is dangerous and focusing more on your ego than being aware of what your mind and body can and can't do. Do what's possible and listen to your body. The moment I was done, I got some water and jumped into the shower. Condition your body to make it stronger in the long run, not to the point where you'll end up not being able to move for a month. Training is about discovery, curiosity, grit and getting the most out of yourself possible without spending useless hours on it. Again this was less than 30 minutes and it's a bitch to pull off yet it is one hell of a workout that would humble just about anybody. 

Stay strong, keep getting better and be amazingly awesome. 

Sandbells & Kettlebells: A Lethal Combo For Destructive Strength

What we have on hand can be a great asset to what we want to achieve when it comes to building strength. One of those tools is the Kettlebell and thanks to Onnit, I have one of the coolest kettlebells on the planet and that's one in the shape of Darth Vader (yep, even Star Wars nerds train). I think the company stopped selling their Star Wars line a while ago because of limited supply for a brief period. It weighs a whopping 70 lbs and one of my personal favorites for Presses, Farmer's Walks, One Arm High Pulls and a couple others. 

Most who train with Kettlebells don't use more than a 53 lber which in most cases is more than enough to build some crazy strength and conditioning with. Any higher is more in the pure strength department and I'm in awe of guys who can do just about anything with a 100 lber. Think one of the few people to ever juggle one is John Brookfield who's about as strong as you can get. With the 70, it's a great implement to use every now and then especially for demos since it's the Dark Lord of the Sith and Star Wars is the GOAT of all Franchises (sorry Marvel, DC, LOTR, Star Trek NOT SORRY!!). 

Kettlebells have been around for more than a century and have been used by some of the strongest and incredibly fit athletes of all time. Valery Fedorenko ranks right up there, Steve Cotter is probably one of the best instructors in the field and Bud Jeffries was probably the greatest natural lifter to use a kettlebell up to 150 lb or more for reps. One of the greatest feats (somebody might correct me on this) that a kettlebell was used in was the Two Hands Anyhow that Arthur Saxon performed with a 350 lb Bent Press and a 98 lb kettlebell Clean & Press totaling 448 lbs in a sequence, no one has come close to matching that.

When it comes to the Sandbell, it's one of the most versatile implements around today. The combination of a Sandbag, Medicine Ball, Kettlebell & Slam Ball provides a near limitless supply of exercises you can come up with. I've been using it more in my demos lately because it's such a fun implement to use and safe to use on just about any surface that doesn't have something sharp to puncture the bag. From Squats to Presses, Windmills, Shoulder to Shoulder Carries, Snatches, Slams, Flipping & Catching whatever your imagination can come up with. Sandbags are extremely bad ass for conditioning because of the live weight as it shifts almost like moving a body around (not that is a good idea unless you're a wrestler or MMA fighter) but can strengthen the body using awkward angles and learning to expect the unexpected.

One workout that is very simple but effective is doing loaded carries with the Sandbell and going for as many yards as you can in total. I did this for a total of 1000 yards (just over half a mile) in around 20 minutes carrying the bell for 50 yards on my left shoulder, 50 bear hugging it and 50 on the right shoulder. Continue doing that until you've reached 900 yards and do the last 100 doing 50 for each shoulder. It hits a lot of muscles and tackles your strength endurance, grip strength, balance and your conditioning. The idea is to never rest...You pick it up, shoulder it, carry it for x amount of yards, drop it, pick up and bear hug it x amount of yards, drop it and pick it up shoulder it and carry. One of those workouts that tackles real life where you have to carry furniture, potato sacks or flour to and from a truck for an extended period of time. 

Another good workout is to do Farmer's Carries with a kettlebell by walking it in one hand for x amount of yards, put it down and switch hands, walk it, put it down and do Step Ups or Squats for x mount of reps. Set a timer and work this sequence until the timer ends. I've done this for sets of 20 yards with the bell and 20 Step-Ups for up to 20 min or more non stop. This builds incredible strength in your grip, leg conditioning, balance and stamina. Like the title says, these tools can build some destructive strength that can be a great asset for sports training, labor conditioning, bone strengthening and lots of other benefits. 

If you didn't have any other equipment, these two can be still be made to have the workout of your life. It's an idea where you don't always need a gym to get something cooking and build strength that very few possess. You want to be strong from many angles and doing so that doesn't cause injury or lessens the chance of an injury. These implements also develop incredible explosive strength as well.

Check out some of the videos below for some ideas you can use in your own workouts. I would caution you that some of these may be too difficult so if you're not sure about them, go with your instincts and don't do them. I would also advise to use lighter weights for most of these because it does take some strength and coordination as it is and to do these with heavier implements can be a total mind fuck. 

One Arm Kettlebell Presses

Sandbell Clean & Squat

Sandbell Windmills

Sandbell Slams

Kettlebell Push-Outs

Kettlebell Curl With Hand Towel

An Advanced Movement Of Sandbell & Kettlebell Combo

There you have it and do what's possible for you to do. Don't use heavy weights for the sake of it, it took me a while to build up to these and only did a few of these moves only recently these are just demos. Have fun and make your workouts interesting. Use your imagination and as long as you stick to the basics, that's really all you need. Be mindful and practice. Keep being amazingly awesome in your endeavors. 

The One Hour Superset Broadway

 When you get an idea in your head and act on it, sometimes it turns out exactly like you thought of and other times it looks good on paper but it becomes more when it actually happens. Yesterday's big workout not only was an ass kicker but was also one of the craziest workouts I've ever done. For an hour nonstop, I went back and forth carrying a 50 lb sandbell and 20 step ups. I don't think I've ever gone that long without ever resting.

My goal was to do at least 40-44 sets in that period of time and managed 46. Throughout, I was going faster and was in such a zone that nothing else around me mattered and focused on one thing only. So think about this for a second, 46 times I carried that sandbell 20 yards (shoulder carried 10 yards each side) and did 20 step ups (10 each leg) which comes out to carrying 4600 lbs (2.3 tons) over a period of 920 yards and managed 920 step ups. Weird thing was, I didn't feel tired or sore. When it was over and the endorphins kicked in hard, it was like a wave of positive energy and one of the most relaxing things I've ever felt. 

This was a big test for me when it comes to conditioning and mental toughness. I wasn't expecting to move that efficiently and never once thought about quitting. It was like a part of me just shut down and let something take over. I don't know if it was some kind of trance or a level of stamina I didn't think I had but I kept going and nothing was going to stop me. That kind of workout is on another level of insanity and it's like that governor we have in our minds like a Jiminy Cricket guiding you and telling you when to stop just went out the window and kept the doors shut. It felt like I was the only person in the world in that moment.

That hour at times felt the longest in my life and as the workout progressed, it felt like the easiest thing ever yet it's one of the most challenging anyone can do. It felt effortless but I assure you, it wasn't easy. As I woke up today and already shoveled snow twice starting at around 415 in the morning, I didn't feel sore whatsoever, no pain, no concerning stiffness and just had a pretty good level of energy. Being out in 15 degree weather, just by myself and listening to the wind and the quietness around me, it felt peaceful. I'm going to be shoveling probably 2-3 more times today minimum and that's ok, just part of life and doing what you can. 

Workouts today might be more Micro Style like Isometrics or Chest Expander work but it's still a way to keep active and keeping the joints loose throughout the day. Just wanted to share my 60 minute Broadway training session and that it was intense but a great way to test myself physically and mentally. Will I do it again? Most likely not anytime soon but you never know. 

Give yourself a challenge today whether big or small and see what you're capable of. Don't hurt yourself or force anything. Make it worthwhile but not so hard that it's going to injure you. Be safe out there and keep being amazingly awesome.