#Legtember is under way brother

After taking a much needed day off from training on Sept. 1st to enjoy a relaxing Labor Day holiday with my family, I am back at it brother.

In September, I will hit some form of intense leg work every single day. To make up for the day I missed, I will also do an extra workout on a Friday, the day I train before sun-up.

If your Legs are lagging behind, or if you desperately need to bring up your Squat or Deadlift, then join me for #Legtember.

Here are the details:

Any questions, let me know.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

My KEY to Pain Free Barbell Curls: Globe Gripz

Last Thursday, August 14, 2014, I took part in the Pro Care Fitness Challenge, a multi-contest competition at Pro Care Physical Therapy in Athens PA.

Jerry Jones – 535 Deadlift (Legit)

I competed in the Strength meet, which included the Bench Press, Weighted Pull-up, and Deadlift.

Here’s a run-down of the rules:

(1) The scoring was all bodyweight based, since there were no divisions. I am not sure of the actual formula used in all the cases.

(2) The Bench Press was the most loosely judged of the 3 events. They didn’t require a pause and your butt could come off the Bench. The Pull-up allowed for standing on a box and then stepping off to get an eccentric load, or you could go from a dead hang. The Deadlift did not require a set-down. You could drop it once you locked it out. You could also use straps if you wanted to.

(3) There were 3 attempts on each lift for each competitor, if they wanted them.

Here’s the thing about the rules. This was not some kind of a professional powerlifting meet. This was a charity competition done for fun. So I really couldn’t care less about the looseness of the rules, and I really hope I don’t have to hear a bunch of complaining about them in the comments section, either here or on YouTube…

More Important…

More important than the rules was the fact that this competition enabled people do get up there and see what they had. If this was their first competition, they could set their baseline numbers, and they would get to feel what it was like to have to lift the weight up under pressure.

Plus, it enabled everyone to see where they stood against others. New lifters got a chance to see where their numbers were at in comparison to more seasoned veterans, and they got to see what else was possible.

Speaking of what’s possible – I was super impressed with one of the staff members of Pro Care. blew away the rest of the competition with a successful Pull-up with 140-lbs attached to his body and he was benching and deadlifting right up near me, and I out-weighed him by 60lbs. It just goes to show what intensity, hard work and consistency can produce over time.

My personal highlight was the Weighted Pull-ups. It was my first time competing at those. In fact, I haven’t even heard of one in the United States for about the last 10 years, so I was PUMPED to give it a try.

Here are the videos from the Strength Competition.

Bench Press

I was still feeling a bit of pain from my Bench workout during the week, but I went after this anyway. I started with an easy 315 on my first attempt. I then jumped up to 365, which I have hit once or twice in the past year, although I rarely train Bench hard. I left my belt on and it was way too tight and when I went to press, it felt like it strained my abs on both sides of my stomach, so I was super distracted by the pain. I thought I hurt myself bad, but I did not. I finished up with 335, and it was also pretty easy for me. I probably could have gotten 345 or 350 on that day.

I am contemplated doing an actual Push/Pull meet sometime in the Fall, so I tried to stay pretty strict on my attempts to see where I am at, with the exception of the pause at the bottom of the movement. To be honest, I forgot all about that entirely.

Pull-up Plus Weight

This was an event I figured I would do very well in, as I do Pull-ups all the time, and roughly 50% of the time they are weighted in some fashion, usually with chains. I started out with a safe 48kg/105/lbs kettlebell, which I smashed. I then jumped to a 120lbs Dumbbell. That was also easy, but I was so focused on the repetition, my ears shut off and I didn’t hear the call, so I ended up hitting a “double.” For my third attempt, I went for 130, and that started to get tough. I probably could have hit 140 fresh.

Deadlift

The alternated grip was allowed on the Deadlift, but I have not pulled with the alternated grip with weight over 315 in months and months if not longer, so I did not even bother trying it with the weights I was pulling. Instead, for my first two attempts, I went Double Overhand (no hook grip), then for my last attempt I went Double Overhand with straps.

I hit 455 on my first attempt. That was easy, and I wished I did more. I then went for 500lbs, which topped Eli Thomas’s current leading lift of 495. Both of those attempts were Double Overhand, no hook grip. I was very happy with how easy 500lbs came up DO. For my third atempt, I decided to try and all-time PR weight for the Deadlift or 550lbs. I used straps due to my fear of alternating and tearing a bicep. This was a pretty pathetic miss. With the straps, it just didn’t feel right. I don’t know if I had the back strength to complete the lift anyway, but I was glad I reached for the PR. I do kind of wish I would have gone for 520 DO No Hook, though, because that would have been an all-time PR for me, using that grip.

The only event in which I placed in the Top 3 was the Pull-up. I got second there. It doesn’t surprise me that I finished further down in the other events, since I have not been specializing in the Bench or Deadlift, however, the lower finishes does make me want to push my numbers up in those events, plus, bringing up my numbers there will contribute to my overall goals of more full-body strength.

I am really glad that I went to this competition. It was a good wake-up call. It was also nice competing with Eli Thomas at something other than Grip. I think the last time we did a comp together was 2005, and I kicked his ass handily. The tables have turned now though, brother.

By the way, if you work with athletes, there is a new DVD Set coming out this week called the Elite Athletic Development Seminar, by Mike Robertson and Joe Kenn. It is being sold at a special price right now. I am not familiar with Joe Kenn, but I have seen a lot of Mike Robertson’s products in the past and that guy is a very good instructor.

Check this program out today: Elite Athletic Development Seminar

Thanks for watching my videos, and all the best with your training.

Jedd

Pain Free Barbell Hip Thrusts

Build Stronger Hips With These Hip Thrust Variations

DIESELS,

After having won the Overall at the North American Grip Sport Championship, I found out that I won an automatic berth into next year’s Mighty Mitts.

Mighty Mitts, as Andrew Durniat calls it, is the SuperBowl of Grip, taking place on the main stage at the Arnold Classic, and featuring some of the strongest hands in the world. Mighty Mitts is where the best of Grip Sport clash with Strongmen in some of the most challenging tests of hand strength imaginable.

And with that in mind, I have one clear-cut goal that is intertwined into all of my training.

To Get As Strong as Possible from Now Until March.

This means, I have some GLARING weaknesses that I MUST address body-wise. My overall Absolute Strength pales in comparison to the other competitors, especially my lower back and hip strength.

As I outlined in this post, Squats: Start Doing Them Today, due to countless lower back injuries, I barely Squatted from 2008 until 2013. This has left my lower back and legs extremely weak.

With that in mind, I have begun an all-out onslaught on my lower body training, hitting Squats, Deadlifts, Hip Thrusts, Reverse Hypers, and other exercises that target the hips as hard as possible.

Mission: Build Stronger Hips

With the idea of getting the Hips and Glutes as strong as possible, I wanted to share a couple of variations of Hip Thrusts with you that I have been performing.

I first learned about Barbell Hip Thrusts from Niko Hulslander of Garage Ink. I could not believe the amount of weight he and his crew were doing in this lift, moving close to or even more than 500-lbs in the lift (I don’t recall what it was exactly anymore).

When I started doing this lift in late 2012, I could barely handle a set of 10 with 135lbs, that is how severely weak my hip complex had become.

Once I started doing the lift regularly, the pressure on my abdomen from the barbell was so severe, I was left with marks for days and days after doing them.

I tried wrapping a pool noodle around the bar, which helped to reduce the pressure, but the pool noodle just kept disintegrating after each session. I then moved on to a 2.5-inch thick axle. This worked for a while, but it belonged to my friend JT Straussner, so when he took it back to train with at his gym, I had to find something else.

I tried slipping a big piece of pipe over it and that worked pretty well, but since then I found something even better – the Saxon Bar.

Barbell Hip Thrusts with Saxon Bar

The Saxon Bar is a loadable barbell that is used for pinching. I found that I could load this thing up HEAVY, and when I placed it flat over my abdomen, the pressure was spread out very nicely and I felt no pain at all.

Here is the Barbell Hip Thrust using a Saxon Bar in action:

The goal for each rep is to get a nice hard contraction and a pause at the top of the movement.

Heavy Bend Tension Hip Thrusts

I have also found another variation that I like quite a bit – this one involves Thrusting against heavy band tension, using the Blue Jump Stretch Bands.

Right now, the limitation here is being able to harness down the bands. I have been able to slip them underneath the feet of my Squat Cage up to this point, but I want to modify the cage a big so I can rig more band tension without having to pin the bands beneath the cage. Again, with these, I am looking for a pause.

For both variations of the Hip Thrust, I have been performing 3 work sets of 10 repetitions, aiming for a nice pause at the top in a flat table position. This is after 2 to 3 warm-up sets to get used to the work set weight.

Generally, I will work the Saxon Bar Hip Thrusts on one lower body day, and then the next lower body day, I work the bands. The Saxon Bar Hip Thrusts take a lot more out of me, so I do those as a stand-alone exercise.

The Band Tension Hip Thrusts only load up at the very top of the movement, so they don’t take as much out of me, and I usually pair them with another exercise, usually involving a heavy loaded barbell in the cage, that I can use for Barbell Shrugs, Partial Deadlifts, or Holds.

I really love these two movements, and plan on doing them for quite some time. My Squats have been feeling much stronger since working these in, and I have no doubt they will help with Deadlifts, Farmer Picks, and other heavy lifts that work the glutes/hip complex.

If you are looking for ways to work the hips harder, these could be two lifts that you might want to try.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

Jon Bruney, Submit Strength

DIESELS! Today I have an interview with one bad-ass son of a gun, Jon Bruney. This dude is FREAKISHLY STRONG. Easily one of the overall strongest Performing Strongmen on the circuit. I know he can out-lift most other performers in more conventional lifts like the Squat, Deadlift and Pressing movements. He’s built like a freakin’ FIRE PLUG, and he gets the guys he trains strong as hell too.

Now, he is teamed up with Dragondoor to write a new book called Neuro Mass. I managed to get a few minutes of his time for an interview about his brand of Strongman Performance, the way he approaches the rest of his training and what Neuro Mass has to offer.. Check it out below.

Interview with Neuro-Mass Author, Jon Bruney

Jedd: Jon, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule being an absolute MASTER OF IRON and SLAYER OF STEEL for the interview today. For those who may not be familiar with your exploits of strength and power, please tell us a bit about yourself and what you do.

Jon: Jedd, thanks for having me on today. I’m a performing strongman, motivational speaker, pastor, trainer, and author. I am also co-owner of Submit Strength Equipment and have designed cutting-edge training equipment that is now in use around the world. I am a Battling Ropes level two coach and certified in Controlled Fatigue Training. My brand new book Neuro-Mass was just released.

Jedd: How did you get so involved in super human strength and conditioning, brother?

Jon: I have always been interested in strength. I saw some strongmen performing some feats like breaking stacks of concrete with their hands, and I knew that this was something I wanted to pursue. I was privileged to have the legendary John Brookfield become my mentor. He really got me my start in the world of strongman performance.

Jedd: Awesome. John Brookfield is one of my biggest influences as well. Tell me this, what sets you apart from other performing strongmen out there? What feats do you do in your shows that other strongmen, quite frankly, just aren’t strong enough to perform?

Jon: Jedd, there are definitely athletes out there who are much stronger than I am. But, what makes me unique is the diversity of my strongman feats. For instance, I have had great strength endurance feats, such as pulling a semi-truck and trailer with John Brookfield for the distance of 1 mile.

In my shows, some of the feats include: dead lifting the back of an SUV, breaking stacks of concrete set on fire with my fist, bending steel bars over my head, breaking drill bits, bursting pop cans with my hands, pressing steel logs overhead, and laying down under a bed of nails while my wife jump ropes on top of it.

My favorite strongman feat of all time was performing the human link. I held back to Harley-Davidson motorcycles attached to my arms and let them try to pull me apart.

Jedd: Those are NEXT LEVEL strongman feats right there, my man. RESPECT. But I know that Strongman Performances are not the only gig you do. I also know you work with athletes. Tell us about your training approach with athletes.

Jon: My goal with athletes is to help them to build smart muscle. The focus isn’t just on getting bigger, but better. Smart muscle is muscle that can multitask.

Jedd: Niiiiice! Smart Muscle. Awesome, brother. And aside from your feats of strength, what other kinds of training do you do in your own workouts? When you aren’t destroying steel and piles of bricks.

Jon: In my training, I try to combine three distinct types of exercise into something called a Neuro-Set. This involves the following:

• Grinds: slow controlled exercises that place resistance on large muscle groups
• Dynamic Power Drills: movements that require power and speed
• Isometrics: this type of exercise is performed while maintaining a static position and joint angle remains constant for the duration of the contraction

Jedd: That sounds like a combination that is different from just about any system I have ever heard of, especially with the Isometrics thrown in, which I know are HUGE Strength Builders. I also know this is the kind of training you write about in your new book, Neuro Mass. Tell me about this book that is currently sweeping the world and is nearing Best Seller Status on Amazon.

Jon: Absolutely, Neuro-Mass is a cutting-edge training system that…

• Teaches the nervous system to recruit more muscle fibers
• Teaches the body to adapt to multiple forms of resistance
• Teaches the body to bypass genetic performance roadblocks

Jedd: It is funny you bring up Road Blocks, because my last post on this site is about overcoming plateaus in your training. Well, let’s just cut to the chase. Who should pick this book up and why?

Jon: This book is for anyone who wants to become more strength, endurance, and power. The book also includes cutting-edge mental preparation techniques, physical preparation techniques, and recovery techniques. It is an entire system.

Jedd: Jon, it sounds like this book is PACKED with Information. Could you give us a sample routine from the book that we could try to actually experience why this book is so awesome?

Jon: Sure. Try this great bodyweight routine that I recently shared in an article on Dragon Door’s site. It is a Shoulder Blasting Bodyweight Neuro-Set:

Shoulder Blasting Bodyweight Neuro-Set

• Handstand push-ups – 8 to 12 repetitions
• Hummingbird – 15 to 60 seconds
• Towel isometric shoulder pull – 7 to 12 seconds

How To Perform The Handstand Push-up:

The technique we will use to get into position for the handstand push-up is called “wall walking.”

To begin, place both feet flat against a wall, while your hands and knees are on the floor. Now, driving your hands into the floor, begin to walk up the wall using your hands and feet. Be sure to contract the abdominals throughout the movement.

When you reach the top position, slowly lower your body until your head is a few inches away from the floor. Pause for a moment and raise your body up to the top position.

How To Perform The Hummingbird:

Begin by placing your arms straight out at your sides and lower into a semi-squat position. Now, explosively move your arms up and down within a 6-inch range of motion. The range of motion is extremely small. You’ll find that this innovative exercise has the ability to fatigue shoulders very quickly.

How to Perform Towel Isometric Shoulder Pull:

I first saw this powerful isometric exercise performed by my friend Ori Hofmekler. Begin by grasping the end of a heavy towel with one hand extended straight out to your side. Now, with the other hand grasp the towel at chest level. The position looks like an archer getting ready to pull a bow backward.

Try to pull the towel apart. As you continue this pulling motion contract the muscles of the back as hard as possible. As you increase the tension, power exhale through the mouth.

Jedd: That is a Crazy Combo, bro. Where can the Diesel Universe get Neuro Mass?

Jon: Just click this link to Get Neuro-Mass and the Awesome Bonuses. If you order today, there are $789.00 in bonuses available.

Jedd: Jon, thanks for the awesome interview. I know you are super busy, so thanks for sneaking this in for my readers.

DIESELS, Jon Bruney is no joke, man. This guy trains for real and doesn’t mess around. You need to pick this thing up, and right now, you can click the banner below and pick up Neuro Mass and get the $700+ in free bonuses. But it’s got to be today to get the whole package.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

The Missing Part of Your Strength Training – Extensor Work – A Must for Any Serious Lifter – Hand X Bands

The Top 5 Reasons You Should Use Kettlebells For Building Bad-ass Power

By Tyler Bramlett Creator Of The Warrior Workout System

Tyler Bramlett – GarageWarrior.com

Building massive strength and power are among the top goals of all athletes. After all, who doesn’t want a body that can generate endless amounts of explosive power on demand, right?

So what is the best way to go about safely building power in your workouts?

In this short article I am going to show you my favorite power building exercises as well as the top 5 reasons you should be training with kettlebells if you want to build a strong and powerful body that looks great and performs even better!

Let’s get started…

REASON #1 – Kettlebells Are Easy To Learn

I’ve been teaching kettlebells now for just shy of a decade and there’s one thing I know to be absolutely true. Teaching someone to safely use kettlebells is way easier than almost any other training tool.

Probably 9 times out of 10 I can get someone to swing a kettlebell correctly within minutes and with only a handful of simple coaching cues. Try doing that with a barbell clean or even a power clean and watch as you or your clients struggle to get it right.

Don’t get me wrong I love the O-lifts, however I rarely meet coaches who are truly qualified to teach these lifts and I even more rarely meet someone who has the requisite mobility to do the O-lifts safely.

Kettlebells eliminate these learning curves by making explosive style lifting easier to learn and easier to coach.

REASON #2 – Kettlebells Build Explosiveness In All Planes Of Movement

Unlike many bilateral movements done with barbells, explosive kettlebell movements such as one arm snatches and high pulls build explosive strength and power in all planes of movement.

You not only need strength of hip extension, but by doing these exercises unilaterally (with one arm) you demand more core strength to resist rotation and leaning.

It is this unilateral power which athletes and those looking to really boost performance need. Take a moment to think about many different sports being played… They involve running, throwing, catching jumping etc. Each of these movement patterns rely’s on unilateral power rather then bilateral power.

Mastering some of the basic kettlebell moves will aid you in boosting your unilateral power and resilience which will in turn make you a better athlete!

REASON #3 – Kettlebells Are “Different” Than Dumbbells And Barbells

Regardless of whether you are a coach, athlete or simply just a fitness enthusiast, you’ve no doubt seen or herd someone talk about how they were afraid or intimidated to use heavy weights in their workouts.

Being that I am the head coach of a large training program in the bay area I had to quickly figure out how to remove this “social conditioning” from peoples minds when they entered my training program.

The #1 technique I learned was most effective was by using kettlebell training as the root of my programming rather then dumbbells or barbells. Partly because they were “new” and thus attractive to new customers.

But even more importantly I could look someone in the eyes who was perhaps intimidated by using a 10lb dumbbell and tell them that kettlebells are totally different. Immediately these people picked up the kettlebell and had a different relationship then the one they had with other free weights.

BOOM!! Problem solved… They were now on an effective training program using weights and explosive exercises and I didn’t have to hear them bitch about using too heavy of dumbbells anymore. Now all I had to do was remind them that this is how you use kettlebells.

REASON #4 – Forge An Iron Core

By now you should have gotten wind that the “core” as they like to call it these days is responsible for stability of the spine. One of the major elements that high level trainers across the world are now focusing on is anti-rotation of the core.

This means rather then using your core to move an object you instead train the core to resist movement. This is extremely important in athletics and daily life as your ability to keep your midsection stable when getting jolted by the opposing team or bad misfortune in your daily life is critical for keeping your spine safe.

So what does this have to do with kettlebells?

Well, one of the coolest components of kettlebell training is their ability to be tossed from hand to hand. This act of kettlebell juggling is perhaps the best way to condition your core to resist rotation and lateral movement and to build massive amounts of power coupled with unpredictability.

A good friend and master kettlebell juggler, Logan Christopher attributes his great midsection strength and 500+lb deadlift (at 6’2” 180ish) to kettlebell juggling. It is truly a lost art that will help you to forge an iron core!

REASON #5 – You Can Safely Do High Power Moves For Reps

Although some training communities are doing high rep Olympic lifting, I strongly urge you to think twice before hitting a puke worthy set of 20+ barbell snatches. The bottom line is that the O-lifts are complex and when you add speed to complexity more things can go wrong fast. So what are you to do?

Kettlebell style lifts like snatches, push presses and jerks are much safer for reps and easier to learn and teach then their O-lifting counterparts. Why should you care? You should care because the development of strength or power endurance (i.e. repeating a strength move for reps is one of the best ways to boost not only power, but also to boost mental toughness, cardiovascular capacity and muscle gain.

Ok, so kettlebells are obviously a good choice when looking for the right tools for developing power safely. So, what now? What should I do and what exercises should I start with?

Which Kettlebell Lifts Should I perform to Build Power?

Stick to the basics… Do exercises like swings, snatches and if your up for it give a little kettlebell juggling a shot. Do these exercises for 10-30 reps and focus on the development of movement mastery or the ability to make the hard look easy. Over time, your skills will grow and you will develop unparalleled explosive power that will leave you with a body that looks great and performs even better.

==> Click Here To Check Out Tyler’s Progressive Training Systems And Save 50-70% Off His Programs For Today Only

Tyler Bramlett is a REAL Functional Training Expert located in Santa Cruz CA. He is the creator of the Warrior Workout System, a system of movement progression based training that you can follow to accelerate your performance and results.