There have been some times that I have been particularly proud of my wife Trina.  The first, is when I dropped a knee on Sea Gull Beach and she said yes.  The second is when she showed up on our wedding day and said, “I do”.  The third, is when she gave birth to our daughter Aleyda.  Recently, for her to get out of her comfort zone and get on stage to compete in a figure competition.  By the way, there are many moments that I am proud of my wife-just in case you are wondering.  These are just some big ones!

Trina has made comments over the years about her interest in maybe trying to do a figure or bodybuilding competition, just for the inner challenge to see if she could do it.  Well a year ago she went with me to a competition to see a friend of ours, Dustin Rose, who I helped provide his weight training programs for his first bodybuilding show, and that got her desire going.  You can see Dustins pics and video here=> http://www.varietytrainer.com/dustins-journey-completed/  She kept talking about it and finally committed to a competition-the Mt. Rogers 36th Annual Drug Free Bikini, Figure, and Bodybuilding Championships to be held at Woodbridge, VA the weekend before Thanksgiving.    She had 11 months to prepare and train.

To make this successful for Trina, she had to be more dedicated and focused then she has ever been with any workout she has ever done before and be surrounded with support staff that knew what they were doing.  Of course, I got the job of training her with the weights and cardio training.  Tanya Williams, certified nutritionist, worked with her weekly prescribing  a well balanced nutrition program-not a typical unhealthy bodybuilding diet.  Finally, friend and past competitor Venessa Smoley, met with her every Sunday to work on poses and provided her with all the positive feedback any one person would EVER need.

In the end, Trina was the one who made it the most successful.  She stayed dedicated and made sacrifices that most people would never have the discipline to do.  She followed directions (for 11 months) and did what her support staff told her to do, which ultimately earned her a second place finish as a first time competitor!!

Results do not come easy, but I am convinced anyone can get what they want if they are willing enough work for it!  I really admire Drug Free figure and bodybuilding competitors.  Just like sport athletes, they must stay focused and dedicated.  Hopefully, you can see a little clearer why I am so proud of my wife for her accomplishments.

To your health,

Jerry

If you look at the picture of a bicep curl.  Image “A” would be a concentric contraction (muscle shortening) as you bring the dumbbell up and a eccentric contraction (muscle lengthening) as you bring the dumbbell back down.  Image “B” shows an example of a isometric contraction.  The hand is anchored and as you would attempt to squeeze and perform the curl, the arm will not move and as a result much tension will develop in the bicep muscles.

A muscle can generate greater tension with a maximum isometric contraction than with a maximum concentric contraction, but not as much as with a maximum eccentric contraction.  This may seem confusing to a person who just goes through the motions in a weight room.  Now the gym rat, will understand these principles because he/she will put these practices into work and experience the outcomes of their efforts.

What I find great about isometrics is that it can be done in different ranges of motion and with just about any strength exercise.  Let’s go back to the bicep curl.  If we are looking at your elbow and we have the elbow fully extended, the joint angle would be at 180 degrees.  As we start our bicep curl the angle in the elbow will decrease.  You could stop at any angle and perform an isometric contraction.  Most trainers will either do isometric contractions at the mid point, which would be 90 degrees for this example; or at full contraction with the curl all the way up and tight.  I will point out, that if you are using a free weight you should take in consideration for positioning with gravity.

To gain strength from isometric training, the athlete must use an exercise load (resistance) of 60-80% of their muscle’s force-developing capacity and it must be sustained against that resistance for at least 6 seconds to allow time for peak tension to develop and the metabolic changes to begin to occur in the muscle.  Strength will develop at the position or angle degree in which the exercise is performed.  You can see how this could be beneficial if you find a “sticking point” in an exercise.

In the video, you see my wife Trina keeping an isometric contraction in a seated row position with the elbows pulled back and the scapula in a retracted position.  She was told to hold until failure.  I did this at the end of her back training session as a finisher and this was her second set.  She is training for a figure competition and I wanted to get her upper back muscles to recruit as many muscle fibers as possible so when she does her back pose her muscles will “pop” on stage.

If you have never used or tried isometric training, I would encourage you to start experimenting with it.  I covered a few benefits of it but mentioned nothing in regards to the injury prevention and rehabilitation capabilities which I am sure you now can see those possibilities.  If you have any questions or suggestions to share with everyone; please post them in the comments section below.

Hope this helps!

To your health,

Jerry

Atlas Stones are a fundamental test of strength in many strongman competitions, and they have also become a staple among strength training enthusiasts who are looking for the ultimate strength workout.

Stones literally tax everything from head to toe. In fact, try not contracting any major muscle group like your legs, glutes, back, chest or biceps during a stone lift, and letís see if the stone even comes off the ground – fat chance.

The world record atlas stone lifted by a strongwoman competitor is over 300lbs, and the men’s world record is 529lbs. However, you can get the very same benefits just by lifting lighter atlas stones.

Youíve just got to know how to do it right! So let’s get into that right now.

Strongman DVD Special

LEARNING THE STONES

It’s time to get your hands on some stones and get to work.

At first, it can be easy to get frustrated with atlas stones as they fight you the whole way up. Since they are round, they make your job of lifting them very difficult, and once they start to get loose on you, they often win the battle. Learning how to conquer the atlas stones takes time and requires understanding the proper technique. Once you master the technique you then can really start to work on using the stones to take you to a new level of fitness.
SAFETY FIRST

Stone lifting is generally done by pulling the stone from the ground and either placing it on top of a platform or barrel, or it is put over a bar of a designated height (usually 4 feet or higher). Whatever you choose to lift the stone onto or over, make sure that it is stable. Here are some examples of loading strategies we have used.

Normally, we lift the stone over an adjustable strongman yoke bar. We also at times use solid platforms to load several stones one after the other. To make the platforms, we fastened wood pallets on top of each other, and attached plywood to the front and around all sides. We sometimes use whisky barrels or oil drums, but if you use a barrel watch out for the lip, as it can be a finger pincher.

With all platforms, please use caution making sure the back side of the platform is braced; this will keep the platform stable so it will not tip if the stone hits it. Once youíre more experienced you can work on shouldering the lighter stones. Incidentally, the world record for a shouldered stone is held by Derek Poundstone. In 2009 he shouldered a massive stone in the range of 420 lbs.

If you practice stone shouldering, make sure you use plenty of rubber mats to drop the stones on. At our club we use four of the 5/8î thick stall mats with plywood under them so we can just drop the stones off of our shoulder or the top platforms without damaging the floor or the stones.

As for lifting the stones, there are some basic cautions to be concerned with for safety.

I have seen athletes twist at the top of a stone load. If you are going heavy or you are doing reps to failure for conditioning, once you get the stone to the tip of the platform, do not pause in that top position longer than a few seconds, and do not twist in order to try to get it onto the platform, as accidents have happened at this point before.

HEIGHT OF PLATFORM

If you use a platform for stone loading, for most stone training I think it is best to use a platform that is around sternum height or somewhere below. This is a good position, especially if you are training for a particular sport that requires hip drive and/or triple extension like a football player exploding off the line of scrimmage or a swimmer leaping off the diving block.

As a variation and progression from the normal platform, we also sometimes use a hanging target. It may be a jump stretch band or a large rope hanging from a rafter or a power rack. We dangle the band or rope from the rack as a goal upon which to touch the stone. When you touch the top of the stone to the bottom of the band, you have achieved your goal. You can also have a partner pull the band/rope up slightly after each successful rep, so you try to increase the height on each rep.
Strongman DVD Special

LEARNING THE TECHNIQUE

I will discuss the best way that I have found to lift an Atlas Stone, although we all may lift them slightly differently.

In training, strive to keep good form so you can strengthen your body using the safest way of lifting. As for myself, when it comes to lifting the stone, I first position the stone about 6″-8″ away from what I may be loading it onto. I then face the Atlas Stone and straddle my feet over it so that my calves are around 1″ from it on both sides. I make sure I stand almost directly over the stone so the balls of my feet are positioned at the center point of it.

Next, I squat down to near parallel, grabbing the stone with my arms straight down and hug the center of it with my forearms and hands trying to get my fingers as far under the stone as possible without smashing them. My finger nails will likely be touching the ground at this point.

I then squeeze hard with my fingers, hands, forearms and begin to pull with my legs and entire back. This is when I think of contracting with everything I have. My legs straighten slightly as the stone begins to come up, although the legs are never completely straight. As the stone starts to pass my knees, I then re-bend my knees back into a near parallel squat and I roll the stone onto my lap. If possible, I also may try to walk my feet in slightly. Since I’m resting the stone on my lap, bringing the feet together will position the stone higher on the abdomen when I start the second part of the lift.

From here, I will reposition my hands more towards the top of the stone maybe about 1/3rd of the way up but not all the way on top or the stone will drop down. Your palms will not be facing each other any longer. They are now angled more towards the ground. I squeeze the stone again and press it against my chest so my chin is as far over the stone as possible. Then I will dip forward and down slightly to get a stretch reflex and pull back explosively with my upper body, forcefully standing up and driving my hips forward.

If I am just lifting the stone to the high chest and then returning it to the floor, I try to keep the center of the stone directly over my feet and lean back slightly to keep my balance. If I am loading the stone to a platform or over a marker, then I will propel it upward and forward, as shown in the image above. If loading on the platform, I also quickly reposition my arms just in case I donít quite make it and I have to push it fully onto the platform.
Strongman DVD Special

BEGINNER WORKOUTS

You now have an idea on technique. Let’s look at how to train with the stones.

For a beginner workout, I suggest you work with a light stone and focus on reps so you get used to the proper technique as well as conditioning your muscles for something they are not used to doing.

Even if you are a very strong athlete, I suggest that you keep to a stone around 200lbs or under to start with. If you are in good condition and you are new to stone lifting, try not to exceed a stone that is anything above 70% of your bodyweight. In other words, if your bodyweight is 100lbs, use about a 70lb stone, or if you weigh around 180lbs you would use about a 130lb stone, plus or minus a few pounds.

Take this stone and load it for 2-3 sets of 5-8 reps and 2-3 times per week for the first three weeks so you work on technique and conditioning. You may be tempted to go heavier, but just remember the best is yet to come so take it slow. Just try to improve your technique with the lighter stone.

For a stone workout that is centered on hardcore conditioning, you might try the following variations. Pick out a lighter stone and break the stone lifting technique down into segments. You will do the following stone lifting segment work for 3 sets of 10 reps.

The first 10 reps will be the LAP, SQUAT, DROP drill. To begin, pick up the stone, LAP it to the SQUAT position and stand up driving hard with the hips, pushing the stone upward and forward as high as you can. Then, DROP the stone on rubber mats and repeat.

For the next 10 reps, try the LAP, SQUAT and RETURN drill. In this drill, you will LAP the stone, SQUAT it up, and then this time RETURN the stone under control to your lap. Do this for 10 reps but DO NOT drop the stone.

Rest again and for the last 10 reps, do the LAP AND DROP drill, lapping the stone and then dropping it back down between your legs. Repeat this for 10 reps.

If you still have some gas in the tank, you might also finish off with 10 reps of bent over rows with an even lighter stone.

Start light with this series of drills because this can leave you exhausted and sore for days.

REVIEW

As you can see, Atlas Stone lifting can be a very beneficial practice that can quickly have you building muscle, burning calories, and becoming more powerful. This is particularly helpful for power and combat athletes that need to drive with the lower body, and also certain professions such as Law Enforcement and Corrections Officers who have to be able to subdue perpetrators.

With all the benefits of stone training, there are some risks involved, but the benefits far outweight the risks. As you train, start out light and use caution. Also, condition yourself to the stresses of stone lifting. As you progress, you can add equipment into the mix such as loading platforms, hanging targets, and drop areas, and before you know it you will be performing drills for speed, explosiveness, and conditioning. In time, you will be extremely rugged.

For more information on Atlas Stone training and many other types of Strongman Training events, please check out my Strongman DVD, Introduction to Strongman Training. Loaded with technique and safety tips, I can show you how to correctly train like a Strongman or Strongwoman. And whether you ever enter a competition or not, you will definitely be a stronger version of yourself in no time.

Steve Slater

Click here for the Strongman DVD Special

I would like to thank Steve for providing us here at Variety Trainer this informative article on atlas stone training.  Mr. Slater is an accomplished professional strongman competitor and considered by many, an expert in training technique and form for these lifts.  If you have any interest at all in learning these lifts or how to incorporate them into your current training program; I highly recommend you taking a look and consider getting his Introduction To Strongman Training DVD.  He teamed up with Jedd Johnson, who is a strength and grip expert (currently holds the world record for the two hand pinch dead lift) to film this DVD.  Tons of experience and excellent information!  Thanks guys!

To your health,

Jerry

Jedd Johnson from Diesel Crew came up with the events and ran the competition.  Unfortunately, not many stepped up to compete besides myself and two other brave men (Chance Smith & Paul Berry Jr.).  It was competitive and one heck of a great time!

There were three events:

The first event was the log press.  We had 1 minute to clean and press a 12 inch log bar as many times as possible to full lockout with your head through.  I think the bar weighted 110-120 pounds which is not extremely heavy but none of us have a log bar to train with normally, so the awkwardness of it was the difficult part.  You just do not clean a log bar like a regular barbell.

The second event was the mace swing; which proved to be even more awkward and as you seen or will see from the video, very challenging.  We also had one minute to swing the mace back and around our head to the point of attention (straight up in front of our body) as many times as possible.  I personally liked this event the most but was honestly glad when it was over.

The third event was the kettlebell sled drag.  The sled was loaded with 50 pounds and a 50-55 pound kettlebell was attached and used as a handle.  What you had to do was pinch the kettlebell between your hands and back peddle a certain distance.  Quickest time won.  This actually proved to be my worst event as I quickly found out that I need some work on my back peddling skills.  I guess I am just not as quick as I once was (getting older sucks!).

In the end; Paul, Chance, and I had a great time and had some good laughs afterwards; especially with my graceful stumble across the finish line.

I think it is great to get out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself with new and different types of training and strongman lifts will definitely do just that.  They can also be dangerous if not understood and done correctly.  Always make sure you understand the techniques involved in any of these types of exercises. Jedd Johnson is releasing a new DVD soon describing how to not only execute these movements correctly but also how to implement them into a training program.  I was able to review this DVD and it is totally awesome.  I will keep you posted when that will be available.

I would like to thank Jedd Johnson for organizing and running the event and Doug Smith for putting together what some say is the best strength & conditioning conference on the east coast!

I hope you enjoyed the video!  I was glad to share that with you all.

To your health,

Jerry

The workout seen in the video accomplished both of these at the same time.  There were only three exercises but when repeated in a circuit style approach over a five minute span; they become very taxing on the athlete.  Oxygen debt and muscle fatigue, which result in “burning” muscles quickly sets in.  An athlete’s mental toughness will quickly present itself.

The team was divided in half, with one half of the team always resting while the other half competed.  That’s right this was a competition!  Make something competitive and athletes work harder.  Every time they completed a circuit they got a point.  The circuit was 10 body weight touch squats to a D-Ball, then push a 45 lb plate across the weight room, and finally do 20 speed jacks (jumping jack done quickly and the hands must touch above the head).  They had 5 minutes to accumulate as many points as they could.  The girls resting kept track of the girls competing.  At the end of 5 minutes, the girls resting now got to compete and the others got to rest.  We did this for two full rounds for both groups.

After the workout was completed and the points added up; the 5 athletes with the fewest points had to do a fun challenge that the rest of the team came up with.  These are fun and a good way to reward the team for challenging themselves and working hard.

This workout, although not long, is demanding on the body and mind.  Give it a go and really try to push yourself.  You may just find out the 5 minutes feels like 10 minutes!  Repeating the whole thing again 5 minutes later makes it feel like 20 minutes!!

To your health,

Jerry

Typically when we train biceps we will do complex circuits or finishers at the end of workouts.  I wanted to share with you two of these circuits we do.  These are challenging high volume sets.

Triple Eight Set:

• These will be done one arm at a time so you can concentrate on the contraction and form.
• Grab a semi-heavy dumbbell that you can curl for eight reps.
• After the first eight reps are complete, set the dumbbell down and grab another dumbbell 5-10 lbs lighter and curl that for eight reps.
• Repeat one more time again dropping 5-10 lbs.  This will be a total of three sets of 8 on the one arm.
• Then switch to the other arm and repeat this process.
• When you are done go back to the first arm and repeat back and forth until 3 full sets are done on both arms.
• You will probably have to drop weight down little by little for each full set as you fatigue.

The Rack:

• Do with both arms at the same time.  Try to focus on good form throughout the entire workout.
• Grab the heaviest two dumbbells that you can successfully curl for five reps.
• Rest for 5-7 seconds.
• Then grab the next set of dumbbells 5 lbs lighter and curl them to failure.
• Rest for 5-7 seconds.
• Repeat this pattern through all the dumbbells on the dumbbell rack until you reach the 5 lb dumbbells.
• I’ll bet you 5 lb dumbbells never felt so heavy!!!
• Remember, focus on good form and technique.  This will be hard to do when you start fatiguing and you can no longer “feel” your arms.  This is the feeling you get when you have gone past the burn!  Enjoy it!!

Again, as you can see these are challenging high volume sets that produce a lot of hypertrophy in the biceps.  In return, this will promote much muscle break down and growth.  I must warn you that if you never trained a single muscle group this way, you better be prepared for some muscle soreness the next few days.  Enjoy the “pump”!!

To your health,

Jerry

On this day, we ran the basketball team through a seven station circuit.  Each station was 30 seconds long with 20 seconds of rest between each.  They went through the circuit three times with 2 minute rest and water breaks between circuits.
“BLUE COLLAR” Circuit:

• Punching Bag:  Open hand, Forearm,and kneeing
• Rope Climb:  Hand over hand climb
• Land Mine Alternating speed press
• Bonnies: Alternating lateral bounding with pause
• Tire Sled Drag with Power Row:  Full squat to power row
• Bosu Trainer Toe Touch:  Balance on one foot, touch toe with opposite hand
• Tire Flip:  Drive tire up and over with two foot hop through

Although this is not a long day in the weight room; I believe these types of workouts accomplish more than just conditioning, strength, and power.  They help to create an atmosphere and attitude.  I preach this to the team to make them believe in themselves and in each other.  Confidence must be high on a college basketball team.  They must have fun also.  When you have this combination on a basketball court during a game; plays are made and not forced which results in lower turnovers and better scoring opportunities.

As a strength coach, it is not always about how strong can you get that athlete.  You have to look at the total package and what you are trying to produce to walk out on that court so they can be in the best position to play to their abilities!  Establish a “work ethic” relationship with your athletes and they will give you the effort you desire.

To your health,

Jerry

Hey Everyone,

This is a guest post done by Jedd Johnson from Diesel Crew.  I have known Jedd for years and he easily has some of the strongest hands of anyone I have ever met.  If you have any questions or comments for Jedd; please post them in the comments area and I will make sure he sees them.  Enjoy!

Hi, my name is Jedd Johnson.  I am a CSCS through the NSCA, an RKC through Dragondoor, and am co-founder of DieselCrew.com.  Our website is dedicated to exploring the development of strength and conditioning for all athletes in all sports.

Over the years, my favorite facet of strength training has been Grip Strength and I compete in several competitions every year.  Grip Competitions involve Crushing, Pinching, Support lifting and other forms of hand and lower arm strength.

One of the coolest parts of the sport of Grip is Nail Bending.  Bending nails, spikes, bolts, steel stock, drill rod, and other things is one of the most exciting and obsessive types of strength training you can do.

Up until now, Nail Bending might be one of the last things you would ever think of doing in your program, but there are actually a ton of benefits that you can get from Bending.

Check these out…
Nail Bending – How To Melt Steel With Your Bare Hands

1. Forearm size

Nail Bending involves a great deal of tension in the hands, wrists and forearms which leads to major forearm muscle development. Often, forearm work at the gym involves movements like wrist curls and other simple variations.

While wrist curls and similar classic forearm exercises bring about results, they pale in comparison to the bulk build by bending. The sustained tension of nail bending causes growth in both the flexor side of the forearm and the extensor side of the forearm, creating an impressive look of balance and control.

In short, your forearms will probably BLOW UP!
Nail Bending – How To Melt Steel With Your Bare Hands

2. Mental and Physical Toughness

Bending nails, bolts and other items involves taking a perfectly good nail and twisting it into a shape that makes it completely useless for any of its normal industrial applications. You’re doing something that was never meant to be done, and to do this requires you to focus all of your strength and your mental power into the bend. A lack of commitment from either end of the spectrum will end up in your inability to finish up the bend.

In order to Bend Big Nails, you have to work hard and be mentally strong.

When you become proficient in harnessing your mind’s and your body’s power in nail bending, imagine the results you will see in your other lifts or in the sport you play. You’ll be unstoppable compared to everyone else who has never truly tested themselves in the ways you have after taking on the challenge of bending.
Nail Bending – How To Melt Steel With Your Bare Hands

3. Make an Impression!

Take Note:  Nail bending is NOT some form of trickery or slight of hand like magic is.

However, it DOES bring about much the same reaction from a crowd.

Imagine talking about this new sort of strength training you are doing and when they ask you to show them, you bust out a nail, wrap it in a towel and bend it right before their eyes.

How awesome will that be?!?!

You could use this classic feat of strength of Bending to set yourself from everybody else at school, at the gym, or at your place of work.  Instead of just blending in with the rest of the people, you will automatically be set apart from everybody else.

Instead of just somebody in the crowd, you’ll become the Strong Guy/Gal (Yes, ladies bend too!!!), or The Nail Bender.

Every time people see you, even if it’s only occasionally, you’ll be burned in their mind as somebody with a strong grip – nobody to mess with, that is for sure.
Nail Bending – How To Melt Steel With Your Bare Hands

4. Get Your Name “Up in Lights”

Nail bending has been growing in popularity exponentially. In fact, you can now get certified for Serious Nail Bending.

The first widely known certification system for Bending was the IronMind Red Nail, a 7-inch long, 5/16-inch thick round piece of steel bar.  This bar takes over 450-lbs of strength in order to bend.

Other sites have come on board with certifications of other pieces of steel stock, including Fat Bastard Barbell and Bender’s Battlefield.  The numbers of people bending challenge bars steadily increases each day.
Nail Bending – How To Melt Steel With Your Bare Hands

5. Fun

Isn’t one of the reasons you train in the first place to have fun?  Well, the best thing about nail bending is that it is good pure fun. You are able to test yourself and see improvement in your technique and strength while seeing increases in confidence and mental edge.

You can crank up the music and go for a new personal best.

Over the course of time, all of the nails, bolts, and stock you bend can be saved for posterity. You can see how you progressed over the years.

One day, you’ll be able to tell your grand kids about when you first dominated the 60-penny nail or the grade-5 bolt. And maybe you can even log them onto one of the certification sites and show them the certifications you were able to acquire.

In short, nail bending is one of the most exciting parts of the sport of Grip Strength. For me, the physical and the mental benefits I have seen from nail bending are outstanding, not to mention the friendships I have made with some of the top nail benders in the United States and around the world.

In fact, I love the challenge of Nail Bending so much I recently put together a DVD showing you everything you need to know in order to get started.  This DVD contains info on Bending Techniques, Strength Building, and Hand Health so you can continue to bend and enjoy it for years to come.

This DVD is coming out this week.   Look for an email or message from Jerry very soon because he is going to tell you when it is available.

Until then, all the best in your training, and get ready to bend some steel!!!

Nail Bending – How To Melt Steel With Your Bare Hands

Jedd Johnson, CSCS, RKC

Red Nail Certified – 2007

The Diesel Crew

Hey Everyone,

This is an update on this original post.  Jedd’s Nail Bending-How To Melt Steel With Your Bare Hands is live and now on sale!  He is hooking up all my readers with this mad discount but it is only for a short time.  Do not pass this opportunity up and grab this DVD now!!  Click on any of the links in this post and it will take you over to get all the info.

Jedd, Thanks brother for hooking up my readers with this awesome DVD!!

To Your Health,

Jerry

Our pre-season weight room workouts run three days a week.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are about hitting big emphasis lifts like cleans, jerks, sumo box squats, and single arm snatches.  We also supplement in pressing movements (bench press and incline db presses), pulling movements (one arm dumbbell rows and many pull-up variations), and tons of posterior chain exercises (glute/hams and reverse hypers).   I never forget to put a good focus on grip strength development.

On Saturdays, I run them through intense circuit training circuits called the “Beast”.  This has been a tradition the last couple of years for the wrestling team and something that they really get psyched up about.  I instruct them to throw everything out the window and just go for it!  Conquer and destroy each station to the best of their abilities until they are told to move to the next station.  It is insane and we would not want it any other way.

The following is the order of exercises for the “Beast” and although you might not know what each exercise is; I think you can appreciate how physically and mentally challenging this circuit really is.

1. Burpees
2. Heavy Punching Bag
3. 60 lb Kettle Bell Swing
4. Landmine Ab Bar Twist
5. 40 lb Dumbbell Curl
6. Box Depth Jumps
7. Double Arm Plank
8. Swivel Grip Pull-up
9. 65 lb Keg Power Clean To Press
10. Ring Push-up
11. Rocky Pull-up (Pipe hung from chains in a power rack)
12. Box Squat-2-Box Jump
13. D-Ball Seated Russian Twist
14. Tire Sled Push
15. Curved Fat Grip Wrist roll
16. Overhead D-Ball Box Squat
17. Rope Climb
18. Ab Roller
19. D-Ball Ab Slam-Jump-Catch
20. Double Landmine Squat Press
21. Band Triceps Extensions
22. Knees-2-Feet-2-Box Hop
23. Tire Flip
24. Softball Grip Chain Holds

Each of the 24 stations lasted for 30 seconds and they would rotate to the next station on a whistle command.  Twelve plus minutes of continuous work followed by a 5 minute rest period.  We would do three full rounds followed by a cool-down and long stretching session.

I want to stress that this is a very strenuous training circuit being done by trained Division I Collegiate athletes.  This type of training should not be done by a novice or someone who has not been prepared by training principles to attempt a circuit of this caliber.

We are looking forward to another successful wrestling season!

To your health,

Jerry

The Plate Push has the ability to do all this based off how the exercise is applied.  Before we get to all that; lets discuss the basic set up for the hands and body.

• First, make sure the plate is set down with the smooth side down on the ground or floor.
• Your hands will be places just slightly behind the mid line of the plate.
• You will get down low just like a sprinter would who is ready to explode out of the starting blocks.
• Position yourself behind the plate so that your shoulders are not over the plate but behind it.
• Contract your core by pulling in your belly button towards your spine.  This is a draw-in technique and you should still be able to breath.
• Lift your knees off the floor and you are ready to start pushing!

There are factors to be considered here which will determine the level of resistance.

• How much of your body weight will you be pushing downward onto the plate.
• Your surface area.  The plate will push much easier on a smooth surface and much harder on a surface like a rubber floor, carpet, or grass.
• How much paint is on the smooth side of the plate.  A plate with a lot of paint will tend to feel tacky when pushing on a rubber floor verses a plate with very little paint on it.

If you are looking to use this exercise for conditioning purposes; I would suggest you know the distance you want to accomplish or set a time frame and see what distance you actually did accomplish.  You may find this is be much harder than you think depending on your level of muscular and cardiovascular endurance.

If you are looking for the exercise to produce power and explosion; you would want to define your distance such as 10-20 yards.  Then perform the plate push with as much intensity and power as possible for the set yardage, followed by a good rest period before going again.

Both of these techniques work great but I do want to point out that this is much harder than it looks and should be practiced before jumping right into a solid workout with it.

To your health,

Jerry