You're punks. All of ya'. All of ya' under 25 or so, that is. Mike Mahler calls you "Generation Ent," for Entertainment, meaning you need to be constantly entertained. Well stand by to be entertained, in a manner of speaking.
Join date: Mar 2008
Location: Michigan, USA
Posts: 683
Great article.
Honestly, what I clearly see is a "divide" in this group. A huge divide. A "shrinking middle class", is what you could call it. But Im not talking about income. What Im talking about is basic masculinity, basic strength and fitness.
We have a number of phenomenal young athletes in this group. And we have a plethora, a HUGE amount, of lazy, limp wrist soy boys. It seems like the middle class here is gone. With the baby boomers, and Gen X, it seemed that most guys were of some testicular fortitude. There was a huge middle class of men that were men.
But that is gone.
I enjoyed your article. I have heard about sledgehammer training about a million times - and its about time I actually go out and try it.
Join date: Jun 2007
Location: Illinois, USA
Posts: 114
The introductory to this article pretty much outlined the purpose for those of you who can't read between the lines. This is for all the idiots in my generation who believe they really train. As you should be able to tell this is mainly aimed towards all the obsessed over fat loss omg abs bull$hit. This workout stacked with the idiotic placebo effect (by say "ZOMG GET RIPPED FAST")might actually do them some real good, not that half of them will actually have the balls to do this.
I for one might actually begin to incorporate this into my training simply because I recover very quickly from the "advanced" fat loss programs and get bored at home and feel the recomended rest is far to long. And, I can do this at home without having to deal with idiot questions except for from the fat father who is a zero risk, know it all, safety lover.
Join date: Mar 2005
Location: Connecticut, USA
Posts: 2302
irishpowerhouse wrote:
I think i want to get a sledge hammer and hit this author over the head, then throw a sandbag at him. (isnt this the kettlebell maniac?)
Ok I can see his point, its a great overall body workout. But its not going to make you deadlift 500 lbs or get that big bench your after.
I cant see too many people actually going out and getting sandbags and doing this, although it would do all of us alot of good.
Dude, it's a replacement/substitute for cardio! Is cardio going to make you be able to deadlift 500 pounds?
Join date: Mar 2007
Location: Michigan, USA
Posts: 840
Great article. The sledge and sandbag are definately underestimated in terms of their use as conditoning tools. To anyone who says different, I dare you to perform a 15min density training sledge session and not be broken down - the sledge makes cowards of us all!
irishpowerhouse wrote:
I think i want to get a sledge hammer and hit this author over the head, then throw a sandbag at him. (isnt this the kettlebell maniac?)
Ok I can see his point, its a great overall body workout. But its not going to make you deadlift 500 lbs or get that big bench your after.
I cant see too many people actually going out and getting sandbags and doing this, although it would do all of us alot of good.
He states that the article is about cardio workouts that are effective and not boring... its not about increasining deadlift and bench, i dont think that any form of cardio will help with that either.
oh mahler - the sledgehammer/tire workout looks brutal.. i'm gonna try it out anyways... as i need to lose about 10-15 lbs by September (sisters wedding)..
Actually these implements can help you lift more, significantly more if you truly
understand them.
The reason I became involved in sandbag training was to help my Strongman training. There is an obvious carry over, but many great barbell lifters are amazed by the awkwardness and challenge of lifting sandbags as it challenges your trunk in ways you never imagined! In addition there are great grip benefits that are highly related to deadlifting and benching. Lastly, the shoulder stability training that you get from these implements can help you reduce your injuries and improve your lifts in either overhead or bench pressing.
Why this article is so relevant is because most want to lift heavy and have zero base to work from. It isn't just GPP it is building tendon/ligament strength, strength in various ranges of motion, and functional trunk strength.
Most individuals have no background of manual labor and are not active more than five hours a week at best. I have put great lifters through these workouts and most their first time can't last 15 minutes. Just give it a try and you will surprised by the power of such training, or sit on the forums and criticize why it won't work.
Joshhenkin wrote:
Actually these implements can help you lift more, significantly more if you truly
understand them.
The reason I became involved in sandbag training was to help my Strongman training. There is an obvious carry over, but many great barbell lifters are amazed by the awkwardness and challenge of lifting sandbags as it challenges your trunk in ways you never imagined! In addition there are great grip benefits that are highly related to deadlifting and benching. Lastly, the shoulder stability training that you get from these implements can help you reduce your injuries and improve your lifts in either overhead or bench pressing.
Why this article is so relevant is because most want to lift heavy and have zero base to work from. It isn't just GPP it is building tendon/ligament strength, strength in various ranges of motion, and functional trunk strength.
Most individuals have no background of manual labor and are not active more than five hours a week at best. I have put great lifters through these workouts and most their first time can't last 15 minutes. Just give it a try and you will surprised by the power of such training, or sit on the forums and criticize why it won't work.
I was not talking about the implement itself, but the workouts that seemed more cardio/endurance oriented. Sure pressing a 250lb sandbag overhead is an amazing feat of strength that will transfer for other lifts. But a circuit like this doesnt seem that will build much maximal strength, but isnt it pourpose either... For example today i did deadlifts in a circuit that will do nothing to improve my max deadlift, it doest mean that the deadlift is not good to increase the deadlift, just that i used different parameters for a different goal. But of course if one is a begginer he will improve even max strength from this workout.
Join date: Dec 2006
Location: Wyoming, USA
Posts: 265
Airtruth wrote:
How about they just go work construction and get paid for gpp?
Then it wouldn't be "boring", it would be too "hard" for most of the target audience. It all boils down to work ethic. This upcoming generation has it in limited quantities. Then again I guess that's the trick, to make work feel not like work, then it will possibly please generation "ent".
I'm like Mike though, and ask why bother? The removal of ones head from their ass is an often liberating feeling, why should we not allow them to experience that on their own?
Join date: Oct 2007
Location: Ohio, USA
Posts: 269
The sledghammer training reminds me of work last week. We had gotten an order with an oversized pallet that was too big to send back. We took sledgehammers out back with the pallet and went nuts untill it was in in little pieces.
We were both sweating our asses off after that....
Join date: Jan 2005
Location: New York, USA
Posts: 2631
irishpowerhouse wrote:
I think i want to get a sledge hammer and hit this author over the head, then throw a sandbag at him. (isnt this the kettlebell maniac?)
Ok I can see his point, its a great overall body workout. But its not going to make you deadlift 500 lbs or get that big bench your after.
Serious reading comprehension fail, with uncalled for disrespect. Great job, skipper.
The article begins with:
...TC asked me to write a series of articles specifically addressing the needs and interests of this age group...
and ends with:
In the next installment of this series, I'll show some strength-and-size workouts...
I have a medical problem that does not allow me to do endurance type work (spinal column disease). I have found though, I can push a full wheelbarrow for 25 yards or so with little problem. This gets my heart pounding, works my grip/forearms, upper back, low back and abs.
After 8-10 trips I start to fall (again, disease) but it is a great workout.
Join date: Jun 2007
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1771
This is a topic that annoys me to no end and nearly sends me into a rage.
When I was in my twenties, my age group was usually the most fit in the gym; we were lifting the heaviest weights, training the hardest, etc. The "older guys" - 30's and up - seemed to have slowed down, put on some fat, were training lighter, etc.
Now that I'm in my late 30's, the situation has reversed. The biggest guys in the gym, the best trained, lifting the heaviest, are the guys in their 30's, 40's and even 50's.
With a few exceptions (some of them are amazing), the guys in their twenties are either outright fat or are skinny fat. They seem to spend an inordinate time "flexing/posing" in the mirror (I'm not joking); they have no idea how to train; they seem completely lost. They seem to have spent their whole lives playing game boy.
When I see my nephews and nieces - many are now in their early teens - I get them outside to play (you know, what we used to do ALL FREAKIN DAY ON OUR OWN? Like, climb trees? Soccer? Football. Etc.) And they're exhausted within a half an hour and slinking back to the television.
WTF is going to happen to these people as they get older? Pathetic.
Yes, this specific program may not, or it may from the standpoint of helping you fill in weaknesses and your tolerance of high intensities. Here is a short list of people that use these similar methods to get people strong...
Diesel Crew
Joe DeFranco
Christian Thibaudeau
Martin Rooney
Zach Even-esh
All these guys must know something:)
BTW, those strong guys I was referring to originally were dealing with a 120 pound sandbag. Structured correctly it doesn't take much to make these implements very challenging.
In this video you can see some very strong dudes (over 700 pound deadlifts) working hard with one of our 130 sandbags. One of the guys who pulled 530 at 170 pounds almost could not clean and jerk the same bag, his words..."damn that is awkward!"
Join date: Jun 2007
Location: Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 1771
Wise Guy wrote:
Great article.
Honestly, what I clearly see is a "divide" in this group. A huge divide. A "shrinking middle class", is what you could call it. But Im not talking about income. What Im talking about is basic masculinity, basic strength and fitness.
We have a number of phenomenal young athletes in this group. And we have a plethora, a HUGE amount, of lazy, limp wrist soy boys. It seems like the middle class here is gone. With the baby boomers, and Gen X, it seemed that most guys were of some testicular fortitude. There was a huge middle class of men that were men.
Join date: Mar 2003
Location: Colorado, USA
Posts: 3299
hockechamp14 wrote:
irishpowerhouse wrote:
I think i want to get a sledge hammer and hit this author over the head, then throw a sandbag at him. (isnt this the kettlebell maniac?)
Ok I can see his point, its a great overall body workout. But its not going to make you deadlift 500 lbs or get that big bench your after.
I cant see too many people actually going out and getting sandbags and doing this, although it would do all of us alot of good.
Dude, it's a replacement/substitute for cardio! Is cardio going to make you be able to deadlift 500 pounds?
The fact that some people still don't get this...
Then there's that whole philosophical question of "What is strength?" I like to do barbell complexes. If I work up to doing a 5 exercise complex of 6 reps per exercise with 135 lbs., is that considered "strong?" What about 185? Obviously, it's not strong as in deadlifting 500 strong, but it is certainly a different, and I believe a very useful, type of strength. As Josh alluded to, building max strength will not necessarily build this type of strength (but it will help).
Join date: Aug 2005
Location: Ontario, CAN
Posts: 112
Neat article, Mike.
T-Nation: do please continue to publish articles that offer any kind of differentiated approach to lifting. Lately, things have been a tad stale around here. It's not that it's a pre-requisite for training motivation, but it's a nice alternative to re-reading regurgitated information.
Good article Mike. Having grown up on a farm, I get a kick out of seeing sledgehammers and tractor tires as training tools. Shovelling stuff is also a pretty good workout. (I live in northern Canada, and shovel snow as a volunteer in the winter, for the elderly, invalids, etc, great workout. One winter, I shit thee not, we got a call from a healthy, able-bodied woman in her thirties, who wanted someone to shovel her driveway for her so she could "get to the gym." It's amazing how many workout fanatics consider intensive physical effort to be prestigious, as long as it doesn't serve anyone else or serve any practical purpose. If it accomplishes something in addition to working their bodies, then it's beneath them. But that's a whole other topic.)
Re the sandbag training, my brother and I used to play catch with bags of grain, trying to knock each other over - that would be a pretty good addition to your workout, if you have a training partner.
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