Another Fun Exercise: Nasty 100s

[Colt McCoy]

I stole this from an article in the most recent Hard-Style, Dragon Door's catalog, but it's been around in various forms for long time.

Just take something heavy like a heavy sandbag(How to Make a Sandbag) or similarly bulky item, pick it up and set it on some kind of platform. A truck tailgate, a picnic table or anything like that works. Now pick it up off the platform and set it back on the ground. Lather. Rinse. Repeat 100 times. This is a great total body workout, and I guarantees your body will be telling you about it the next morning.

You could also do this EDT-style by setting a time limit instead of a number of reps, and then seeing how many times you could do it within your time limit.

Another variation of this exercise I read about in an article (I think it was a Dan John article but might have been someone else).

He had some fat guy asking him to help him slim down, but didn't have time to really train the guy so he tells him to go over and load up the leg press with as many 45s as he can find. The guy says, he'll never be able to press all that. He tells him don't worry about it. The guy comes back a while later and tells him it's all loaded. He says, good, now go unload it. He basically has the fat guy load and unload the leg press for 30 minutes, and that became the guy's regular workout three times a week.

This is actually a better program than probably 90% of the crap that trainers have people doing in gyms these days.

[thirddan]

nice...i like these kinds of posts...

if you are gonna do something like this just make sure to keep a neutral spine when picking object up off the ground...

[Colt McCoy]

Happy Birthday, thirddan!

[cocked&locked]

Not that it matters much because I completely agree with your post, but the author with the fat guy and the leg press machine was Waterbury in his GPP ASAP article - unless Dan John has a similar tale (a great read BTW):

http://www.t-nation.com/readTopic.do?id=468125

With a cheap trip to Lowes, you can get everything you need for diverse full body GPP (HIIT or strength) sessions to supplement (or take the place of in some cases) regular strength training. As I've alluded to before, some of my best workouts involve only body weight, concrete blocks and imagination.

Edit to say that you don't necessarily even need the trip to Lowes to manipulate your parameters and body weight for serious full body workouts - it just makes things interesting [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[cardsharkk04]

[ QUOTE ]


With a cheap trip to Lowes, you can get everything you need for diverse full body GPP (HIIT or strength) sessions to supplement (or take the place of in some cases) regular strength training. As I've alluded to before, some of my best workouts involve only body weight, concrete blocks and imagination.



[/ QUOTE ]

Care to elaborate on any of your workouts?

[cocked&locked]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]


With a cheap trip to Lowes, you can get everything you need for diverse full body GPP (HIIT or strength) sessions to supplement (or take the place of in some cases) regular strength training. As I've alluded to before, some of my best workouts involve only body weight, concrete blocks and imagination.



[/ QUOTE ]

Care to elaborate on any of your workouts?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sure. I outlined some of them in this thread:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...part=2&vc=1

Others I've just begun to include are 1-arm block snatches and another exercise I've not seen named. I start out with the block on one side of my body. I reach across my body with both hands, raise the block off the floor and over my head, set it down on the opposite side, and then continuously reverse the process (sort of looks like a windmill or clock motion).

I generally like to use these types of exercises as a GPP and/or HIIT supplement to my 3x a week full body workouts, but have used some of the principles to get a pretty decent strength session in from time to time.

The one overlooked benefit to doing some of these exercises is the increase in forearm strength. When lifting 2 cell blocks, you are often doing so on larger, flat surfaces (not bars you can wrap your fingers around) and relying alot on grip strength.

My not-so-distant future plans are to start incorporating a sled, wheelbarrow and tire (once I buy a house and have a place to store all of that [censored]).

[Colt McCoy]

[ QUOTE ]
Sure. I outlined some of them in this thread:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...part=2&vc=1

Others I've just begun to include are 1-arm block snatches and another exercise I've not seen named. I start out with the block on one side of my body. I reach across my body with both hands, raise the block off the floor and over my head, set it down on the opposite side, and then continuously reverse the process (sort of looks like a windmill or clock motion).

I generally like to use these types of exercises as a GPP and/or HIIT supplement to my 3x a week full body workouts, but have used some of the principles to get a pretty decent strength session in from time to time.

The one overlooked benefit to doing some of these exercises is the increase in forearm strength. When lifting 2 cell blocks, you are often doing so on larger, flat surfaces (not bars you can wrap your fingers around) and relying alot on grip strength.

My not-so-distant future plans are to start incorporating a sled, wheelbarrow and tire (once I buy a house and have a place to store all of that [censored]).

[/ QUOTE ]

You're talking about cinder blocks right? I really like this idea. Any idea what those things weigh? Like 25 lb. maybe? A little lighter than a kettlebell, but you could do a lot of the kettlebell movements with them. Windmills and halos would be great, or an overhead squat with a block in each hand. Take a look at the videos at Steve Cotter's site for ideas.

Let us know how having a yard full of junk goes over with the wife too. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[cocked&locked]

[ QUOTE ]
You're talking about cinder blocks right? I really like this idea. Any idea what those things weigh? Like 25 lb. maybe? A little lighter than a kettlebell, but you could do a lot of the kettlebell movements with them. Windmills and halos would be great, or an overhead squat with a block in each hand. Take a look at the videos at Steve Cotter's site for ideas.

Let us know how having a yard full of junk goes over with the wife too.


[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the info.

I used to work summers as a masonry laborer. We used to have impromptu strongmen competitions with cement bags and blocks every now and then, but I didn't really appreciate how good a workout I could get. I was pretty strong then - even with the crappily designed weightroom workouts (too much isolation and ridiculous parameters). I thought I knew much more about fitness than I actually did. I still don't know much, but I've devoted a fair amount of time to learning.

Anyway, that's a bit off the topic. To answer your question, the block weights vary considerably depending on the size, number of cells, and type. Currently, I have 40 lb blocks (standard 8" wide) because they were readily available. I'll probably look to get heavier ones once I move in a few months. Nominal block widths are between about 4 and 16 inches (gorilla biscuits), so you can get either very light or comparatively heavy (I would guess about 75 to 80 lbs or a little more for standard 2-cell blocks). You probably have to go to building supply to get the larger ones. Some types of block have a more solid outer edge and some have partially filled in cells. You can also get half blocks (or make them depending on how good your Kung Fu is [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ). If you really wanted to get into it, you could probably find some lintels (concrete beams used to span doorways, etc) at a building supply store.

[longbody]

Here is another fun exercise quoted from Steve Maxwell that involves one kettlebell. I have done 2 circuits with a 32 kg bell and little rest, but had to replace the clean/press with a clean/push press.

"This circuit was designed to promote strength/endurance ,
strength/flexibility,shoulder stability ,core strength and extreme cardio.
While primarily intended for grapplers,it 's great for anyone looking to be in top fighting condition.
Here's the challenge.Select the proper weight kettlebell(anyone over 175 should use 24kg unless you are a begginner). Perform the following four exercise circuit without putting the kettlebell down.You hold the bell the entire time.
1.clean/press(each press is preceded by a clean)10 reps right and 10 left
2.overhead squats-10 right and 10 left(get that butt deep)
3.windmills 10 right and 10 left (keep the legs straight and palm the floor)
4.swing style snatches 10 right and 10 left
Try to get done in 6 minutes or less,but don't use sloppy form.
Now after a brief rest,go through again.Your goal is three circuits.
Finish with some neck and calf work and a couple sets of hanging leg raises or Jandas.
My athletes have benefitted from this workout challenge and I hope you do to.
Steve Maxwell"