A Breakthrough
Workout Routine for Improving
Athletic Strength Using 'Old Time'
Strongman Training!
Josh Henkin
Are you tired of boring workout
routines in the gym? You can
supercharge your sports workout
routines using 'strongman' exercises.
Coach Henkin teaches you his system
for dramatically improving strength
and you'll learn the best exercises
every athlete should incorporate into
your training program, no matter what
sport you play!
For many years we have been
fascinated with people of great
strength. From the classic Scottish
games to today’s modern
Strongman and Strongwoman contests we
have seen top athletes accomplish
feats of strength that we thought
were beyond human abilities. While
these contests are fun and
interesting to watch, the question
arises, can these lifts serve any
other purpose?
The answer is yes! Whether you are an
athlete or looking to improve your
body composition, odd lifts (what we
will call this realm of lifting) can
serve as a great benefit. These
workout routine exercises are amazing
to help people realize what they are
capable of accomplishing. I have seen
a sixty-year old woman flip a
100-pound tire (of course this was
done only after proper preparation
over some time). I have also seen
countless every day people perform
acts that they previously thought
were impossible. How many times have
you come away from your workout
routine with an increased sense of
confidence and self-perception?
The odd lifts also are the most basic
and fundamental exercises for
increasing “functional
strength”. Anyone around a gym
enough has heard this term. Most
trainers apply it to exercises that
are done on unstable surfaces. The
truth of the matter is that the odd
lifts are far more functional than
any lift you can perform on an
unstable surface. Try to deadlift,
squat, or carry an odd shaped object
challenges the body like no other
form of training. The lifter is
forced to adapt the implement and
this type of coordination brings
about amazing strengthening of the
trunk, legs, and upper body. Trying
to clean and jerk a keg is amazingly
different than bar or dumbbell. The
liquid within the keg is moving
during the lift throwing off the
comfortable groove of the workout
routine exercise. Much more realistic
to circumstances that athletes will
find in sport or we all will face in
every day life.
Lifters are also forced to use
muscles in ranges of motion that are
often inhibited by current equipment.
For example, when using a
sledgehammer the lifter is able to
integrate their grip, shoulders, and
trunk rotation in a manner that is
impossible to duplicate in the gym.
This may serve as a form of
Specialized Physical Prepardness
(SPP) for throwing and combative
athletes. This form of SPP is
developed not only through the
rotational components of the lift,
but the form of gripping and the
timing of the gripping as well. Most
throwing athletes will explain their
sport is not performed with a
constant vice grip on their
implement. Rather, it is the perfect
timing of relaxed and tight grips.
The odd shaped lifts are fantastic
for improving one’s
strength-endurance as well as
activity recovery. Whether it one is
using wheelbarrows, sandbag relays,
tire flips, or many of the many other
options, even elite athletes will
feel the ability to perform work to
rise to new heights! These lifts
serve as activity recovery if they
are implemented correctly. The key is
to not completely tax the body or use
loads that greatly increased the rate
of perceived exertion (RPE) in your
workout routines. Many of the above
mentioned lifts have a much smaller
eccentric loading so that toll on the
body and nervous system is much less.
Therefore one can continue to perform
effective work without interfering
with the body’s recovery.
There are numerous ways to implement
these lifts into anyone’s
workout routine. The first step is to
get some of the equipment. Don’t
worry this type of training equipment
should not cost you an arm and a leg.
You can often get wheelbarrows,
sledgehammers, and sandbags from the
local hardware store for less than
you would most protein powders. Now
where to find a tire? Many
construction or even tire stores
(depending upon where you live) will
happily give you free tires as it
costs the companies money to dispose
of them. If you are interested in the
actual Strongman implements I would
highly suggest visiting
www.brutestrength.com, this company
produces low cost high quality
Strongman equipment.
When deciding how to organize odd
lifts into one’s workout routine
it is important to take the same
steps as with any other technique or
method. What do I wish to accomplish
this exercise, how will this affect
my overall goals, and do I have
orthopedic conditions that contradict
such movements? Once this is answered
we can begin some of the fun stuff!
If you wish to add some of these
exercises as some variety and
increased nervous system activation,
then you may place them right into
the workout routine as any other
exercise. You will have to determine
the optimal number of sets,
repetitions, and rest intervals for
your goals. I would encourage that
these lifts be performed earlier in
the workout routine as they are very
demanding and often require some
technique. Therefore, if you often
clean and jerk a standard Olympic bar
you may find a steel log, sandbag, or
keg a nice change to the nervous
system.
Your goal may be increase your work
capacity, which may cause you to
implement odd lifts as a finisher. At
the end of your workout routine you
would choose an activity and try to
perform it for time, or a specified
distance. Although you will be
ambitious to kick butt, start smarter
with smaller time frames (3-5
minutes) and shorter distances. You
will be surprised the impact this new
form of training has on your body at
first!
Now, if you are still skeptical and
do not want to go out and hunt for
these new exercise tools you may use
some of your standard gym equipment
to try it out. Here are some optional
movements to utilize...
Farmer’s Walk: This is an oldie,
but a goodie. Find two weights of
equal size, take a tight grip and
take a walk while holding your chest
high and the weights down by your
side. Most lifters will grab some
dumbbells, but I can help but love
barbells for this movement. You will
find the increased leverage of the
barbells to be especially evil in
your workout routine.
Overhead Walks: A technique that I
learned from Sports Peformance Coach,
John Davies. Simply take a weight and
carry it overhead for a certain time
or distance. You may find alternating
the implement to be a great stimulus.
For example, one workout routine uses
a barbell, the next use some
dumbbells. This is fantastic for
shoulder and trunk stabilization.
Bar Carries: Use a load approximately
30-45% of your squatting weight and
place the bar on your back and begin
to walk. The more turns you can make
the more challenging the drill
becomes on the core muscles. If using
dumbbells, you may carry one in front
of the body cradling by the chest or
two in a hammer curl grip. You will
find whole new group of muscles in
your back and upper body! Plate
carries may be performed in the same
manner.
Deadlift Carry: Choose a load that
you can hold for 30 seconds. Deadlift
the weight to the standing position
and begin to walk in various
directions. You can choose distance,
time, or a certain level of RPE as
the stopping point. This exercise
alone will produce dramatic results
in your workout routine.
There are numerous other ways to use
common gym equipment to accomplish
similar goals. Hopefully those
mentioned above will stimulate some
creative ideas of your own.
We are often searching so hard for
some secret method of training that
we forget the most fundamental
aspects of strength training. It
constantly amazes me how such simple
drills can make even the most elite
athlete perform that much better! Try
some of these exercises in your
workout routine and I am sure you
will astounded by their amazing
ability to help you accomplish your
goals.
Josh Henkin is Director of Advanced
Athletic Performance a sports and
fitness company helping people become
extraordinary. Please visit
www.aaptraining.net to subscribe to
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