I'm droppin' some vids from my new web site, Get Wrestling Strength, but I bet you can learn a thing or two about training regardless of whether or not you wrestle.
We walk around on our feet ALL freakin' day, why not use the hands instead?
It's been a staple of my own training and how I train my athletes for MANY years now.
It improves grip strength, overall upper body strength, shoulder stability and trunk / ab strength & stability.
Look at Gymnasts, they perform countless drills with regular pressure on their hands and their physiques and ability to move with grace and power simply can NOT be argued with!
Think about how Gorillas live and "train". Unlimited fruits and veggies, constant pulling, pushing of their own bodyweight and of course, wrestling one another.
I'm not saying you have to wrestle, BUT, partner bodyweight training can be extremely effective, which is what wrestling actually becomes. You are always pushing, pulling and lifting your opponent which is the same as pushing, pulling and performing the squat, deadlift and power clean movements.
The MAIN difference being you're hoisting an awkward, angry aggressive person instead of a "weight" that doesn't fight back.
My buddy, Jonny Hinds, has inspired me beyond words, and his strength, speed and conditioning speaks volumes for itself.
When I first heard about Jonny, it was through the words of some of the best MMA and BJJ guys in the world, like Rickson Gracie! They spoke of some guy who had the strength of a Silver Back and conditioning that never quit.
Well, Jonny was doin' a boat load of hand walking on his Power Wheel and he also would go to the beach in Venice, Ca. where there were traveling rings to swing and train on, ropes to climb and various gymanstics type bars set up for hand walking.
He was strong as hell and when a man like Rickson Gracie talks someone up, you KNOW you need to pay attention and listen!
Start thinking about how you can change up your training regime to train more like an Animal.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Can your nutrition change?
- Can your training tools change?
- Do you have to train at the gym?
- Can you train outdoors at a playground or on the trails in the middle of nowhere!?!?
- Can you lift stones instead of barbells and dumbbells.
- Can you consume more fruits and veggies?
- Can you perform more hand walking movements?
Don't allow yourself to settle into a comfort zone of training the same way over and over, day in and day out.
Train Like a Gorilla, Eat Like a Gorilla.
Get Busy.
Lead from the FRONT!
--Z--
Recommended Resources:
June Underground Strength Coach Certification
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Wicked video Zach. Pull-ups and similar movements on the monkey bars are incredible for upper body strength and endurance. Sore forearms – here we come!
WOW! It’s these posts that I look forward to each week. This is the kind of training that America as a whole needs to be doing. Obesity, forget about it. And would we have a country full of athletes? Hellz to the yeah!
Awesome Zach! I need to get one of those powerwheels you can strap to your feet. I’ve got a cheap one just for ab wheel rollouts, which is one of my favorite core exercises, but you can’t strap it to your feet.
I’ll have to getover to Monkey Bar Gym and pick one up. I’ve got all types of ideas for what to do with that! Anyway, keep going strong!
Brandon
Wow!!! that was terrible (in a badd ass way) i’m bout to go climb a tree
Keep pumpin that phenomenal sh*t
my brotha from anotha motha
great post as always z !!
way cool Zach!
I’ve noticed that since I started shifting from bench press to killer ways to do push ups my punches and pushing abilities have gone through the roof.
I’ve also been really working the hand stands and my shoulders have never been stronger. Thanks so much for teaching me how to do them at the Cert. last year!
Zach,
Funny coincidence this post coming up – I just got my monkey gym back up after the move. Tonight, after ripping through a speed endurance workout we finished off with max reps pull-ups and max reps handstand push-ups and let me tell you, there are some badass dudes training at the Empire Fitness!
One of the athletes, (155#) has claimed the title of being pound for pound the strongest guy in the gym. He ripped out 46 pull-ups and 54 handstand push-ups; just cause he wanted to beat everyone else and move the most weight. When you do the math: he pulled a total of 7130# (155×46) & pushed at total of 8370# (155×54)- he is a Wolverine (maybe even THE Wolverine)!
I’m loving this post on guerilla strength and Silverback Power! I will invest in a power wheel and start hitting up some hand walking with those bad boys. I just found out that a local park in the area has a fitness trail with parallel bars and chin-up bars so we will be hitting that some time in the near future too. Sick post! JACKED UP NOW!
“Age Quod Agis” “What you do; Do well”
– Christopher
Thanks for the great post. Im a big fan of and proponent of this type of ‘play’ and credit a lot of my strength to bodyweight strength ratio, conditioning, and leaness to these activities. Hell it doesn’t even register mentally/emotionally as a ‘workout’ unless you purposely force yourself to think about it. Here’s to never outgrowing recess! Oh for the guy who only has the handheld abwheel? In a pinch (this is what i use right now) if you’re outdoors a pair of roller blandes and some workgloves and a flat empty parking lot will work. in a gym setting i just put a plyo box at the end of the treadmill and set the feet up on it and walk on the treadmill (you’ll get funny stares from the gen members and staff but oh well…). Thanks again for the great info!
Who’s the wrestler in the top picture? Looks like an animal.
i’ve started having my wrestlers add these in from time to time using power racks. great burner at the end of a workout!