On the Forums

I’m constantly amazed at just how much my training is influenced by the people on this site. Whether you’re looking for a new piece of equipment, an unusual exercise variation or just a training routine or two, head over to the forums :

• Fight Geek’s Training Log
  It’s always great to see how other people train. Here’s how Fight Geek does things.
  
• Mike F’s Training Log
  More training goodness. Here’s what Mike’s getting up to.
  

NB : Ready to add your own workout log or training article? Just head over to the Articles & Logs page and log in, and click ‘Post to Your Blog’. That’s all there is to it.

Video - Weightlifting, Step 1

Considering giving Weightlifting a shot? Watch this - fantastic.

Coming Events

Twitterchats : A couple of weeks ago, RKC Sandy Sommer helped us get started on the road to kettlebell training. This time he’s joining us to discuss some of the advanced training techniques to really crank your kettlebell training up a notch.

Whether it’s a complex exercise, an integration with other tools, a challenge or a strength feat; if you love pushing yourself to the limit with a humble kettlebell, this is the place to be. Should be fantastic.

Details -

Who : Strength-training fans
Topic : Advanced Kettlebell Training
When : Wed Oct 7, 9pm EST (1am UTC)
How : include #sbgym in your tweets

To see when it’s on in your timezone, head over to the twitterchat calendar.

See you there.

NB : if you’d like to be a guest on an upcoming chat, get in touch. It’s always great to discover how other people are training.

Kettlebell Juggling Contest : how’s your kettlebell juggling? For details, head over here. Good stuff.

Card Tearing Contest : or a spot of card tearing perhaps? Now this one will be fun. Find out why.

Grip Contests : There are also several grip contests coming up shortly, including :

• Finnish Open Grip Strength Championships
• Super Gym - Rolling Thunder and CoC

For details - and to add an event - swing by the Grip Contest Calendar.

Exercise of the Week : The Inman Mile

The Inman Mile is a great exercise; effectively a supersized version of a Farmers’ Walk. Although there are several variations (see below), the most common versions are :

1.5 x bodyweight, barbell across shoulders : This is the version recognised by the USAWA, and occasionally appears at USAWA sanctioned events. Their definition is :

The lifter will have loaded onto his/her shoulders a weight equal to 150% of bodyweight. The lifter will then carry the weight a distance of one mile. Gait is optional. Resting is allowed, but neither the lifter nor the weight may be supported. Records will be kept in both pounds and time. Should the weight be touched by any aide once the lift has begun, the event is terminated. The lifter may be handed refreshments during the lift.

For obvious reasons, this is usually performed outdoors.

Continue reading…

On the Forums

I'm constantly amazed at just how much my training is influenced by the people on this site. Whether you're looking for a new piece of equipment, an unusual exercise variation or just a training routine or two, head over to the forums :

• Steel Bending, VFF, Yoga & Dan John
  Dan Cenidoza
  Dan takes a look at his current training - it's a great mix to say the least. Love it.
  
• Fight Geek's Training Log
  It's always great to see how other people train. Here's how Fight Geek does things.
  

NB : Ready to add your own workout log or training article? Just head over to the Articles & Logs page and log in, and click 'Post to Your Blog'. That's all there is to it.

Video - Homemade Indian Club

There are a couple of great ways to make your own clubs - here Jerry Shreck demonstrates the Wiffle Bat technique (part II). Nice one.

Coming Events

Kettlebell Juggling Contest : how's your kettlebell juggling? For details, head over here. Good stuff.

Card Tearing Contest : or a spot of card tearing perhaps? Now this one will be fun. Find out why.

Grip Contests : There are also several grip contests coming up shortly, including :

• USHS Nationals
• USGS Nationals
• Finnish Open Grip Strength Championships

For details, swing by the Grip Contest Calendar.

Exercise of the Week

The Neck Bridge. If you're slightly hesitant to do your bridging work (but know how important neck training is), take a look at these variations. Good stuff.

On the Forums

I'm constantly amazed at just how much my training is influenced by the people on this site. Whether you're looking for a new piece of equipment, an unusual exercise variation or just a training routine or two, head over to the forums :

• Receiving corrections well: How to benefit from feedback
  Frank DiMeo
  How well do you take feedback? What do you do with it? Over to Frank.
  
• Mike F's Training Log
  It's always great to see how other people train. Here's how Mike does things.
  

NB : Ready to add your own workout log or training article? Just head over to the Articles & Logs page and log in, and click 'Post to Your Blog'. That's all there is to it.

Video - Home Climbing Wall Construction

How do you build your own climbing wall? Like this.

Coming Events

Kettlebell Juggling Contest : how's your kettlebell juggling? For details, head over here. Good stuff.

Card Tearing Contest : or a spot of card tearing perhaps? Now this one will be fun. Find out why.

Grip Contests : There are also several grip contests coming up shortly, including :

• USHS Nationals
• USGS Nationals
• Finnish Open Grip Strength Championships

For details, swing by the Grip Contest Calendar.

Exercise of the Week

The Zercher Slosh Walk. Love the Zercher Squat? Love your Slosh Pipe? Combine them.

Enjoy.

Thanks to everyone who joined in today's twitterchat with Body by Long's Bill Long (@bill_long1). It really was a fascinating discussion on the many types of pinch training.

A few highlights :

• 'some indirect methods include plate curls, anvil pinch lifts, plate pinch lifts, finger walking using a sledge hammer and many more'


• 'pinch lifting will help you lift more weight in the long run'


• 'how would someone who's just getting into grip strength start?'


• 'I don't have a TTK but use some jumper cables with rubber bands on them for direct thumb work'


• 'pinch lifting has carried over in my lifting by increasing my clean and press, deadlifts, bench an more ..got to hold the bar tight.'


• 'you can make a blockweight if you don't have a blob for the same type of movements'

Overall it was a great discussion. As there were a number of questions we didn't get to, the discussion will be continued in a few weeks (date to be confirmed).

In the meantime, here's a bit more information (and video) on the many things we discussed :

• Definitions, and general introduction to pinch training
• Training with Block Weights
• An Introduction to Blobs
• Ryan Johnson's 6 Dime Pinch
• Fattening up bars

Next week we'll be continuing the discussion on shoulder injuries and rehab with The Rotater's Chris Melton. See you there.

Yep, Adam's a freak. Good stuff.

A Blockweight or 'Blob' as it is commonly known, is a single cut head from a dumbbell. A Blob can come in any size, weight or shape depending on which style of dumbbell it has been cut from. The most common are 'hex' head and the aspirin-shaped cast heads. The original 'Blob' and the idea for a training tool, belongs to Richard Sorin and it is this shape, cut from an old 100lb York cast dumbell, which is used in the GNC Grip Gauntlet.
Training with Blobs can build tremendous total hand and grip strength, with particular emphasis on the often underdeveloped thumb and 'pinch grip'. The idea is simple: Pick the Blob off the floor with one hand.

For my own training, which forms the basis of this article, I use heads from York Legacy Dumbbells, although nearly all of the methods can be applied with most other shapes. These are cast iron and have one fairly flat side and a flared side. I have 5 of these ranging from 12.5kg up to 22.5kg in 2.5kg increments, and before getting them had never touched, or even seen a Blob.

My training

To begin with I trained a brief session almost every day, with a combination of single lifts, timed holds and passing it from hand to hand, or around my body. This daily training soon proved excessive so I eased off to 2 or 3 sessions per week. During this time I was doing little or no gripper work, with is my other main grip interest.

It felt most natural for me to place my 4 fingers on the flared side of the Blob and my thumb on the flat side. I soon realised this was in fact the 'easy' way of lifting them and it was more difficult and thus productive, to attempt all the lifts with my thumb on the flared side. Obviously at first it meant backing down to the smaller weights and building the strength back up and then my goal was always lifting the next weight up in this manner.

Note: Your Pinch strength is ultimately determined by your thumb strength.

As strength athletes, we spend much of our training time lifting and moving very heavy weight. These loads place tremendous strain on the body and can lead to tension and improper muscular alignment when performed without proper recovery. I'm sure most of us are aware of just how quickly tight hamstrings (for example) break down proper form on a squat or stone lift! Over time, if the form is not corrected, it's quite possible a serious injury may occur. By applying the techniques discussed below, we can release the tension built-up over time from heavy training and help our bodies prevent injury in the future.

The Science

SMR--Self-Myofascial Release--is the simplest way to use a foam roller. Think of it as "stretching without the stretch". During SMR, pressure is applied to a muscle causing activation of the Golgi Tendon Organ, which in turn signals muscle spindles to release and relax the muscle being worked on. In addition, SMR also breaks down scar tissue and unsticks muscle fascia as you work your way from one end of the muscle to the other.

While this double-whammy of "stretch" and "massage" makes SMR an amazingly efficient prehab and recovery tool, the best part is that it can be applied to your current training program without too much adjustment. A 10- or 15-minute SMR progression at the end of your current routine can serve as a great cool down after a hard day of lifting.

General Guidelines

• Roll the entire length of the muscle at a comfortable pace.
• Stop on tender spots for 20-30 seconds and apply static pressure, then continue rolling.
• If a muscle is particularly tight or sore, roll it briefly and return to it later for a second or third pass after you roll the other muscle groups.
• Some rolling is better than no rolling at all. If you're pressed for time, select only a few muscle groups to work on and schedule the rest for a later session.
• The more often you roll, the better; but even 2 or 3 sessions per week will lead to improvements.

When I foam roll, I prefer to begin at my calves and work my way up to the neck. Feel free to experiment and find a sequence that works best for your needs and with your program.

The Techniques

Calves

Sit with your calves on top of the roller. Use your arms to lift your butt off the ground, placing pressure on the calves. Locking the knees straight puts more emphasis on the gastrocnemius; unlocking the knees puts more emphasis on the soleus and achilles tendon.
Rolling onto the inner and outer calves will work the peroneals muscles. To increase the pressure, stack one leg on top of the other.

Hamstrings

Sit with your hamstrings on top of the roller. Lift your butt off the ground and place pressure on the hamstrings. Lifting your feet off the ground and/or rolling one hamstring at a time will increase the pressure on the muscles.

IT Band and Glute Medius

Turn so the side of your thigh is resting on top of the roller. Place the foot of the opposite leg on the ground in front of you and use your arms to control the pressure. Be sure not to turn too far on to the front or back of the thigh. To increase the pressure, lift the foot of the working leg off the ground.
To work the gluteus medius, place the side of your hip socket onto the foam roller. Make sure you don't lean too far forward or back. Lift the foot of the working leg of the ground to increase pressure.

Quads, TFL and Adductors

Turn so the front of your thighs are resting on top of the foam roller. Lift your feet off the ground and/or roll one leg at a time to increase the pressure. Be sure to work both the vastus medialis and vastus lateralis by adjusting the angle of your thigh.
Working one leg at a time, place the front of your thigh on top of the roller. Rock forward and back until you feel pressure right on the hip socket. Use your arms and feet to adjust the pressure.
To work the adductors, lie face down with the roller parallel to your body. Flex one hip and place your inner thigh onto the roller.

Glute Max

To work the glute max, sit with your hands and feet on the floor and your butt resting on the foam roller. Be cautious not to bruise your tail bone as you roll along the length of the muscle. Shifting your weight onto one butt cheek will increase the pressure in that glute.
To hit the piriformis, bring the ankle of the working leg onto the knee of the supporting leg, lifting that butt cheek off the foam roller. Adjust the pressure by shifting weight on and off the supporting hand and foot.

As we learned in Part I of Hammering Strength into the Wrists, wrist strength is very important in sports. With strong wrists, the athlete is more capable of controlling and exerting force with the sporting implement. Also, the athlete with strong, fortified wrists will be more resilient against developing an injury. Strength coaches that are spending time building up their athletes' wrists are helping them to stay in the game longer and to be more successful.

Also in Part I, we learned a handful of basic hammer levering movements and ways to easily modify them for plenty of variation in the training program. The sledge hammer is an outstanding implement for building wrist and lower arm strength. However, we have only skimmed the surface so far! There are many more great ways to use the hammer to pump serious strength into the wrists and lower arms.

Hand-to-Hand Tossing

Tossing the sledge hammer is a great way to build wrist strength and hand-to-eye coordination. To begin, hold the handle in the upright position in one hand. From there, toss it over to the other hand. When you start out out, you may have to toss it with the hands very close together, but you should try to work toward tossing it up and over to the other hand once you get better at the task.

The goal of this exercise is to toss the hammer from one hand to the other without letting the hammer head drop to the floor. This may seem like a simple task, but the dynamic nature of this movement can make it very challenging to keep the hammer head elevated. With an 8-pound hammer, even a slight angle to the hammer makes it hard to control.

You will see right away that you will not be able to catch it perfectly every single time. Sometimes you will catch it in the center of your palm and others you will catch it with your fingers. The further away from the wrist you catch it, the more torque will be involved in the catch, and the more challenging the exercise becomes.

Heavy Hammer Swinging

As you may have seen on the Diesel site, I recently added an addition to my house which caused large cinder blocks and concrete blocks to be deposited in my lawn. I have taken it upon myself to try to break up these blocks by hitting them with a 20-pound sledge hammer, and have found that this is an extreme exercise! Striking tires with a lighter hammer is one thing, but it does not compare to beating on a concrete slab with a giant 20-pounder! Each swing of the hammer wears out your core, shoulders, and chest, but it really does a number on your lower arms, wrists, and especially the thumbs.

I like to swing the 20-pounder in groups of at least 20 repetitions. In order to do this you must find a balance between tension and relaxation of your body. If you tense up or rush too much, your body will fatigue, forcing you to stop early; but if you avoid excess tension, you will be able to perform dozens of repetitions before burning out.

Hammer Chain Twists

I am warning you right now, the exercise I am about to describe is freaking serious. If you are not committed to building the strongest wrists possible, then don't try this. Any weakness of the mind, heart or spirit will cause you to fail.

This exercise involves connecting a chain to the head of a sledge hammer. I did so with some athletic tape, but you can use whatever you like. Next, pick the hammer up to the near parallel position. Once elevated, the idea is to begin twisting the hammer handle in an attempt to completely raise the chain.

I am telling you, this exercise is freaking tough. I use an 8-pound hammer with a thick chain, making it very challenging. I did this the other day and felt it from my finger tips all the way through my arms and into my shoulders. Two days later, and my supinator muscles are still fried! Be sure to twist in both directions in order to maintain balance in the antagonistic muscles. This exercise is a keeper!

Ryan demonstrates the Gut Wrench Bullhorns. Looks great.

Over the past five years this site's amassed an enormous amount of content. To help you find the highlights, I'll be taking a wander through the archives each Sunday.
This week - Card Tearing.

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If the Card Tearing eBook got you thinking seriously about this wonderful feat, you're not alone. Here are just a few of the more challenging card tearing displays we've seen over the years :