Off-season training

[Alan H]

This is the most intimidating thread on here!



Does my "farmers carry" of grocery bags count for strength training?

Hey, they have wine bottles in them.

...the BIG ones.


*says under breath* but I run too, and have gym day on Fri afternoons, that's got to account for something

Yes, your Farmers Carry counts! So does the running, and so does the gym. Tell us what you did in the gym!

I have a mess of little tricks that I do that help me. They are simple as all get out, but they really help.

#1. Throw. A LOT. Whenever you can. If you only have half an hour between kid commitments, then take the stone out into the back yard and chuck it ten times. Seriously.

#2. Take the stairs. Every single time, without fail, take the stairs.

#3. Dan John, who has forgotten more about throwing and training than any of us will ever learn in a lifetime has this to say about training on his website.

At the same time because of all the positive interaction, I began expanding and refining those things that I believe can help anyone improve on the road to health and fitness. Although it sounds ancient to me now, the original “refinement” was:

1. Pick Stuff Off the Ground 2. Put Stuff Overhead 3. Carry Stuff for Time and Distance

That's not really all that complicated, is it? I mean, you can go on and on and on about squat variations, and interval training and 3-2-1 but in the end you are picking stuff up.

OK, fine. So go get something cheap and heavy to pick up. I happen to like a 50 pound bag of sand. I have one. I wrapped the snot out of it with duct tape, because the bag is paper. I didn't want it to bust when I dropped it. This bag of sand cost me about four dollars at Orchard Supply Hardware. The roll of duct tape was another $3.75. You can do more (*&%#$#(*& with that stupid bag of sand than you could possible imagine.

Pick it up off the ground. Put it on your shoulder. Now push it up over your head. Now put it down. Repeat.

Hug it to your chest and do deep-knee bends. Try hugging it to your chest and JUMPING form 3/4 of the way down to a deep-knee bend. Can you clear the ground? Can you clear the ground ten times? Be sure to land with "soft knees" when you do this.

Hold it in your hands and do curls. Wrestle it up to chest height and push it over your head again and again until you can't push it any more.

Get TWO bags of sand!!! Look, it's a GREAT item for your Christmas list. Now put one on one hip, one on the other and climb stairs. Go for a little walk around the neighborhood.

When the 50 pound bag is too light, go get a 75 pound bag. Pick it up and put it in the trunk of the car. Now take it out of the trunk and back on the ground. Put it in again. And so on. When you can do 4 sets of 10 deep-knee bends with that 75 pound bag and not pig-wheeze your lungs out, I guarantee you a gold star with the word "Amazon Stud" engraved on it.

Not only that, but you'll discover that hot dayum, but it's a lot easier to throw that 28 pound thingy over that bar, now.

#4. go down to Big 5 Sports. Buy some grippers. You know, the things you mash in your hands to build hand strength. They're cheap. Put one of them in the car. Every time you stop at a red light, pull out the gripper and hold it for a 15-count. Switch hands. Hold it. Do that all winter and you will have a grip of iron and you will NEVER lose a weight during a throw again.