For me lifting the same old weight over and over again can get a bit boring and a bit tiresome.
Maybe I am a hipster when it comes to weight lifting and fitness because I am always looking to try something new, be different and do the opposite of whatever everyone else is doing.
Sure I do traditional weight lifting stuff-- you know the bench, dead lift and squats. One thing I also do though is lift weird awkward objects as well as do grip work that may appear slightly unusual the average gym rat.
Most of my unique training I do might be done with equipment that isn’t in the norm of your local gym or even is homemade.
The thing is that this weird awkward object training builds different levels of strength for an individuals that carry over to other lifts, they are great for conditioning and is just fun to do.
When it comes to weight lifting I try to not make it a chore. I generally enjoy working out and part of that is doing things that are unusual.
There is some great awkward object training that you can do right at home with a relatively low investment.
Keg Lifting
Probably my all time favorite thing to lift that is heavy is a water filled beer keg that I have in my garage. Beer kegs I feel like are one of the most versatile and challenging pieces of equipment anyone can work with.
One thing that is great about keg lifting is that just about any college kid who has an apartment probably has one laying around in a corner of some room from a party the night before.
Buying a beer keg just for the sake of working out may be a little costly. The cost itself is probably close to $100. The keg itself is really just a $50 deposit plus the beer. Luckily, if you have a few friends who can chip in you can empty the keg of beer and make your money back.
Now that you have an empty keg what do you do with it?
Well the most obvious thing is to shoulder press it overhead. Depending on the type of keg you have it can be relatively simple to fill it with water (I suggest that you look up a tutorial on how to do this).
With water inside the keg pressing even with it partially full can be difficult. The water moves back in forth inside of the keg making it hard to get the weight overhead.
There are also some other great lifts you can do with a keg besides just shoulder presses. You can do all of the Olympic lifts which can be very difficult as well as work on some strong man style exercises.
In the summer I like to take my heavy beer keg and bear hug it. I then walk the length of my back yard back and forth to see how many laps I can do.
Other uses can be partial dead lifts, kettlebells swings and shouldering exercises.
Great thing about the keg is that it works your stabiliser muscles and abs with the constant weight shift from the water inside.
Slosh Pipe
Another great awkward object to work with is a slosh pipe. A slosh pipe is just a long and thick PVC pipe filled half-way with water and sealed at both ends with caps.
The pipe was an excellent and fun piece of training equipment my college roommates and I had fun messing around with.
Our pipe was practically impossible to grip so lifting it over head was a real challenge especially with the moving water on the inside.
It is almost impossible to keep the water perfectly level within the pipe but that is also the challenge.
Try walking with the pipe in the crook of your arms, front squatting or pressing a slosh pipe and you may find yourself working muscles you didn’t even know you had.
It was always a challenge to work out with this piece of equipment and was something fun for my roommates and I to use.
We would keep the pipe in our living room and would challenge so-called college strong men to try lifting the pipe to level. If they were real masters we would challenge them to press it over head.
Have fun with it and give it a try but remember you need a lot of space to use this piece of equipment.
Maces
Another great piece of equipment that you may be able to make ( I didn’t though) are maces.
I have a macebell I bought from Torque athletic which I love and also paid a lot of money for.
Maces are basically large round weight on the end of a stick. I have seen some homemade versions online using dowel rods and bowling balls. Go nuts and be creative.
Maces are a challenge most because it requires some sort of leveraging strength.
The most common exercise is the swing which involves whipping the weight around your neck and back to your front. It is not as easy at seem this particular movement requires you to use your forearms, grip, shoulders and obliques just to complete it.
There are lots of great exercises like shovel lifts, uneven bicep curls and walking ab bridges.
Monday, March 28, 2011
The five myths of weight lifting or why some people can't do a PR
I originally submitted to this article to EliteFTS.com about two weeks ago unfortunately they never got back with me on whether or not they would publish this article so instead I am putting it up on this blog instead.
I have weight lifter’s ADD-- sad to say but it is true-- I am one of those people that spends a great deal of their time trolling the Internet for the newest, latest and most unconventional ways on how to get strong.
Of course with all my vast fitness knowledge, countless hours spent lifting iron and overall craziness I am relatively weak. I wish I could tell you that I looked like the incredible hulk, or weighed 145-pounds and could bench a half ton of weight.
The sad truth is I’m not a freak in any sense of the word, I’m fit, but not freaky.
However, with my constant self-experimentation I would say I have some good insight and advice in the world of strength training and fitness. I can honestly say that I am probably stronger then the average guy with a gym membership and have managed to accomplish a few personal fitness goals as well.
Some of those goals is a constant weight gain (from 145-185-pounds) since I started college in late-2006 and graduation in 2011. Took up steel bending for one year and managed to bend a few small nails before stopping and losing the skill all together and being able to successfully do a free standing hand stand pushup.
So here for your pleasure I present 5-weight lifting myths that I have discovered through my self-experimentation.
Myth 5: The biggest guy is the strongest guy or why bodybuilders are not the strongest
Look I have been there I have been that self-obsessed, image absorbed guy who wanted to be huge. I always told myself that wasn’t the case but truthfully I started out weight lifting for sport specific training and became more interested in the glamour of it all.
Bodybuilders are all about the pump and while there are some very strong bodybuilders who can bench press about 600-pounds there also guys who are about 90-pounds lighter who can do the exact same thing. 600-pound benchers in bodybuilding is not the norm it is the exception.
Of course strength is a hard thing to measure because there are many types of strength but in the pure sense of the traditional lifts: Dead lifting, benching and squat the biggest guys are not putting up the top numbers in these categories.
Remember, bodybuilding is about the pump not the poundage strength is just a by product that comes along with training hard.
Myth 4: You can’t get stronger at your current weight or why bulking up is only slightly crap
Of course with all my vast fitness knowledge, countless hours spent lifting iron and overall craziness I am relatively weak. I wish I could tell you that I looked like the incredible hulk, or weighed 145-pounds and could bench a half ton of weight.
The sad truth is I’m not a freak in any sense of the word, I’m fit, but not freaky.
However, with my constant self-experimentation I would say I have some good insight and advice in the world of strength training and fitness. I can honestly say that I am probably stronger then the average guy with a gym membership and have managed to accomplish a few personal fitness goals as well.
Some of those goals is a constant weight gain (from 145-185-pounds) since I started college in late-2006 and graduation in 2011. Took up steel bending for one year and managed to bend a few small nails before stopping and losing the skill all together and being able to successfully do a free standing hand stand pushup.
So here for your pleasure I present 5-weight lifting myths that I have discovered through my self-experimentation.
Myth 5: The biggest guy is the strongest guy or why bodybuilders are not the strongest
Look I have been there I have been that self-obsessed, image absorbed guy who wanted to be huge. I always told myself that wasn’t the case but truthfully I started out weight lifting for sport specific training and became more interested in the glamour of it all.
Bodybuilders are all about the pump and while there are some very strong bodybuilders who can bench press about 600-pounds there also guys who are about 90-pounds lighter who can do the exact same thing. 600-pound benchers in bodybuilding is not the norm it is the exception.
Of course strength is a hard thing to measure because there are many types of strength but in the pure sense of the traditional lifts: Dead lifting, benching and squat the biggest guys are not putting up the top numbers in these categories.
Remember, bodybuilding is about the pump not the poundage strength is just a by product that comes along with training hard.
Myth 4: You can’t get stronger at your current weight or why bulking up is only slightly crap
Look I can honestly say that I have tried bulking up and despite a constant positive looking muscular weight gain I have made relatively small gains in certain critical lifts.
I will first like to say that weight lifting starts first as a skill, second as overall personal psychology, third as good nutrition and lastly your genetic limitations at a given weight.
I have never been stronger then I have been right now and am currently 15-pounds lighter then my heaviest weight of 185-pounds. I was fit at 185 but I am superman at 170 in my most difficult lift--the bench.
Everyone is so obsessed with the bench despite it not being nearly as critically or developmentally as important as the dead lift and squat-- this of course is a topic for another article.
I have essentially become a better bencher out of the necessity to become a better lifter.
I taught myself how to bench as a technical skill that requires correct positioning of the shoulders, back and legs. You engage more muscles then just your chest in the bench and it is important to learn how to properly , lower the weight as well as pushing it up.
There are about a hundred itsy-bitsy things that can help to improve a bench press but the most key and critical thing I have learned is body positioning you need to know how to engage your legs, lats and triceps and protect your shoulders so you don’t hurt them.
A smart lifter is a healthy lifter and just about every lift has a few correct ways of doing it and about 100 wrong ways.
Another thing is finding psychological weakness-- a lot of people are going to sell themselves short on a lift just because they can’t believe they are trying to lift that much.
The truth is most people have it in them to accomplish great feats of strength but the psychology isn’t there. Each lifting routine should include some sort of meditation-- not the Buddhist kind but some sort of routine to put you in a winning state of mind.
Possibilities include: listening to certain types of music, visualization technique or like arm wrestler Travis Bagent screaming and self-hype.
Finally, if you are purely concerned about strength and have made all the adjustments and can’t seem to get stronger gain weight. Hypertrophy isn’t the be all or end all in strength gains but sometimes it is necessary.
Myth 3: Getting stronger and hypertrophy requires almost constant working out
Once again this another one of those myths that are not true-- these work out splits that they sell in bodybuilding magazines where a person trains five maybe six days a week is crap.
If you train that much you might get some good definition but you are also not going to make significant weight gains and will just make yourself sick from over training.
Do you think these bodybuilders are training six days a week for most of the year-- doubt it. I can’t actually say since I have never once been close to winning a Mr. Olympia but I can tell you that I made the biggest weight gains when I switched to a high intensity three-days a week workout.
I did everything I could do to reach that epic muscular failure that is so glamorized by meat heads in the work out magazines. Exercising like this allowed me to gain nearly 15lbs in one month.
Lets look at a not to scientific explanation: Muscle fibers break down, then they get plenty of rest to grow back bigger and stronger.
It doesn’t make sense that training to constant failure six out of seven days a week would make you get big and strong. When does your body have time to recuperate?
Hypertrophy is due to micro-tears in your muscle fibers if you are always tearing and splitting those fibers they aren’t going to have a chance to adapt.
In fact you will just make yourself sick from over training and then you won’t be able to work out-- so you are doing yourself a favor when you give yourself an extra day of rest.
The same goes with power lifting if you don’t hit that weight you were gunning for then you probably need to take a rest so that your body can heal back stronger.
MYTH 2: Flexibility makes you weaker or why I choose to give up my ability to tie my own shoes
There is this idea that stretching will make you weaker, while there may be some truth to this it is still only a half-truth.
The number one purpose of stretching is to prevent injury and to remove tightness from muscles.Yet for some strange reason people view stretching as sissy and totally avoid the practice-- those people often times are the people who complain of bad backs from years of dead lifting heavy poundage.
To a degree if you stretch before a work out you are in a way overworking your muscles before lifting and could be making them weaker. Of course that is only a temporary result of stretching.
Stretching is something that should be done usually in between sets or after a workout.
Stretching is going to help remove blood from your muscles and help to relieve some of that next day soreness. There of course are some other benefits of stretching that weight lifters may not be aware off.
Stretching can be effectively used to increase muscle fullness in hypertrophy--if you don’t believe me then its time to seriously look into Dogg Crap Training.
In DC training weighted stretches are used to help pack on that extra density in a targeted muscle area.
MYTH 1: You need fancy protective equipment when you are lifting.
If you can’t dead lift 300-pounds without a belt or no straps then you aren’t strong enough to dead lift 300-pounds.
There is this mindset that to be a lifter you have to wear straps, expensive tennis shoes and use a weight belt. FALSE!
None of that stuff is necessary and in fact almost all of that hinders your strength gains. I am sure that there comes a time when maybe some of those things are necessary but when you consider that Louis Cyr quite possibly the strongest man to ever lived dead lifted over 500-pounds with no belt, straps or expensive shoes with only a finger then those things sort of seem pointless.
Once again I can’t stress technique enough which a lack off is primarily why people wear belts. Most people in a YMCA or college recreation centers are not a world powerlifting champion like current world strongest man Zydrunas Savickas.
I have yet to see in person someone dead lift 800-pounds at an everyday run of the mill gym. Until you are an elite power lifter there isn’t much of a need for a belt.
Read about muscle tension and irradiation written about in Pavel Tsatsouline’s “Power to the People” book and it becomes clear that bracing your muscles tight before a lift acts as a natural weight belt to protect your spine.
Next are straps another one of those things where unless your are an elite power lifter have no business using.
You’ll notice at most gyms these amateur bodybuilders will be shrugging with the 100-pound dumb bells but are using straps. These guys are weak, I’m sorry and are severely limiting their bodies development.
Don’t shrug or dead lift more then you can grip. If you can’t grip it then you need to go back to the drawing board and work on getting your hands stronger.
Stronger hands equals a stronger lifter the harder you can grip something the tenser your body becomes and allows you to lift more.
It’s irradiation again and even in exercises like the bench press a strong grip can make the difference in setting that new personal record.
Finally shoes.
A lot of lower back, knee and ankle problems come from modern shoes. Scientists are discovering that injuries shoes are designed to prevent actually cause them. Forget about lifting weights in Air Jordans your best bet is going barefoot.
If you can’t go barefoot then wear something flat like some Converse Chuck Taylors, Vibram Five Fingers or some of those water shoes you buy at the beach.
Why do this?
Well for lifters it is because you are lower to the ground and have less distance to move a weight off the floor from. Also, since your not as high up and your standing flat instead of a pronated position your less likely to roll your ankles and knees.
You get more muscle activation as well when your wearing a minimal amount of shoe your forcing those underused muscles on the bottoms of your feet to actually work.
Conclusion
Finally, I can’t stress technique enough I know there are going to be these first time lifters who read this that will think they can just pull weight of the ground without a weight belt. Technique is always the most important thing to learn in weight lifting and anyone considering doing it should research and train technique before attempting to lift heavy weights.
Be smart before you lift heavy and makes sure to talk to your doctor before starting any kind of exercise program.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Bigger biceps through grip training
I'm not someone who would probably win most arm wrestling matches.
Lets face it I am a skinny guy with skinny forearms and average sized biceps.
Don't get me wrong you don't have to have arms like Alexey Voyevoda to win matches, Jon Brzenk looks average compared to most people in the sport and he is like Muhammad Ali when it comes to slamming peoples arms on the table.
I'm not someone who is to obsessed with training biceps... I got over it a while ago. The last time I tested myself in a bicep curl I was somewhere around 105 or 110-pounds.
Not terrible, but not great... and I managed to get a few reps out of it.
Regardless you look at me standing next to my friends who enjoy lifting and I have baby arms. Where I think I am the strongest is in an overhead press.
I have shoulder pressed a keg a little over half-way full over my head before I got a groin injury from heavy front squats.
Needless, to say biceps I don't care as much for training.
But, lately I have noticed them getting a little larger.
I probably haven't done direct bicep work in over a month and even then I only did it about twice a week for three weeks.
So what happened?
Well I can only guess it happening because of the grip work I have been doing and heavy dead lifts.
Watched, John Brookfield's Blueprint for Grip Strength and I started doing his wet towel squeeze and twist (it is exactly what it sounds like). Not only do my forearms get tired by my biceps are pumping.
I'm not much of a bodybuilder (I tried with little success) but I can honestly say this is probably one exercise they could benefit from.
Besides just squeezing and twisting towels I have been doing my homemade rolling handle dead lifts for grip.
Dead lifts are considered one of the best exercises because of all the muscles they recruit.
I've read it was a great exercise for biceps but I didn't figure that me pulling about 190-pounds would have any affect ( I have a lower back injury that has reduced my once unimpressive 315-pound strapless overhand grip dead lift.) Never did I think that doing deads with such a small amount would have any effect.
Sure enough though I am seeing a change.
So, get gripping if you are looking to pack on some size.
Lets face it I am a skinny guy with skinny forearms and average sized biceps.
Don't get me wrong you don't have to have arms like Alexey Voyevoda to win matches, Jon Brzenk looks average compared to most people in the sport and he is like Muhammad Ali when it comes to slamming peoples arms on the table.
I'm not someone who is to obsessed with training biceps... I got over it a while ago. The last time I tested myself in a bicep curl I was somewhere around 105 or 110-pounds.
Not terrible, but not great... and I managed to get a few reps out of it.
Regardless you look at me standing next to my friends who enjoy lifting and I have baby arms. Where I think I am the strongest is in an overhead press.
I have shoulder pressed a keg a little over half-way full over my head before I got a groin injury from heavy front squats.
Needless, to say biceps I don't care as much for training.
But, lately I have noticed them getting a little larger.
I probably haven't done direct bicep work in over a month and even then I only did it about twice a week for three weeks.
So what happened?
Well I can only guess it happening because of the grip work I have been doing and heavy dead lifts.
Watched, John Brookfield's Blueprint for Grip Strength and I started doing his wet towel squeeze and twist (it is exactly what it sounds like). Not only do my forearms get tired by my biceps are pumping.
I'm not much of a bodybuilder (I tried with little success) but I can honestly say this is probably one exercise they could benefit from.
Besides just squeezing and twisting towels I have been doing my homemade rolling handle dead lifts for grip.
Dead lifts are considered one of the best exercises because of all the muscles they recruit.
I've read it was a great exercise for biceps but I didn't figure that me pulling about 190-pounds would have any affect ( I have a lower back injury that has reduced my once unimpressive 315-pound strapless overhand grip dead lift.) Never did I think that doing deads with such a small amount would have any effect.
Sure enough though I am seeing a change.
So, get gripping if you are looking to pack on some size.
Got my butt kicked at work today
Today I went to interview a local gym owner in my area for the newspaper.
I set up the interview because on the website it advertised that the guy was certified in Crossfit and Monkey Bar Gym training.
Yes!!!
I was excited because when I interned at a rival newspaper in this area I would always drive past the place and see the big tractor tires that mma fighters, strongmen and etc. flip for conditioning.
I wanted to always check this place out so I finally got my opportunity.
Going in I was excited because I always read about Crossfit but I don't really incorporate any of it into my own personal training.
I think Crossfit is pretty cool but unless you have rubber bumper plates at your home or gym it doesn't seem very practical to do (mostly because dropping a barbell to the ground with Olympic lifts would mess up some steel plates).
Anyways, I get there do the interview and the coach there (don't want name names) asks, "Do you work out?"
Do I work out hells yeah I work out!!!
Then he asks "What was your last work out ?"
He asks me some questions and I try to sound impressive so I drop some names like John Brookfield and Pavel Tsatsouline.
I'm not strong, I'm really not but I know I am in shape so when he asks me to do a work out right then and there I agree.
5 rounds of pressing a 45-pound bar, doing overhead squats with a pvc pipe and some burpees.
I do all the rounds pretty much right in a row but I am gassed.
The guy wants me back and I say sure.
I'm running through my head do I want to come back? I'm trying to build strength in my power lifts.
I liked what I saw and I had fun but I was debating because I figured Crossfit training is going to be too exhausting to continue powerlifting and also was scared I was going to lose strength doing it.
Crossfit seems like it has a very high aerobic component in it
So I check out some videos of clients on Youtube and what do I see. I see women who weigh less then me cleaning 405-pounds to their chests and men weighing the same as me overhead squatting 405-pounds.
INSANE!!!!
I can't do either. The most I have ever cleaned was 170-pounds with shaky form and overhead squatting I leave to the professionals.
What I saw was inspiring and now I plan on going back tomorrow before a meeting I have to do for work.
I don't know if I want to do this five days a week but it is definitely something I hope to add to my arsenal.
I figure every other day I can do power lifting Monday, Wednesday and Friday and do Crossfit on Tuesday or Thursday. Maybe vice versa.
Of course I suppose I shouldn't call it Crossfit because it is a brand name which the coach reminded (but that is the name I know it by.)
I'm looking to get strong and this might just be the place to start.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Don't call yourself an expert when it comes to working out
I am not an expert and anyone who ever says they're an expert probably doesn't know what they are talking about.
Of course I don't qualify as an expert either because I'm not a personal trainer or certified in anything.
What I am though is a student.
I like the word student a lot more then the word expert because it says that you are open to learning.
I've never liked going to class but I do love to learn and am always reading up on things that interest me.
So when it comes to exercise nobody is an expert in my opinion just some people are more knowledgeable than others.
It's like science. A hypothesis is always being updated or being disproved every year there are very few things that can be called a law.
Exercise is science which means people that exercise should be flexible in trying new things, testing new things and deciding for themselves if they like those things.
I have certainly tried a lot of methods when it comes to exercise: changed routines, adjusted my diet and tried different supplements.
Where I am at now with exercising though is a good place that I will probably stay in for a while.
That is not to say that I wont change things up someday.
Right now I am loving just doing heavy dead lifts and bench press training. I lift four out of seven days a week with one day of fun.
I don't train to failure I give myself lots of rest and I make stretching a workout with sets of forced relaxation.
I feel great I never seem to feel sore training this way and I feel like I am getting stronger week-to-week.
Will I plateau? Will I change things up?
The answer is most likely.
I'll probably get bored eventually doing what I am doing but that's why I kicked in a fun day where I swing kettlebells, macebells, row bricks, heave sandbags, shoulder press beer kegs and maybe push my car while it is in neutral.
I don't do all these things in one day I just do what seems like could be fun at that particular moment.
Why deads? Why bench?
Simple for me it is easy to do from home.
I train at home by myself (not maybe ideal for everyone) but I only really have a bench and a barbell when it comes to traditional strength equipment.
I tried squatting at home but that required me to clean and press the weight over head just to get it to my back.
Olympic lifting is too technical and I can't clean what I can actually squat.
So dead lifting with all of its variations allows me to train a wide variety of muscles.
I train bench because I've always wanted a good bench and it is a good exercise in my opinion for building my front delts, chest and back. I try to almost row the weight down so that I don't burn my chest out before I get the chance to press the weight.
Is this the best method of exercise?
Maybe or maybe not but it works for me.
Find what you like and be flexible.
Of course I don't qualify as an expert either because I'm not a personal trainer or certified in anything.
What I am though is a student.
I like the word student a lot more then the word expert because it says that you are open to learning.
I've never liked going to class but I do love to learn and am always reading up on things that interest me.
So when it comes to exercise nobody is an expert in my opinion just some people are more knowledgeable than others.
It's like science. A hypothesis is always being updated or being disproved every year there are very few things that can be called a law.
Exercise is science which means people that exercise should be flexible in trying new things, testing new things and deciding for themselves if they like those things.
I have certainly tried a lot of methods when it comes to exercise: changed routines, adjusted my diet and tried different supplements.
Where I am at now with exercising though is a good place that I will probably stay in for a while.
That is not to say that I wont change things up someday.
Right now I am loving just doing heavy dead lifts and bench press training. I lift four out of seven days a week with one day of fun.
I don't train to failure I give myself lots of rest and I make stretching a workout with sets of forced relaxation.
I feel great I never seem to feel sore training this way and I feel like I am getting stronger week-to-week.
Will I plateau? Will I change things up?
The answer is most likely.
I'll probably get bored eventually doing what I am doing but that's why I kicked in a fun day where I swing kettlebells, macebells, row bricks, heave sandbags, shoulder press beer kegs and maybe push my car while it is in neutral.
I don't do all these things in one day I just do what seems like could be fun at that particular moment.
Why deads? Why bench?
Simple for me it is easy to do from home.
I train at home by myself (not maybe ideal for everyone) but I only really have a bench and a barbell when it comes to traditional strength equipment.
I tried squatting at home but that required me to clean and press the weight over head just to get it to my back.
Olympic lifting is too technical and I can't clean what I can actually squat.
So dead lifting with all of its variations allows me to train a wide variety of muscles.
I train bench because I've always wanted a good bench and it is a good exercise in my opinion for building my front delts, chest and back. I try to almost row the weight down so that I don't burn my chest out before I get the chance to press the weight.
Is this the best method of exercise?
Maybe or maybe not but it works for me.
Find what you like and be flexible.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Easy DIY Projects That Get Big Results
I am not somebody who is very handy.
I'm not the guy who can fix his own plumbing or re-shingle his own roof I don't really own any tools besides maybe a tape measure and some duct tape.
However, some of the best strength training tools or the ones that you make yourself.
Sure there is always a quick buy already manufactured version you can buy-- but why spend hundreds when you can do it yourself for the fraction of the cost.
I can't say any of these designs were really original and there is probably a better of doing things but here are two do-it-yourself projects that don't break the bank (pictures to come hopefully).
SANDBAG
I'm a big fan of awkward objects. You may want to call me a hipster (but I rather you not) when it comes to strength training, but for me taking it old school and doing the unusual is cooler then simply lifting a barbell.
Sandbags are one of those things that are cool to train with right now (supposedly) which is cool since they are fun to use.
However, here in lies the problem people are charging hundreds of dollars for an empty duffel bag that is supposedly built for sand bag training.
I made my sand bag for $30 and there are probably cheaper ways out there.
What you'll need
It is probably best to have your bag before you buy your sand. I found out the hard way that just because a bag of sand is marked non-tear or non-leak or non-anything that they still leak sand :(.
So, with my sand bought first I managed to create a mini- beach front property in my trunk.
So have the bag handy so when you get to the car you have something to put the sand into so it doesn't spill out in your trunk.
When you get home tear the sand open empty into duffel bag and zip it up. Simple.
If you are afraid the sand might leak or have some sort of bag without a zipper I suggest two things.
Either duct tape the spot where the sand is leaking out from or buy another bag to put sand bag inside off.
If you are concerned that 60-pounds might be too hard to start with get some sandwich baggies and put sand into them so that way you can add weight slowly as you get stronger. I didn't do this put it seems to be a semi popular method of sand bag training think of it as adding weight plates to your bag.
Homemade Rolling Handle and Loading Pin.
Grip strength whether it be for grip sports, arm wrestling or weight lifting is very important.
One of my new favorite ways to train grip is heavy one handed dead lifts with a rolling handle.
I can't promise that my handle works as well as Ironmind's Rolling Thunder but I like it and it seems to get the job done.
What you will need
So, why two different size PVC pipe?
The reason is that you are going to put one inside the other so that it can spin around it.
I chose two widths I'm not sure exactly but one I believe was 3-inch width and the other was probably 2-inches. The point is that you want something you can grip but can't fit your hand all the way around.
You want the smaller pipe to fit just inside the other because the idea is for it to spin not flop.
Cut the inside pipe a little longer then a dumb bell grip (I may experiment with this so don't take this as law). so now you have your grip.
If you haven't screwed up you should have a decent amount of pipe left over. You are going take your smaller width pipe and make sure it fits nicely inside of an Olympic style plate.
If it does great cut the just short of the length of your eyebolt. You want this to go over your eyebolt.
Take your washers you bought which should be a couple different sizes. One big, one smaller one and if you can find a tiny one great.
I didn't really buy the right size washers so I improvised but basically you want a large washer that is wider then an Olympic plate hole so it does slide off of your pin when you lift it.
Put the smaller washer over the large one so that you block the hole of the washer so that when you put the screw that came with eyebolt on that it doesn't slide off. You may need to buy several sizes and experiment.
For me I didn't really know exactly what I was doing so I used a 2 1/2-pound non-Olympic style plate for my stopper.
Finally get your chain, rope or whatever put it through the handle, attach a carabiner or carabiners to the loading pin (preferably with weight) and dead lift.
Pretty simple right and if you have left over pipe you can use it as a make shift leverage bar by hanging a weight plate off of it (thank John Brookfield for the idea it wasn't mine.)
Now go out and have fun.
The author in no way was paid to endorse any company, product or brand name
I'm not the guy who can fix his own plumbing or re-shingle his own roof I don't really own any tools besides maybe a tape measure and some duct tape.
However, some of the best strength training tools or the ones that you make yourself.
Sure there is always a quick buy already manufactured version you can buy-- but why spend hundreds when you can do it yourself for the fraction of the cost.
I can't say any of these designs were really original and there is probably a better of doing things but here are two do-it-yourself projects that don't break the bank (pictures to come hopefully).
SANDBAG
I'm a big fan of awkward objects. You may want to call me a hipster (but I rather you not) when it comes to strength training, but for me taking it old school and doing the unusual is cooler then simply lifting a barbell.
Sandbags are one of those things that are cool to train with right now (supposedly) which is cool since they are fun to use.
However, here in lies the problem people are charging hundreds of dollars for an empty duffel bag that is supposedly built for sand bag training.
I made my sand bag for $30 and there are probably cheaper ways out there.
What you'll need
- 60-lb bag of sand from the hardware store
- A duffel bag of some sort from your local sporting goods store
It is probably best to have your bag before you buy your sand. I found out the hard way that just because a bag of sand is marked non-tear or non-leak or non-anything that they still leak sand :(.
So, with my sand bought first I managed to create a mini- beach front property in my trunk.
So have the bag handy so when you get to the car you have something to put the sand into so it doesn't spill out in your trunk.
When you get home tear the sand open empty into duffel bag and zip it up. Simple.
If you are afraid the sand might leak or have some sort of bag without a zipper I suggest two things.
Either duct tape the spot where the sand is leaking out from or buy another bag to put sand bag inside off.
If you are concerned that 60-pounds might be too hard to start with get some sandwich baggies and put sand into them so that way you can add weight slowly as you get stronger. I didn't do this put it seems to be a semi popular method of sand bag training think of it as adding weight plates to your bag.
Homemade Rolling Handle and Loading Pin.
Grip strength whether it be for grip sports, arm wrestling or weight lifting is very important.
One of my new favorite ways to train grip is heavy one handed dead lifts with a rolling handle.
I can't promise that my handle works as well as Ironmind's Rolling Thunder but I like it and it seems to get the job done.
What you will need
- Two different sizes of PVC pipe
- chain, rope or cable
- different size washers
- carabiner
- eyebolt
- access to a saw
So, why two different size PVC pipe?
The reason is that you are going to put one inside the other so that it can spin around it.
I chose two widths I'm not sure exactly but one I believe was 3-inch width and the other was probably 2-inches. The point is that you want something you can grip but can't fit your hand all the way around.
You want the smaller pipe to fit just inside the other because the idea is for it to spin not flop.
Cut the inside pipe a little longer then a dumb bell grip (I may experiment with this so don't take this as law). so now you have your grip.
If you haven't screwed up you should have a decent amount of pipe left over. You are going take your smaller width pipe and make sure it fits nicely inside of an Olympic style plate.
If it does great cut the just short of the length of your eyebolt. You want this to go over your eyebolt.
Take your washers you bought which should be a couple different sizes. One big, one smaller one and if you can find a tiny one great.
I didn't really buy the right size washers so I improvised but basically you want a large washer that is wider then an Olympic plate hole so it does slide off of your pin when you lift it.
Put the smaller washer over the large one so that you block the hole of the washer so that when you put the screw that came with eyebolt on that it doesn't slide off. You may need to buy several sizes and experiment.
For me I didn't really know exactly what I was doing so I used a 2 1/2-pound non-Olympic style plate for my stopper.
Finally get your chain, rope or whatever put it through the handle, attach a carabiner or carabiners to the loading pin (preferably with weight) and dead lift.
Pretty simple right and if you have left over pipe you can use it as a make shift leverage bar by hanging a weight plate off of it (thank John Brookfield for the idea it wasn't mine.)
Now go out and have fun.
The author in no way was paid to endorse any company, product or brand name
My Wasted Weight Lifting
This is a tale of a misspent youth drowning in the over abundance of information related to strength and fitness.
I am not strong, I like to pretend I am but in all honesty I am not. I wish I could write an article about how a real man trains or about how these pencil neck geeks don’t know what the hell they are doing in the gym.
The simple truth is that I can’t because I am, was and maybe still am a weak pencil neck geek who gets sand kicked in his face by the bully at the beach.
What I am though is completely obsessed with strength training some would call it fanatical with the amount of crap that I have stored in my brain on the topic.
My story begins with my junior year of high school.
But once I tasted that steel I became obsessed and started doing as much research on it as I could. Probably like most I got my information from other people I knew who were doing some sort of program.
Next came the forums and then finally I graduated to websites and journals online.
I went from a skinny 145-pounds in high school and finished college as a skinny looking 185-pounds.
So you would think there would be some strength gains along the way and well yes there were some but nothing tremendous.
My problem was the over abundance of training information available.
The idea that to get stronger you have to do more led me to become chronically sick from over training and caused me to incur a longtime back injury.
So what has changed?
Well I train less now at least with a lot less intensity, I write things down and I stick to a fairly simple program.
I love the strength game and I will never stop trying to become more knowledgeable but sometimes doing less is doing more for your body.
The strongmen of yesteryear didn’t rely on science to tell them how to train and they were pound-for-pound stronger then most lifters today.
If you are looking to get strong there are three people I have to recommend-- Pavel Tsatsouline, Brooks Kubik and John Brookfield.
Read their books and remember keep it simple and condense the knowledge to your particular training program.
I am not strong, I like to pretend I am but in all honesty I am not. I wish I could write an article about how a real man trains or about how these pencil neck geeks don’t know what the hell they are doing in the gym.
The simple truth is that I can’t because I am, was and maybe still am a weak pencil neck geek who gets sand kicked in his face by the bully at the beach.
What I am though is completely obsessed with strength training some would call it fanatical with the amount of crap that I have stored in my brain on the topic.
My story begins with my junior year of high school.
In 2005 I discover MMA, I love it and I decide I want to train for it. I get a book called “Superfit” by Royce Gracie my then hero which basically outlines his strength and fitness program.
Before that book I had been against weight training. I was a soccer player I figured that was something stupid football players did.But once I tasted that steel I became obsessed and started doing as much research on it as I could. Probably like most I got my information from other people I knew who were doing some sort of program.
Next came the forums and then finally I graduated to websites and journals online.
Starting out I wanted to be fit, then I wanted to be bigger and now I want to be strong.
Getting bigger was easy-- just train and eat. Now I am not someone who looks like a bodybuilder but I have consistently packed on size over the years.I went from a skinny 145-pounds in high school and finished college as a skinny looking 185-pounds.
So you would think there would be some strength gains along the way and well yes there were some but nothing tremendous.
My problem was the over abundance of training information available.
There are two many methods, two many exciting breakthroughs that come out and two much emphasis on bodybuilding.
I flip flopped from one routine to the next every other week and I was never consistent in the weights I was using.The idea that to get stronger you have to do more led me to become chronically sick from over training and caused me to incur a longtime back injury.
So what has changed?
Well I train less now at least with a lot less intensity, I write things down and I stick to a fairly simple program.
I love the strength game and I will never stop trying to become more knowledgeable but sometimes doing less is doing more for your body.
The strongmen of yesteryear didn’t rely on science to tell them how to train and they were pound-for-pound stronger then most lifters today.
If you are looking to get strong there are three people I have to recommend-- Pavel Tsatsouline, Brooks Kubik and John Brookfield.
Read their books and remember keep it simple and condense the knowledge to your particular training program.
Keep training relatively simple, stretch eat right, train with awkward objects and never burn yourself out lifting.
Those are my suggestions and now after waisting six years of my life in complete confusion I am starting to finally make the gains that I have always wanted.
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