Check out these next two videos of stone training. The stones weren't crazy heavy so I cranked away with a circuit for strength endurance and conditioning. This is a great way to condense your workouts while still building strength, muscle and stamina.
If you're a family man / woman, you know ALL about being limited on time. Check it....
I'll be back to mixing the various odd objects in my workouts with powerlifting once again. I miss the barbell TOO much. Deadlifting and squatting make me feel stronger and more explosive, even if I don't attack them with full blown heavy loads, which isn't always the best way!
Question for YOU: How has your training evolved in the past few months. Looking forward to reading your comments and sharing with others!
Lead from the FRONT!
--Z--
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19 Responses
After spending a lot of time on a program based around 20 rep max squats a few months ago, I have recently been focusing primarily on kettlebell and bodyweight movements. The incorporation of stability and mobility core movements have alleviated the nagging back and shoulder issues I’ve dealt with. Now I feel much healthier and more agile to enhance the strength I’ve acquired through my previous squat cycle. It’s time to go flip some tires and snatch big weights!
http://www.tssathletics.com/
Prowler, prowler, prowler.
Throughout the summer I was doing really well with planning out my workouts, but I was still tweaking them as I went. Basically adjusting to what I needed. Those workouts were mainly geared towards strength. A lot of military presses, deads, tire flips, etc. Everything was kept pretty heavy. As of recent it’s been a little random. I’m teaching and coaching varsity football along with 3rd and 4th grade football, so I’m busy about everyday of the week. On top of that I’m preparing for my first strongman competition. All the lifts in the competition are moderate for the most part. A few will be heavy, but it’s going to be more of a strength edurance competition. With the hectic schedul I’m basically trying to work out whenever I can. Still getting about 3-5 workouts in per week. I’ve been doing something like one heavy day of deads, then light day high reps of bodyweight and KB walks and sled pushes/pulls, then high rep moderate weight clean and presses. It’s really hard to say. At this point I’ve got a good read on my body in terms of diet and workouts. I’ve been eating damn good and working out hard and just listening to my body. Basically I try to hit heavy lifts followed by a deload day of higher reps with a lot of different posterior chain work. My main goal with workouts right now is killing it and being a damn machine! I feel good and feel like I’m gonna kick ass at this competition. The only part that concerns me is the truck pull, it’ll be a fully loaded beer truck. That’ll be a bitch, but I’m not gonna stop pulling til I collapse or my F***’n arms and legs explode!
Not too specific, but maybe that’s the best explanation…my workouts have been veried.
I love the outdoor workouts with no “gym” equipment. No rules workouts and no excuses!
You can always get training in, no matter what the situation. Keep on killing it Zach.
Awesome videos! This morning I trained a friend doing Turkish Get-ups. Another friend of mine showed up with a home-made sled fabricated from his work at a sheetmetal company. We loaded the sled with about 200 lbs and created a cool little circuit. We all took turns pulling the sled fifty feet, grabbed and fireman carried a 180 lb sandbag back and then did farmers walks(jogs) with two 53 lb kettlebells. We followed that with tactical pull-ups and some double cleans & presses with kettlebells. We did about five rounds of that. Afterwards, we did some crazy pull-ups bringing our legs way up to the bar and push-up variations as well. We finished with some pistols for good measure. I mostly train with kettlebells but have recently incorporated body weight drills along with strongman type stuff(sleds, tires, sledgehammers, etc.) Your style of training is right in synch with what I do. I am learning a lot of cool stuff from your site Zach so thank you very much.
Thanks for the inspiration. After watching the first vid i went over to my folks’ house where at the bottom of the street is an old abondoned junk yard that i basically spent half my childhood in be it building forts or catching snakes as a little tyke or good ol’ woods parties as a high schooler.
it’s a lot more overgrown now but i made it out there and man was it nostalgic. i got one of the sickest and most invigorating workouts i’ve had in literally years. this place is pretty secluded, perfect for me as i get my best s&c training in while going solo. just feeling so good and hearing all those same old sounds and smelling the swamp and the woods.. man, good, good shit!
i lifted and tossed stones, cinder blocks were everywhere and i had my way w/ them, sprinted up hills, bear crawled through old trails, sprinted through old trails using weeds as makeshift hurdles. found an old tarp, threw some crap on it and dragged it as far as i could until i hit the dirt a sweaty mess.
the best thing i found was an old steel pole about 6 foot long, probably used to be someone’s clothesline or swing set back before mass-pussification happend and everything turned plastic. this thing was thick and had a big ol’ hunk of concrete still hanging on the bottom of it.
dragged it around, swung it around, attempted to press it a few times and just basically tried to move it all around. there was another one half buried in a heap of junk. next time i plan on bringing a shovel to dig it out and maybe make some sort of grappler type thing. idk it’s all good.
funny part is that i lived there till i was 19 and from age 14 to 19 i don’t think i missed a day at the local gym a few miles up the road. man all the rides my family gave me as a kid back n forth.. and to think, a workout that was 20 times better was right there the whole time.
i definitely plan on doing that again and maybe even making my own little outdoor, bad ass gym in the middle of nowhere.
Thanks for all the good stuff and motivation!
i’m always upsetting the wife by bringing home heavy junk and keeping it in the back yard, just to lift. tires, rocks, logs, concrete blocks, pipes i use for thick bars. one of the biggest changes i implemented for myself was going to a different beach each weekend and training for 20-30 min, with just what was available. rocky beaches and trees, lots of rocks to pickup, toss, zercher, trees = pullups combat crawls, dips , weird pushups. sandy beaches=lots of running and stuff. a trick i use is i carry a cheap back pack and take it to the beach and fill it with sand then i can to ‘sandbag’ tosses and throws and curls, etc. between sprints. i also find a swim afterwards is a great recovery method. its winter here.
these videos are a great inspiration,Zach. been incorporating some Navy seal training in my workouts. Free weight exercises such as jumping jacks,squats, pull ups , push ups, dips,lunges etc. on alternating days ,I do my basic compound exercises with weights and run for cardio.
Those outdoor workouts are simply awesome. In my experience, they definitely get you to start working harder and it really takes you out of your usual gym element. Whenever I used to play baseball, I would go out with a sledgehammer and take several swings at a tire. That really works your rotator cuff well!
Matty – I hear ya bro, feels good to let go of the heavy barbell, but you and I have the same DNA, eventually, you want heavy, rusty iron on your back and in your hands….
But, we can’t argue w/the success of gymnasts, so it’s a smart move brutha! Psyched 2 see you soon…. stone mold n’ all!
Cole, I have done the same bro, and am always busy as hell, but the heavy work followed by a day of bodyweight circuits was great
those busy times push you to rest less and even louie simmons prefers having his guys rest less even while going heavy
keep me posted on the strongman comp bro!
Mark, all those carries and drags followed by bodyweight training is what I love, it brings results to bro, cant argue w/it my man! keep kickin ass bruddah!
Ricco, hahahaha, would love to see a pic of your backyard!! Dude, find a heavy duty military back pack, they can hold lots of heavy odd objects!
Mike, I AIM to inspire bro, keep kickin ass and I’ll do the same!
Josh, NO doubt brother, the sledge hammer is awesome, we have a few baseball guys at my gym and they love the strongman work!
CAVEMAN STYLE BAB – EEEEE…! VINCENZO
About 6 months ago, I was squatting and deadlifting with terrible form just to get higher weights (It took me a while to realize it.) I stepped back, and started doing single leg work and a good amount of bodyweight work for a few months. I strengthened my hips and was ready to start squatting again. Now I’m doing heavy barbell work again, and doing it right. I try to do as much bodyweight work as possible after my main lifts. I usually condition after my workouts with some sprints, prowler, sledgehammers, tireflips, kettlebells, sandbags, etc. I also try to take the ole beach cruiser down to the oceanfront as often as I can. I just love being active. I’m not a sit still kinda guy. There are no limits when it comes to training, dudes. Work hard, be creative, and have a good time.
I recently started reading the blog, and you’ve really inspired me to think outside the box. Keep it up my man!
Zach
I was so concerend with power and wanting to do heavy deadlifts and lifting but my gym has only 310 lbs of free weight after contstantly asking for more weight to and I kept getting no for an answer. I started a twelve week program with just a weight vest and perfect pushups and pullup bar. Midway through I went to home depot and bought two chains adding 15 lbs to my vest. Then on ebay I bought a 50lb vest made of sand for 66 dollars total . My objective is to have tons of power endurance with that 50lb vest as well as more muscle and less fat.
I am testing out a program I wrote that is intended to have me pass the RKC beast tamer challenge and at the same time give me the exact proportions of a Greek God (within a certain percentage). I’ll let you know how it pans out.
Eric