With the required upright torso position in a front squat you can easily go rock bottom while maintaining core tension. Deep squats require more involvement from your glutes and hamstrings, so do it! Who the heck doesn’t want a stronger posterior chain?!
Get a BIG breath, hold it, then sink your squat and REAP the reward!
Efficiency, mid-line stabilization, shoulder mobility…the Overhead squat is tough to perform but well worth the effort and practice. If you’ve mastered it and are ready to test your mettle here are 2 great couplets for six-pack-abs and real world strength.
1. Heavy Workout: Overhead Squat 5×5 and Deadlift 5×5
Warm-up, work heavier each set and work back and forth between the OHS and DL. Your top set should be difficult or even a Max.
2. Repetition or recovery workout: Overhead Squat (90% of heaviest load used on heavy day) x 5 reps and L-sit rope pullups x 10 reps. Repeat for 5 total rounds. This can be done for time or recovery.
These movements will make you functionally Strong!
Here is a quick in-action video showing some moderately heavy Overhead squats:
Chute Fighter – A rough stock animal that will not stand still and tries to fight the cowboy before he leaves the chute.
A simple little circuit compounded in difficulty by the Nasty addition of 50 Bullwhips…
A good test of conditioning and grip endurance
“Chute Fighter”
5 Rounds for time:
10 Chins
30 Air Squats
50 Bullwhips
Video of Chute Fighter
Wall Alarm – Facilitates the process of getting the right tools to the right place on the initial dispatch, helps eliminate the guesswork of “when will the pain kick in”.
A lung searing workout compounded by the high box jumps, (26 inches for Women, 32 inches for Men).Tough start to finish, a killer Cardio workout!
“Wall Alarm”
10 rounds for Time:
5 Burpees
10 High Box Jump
15 Wall Ball
Video of Wall Alarm
Cannon – You can’t shoot a cannon from a canoe; one of my favorite core strength and conditioning phrases. Think about it…
This workout is a great test of Strength Endurance; both bodyweight and barbell, as it involves higher repetition pullups and Front Squats. We add a power and conditioning element by including the Concept2 Rower. The workout is a descending ladder, meaning the repetitions decrease each round. This keeps intensity high as fatigue sets in.
The 2 big mistakes that I see people make in the deadlift are:
1. Dropping the hips too low. The tendency here is to “squat the bar”. Instead get the butt up a bit and shoulders over the bar!
2. Not taking in a huge breath of air before the lift. Take a big breath and raise your ribcage and chest. Then get tension on the bar this will help “lengthen” your spine and increase intra-abdominal pressure which aids in mid-line stabilization, (a Solid Core)…
Then, grip and rip!
Note Karen’s starting position…
If she lifts her butt up a bit it will get her shoulders and scapula over the bar and put her in a better position.
Note the space between the bar and her body as she has started the lift, (there should be none). Here she is still “squatting the bar”. Karen did make some nice adjustments today, as did all of you…I happened to catch her on camera early on…sorry Karen but it’s a great example of what many are doing and the photo’s will help us all tremendously!
Note the solid start position here…High hips, scapula over the bar.
Does this help?
Check out these 2 quick video’s for more help with the deadlift:
The Tabata Protocol is a 4 minute workout method that taxes both the anaerobic and aerobic systems thus giving you more bang for your workout buck!
If you are unfamiliar with CrossFit training I’ll keep it in simple terms; with the Tabata protocol you’ll get all the benefits of Cardio while training traditional weight lifting or bodyweight movements.You could spend 25 minutes on cardio and 25 minutes on weights; 50 minutes total…
…or perform a few 4 minute Tabata’s to get faster and better results!
The workout is of course very physically and mentally demanding, sometimes motivation is the limiting factor in getting the results we want from this protocol, that’s why we make a game out of it!
More on this game in a bit…
With the Tabata protocol we perform 20 seconds of work in a core strengthening movement followed by 10 seconds of rest.This is done for eight straight intervals.The clock never stops, so the total workout takes only 4 minutes!
The game we play that keeps us pushing to the higher end of our potential is to simply keep score of our lowest output.
Your score at the end of the 4 minute workout is the LEAST amount of repetitions you perform during any of the 8 intervals. You set your pace during the first 20 second interval by counting your total repetitions, you then have to match that first interval score for each interval. If your number drops on any interval this is now your end score.This method really helps with motivation and provides inspiration to keep the pace and intensity up!
For example; if I perform 10 repetitions on all eight intervals 10 is my final score.If for some reason or another I drop to 7 repetitions during any of the eight intervals then 7 is my final score.
Make sense?
When applied appropriately it is no doubt one of the best protocols available!
What is appropriately?
Well one way to “Tabata” is by utilizing the movements in Fight Gone Bad (FGB).
FGB is a workout developed for competitive martial artists.
The workout deserves further explanation of it’s own but for now all you need to know is that the movements in FGB were picked to improve the core strength and conditioning of martial artists who are fighting for their survival…these athletes are in shape!I’ll get more in-depth on the FGB workout on another day; today lets look at the movements.
FGB has 5 core strengthening moments:
Wall Ball
Concept2 Row
Box Jumps
Barbell Push Press
Kettlebell High Pulls
These movements deserve further exploration, description, and coaching on both form and function…but again I’ll cover these in-depth on another day …guess I have some writing to do and video to shoot…that is why I started a Blog!
Here is a quick video of these movements as a demonstration.
OK, so now that we have some background lets get into the Nuts and Bolts of the workout…
Start with Tabata Wallball, keep track of the least amount of reps you get on any interval. We use a 12 pound medicine ball for Women and a 15lb Medicine ball for Men.We use a 9 foot target.
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Concept2 Row, keep track of calories, record the least amount of calories burned on any of the 8 intervals.
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Box Jump, track reps. We use a 20 inch box for Women, 26” box for Men
Rest 1 minute
Tabata Barbell Push Press, track reps. We use 55 pounds for Women, 75 pounds for Men. We commonly scale the load for different fitness levels and substitute Dumbbells when needed
Rest 1 Minute
Tabata Kettlebell High pulls, track reps.We use 24 kilos, (52lbs) for Women, 32 Kilos for Men, (70lbs).We commonly scale the weight used for varied fitness levels.
That is it!
Add up your score on each movement to get your total score.
Five Tabata’s with 1 minute rest in between equals a brutal 24 minute workout!
Does this Blog Post better describe the workout “Tabata Fight Gone Bad”?
The real kicker with using the rope in this movement is the range of motion (ROM) of the shoulder and length of pull if one is able to perform them correctly.
Note the first photo and my hand position…unfortunately I already started my pull in this photo (I’ll work on a better shot soon)…but what I actually do on the bottom is stretch into an active shoulder with my hands turned out. I start the pull by shrugging my scapula down and rotating my hands in. Note the position of my hands in the second photo. I continue to rotate my hands all the way to the top and this final pull really taxes the biceps…the forearms also get a good thrashing throughout.
Now personally I don’t give a rat’s ass about 6-pack abs and ripped arms…they do however suddenly appear by chasing Peak Athletic Performance and by including a daily diet of full ROM functional movements. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the innate desire to chase these popular ideals…I suppose my rant stems from the new flood of internet fitness gurus espousing their Golden Goose AB Program all based on their own transformation. Why did a fitness professional have to transform? Will they have to do it again when they need to market their next Golden Goose?
HA! Now I’m havin some FUN!
So todays Golden EGG is L-sit Rope Pullups…
A nice couplet of L-sit Rope pullups and either Handstand pushups or the already mentioned ring dips will have you on the straight and narrow to all the great core strength and conditioning gains you strive for…it’ll also give ya some strong arms and abs!
In Strength,
Jerry
P.S Want a hardcore no-nonsense guide to Spartan Strength? Zack Even-Esh is a strength coach who personally walks the walk and trains athletes daily:
The Underground Strength Manual
Want a more mainstream gym program that still has an edge of some hardcore movements? Mike Geary is your man:No Gimmicks…rock solid advice and core strengthening movements.
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