As my life has continued to get more and more busy now that I am a father, I have done my best to cut my training time down in order to get accomplished exactly what I need to, maintain the results I want, and enjoy training without having to miss any more time than necessary with my little lady.

So, instead of going down there for 3-hour marathon sessions and 4-hour experimentation sessions on the weekends, most of my sessions are capped off at about 2 hours, and sometimes even shorter. By having a plan and realizing that a few awesome lifts can make up a very well-rounded program, I know exactly what I want to do for my full body strength goals and my grip strength goals and I am able to get them all down in a manageable time.

HOWEVER – don’t think that this shift from random and endless sessions, to all serious business means I don’t have fun each training session. Hell no – that isn’t the case, in fact I continue to try new things all the time.

One of the things I’ve blogged about here before is something we call Bi-Polar Lifts or Bi-Polar Training. Essentially, this type of training amounts to doing two different things at the same time with either hand. This increases the challenge level of the lift because instead of performing the same old Kettlebell Snatch, for instance, where you have activity going on in one hand only, with Bi-Polar Training, you will also have something going on in the free hand. So instead of acting like a rudder and a synergistic limb during the Snatch Movement, the off-hand is performing its own demanding work.

Benefits of Bi-Polar Training

There are so many benefits to this type of training that I could talk about it for an hour, but let me hit the high points.

1. You accomplish more work per exercise because the free hand is no longer “free.”

2. You tax your core in a different way because now both sides of the body are loaded.

3. When you go back to the basic movement, it seems easier. In this case, the free hand in the Snatch is free again.

These are just a few examples of the benefits, plus, like I said before, this kind of training is freakin’ fun. Like I said, I like doing stuff that isn’t just beneficial, but is fun and exhilarating as well.

I bet you do too.

So, it turns out, one of my buddies who I have known for a long time, Jon Bruney, put out an entire DVD that covers training very similar to my Bi-Polar Training methods, but also many other styles of training that you have probably never seen before. It’s called Velocity Maximum Training.

I have known and followed Jon through the internet, emails, IronMind’s MILO magazine, and Facebook for years. You may have seen Jon before – he is a performing Strongman and has done lots of strength and strength endurance feats and records with one of the godfathers of Grip Strength, John Brookfield.

Well, I finally got the chance to meet Jon and his partner at Submit Strength, Drew Kuespert at the Arnold Classic. I’ve interacted with these guys so much over the years (they have sponsored my Grip Contests many times) through email and other means, that it seemed like we were old training partners, because our training is very similar.

Now, what’s cool is Jon teamed up with another dude, again with very similar interests to mine, Mike Gillette, on this DVD Velocity Maximum Training and together they presented some awesome training ideas and exercises.

Here is a Highlight / Trailer video for the DVD:

Did you see the Rope Battling while holding a Kettlebell? Awesome example of Bi-Polar Training!

I know the video is short, but you can get an idea of why this DVD is called Velocity Maximum Training.

This DVD is packed with great add-in moves and finishers that you can plug right into what you are doing for awesome results. Here are some of my favorite things about the VMT Training DVD:

1. Power Slams:

There are so many explosive exercises that involve extension, but the number of exercises that train explosive flexion are much more limited. Think about all that has been written about the benefits of Triple Extension for Athletes. Jon and Mike show you how to balance all that out by doing Power Slams.

2. Rope Series

This 5 minutes of the disc completely blew away ALL of the swing drills I ever did for hip strength for developing power in my bat swing when I was younger and playing baseball. I am convinced that some of the BAD techniques I was shown by “qualified baseball coaches” did nothing but hurt my swing and are partially to blame with some of the issues I have with my back to this day. Some of these Rope Series drills will be awesome for developing power for baseball, golf, hockey, and other bat/club/stick sports.

3. Selective Tension

Mike does a great job of explaining this concept in the DVD, but it goes hand in hand with the benefits of Bi-Polar Training. Mike and Jon give you the run-down of why to do this training, they show you some examples of how to put it into action, and then you can run free with it and apply it how it will best benefit you.

4. Learn to Receive and React to Outside Forces

With many of the training examples shown in this video, the exercises will “push” you like most exercises do not, like how you are “pushed” in heavy contact sports. For instance, in conventional training, you push a weight back and forth or lift it up and down – very predictable. Sport is not predictable - it is random and forces are coming at you from all directions. You must be able to handle this forth and react to it while also maintaining your direction, balance and drive. This skill is what VMT will help you attain where conventional training means do not.

I could keep going about this DVD, because I love this type of training. This is the kind of training that we first broke out with back in 2002 and people couldn’t believe we were doing these things. It’s fun, it’s beneficial, and it works.

My suggestion is to pick up the DVD, watch it, and take notes, then try some of this stuff out.

A few important notes to be aware of when starting Velocity Maximum Training

1. You are NOT going to be able to do all of this stuff in one session unless you are (1) Crazy and (2) In extremely good shape – this training is that demanding on you.

2. This type of training should be seen as supplementary. The foundation of your training should be centered around big, multi-joint, and ground based lifts. You must develop the well-rounded strength using the basic moves. VMT is what you add into your program, or with your athletes, to take your skills as an athlete to the next level.

3. This is not Bosu Ball work or doing Squats on Swiss Balls and other things that have been labeled as “functional.” This stuff is for real. An interesting fact is that the kid who demo’d the majority of the exercises in the video (they shot it all in one day) was a seasoned college football player in outstanding shape and he said he had never gotten a workout like that before. That’s coming from a collegiate football player.

If you have any questions on Velocity Maximum Training, either email me or leave a comment and I will do my best to answer them here. Otherwise, pick up Velocity Maximum Training, here through my link. These guys were nice enough to hook me up as an affiliate.

In closing, remember this – when two equally skilled athletes go head to head, the one who is better prepared is going to win. This DVD will help you with that.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

P.S. Remember – Questions – ask them below and I will come back and edit this post to answer them.

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Hello Diesels!

One type of strength and endurance training that almost no one practices anymore, but certainly should is Mace and Club Swinging. This sort of training has many names from macebell training, to circular training, but really what it comes down to is swinging either a mace or a club around your head and down past your back with either one or two hands.

What is a Mace?

I first heard the term mace as a teenager, studying medieval weaponry. In that context, the term mace is used to describe a medieval weapon that was a ball with spikes on it that the warrior would swing and hit his adversary with. These days, the mace is a ball on the end of a long handle, usually about 4 feet long or even longer. In fact, Indian Wrestlers would swing a mace, or gada as they would call them, for their strength training and conditioning.

One type of Battle Mace

What is a Club?

Originally, clubs were weapons of old as well. They were really any sort of blunt object used to hit someone or something in order to hurt, maim, or kill it. This was usually done with one hand. These days, clubs are used in a swinging style in order to bring about the same types of benefits as mace swinging for people such as wrestlers, baseball player, football players, firemen, police, etc.

A Medieval Ball-Headed Club – Beat some asses with this piece!

I recently found this old video clip of the greatest Persian Club swinger ever to grace the wrestling ring, the Iron Sheik, swinging his “70+ Lb” clubs and allowing other wrestlers and bystanders to try the $10,000 Persian Club Challenge. You’ll see that this form of Club, with a much different shape, is more in line with the Persian style of Club, with much more mass to wield than other thinner forms of Indian Clubs.

From the video you can tell that Club Swinging requires a different form of strength to be developed in order to be able to just get the clubs into position, let alone to be able to swing them with authority like the Iron Sheik, especially the obvious time spent in the weight room by the guys in the video who failed miserably to swing the clubs, one of them a young Jim Hellwig who would later become the Ultimate Warrior.

I thought it was so cool watching the Iron Sheik swing clubs as a youngster, that I always wanted to try it. That was the reason I first gave it a try, but now after doing it for several years, I have found that there are many benefits to be gotten from club swinging.

Benefits of Club and Mace Swinging

The benefits of Club and Mace Swinging are numerous, including:

• Grip Strength and Endurance – This movement requires you to flex and adjust the hand dynamically throughout the range of motion which tires out the entire hand as well as the full length of the forearm
• Shoulder Flexibility / Mobility – The relatively light weight of the implement is enough to stretch out the musculature slightly, improving range of motion. This is also effective as an upper body warm-up
• Core Training – Maintaining a stable core while swinging the club or mace-style implement dynamically works the abs, lats, and muscles of the back as well, again, excellent for a warm-up method or finisher for your workouts.

What is the difference between Maces and Clubs?

There are a few differences between maces and clubs. First off, Maces are usually much longer than clubs, and produce more leverage when they are being swung, even if their heads are roughly the same size and weight.

Another difference between maces and clubs are the number of hands used. Generally a mace is swung using two hands while a club is swung using only one hand. Of course if the mace is extremely light it can be used with just one hand. Conversely if a club is extremely heavy, then it may be necessary to use two hands in order to swing it.

Regardless of the weight, length of the handle, or the number of hands used to swing the club or mace, it is a very beneficial form of training for anyone who needs to have strong hands and solid grip in order to be successful at what they do.

Stronger Grip Enterprises – Mace and Club Training Tools

There are lots of places where you can get Club and Mace training tools, but one of the best I have found is Stronger Grip. I have many different training tools from Stronger Grip and I love all of them.

Stronger Grip has several different types of tools that are used for this sort of training. Many are shot loadable, which means you will have the benefit of starting out with lighter weights and gradually working up over time. Shot loadable implements are also fun to train on because they make such a cool noise when you swing them around.

Like I said, I own several pieces of Stronger Grip equipment, but by far, the ones I use most often are the clubs and maces, and I use the maces more routinely because they are a two handed implement and I am able to do more weight with them. I guess I just enjoy Mace training more.

Some quick links to the Stronger Grip equipment line of Clubs and Maces:

• Indian Clubs – The Stronger Grip Indian Clubs are the perfect size to reap all the benefits, plus, they are shot loadable making it even easier for you to maximize the benefits.
• Plate Loadable Clubs – Some people don’t like Shot because they have to have a place to keep it and it requires a bit more concentration to change weights. The Plate Loadable Clubs get you around that very easily and work just as well.
• Loadable Maces / Core Club – This is the type of Mace I have owned for several years. This piece looks great and feels even better. Get ready to not only build your Grip but also to improve your shoulder mobility at the same time.
• Monster Mace – If you are looking to really move a lot of weight around, then you want the Monster Mace. Once you start manhandling this piece of beauty around, you will be ready to challenge the Iron Sheik himself.
• Plate Loadable Mace – If you are not into shot-loadable instruments, Ryan Pitts also carries plate-loadable maces which you can use with those extra plates you have sitting around.
• The Starter Mace – If you would like to start out with something a little more manageable, the Starter Mace is perfect.

Those are just a small selection of the variety of Clubs and Maces available from Stronger Grip. Once you go to the links, check out the full spectrum of tools. You can even pick up pairs and sets at a discount!

Club and Mace Swinging Technique

Once you pick up your Clubs and Maces, come back to this page in order to practice your technique.

When it comes to swinging a Club or Mace, you must start out with the basics. If you just stay with the basics, you will be able to readily enjoy and benefit from this type of training. Of course, course there are dozens, if not more, of other ways to swing Clubs and Maces once you master the basic training.

Basic Club Swinging Technique Demonstration

This video shows the beginning techniques for Club Swinging. Take note, that other instructors may use slightly different terminology from what I use. I am not a certified Club training specialist, but I do know how to properly perform the basics of Club swinging.

Basic Mace Swinging technique Demonstration

Just like with Club Swinging, there are many different styles and varieties you can try, but you definitely need to start out with the basics. Below I get you started on the right track, and if you are feeling frisky, after you get some practice, I’ve got a couple of other Advanced Mace Swinging Techniques for you to try as well.

Advanced Mace Swinging with Modified Speed Demand

With this technique, you will attempt to get the Mace moving and keep it going as fast as possible. I chose a total of 20 reps, but you can choose any number you wish. You will see that when you put this speed demand on yourself, in order to keep improving you must focus on your rhythm and strive to get your entire body to work together. Focus on getting as much of the musculature involved as you can in order to make each repetition smooth and fast.

Advanced Mace Swinging with Modified Range of Motion

This variation I liked quite a bit, because it took some of the focus away from the lats and torso and put more of it on the arms, forearms, and hands. My hands were pumped and burning up after trying this.

Once again, start out with the basic maneuvers with your Clubs and Maces and then start adding in slight variations until you are confident and can control the tools throughout the entire range of motion.

I hope you enjoy your Club and Mace training, and if you have any questions, do not hesitate to leave a comment below.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

• How to Perform Mace Swings
• New Way to Swing a Mace?
• Tools for a Seriously Strong Grip
• Dessert For Your Workout – 5 Finishers to Work Your Grip
• Demolition Club Update

Improving Overhead Press

What’s up DIESELS?!!

Over on my Grip Strength Coaching Site, TheGripAuthority.com, from time to time I will put up a video just telling my guys and girls what I have found in my training to be really working well for me. I pass this on to them so that they can try it in their training and see if it works for them as well. I’d love to help you towards your Grip goals, so join today at http://www.thegripauthority.com.

They seem to get a lot of it when I put up the What’s Working Now posts, so I thought I would start doing the same here occasionally as well.

What’s Working Now – Overhead Work

Today, I want to talk a little bit about some results I am seeing in my training with my overhead work.

First a little recent history…

Most of my overhead work the last couple of years has been with a log. I’d estimate about 60% of it has been based around the strongman log, and more than half of that has been in a push press or jerk style.

Last summer, when some lower back troubles reared their ugly heads, I began doing my overhead work in a more strict fashion in order to have a bit more control over the implement. I also began using more conventional equipment, such as the barbell and dumbbells.

In October, I added some more dumbbells to my collection. Previously, my dumbbells went from 50-lbs straight to 85lbs. I now have a pair of 55′s and a pair of 70′s. With more dumbbells to choose from, I became more interested in using them, and I started establishing some new PR’s.

Here is where it all gets interesting…

From November until the end of January, my best set of 70-lb Dumbbell press was a set of 7, and I only managed that one time. Below that, my best was 3 sets of 5, but they were done seated, so it is kind of hard to compare them really well.

In November, one day I decided to see if I could pres my 85′s. It was nearly embarrassing how tough it was to get one repetition, and that was all I got. This one repetition was so disgustingly difficult, I did not try it again for over two months.

Then on February 14th, after doing some intense Myofascial Release techniques for my pecs prior to the workout, I was amazed at how good it felt to press. This was done with a barbell, standing, and I took it out of the rack. I was able to press 205 for the first time in many, many years. I’d estimate the last time I pressed that kind of weight on a barbell out of the rack was in 2008 when I did Wendler’s 5-3-1 for a while. So it is not really an all-time “PR,” but it felt outstanding, so I continued to do the SMR work in between each set, as I moved into Dumbbell Presses.

I started off with a token set of 6 with 50-lb dumbbells, and then move right into 70-lbs for the next set. To my astonished amazement, I got 10 reps. I continued doing the SMR and even added some stretching of the pecs between sets. DIESELS – it was awesome. I got 10 reps for all 3 sets. This was an all-time dumbbell press PR and it was after a 3-set session of standing barbell press, so I was pre-fatigued to a degree.

To say that I could not wait until my next pressing workout would be an understatement. My next session was February 22, and as I moved into Dumbbell Presses, I did the same thing as before, a token set of 6 with 50′s and then I moved into my work sets, but this time I said SCREW THE 70′S, and went right for the 85′s.

Below are my 3 work sets with 85′s…

Despite the fact that I was able to get 2 reps for the first time ever during set 1, I could really tell that my pecs were feeling tight.

If you watch set 1 again, you can see how I have to fish around for body positioning in order to press them up. So, I gave the pecs some serious attention prior to set 2.

For set 2, after the extra SMR work and stretching, the first 2 reps shot up really easy and I even had enough left in the tan for a third rep and a partial 4th.

After more pec work between set 2 and set 3, I was able to muster 4 repetitions, despite being fatigued in the triceps at this point, but since I was feeling less restricted in the chest, I was able to get better drive from the bottom position.

So you might be asking yourself, what does the chest have to do with overhead press?

Well, it can have a lot to do with your overhead press if you are a tight son of a bitch.

You see, if you are tight in the chest, then when you are trying to drive through the overhead pressing movement, you are going to be hindered. If the muscle and fascia of the front torso are too tight, then there’s no way you can lift overhead to your full potential. Your shoulders are going to be pulled forward and in, instead of wide like they need to be to press well.

Watch the difference between set 1 and set 2 in the video above and you will see what I mean along these lines. In set 1, I am still tight and restricted. My shoulders are pulled forward and I need to do all sorts of leaning in order to groove the dumbbells up.

After very aggressive work to loosen things up in my chest, it felt SO MUCH better to really extend through the thoracic spine, my shoulder blades felt like they could move more freely, and as a result, I was able to get better quality reps and one more rep, to boot.

For set 3, again, the torso felt better, thoracic extension felt easier, the scapulae were tracking better, and I was even able to get a 4th rep.

My next pressing workout is scheduled for Tuesday this week, BUT it is a deload workout with Mighty Mitts coming up, so the programming isn’t working out to push for a new PR, just yet, but I definitely plan on continuing the aggressive soft tissue work between sets.

In fact, I have been continuing the aggressive soft tissue work on non-upper body training days, because I really want to keep this momentum going.

I will report back soon.

SPECIAL NOTE: I absolutely feel that this kind of work to loosen up your tight chest can help for any type of overhead pressing, whether with dumbbells, barbell, axle, log, et cetera.

FEEDBACK WANTED: Is this kind of information something you’d like to see more of here on the site? Most of the content I post here is in article format, and this entry was more of a narrative report than anything else? I am interested in what you think, so please leave a comment below.

Thanks and all the best in your training.

Jedd

Want to start training like a Strongman, but not sure how or where to start? Looking for the Technical Guidance you need to excel in Strongman Competition?

Pick up our DVD and learn everything you need to know about the Log, Farmers, Stones, Odd Objects, Yoke, and MORE.

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by Bud Jeffries

First I want to say, “Thanks,” to Jedd for giving me the opportunity to step in and do a guest blog for the Diesel Crew. You guys have done great work for the fitness and strength community and I wanted to throw a bit back. When we talked about my contributing a blog post Jedd wanted me to answer, “Why would I do crazy high volume kettlebell work and what are the benefits of it?”

Bud Jeffries – 1-hand Swing

So if you don’t know I’ve specialized in the kettlebell swing for the past few years. I say “specialized,” in that it’s been one of my primary combined strength and cardio workouts and there’s an entire methodology behind why and what I do. It’s primary in that I’m also always working on much heavier strongman work and I’m also working on different types of cardiovascular capacity so the high volume workouts that I do are not just limited to kettlebells, but they’ll also involve barbells, dumbbells, bodyweight, sledgehammers, cables, maces, and strongman work for instance super high rep tire flipping, sled dragging, heavy bag punching, etc. I’m normally circulating through any of 100 or more different types of exercise.

Overall though I really have specialized in high-rep kettlebell work. When I say “high rep,” we need to quantify the term for the purposes of this blog. If you don’t know what I’m talking about already – I’m not talking about 100 reps – I’m talking about something in the neighborhood of 1,000 reps. Not all the workouts are that high, but some of them are much higher – Even into the 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 repetition ranges.

Why Such High Volume Training?

Why would I do that since it seems counterproductive in the idea of building maximum strength and muscle? There are many reasons.

I Wanted to Remake Myself

I spent 16 years with one goal in mind – squatting 1,000 pounds. Over that 16 year course I went from 230lbs to 385lbs and went from a 225lb squat to a 1,000lb squat. I achieved my goal, but I also got freakin’ huge. I was huge and muscular and incredibly strong, but it was way too much fat to carry for a long period of time and I wanted to change that.

After much research and thinking it through the kettlebell swing was probably the primary vehicle by which to do that. I also believe that people who are like me who don’t have the easy, fast, fat burning metabolism that most people do either because they don’t eat right or they have years of gaining weight behind them instead of losing weight respond well to the kettlebell.

The idea behind “…years of gaining weight instead of losing,” is that the body is always learning to do one thing or the other. If you’re teaching it to gain weight then it goes permanently in that mode until you spend enough time going the opposite way and then it begins to lean out, resetting your hormones and whole body. I believe the kettlebell swing was the most opportune way to do create that effect.

1700-lb Rack Squat

The swing created the most muscular work that you could maintain for the longest period of time, spread across the largest range of the body, with the highest cardiovascular demand at the same time. On a rep-per-rep basis there are other exercises that you could argue create a higher cardiovascular demand, however not necessarily the right type of demand that I’m talking about.

For instance, rep-for-rep the kettlebell snatch (essentially an extended kettlebell swing), is possibly more aerobic, because on a rep-per-rep basis it covers twice the distance, but it also begins to pinpoint other muscles. That really long distance makes it, for most people, truly slow down until you have a massive cardiovascular and muscular base under which to work. I believe the spread muscular work of the swing combined with the idea that you can continue it for long periods of time and at the same time achieve an extended cardiovascular capacity and an extended muscular strength capacity made it the ultimate exercise for fat loss as well as a huge base from which to do 1,000 reps of thousands of other exercises.

It cut fat while not ripping into my strength which is a major factor for me. The average person might just want to cut fat, but I spent a lifetime building up massive amounts of strength and it would terribly hurt my feelings to lose all that strength just because I lost weight. I’m sure for most of you it would as well. The key in not losing strength as you lose weight, and this is a bonus here, is not doing it super fast. You can’t drop 50 pounds in a month and not expect it to take a hit to your strength.

Combining Muscular and Cardiovascular effort

Every time you do a swing you’re teaching the muscles strength and teaching them to fire and you’re also creating high cardiovascular capacity. The high calorie burning and cardiovascular component of the swing burns off fat. That continuous repeated muscular motion teaches the body not to give up strength and muscle just because you’re doing it in an extended way. I found that by going to the one-handed swing I could switch hands every 10 reps or so and keep pushing my whole body for long periods of time. This began to reset my entire definition of what strength and cardiovascular capacity combined were, should be and could be.

I know right now it’s popular to do interval cardio and short cardio and I believe in that style of training and I’ve quantified it in my own way by calling it “short-intense cardio.” Through exposure to other people and through one of the brilliant things great strongman John Brookfield said to me, “You have to get past the interval to really get to strength and to really get to endurance,” I began to have a modified thought on this activity. Stopping just because you have a pre-planned set of time is actually teaching the body to quit versus just going as hard and as far as you can.

When you explore that deeply you find that you can go much harder, longer and faster than you thought. That’s what we’re all after. Why would you only sprint 100 yards if you could sprint 400? Now I understand you may want to repeat those things and I’m not saying anything against intervals and I certainly do believe in very intense, short levels of cardio so in comparing that I might take a 53lb or 24kg kettlebell and swing it for 1,000 or 2,000 reps without stopping, but I also might take a 150lb 2-handed kettlebell and swing it for multiple sets of 20 reps mixed with bodyweight exercises moving back and forth in a workout that only lasts 5, 10 or 15 minutes. That would be incredibly intense both from a muscular and cardiovascular standpoint.

The whole point to this is I want some of my cardio to be as intense as possible and as long as I want to make it 30 minutes or more, because I truly believe this creates a high calorie burn as well as a massive overhaul in your potential muscular strength and endurance. I want some of it to be as intense and heavy as possible and not governed by a time interval, but more by the weight and difficulty of the exercise often using more than one exercise switching back and forth so I can go as long as possible for the pre-set time period or repetition count – whichever I had chosen. The idea is to absolutely max out my heart rate for a short period of time and the other idea being the “Third way cardio” idea as put forth by Marty Gallagher which is long, extended, muscular and aerobic effort done in a continuous fashion.

Really it’s a type of capacity that most people haven’t tapped that most everyone does possess the ability to achieve. If you really want to be able to recover from those workouts, build the ability for your heart and muscles and lungs to fire for an extended period of time and then five to ten to 20 reps of squats just doesn’t feel very hard when you can do a 1,000 or2,000 swings without stopping. I felt there was an entire other level of strength to be had there, but what most people have missed and truthfully only a few people have explored, is not mixing them together and I think that’s why it’s more effective to do it the way I’ve done it.

John Brookfield is one example and a few other people have done things that go along the lines of this: 1,000 reps of push presses or 1,000 snatches or 2,000 swings and the ability to do other heavy exercises at the same time, but if you approach both capacities together, it is possible to have them at the same time. For instance; on my birthday this year I did 4,000 swings and a 1,500lb quarter squat just for fun to see if I could personally challenge myself.

What am I doing? I’m expanding my capacity in both directions, both my maximum strength and maximum endurance together. John has done all kinds of incredible strength feats and grip work in an absolute max capacity, but has also done incredible endurance work and I believe that is the upper end of physical capacity that most of us are missing. When you build into thosem you play them into each other – Your maximum strength will tie exactly into your ability to perform your maximum strain cardio or short cardio I spoke of, which will, in-turn pull directly into your third way or very long cardio. They will all play back and forth to each other as long as you begin to develop the capacities. That doesn’t mean you should do them all at the same time, it means they need to be mixed specifically. You should build a base first and build up to them.

Let’s Be Honest

Let’s be honest – Real long term health and long term strength has to have a strength endurance capacity. It’s wonderful to be able to squat 1,000lbs, but not great to be 380- 400lbs to be able to do it and give up years of your life if you carry too much body fat or you aren’t physically or cardiovascularly as healthy as you could be (that doesn’t mean that big guys can’t be healthy. I believe I’m still living proof of that,) or you’ll ever achieve a physical Adonis perfection which I’m pretty sure the men reading this site aren’t terribly worried about.

Though if we’re being honest we all want to look better. I’ve been able to rip 120lbs of weight off, but I’m still not “perfect,” by contemporary standards. My physical perfection by others standards is not what concerns me, what I care about is having an increased cardiovascular and endurance level and a totally different level of physical capacity and I found this by doing it with those explosive muscular and continuous movements. I got better at the short cardio and maintained and built types of strength I didn’t have before.

You can have maximum muscular strength, maximum short term endurance and maximum long term endurance and not spend every waking minute in the gym. I cut that 120lbs and didn’t work out more than an average of three hours per week. That includes one third way cardio session, one max intense cardio session and one max strength work session per week and all of them reasonably short and most of it not with incredibly high volumes. However when I worked high volumes in specific work such as circuits of 8-10 bodyweight exercises done for 25 reps a piece, repeated 4 or 5 times so I get more than 1,000 reps in a 30 or 45 minute workout, or one exercise done as far and as hard as possible I saw massive results.

Both have their place and are incredible ways to build world class cardiovascular capacity as well as world class muscular strength and endurance and keep your body fat low in a way that lets you still be a normal guy – eat real food, have a beer occasionally and be able to play in any world you want to.

I was able to maintain a schedule that had me doing 300 strongman shows in 9 months. I was able to keep high level strength in pressing, rowing, deadlifting and squatting. I was able to burn off a tremendous amount of body fat and play into any other type of training that I wanted, inclusive of martial arts, without having to specialize in them, all on four or five hours per week by training all those capacities together. The health you build in your tendons, ligaments and bones and muscles by that extended work, the incredible circulation, the heart and endurance capacity, is impossible to beat in just about any other way. It is far superior to the average slow cardio.

So – What Is It Doing?

So what is it doing? It’s taking what the average person thinks is hard cardio and extending your possible ability to do it for the same amount of time that you would do easy or slow cardio. Thereby you are building a really elite capacity for strength and an elite capacity for short term strength endurance. It’s building the ability to do amazing physical things and max out every area of strength as well as max out your health. It’s keeping your body fat low and doing it in a way that gives you the ability to play for a lifetime in any way you want with simple implements. That my friends is an amazing amount to get for just a few hours of training per week and that’s why I went to the super high volume kettlebell work.

I believe in working with the swing it allowed me to build the base to jump off to every other type of kettlebell work – For instance I’ve been able to do massive snatch workouts, massive one arm pressing workouts, which are my other favorite work to do with the kettlebell and set some incredible PRs inclusive of 200 one arm presses in 5 minutes and 7 seconds with a 24kg/ 54lb kettlebell. 340+snatches with a 35lb kettlebell in 10 minutes as well 1500 snatches in 68 minutes. Also 1,100 one arm push presses with that 24kg bell in one hour.

You can do amazing things if you just set your mind to it and treat your cardio with the same type of intensity as you would your strength work. We all want to get incredibly muscularly strong and you can if you follow all the smart stuff Jedd and the guys and I talk about, but you also need that high level capacity and I believe they can be reciprocally inhibited. What does that mean? If you don’t keep your cardio up high enough, eventually the strength work becomes so taxing you that you cannot recover from it and then your body does not allow you to become stronger.

Similarly speaking, if you do not keep your strength high enough your body will eventually interpret your cardiovascular movements as so difficult in their percentage of perceived intensity as well as their actual physical level of strength that it won’t allow you to go further because you won’t have the strength to keep going. But if you work them together you can get max world class capacity at both if you just learn to do it the right way. High rep kettlebell stuff is really one of them – You can do amazing things if you just put your mind to it. See the video for more training info.

Bud Jeffries is the owner of Strongerman.com where you can read much more about in combining super strength and super endurance together like in his newest book I Will Be Iron.

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Like I said a couple of weeks ago, I want to start doing as close to a weekly Q & A as possible. Now that I have a few questions rolling in, I want to tackle one.

First up is Jeff Brown, who is busy training for his sport throughout the week and isn’t sure where to place his strength training for best results all around.

He writes:

“I train Monday -Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 MMA, Grappling, MMA, Grappling. 9 times out of 10 The next morning I am Dog tired and don’t want to lift weights. I was wondering with a schedule like this when do you think is the best time to lift and at what intensities. I don’t want to run the risk of overtraining. How can I find the Supercompensation Phase and Act on it?”

Jeff, thanks for writing in and asking this question, and congratulations on your recent victory. Looking awesome brother!

Jeffrey recently won the 175lb MMA TITLE at Stellar Fights 7 in Harrington DE!

I know from speaking with Jeff in the past on developing his training program, that he works his ass off, which is important. The sheer volume of work this kid is capable of doing is insane. I don’t think I have ever been able to train like that.

However, there is a time for taking it to the limit like that and there is a time to back it down a notch.

I have always looked at training athletes as a balancing act between strength training (working in the gym to build strength and power) and skills training (time on the mat improving your game, specifically).

My suggestion in this case is when you are nearing a fight and there is going to be a lot of time on the mat, striking the bag, rolling and practicing holds, then the amount of time you spend in the gym is going to drop.

Remember, whether you are in the gym lifting weights or if you are int he MMA studio hitting a heavy bag, clenching up with sparring partners, taking and giving shots, working on escapes, etc, all of that stuff entails shock and trauma to the body.

When you’re nearing a fight, you NEED to stay in shape and keep the rust off in order to be in top form when the fight comes up. At that point, the time for building strength is already past you. Now it is time to maintain the strength that you have.

So with your given schedule of high intensity sport-specific fight training Monday through Thursday, my biggest suggestion would be to focus on doing some strength-maintenance training on Friday and/or Saturday.

Since you don’t train MMA on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, these are really your best days. Most likely, you are going to be beat up on Friday, so that may not be an option unless you hit it later on at night, which for some people actually does work out pretty well.

An even better day might be Saturday, in order to work your big movements like Presses, Squats, and Deads, in a low volume manner.

I am talking about a good solid warm-up, and then a few work sets where you stay up around 90% of 1RM in the lifts, followed by a small amount of accessory work, mainly working on treating potentially injury-prone areas, things like the posterior shoulder, lower back, hip mobility – things like this.

So we can call that your weekend workout. Pick the day that works best for you and do the main strength building stuff that day. If you feel well enough to do two workouts over the weekend, AWESOME, but you don’t want to kill your sport-specific training when the week starts back up either.

Specifically, you asked about Supercompensation, which is the body’s ability to adjust itself to a higher level after one training session in order to be better or stronger for the next one. At this stage in the game, this is still possible, given the right amount of rest time, but it is going to come down to many individual factors, for you, Jeff. Diet, sleep time, other stresses to the body like work/labor, bills, etc.

The most important thing for you is to try to find a time during the weekend that you can get some work in on the bigger, multi-joint movements to maintain the strength you have worked so hard to attain.

Another extra workout, on the weekend or during the week if you can handle it, will be a bonus, but the intensity level will most likely be much lower, and then it is a matter of making sure you are replenishing your energy, getting the right food for muscle recovery, and enough sleep to repair damage.

In closing, I will leave you with a quote from Easy Strength, by Pavel and Dan John (a great book I am slowly working my way through):

“Competitors, especially fighters, often miss the point of strength training. The barbell is not there to make you a better man or test your mettle; that is what the mat, the ring or the kettlebells are for. And you are not training to become a weightlifter or powerlifter. Iron is a means, not a goal.

Your goal is to excel at your sport, and you lift to get a strength advantage over an opponent of equal skill. And if you hope to be a contender, practicing the skill of your sport must dominate your schedule.”

That is a direct quote from Easy Strength, on page 74, and it pretty much goes along with what I have stated.

I hope this helps you, Jeffrey, and anyone else who competes in a sport at a high level. Remember, there is time for periodization, moderating intensity, and also knowing when to bust your ass in the gym, and when to do so on the mat, field, or court.

If you are interested in reading more of Easy Strength, click here.

Although I am working my way through it at a snail’s pace, I am enjoying it heavily. There is literally an interesting, throught-provoking, or entertaining statement on each and every page!

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Check out Easy Strength – Click the Image Below

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