How it all began.....

Below, Bill Pearl shows the effects of hard, heavy training with free weights. Back in the"Golden Era" men not only looked strong, they WERE strong! It's time to get back to the good old days! Are you ready?

Speaking of hard training, this story will give you some insight as to how I began using these odd implements. I was broke and couldn’t afford all the gadgets and gizmos that I was “supposed” to get, you know the stuff I’m talking about: parachutes for sprinting, mini hurdles, large hurdles, agility ladders and the like. I was caught up in the functional training movement and got a bit clouded with all the information out there and wasn’t all that sure where to start.



Here is what I did have though…

I did have a back yard with some downed trees as well as a tire I snagged off the side of the high way. Why not make it work as the “equipment” since I can’t afford to buy the real stuff. The men in world’s strongest man competitions made all these odd implements work for them so I knew we could make it work as well!

So I went ahead and made a tire into a “sled”, used the logs like barbells, used army navy duffel bags like barbells as well. The crew at the tire yard let me come down on Saturdays to train so I bring them some bagels and coffee and they’re more than happy to bring down 2 or 3 different sized tractor tires.

What about the athletes who grew up on farms? They’re always kicking ass. A Farm boy always beats a Mama’s boy!

Do I have to squat with a barbell all the time, or can’t we use logs and sandbags for squatting as well?

Do we have to perform sit ups with legs bent, or can’t we do a get up using a sandbag, making us work the entire body?

The dumbbell complex was increasingly popular, but when training combat athletes I wanted them to “wrestle” against the sandbag the entire time. I wanted the grip to get worked heavily, and I wanted the upper AND lower body to get equal work. Holding the sandbag in the zercher position forces the upper body to work extremely hard while the lower body works during forward, reverse and lateral lunges. Walking and squatting with a sandbag helped improve work capacity, lower body strength and upper body strength at same time. Walk for 10 steps, do 3 squats, walk 10 steps, do 6 walking lunges, walk 10 steps, do 5 good mornings, walk 10 steps, do 5 clean and presses.

Get the picture now?

Next week try doing the work with a barbell. Walk with the bar on your back for 10 steps, 5 squats, walk 10 steps, 6 walking lunges, walk 10 steps, 5 push presses, walk 10 steps with the bar in front (dead lift walk) and 5 bent over rows!

Enough talk fellow Gladiators, it’s time for you to get to work.

See you at The Underground!

p.s. – Find more hard core lifters, coaches and combat athletes at The Underground. Ego free and tons of quality information through the friendly and informative forum, interviews and articles. See you on the other side!

http://www.undergroundstrengthcoach.com/

--Zach--

Hells Bells!

Grab em' and GO!

Use any variation you want...

• Hold 2 at a time
• Hold 1 at a time to force the opposite side to work (especially the obliques)
• Walk for 20 feet, perform a few reps of the squat / DL, repeat for time, or reps, or until your grip gives out!

www.UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

Keep it simple!

Most people say that these "simple" movements are not to be considered training. There is a recurring theme where other coaches bash strongman training. Why do they do this? Well, certainly several reasons!

1) It goes against the grain of their complex ways of thinking - life is complex enough, so we make training simple, yet brutally effective. That pisses people off because they want to hear about the nervous system and the glute medius firing and yadda yadda

2) It's hard f**ing work! This style of training requires gut busting effort. The people who bash underground and strongman training are likely too scared to attack their training with high intensity. Let us not mistake this for stupid training - we train smart, we're just not dogmatic about the method, we're dogmatic about getting results.

3) It gets results FAST!

Keep it simple, hit some heavy farmer walks during your workout. Use heavy kettlebells, heavy dumbbells, a sandbag in each hand or traditional farmer walk bars. Go heavy and take small, short steps. Walk fast!

stay tough friends!
www.UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

Where it's at

I started training at age 13, and now I am 30. I LOVE to train and I need variety in my training. Training must be fun if you want to stick with it! That is what Underground Strength Coach is all about - innovative training methods designed to help you break through physical and mental barriers.

We don't get dogmatic about the method we use to improve our physical and mental conditioning. On the other hand, we are dogmatic about getting results. We want results and that is what we get through our Underground Training methods!

Stay strong!

www.UndergroundStrengthCoach.com

Welcome to The Combat Grappler Blog

Welcome to The Combat Grappler Blog. Save this space as we will be updating regularly!

This is a place where you'll find unconventional training methods for combat athletes and hard core fitness enthusiasts.

It's not about complicating your training for the sake of complicating things. Life cna be complicated enough, so we'll focus on getting RESULTS! It's about improving your performance through smart training that is easy to implement and FUN to do!

Once you cross over to The Underground you'll NEVER go back!