Sandbag loading video
Wednesday, December 31st, 2008Here’s a cool video of some dude loading a sandbag. It says it’s 100 pounds so pretty cool and awesome display of power and strength
Here’s a cool video of some dude loading a sandbag. It says it’s 100 pounds so pretty cool and awesome display of power and strength
First time trying these. Fun. Extra thick grip work with the bag and the positioning. Awesome exercise!
Did some training at the playground with the USA, universal strength apparatus. Love this thing. I know it’s about time, haven’t had much time to do playground training this summer, but love it when I do
Below is a video of a guy doing some Bruce Lee Pushups. This is hard as hell. I can only do 3 but that’s with using my full hand not just my fingertips like this dude. Mad props, Bro!
Prowler kicks my a$$ everytime I do it. But I still love it. Gasping for air after every set sort of makes me feel alive, I can’t describe it. Exercise releases endorphins that give you that ‘high’ feeling sensation, that’s really not what I feel. My feeling is more nauseating, I want to throw up kind of feeling. It feels like there is an army of little men inside of my quads punching them continously. I have never felt so much lactate acid build up in my quads after a long prowler sprint on the low bars. Unbelievable!
Today my workout was as follows
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Found this at the sun-sentinel website
Fitness Profile: Pavel Tsatsouline trains NFL’s Heath Evans with kettlebell fitness program in Palm Beach County
By Nick Sortal | South Florida Sun-Sentinel
June 29, 2008
He wrote a strength magazine article in 1998 called “Vodka, Pickle Juice, Kettlebell Lifting, and Other Russian Pastimes.”
Then, in 2001, kettlebell sales and books came to the United States.
Now Pavel Tsatsouline is the Anthony Robbins of kettlebell. He markets kettlebell books, videos, equipment and seminars.
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This looks like a great documentary. Came out May 30. Looked around not playing near Columbus. Will have to wait till dvd comes out.
These two phrases have been popping up a lot lately in the arena of athletics. Sport specific and functional training. In sport, they really mean the same things. You have to train sport specifically for your sport– meaning training the same energy systems used during competition, training the same kind of explosive power, strength, endurance, skills, etc…. Functional training in sport means that you are training to enhance your ability to perform a certain task or tasks– again energy systems, power, strength, etc….
If you are not training in a way that is specific, detrimental effects could occur with continued use of these poor training methods. A few months ago I met a soccer coach, who was coach of an A squad and a B squad soccer team. In order to get onto the ‘A’ Team you had to run a mile under a certain time. This was the only qualification. It didn’t matter how good you were, how many goals you scored or anything like that, all that mattered was a mile run time. Now granted a soccer player does a lot of running during a game, I think they figured out that a forward ran something like 8 miles total in an average game.
But never does a player run this continuously. It’s all about starting (accelerating) to the ball or play, stopping (decelerating), then maybe a cut here or there and accelerating again; maybe a jog here, then a quick start and repeat. What’s sad is that this happens on mostly all levels from youth sports all the way up to the pros, and not just soccer, I just used that as an example.
If you’re an athlete, coach, parent I highly encourage you to check out the training program. Even if it is sports specific make sure its quality based and not quantity based. Look subjectively, there probably are some things that can be excluded, or pushed aside for a while and brought back in later. Athletes have enough punishment on their bodies through practice and competition, and if they are pushed to an overtraining state then expect a decline in performance and perhaps even injury. If you have questions, ask me, or ask someone.
How do you think the athletes below would fair if they switched sports and were expected to compete immediately? Think about your training
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For those of you that don’t know what Tabata protocal is, it’s 4 minutes of pure hell! It was originally designed by a Japanese Doctor– amazingly named Tabata! He originally designed it to be done with full out running, but since catching on in the US and other places all kinds of exercises can be done with it. Just one of the many studies can be found here.
It basically is you perform :20 a selected exercise at full intensity. Then you rest for just :10, Then another :20. This is repeated for 8 rounds. For those of you that think your in shape, it’s a lot harder than it seems. If you’ve never done it before I suggest going more of a :20/:20 ratio or a :15/:!5. First time I did it I did it with DB Thrusters with 30 lbs each hand and only lasted 4.5 rounds.
In my opinion there is no better protocol for conditioning combat athletes– boxing, mma, wrestling. Other sports can surely benefit by it, just make sure you have a bucket nearby. And for fat loss nothing really compares. People that do aerobics and walk on the treadmill or elliptical for hours on end and don’t see any results won’t go near Tabata– because it’s hard as hell! They do those things because it’s easy, and they want to feel like their at least trying to lose weight. But getting the best workout for weight/fat loss and muscle gain and conditioning all come down to one thing– what you put into it. Or intensity. And with the Tabata protocol there aren’t too many more things more intense. Give it a try, and let me know the results.
I just did a 2 set one today of heavy bag punching and squat thrusts. Your only limited by your imagination of what you can do. Below is a creative fellow who did sledgehammer slams and kettlebell snatches. I might have to try that one soon.

I’m writing this because I met with an athlete the other day and he expressed to me that his coach did not allow any water breaks at all during the 2 hour practices. First off I didn’t think that this kind of behavior still excisted in this day in age. With all the information out there, and the news of athletes dropping over dead from heat exhaustion, heat stroke, dehydration, etc…. Water makes up 70% of our bodies aprox. and to not go with it for a 2 hour basketball practice is absurd. Did I mention this kid was only 13 years old? Coaches, parents , atheltes I cannot stress to you the importance of water. Good rule of thumb is to drink 1 cup (8 oz) every 15 pounds of body weight.
Inadequate water consumption can be physically harmful. Consider that a loss of as little as 2% of one’s body weight due to sweating, can lead to a drop in blood volume. When this occurs, the heart works harder in order to move blood through the bloodstream. Pre hydration and re hydration are vital to maintaining cardiovascular health, proper body temperature and muscle function.
Eat a high carbohydrate, low fat diet & drink plenty of fluids between exercise sessions. (Plain water or fluids WITHOUT sugar, caffeine or alcohol are the best).
Drink 17 oz (2+ Cups) of fluid 2 hours before exercise.
Drink every 15 minutes during exercise.
Keep drinks cooler than air temperature & close at hand (a water bottle is ideal).
If you exercise for more than 60 minutes, you may benefit from a sports drink containing carbohydrate (not greater than 8% concentration, though).
Take 30-60 grams of carbohydrate per hour to delay fatigue & fuel muscle contractions.
Inclusion of sodium (0.5-0.7 g.1 (-1) of water) ingested during exercise lasting longer than an hour may enhance palatability, and therefore encourage athletes to drink enough.
Although athletes are more prone to suffer symptoms of dehydration, all exercisers can increase performance & delay fatigue or muscle pain by staying properly hydrated. Consider ‘pre hydrating’ by drinking 12-16 ounces of water 1-2 hours before exercising. To get an idea of just how much you need to drink, you should start weighing yourself before and after your workouts. Any weight decrease is probably due to water loss (sorry, but you didn’t just lose 2 pounds of body fat). If you have lost 2 or more pounds during your workout you should drink 24 ounces of water for each pound lost.
Another way to determine your state of hydration is by monitoring your morning and pre-exercise heart rate. Over the course of a few weeks, you will see a pattern. This information can be extremely helpful in determining your state of recovery. Days when your heart rate is elevated above your norm may indicate a lack of complete recovery, possibly due to dehydration.