Got some cool questions that I wanna crank out via the Blog. Check em' below as these questions come in often. Enjoy!
Q: Hi Zach!
Onto the Next Question.... I am showin' the love, bruddahs 🙂
Question:
Zach, my son recently fractured his arm and is unable to play Football this season. He is an 8th grader. What can I do to help him stay in shape and keep his head in the game so to speak. He loves to play and work out and I want to help him.
Thanks for all you do, Zach.
- Ed -
ANSWER:
Ed, hey brother, thanks for the e mail and I dig your commitment. Your son WANTS to work out and often times I am in this very same scenario. Athlete gets hurt and the parent thinks they can't do anything. Well heck, we still got 2 legs and another arm! NO excuses.
For upper and full body we will perform the following drills using a Kettlebell or Dumbbell:
- Snatch
- Clean & Press
- 1 Arm Row
- Carries: overhead, rack, suit case
- 1 Arm Floor Press
For Lower Body we will perform the following drills using a Kettlebell or Dumbbell:
- Swings
- Cleans
- Rack Squat
- Rack Lunge variation (forwards, reverse, walking)
- 1 Arm KB Deadlifts while standing on 2 boxes for stretch
If the athlete only has a broken hand / wrist we can also do barbell zercher squats. I have found that keeping the athlete in training raises his self esteem AND dramatically speeds up the healing process. If the athlete sits around the house and mopes around he returns to his sport and the gym weaker, slower not just physically but mentally as well.
We also use a dragging sled, strapped around the athletes waist and perform drags and sprints moving forwards and backwards as well as lateral walking. We get our sleds from HERE, sometimes my Dad makes them when they have spare parts laying around his shop as well. As simple as they are to use they are one of the best tools for an athlete to use.
I hope these helped everyone.
NO excuses, Kick Some Ass!
--Z--
Recommended Resources:
Underground Strength Coach Cert
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Thanks for the help Zach! We were definitely trying much closer to the tire and not pushing forward so much & there was no thought of pushing with the chest. We didn’t get far enough to switch to the rack and run it through but I know your advice is gonna work. I have already tracked down some monster tires in my neck of the woods and will send you an update soon! Again, thanks for the help!
Zach,
Love the tire technique variations. I believe in variety. So, I noticed something that I have to ask about.
I believe you mentioned that you came to strength training via bodybuilding. In that discipline, bi-lateral symmetry is of crucial importance. I think it should be important in strength, as well. You want your left as strong as your right. Right?
Here’s the deal: In your tire-flipping videos, it seems that you always “kick” the tire up with your right knee. Wouldn’t it make sense to alternate the kicking leg? That way you give both legs work in all the stresses required for the exercise. You could either alternate on each flip or in each direction. You’ve said yourself: Start with the weak side to bring it up to the strong. Treat each side for its specific needs. (Of course, if you have an injury that precludes this, all bets are off.) Whaddaya think?
Thanks for the cool “old school” site! From an old school, old dude,
Jim
Zach,
Love the tire technique variations. I believe in variety. So, I noticed something that I have to ask about.
I believe you mentioned that you came to strength training via bodybuilding. In that discipline, bi-lateral symmetry is of crucial importance. I think it should be important in strength, as well. You want your left as strong as your right. Right?
Here’s the deal: In your tire-flipping videos, it seems that you always “kick” the tire up with your right knee. Wouldn’t it make sense to alternate the kicking leg? That way you give both legs work in all the stresses required for the exercise. You could either alternate on each flip or in each direction. You’ve said yourself: Start with the weak side to bring it up to the strong. Treat each side for its specific needs. (Of course, if you have an injury that precludes this, all bets are off.) Whaddaya think?
Thanks for the cool “old school” site! From an old school, old dude,
Jim
great ideas about keeping the weight training up while injured Zach! It’s always possible to work around an injury unless your in a full body cast.
Even then…..
i noticed you wrote for the guys son with the broken arm that he could do clean & press ,1 arm rows , and various othersmovements using his non hurt arm . now this may sound like a stupid question but i gotta ask it .working just one side will that make you uneven?
Mark, my pleasure brutha, get the technique down, improve your strength on squats, clean and press variations and pull ups! Those are a BIG help for the tire flip!
Jim, very true, on the tire flip, you can prob do with a lighter tire, but w/the heavier tires, i just go what feels natural.
in total, i don’t hit more than 15 or so heavy reps and do tons of unilateral leg work that it doesn’t make a difference at all bro
–z–
Acie, reps are kept to 5 and those movements are primarily full body, except the rows…. Rather than do all lower body work, we’re able to engage the entire back and almost entire body and it’s way better than not touching the upper body
when they’re back in action, as always, everything we do unilaterally matches the non dominant side
so if left side gets 5 reps w/44 lb clean and press then strong right side does the same, never more
all workouts are flawed but training is way better than sitting home and sulking
–z–
awesome tire variations zach! with the weather going south quick up here in central new york i’m definitely going to have to get as many of those in within the next month as i can before the tires are officially retired for the winter (yes, it often snows in october up here…lucky us!).
Nice Zach,
Love the tire a great tool to have. Nice variations also.
Great info and great videos! I have done a variation of your 5 Rounds of Hell several times since first viewing the video. Only thing is, I have never used a tire. I was wondering if you could recommend a place in Central Jersey where i could pick one or two up. Thanks for all the training info.