Posts Tagged ‘Playground’
Richmond, Virginia Wrestler Training – Getting it done on the playground
No training log with week folks. It’s been a deload week, so I’ve just been having some fun both indoors and out! Today I rocked some forward and backward sled dragging.
It started out as a deload session but I couldn’t resist pushing myself. I must say I was a little disappointed in my performance and the sled dragging is going back in the training plan beginning next week. Sled dragging will make your legs crazy strong not to mention smoke your lungs!
While I don’t have any training log entries I do have a killer training session for you to watch. Check out some bad ass Richmond, Virginia wrestlers getting in some killer training at a local playground.
NO GYM REQUIRED!
NO EXCUSES!
To be an ANIMAL on the mat, field, or court, you have to train like an ANIMAL!
Deload to Recover
I mentioned in the last post that this week is my deload week. It couldn’t have come at a better time. The last couple of weeks my training has lacked the fire it usually it has. My body has felt tired, recovery seemed to be taking a little longer, and mentally I just didn’t feel like training. If this has happened or is happening to you, you might need a week to deload.
A deload week is vital to your training. It gives your body and mind some time to recover while still getting some hard work in. Your deload week can be anything you want. This week, I’ve focused on conditioning and circuit training. But, you can get outside and hike, mountain bike, hit up a playground workout, or do some kettlebell or sandbag circuits.
The main thing is to do something you like and to push yourself without going all out. After all, this is a time to recover.
Since the weather has stayed so nice here for the last week or so I got outside this morning and played with some of my toys and had a great deload training session.
What are some of your favorite ways to deload?
Fat Burning “Cardio”
Every Sunday morning I like to get up before the family starts stirring and get in a little fat burning “cardio.” You might wonder why I put cardio in quotations. My favorite type of “cardio” is a little bit different than the low intensity 45 minute steady pace cardio sessions you see in most commercial gyms. “Cardio” for me is all about high intensity, fat incinerating, muscle sparing, conditioning sessions.
My street is one long hill and every Sunday morning I go out in front of my house and get it on. This morning I performed two hill sprints between manholes (about 50yds) then knocked out 10 burpees. I performed 10 rounds as quickly as possible and by the end my quads and hamstrings, and lungs were on fire.
I may be crazy but I love that hill in front of my house. I presents so many possibilities and all it takes is about 20-30 minutes of hard work! Below are some of my favorite “cardio” sessions that I do right out in the street or that you could do at any park or playground.
- Max sprints performed in 20 minutes
- 2 sprints + 10 burpees for 10 rounds
- 2 sprints + 10 burpees + 20 sledgehammer swings (10ea. side) for max rounds in 20-3o minutes
- 2 sprints + 20 sledgehammer swings (10ea. side) + battling rope (30 sec.) for max rounds in 20-30 minutes
As you can see this fat burning “cardio” sessions involve very little equipment and can be done almost anywhere. You can perform them at the end of a lifting session or as a stand alone conditioning workout.
Give them a shot and let me know what you think. I also want to know what are some of your favorite “cardio” workouts. Just drop a comment below or hit me up through facebook or twitter.
What Gym? Take it to the backyard!
I think we too often get sucked in to HAVING to train in a gym. It’s easy, right? All the equipment is there for you. All you have to do is walk in and starting lifting.
What in the hell did people do before gyms to get strong? How did we function before the invention of all this fancy equipment that fill today’s mega gym?
I’ll tell you what they did. They took their asses outside and lifted, threw, pushed, pulled, carried and ran with anything they could find. It’s amazing to me that so many people belong to gyms these days but we (society) seem to be fatter and lazier than ever.
I don't think this is what Michelangelo had in mind!
Gyms have made it just too damn easy for you to be lazy. Training is not supposed to be easy. In fact most people do not train, they exercise! What’s the difference you ask? Training involves goals and planning and hard work! Exercising usually involves going to the gym and doing four or five exercises, mostly on machines with weights that my 2yr old son could lift. This is usually followed by some sort of half ass cardio on a recumbent bike or treadmill for an hour. Believe me, this gets you nowhere fast!
So, shake things up a bit and go to your backyard or playground and train. Get out in the fresh air! You’ll be surprised how it feels.
YOU DON’T NEED A GYM!
YOU DON’T FANCY EQUIPMENT!
Even the most seasoned and advanced lifters can benefit by taking to the backyard. You can use your own bodyweight for a killer training session or you can use some simple homemade tools, like in the video below, to get strong and build slabs of fat burning muscle.
Check out this video I put together in my own backyard!
I had to let that rant go! I’m fired up right now SON!
Let me know what you think by visiting my YouTube channel and rating this video or drop me a comment.
The Power of the Pullup
I was reading a post on Zach Even-Esh’s blog about pullups and how valuable they are. It got me thinking of the days were I could barely complete 1! Now I can crank out a set of 20!
The pullup is THE greatest body weight exercise. It’s definitely one of the best measurements of strength. It’s also one of my favorite exercises.
I crank them out at least twice per week if not more.
The bottom line is, if you’re not incorporating pullups into your training, you’re really missing out. I guess you don’t want a thick muscular back, jacked biceps and forearms?
I think Arnold did a few pullups during his day?
Pullups can be done with tons of different grips, with ropes, thick bars, etc. I could go on for an hour about the different ways to do them.
Zach Even-Esh has some great pullups videos on his site. Here is one of my favorites.
Go outside to a park or playground today and test your pullup strength. Find a tree or a set of monkey bars and crank out 3 or 4 sets of max reps. Remember your total and see if you can add to it next time.
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