No BS Training Inspiration

I am inspired to train from within as well as by external factors and other people. One man who has influenced me heavily is Coach Ethan Reeve. I love his stories of when he trained himself as a wrestler and how he trained his team when he coached in Tennessee at the D 1 level!

His workouts developed freakish work capacity and strength. I can only imagine how he transformed and improved his wrestlers through his methods!

In fact, a long time ago, when I first wrote about my influence of Coach Reeve, one of his college wrestlers from Tennessee e mailed me, it said something like this:

'Zach, I used to wrestle under Coach Reeve at the U of Tennessee. Our workouts were brutal and we all feared him. Those of us who were smartest STILL fear him!"

Coach Reeve truly walks the walk. He has been through the intense training and he continues to train to this very day with intensity. He won a state title in high school and still did his routine of 500 push ups the same day he won the state title in Ohio!

Coach Reeves talks of training, as detailed in his interview in the Underground Strength Kit, inspired me to get my new climbing rope in the backyard and now I plan on hitting at least one climb every day! Without a doubt this is my favorite interrogation I ever had with another Strength & Performance Coach!

The climbing is NOT easy for someone over 200 lbs.

But, the challenge it places on the grip, back, shoulders and biceps is freakishly intense. If you're a stud, perform more than a few reps of climbing without stopping, or, add a weighted back pack or weigh vest.

Here's the energy system training we do in the field with our wrestlers that has proven to be very effective, in fact, all of our wrestlers just qualified for the state tournament!

We would either perform 3 - 5 rounds of the workout below (this was only part of the workout) or, they would get as many rounds as possible in a 10 or 15 minute time frame.

As their work capacity improved we added volume, but, we did taper before the season. I am not saying that more is better, it was just one method we used, so, without anymore waiting, here is the work out:

1A) rope climb x 15 ft.

1B) sledge hammer work x 10 across each shoulder (20 reps total)

1C) log or sandbag zercher carry x 80 ft.

** rest was very little between each round,

maybe some quick water and then back to training **

If the rope climbing is too difficult, you can always attach a thick rope to your sled and perform hand over hand pulls. These are very effective, but, I do not feel the challenge as much as the climb. Still, the safety factor, especially if you train others, is there and this makes a great substitute.

If you're a combat athlete or a fan of physical culture and the methods used many decades (or is it centuries) ago, then get some rope work in, one way or another, you gotta start!

Dedicated to your success,

Zach Even - Esh

PS - Don't forget about the FREE Underground Teleseminar I'll be doing tomorrow, Monday night, Feb. 26th at 9 pm EST. I'll be talking about how I started out with no gym, no money and just some free weights off of e bay. You'll learn how you can do the same, plus, I'll open the line up for Q & A. Your call in details are below, in the previous post....