Don't limit yourself to sledgehammers

[thecreator]

There is a whole shedfull of potential training equipment.

Axe- Chopping wood, judge power by depth of cut.
Block splitter- ^^same as axe
Shovel- Ever dug a hole? can get pretty hard, especially in clay.
Hand saw- sawing wood. similiar motion to straight punch.
Pick- Similiar motion to axe, but used on different things, and body has to be in different positions depending on the job.
Crow bar- spearing and levering.
Screwdriver-ok for wrist strength/conditioning when screwing screws into hard wood.
hammer and nail-helps hand eye coordination, and to focus power into one point. try to hit nail into wood with minimum hits.

 

[Urban]

just get a fucking job on a construction site.

 

[krellik]

Out of them I like the axe (but prefer the sledge!) and the shovel especially.

Also what is the english word for a long metal speer pole thing that you use to prye shit with in the ground? (the swedish word is spett..) Use that shit to get out big heavy ass stones from the ground, its a freaking murder workout. Especially in the soil around here. That kind of work is the exact reason that a lot of people emigrated to america 100 years ago from my neighbourhood.. and yeah its tuff.

 

[thecreator]

People that do hard yakka for a living are stronger than paper pushers.

God forbid that I had to spend the rest of my life working in a job, but if I did I'd rather earn good money.

 

[Urban]

Out of them I like the axe (but prefer the sledge!) and the shovel especially.

Also what is the english word for a long metal speer pole thing that you use to prye shit with in the ground? (the swedish word is spett..) Use that shit to get out big heavy ass stones from the ground, its a freaking murder workout. Especially in the soil around here. That kind of work is the exact reason that a lot of people emigrated to america 100 years ago from my neighbourhood.. and yeah its tuff.

It's called a prybar or a tunneling bar by those in the know.

 

[Madmick]

Good post, Creator. I especially like your comment on hand/eye coordination for accuracy with hammering nails. Maybe I'll start helping my dad building stuff. I'll be like, "Dad, let me do the grunt work." He'll be befuddled.

 

[BAS_FAN]

strength and power is turing into the mountain man section.
i mean seriously....wtf?

 

[krellik]

strength and power is turing into the mountain man section.
i mean seriously....wtf?

Yep and its a positive thing.

Ask the westside boys if they like gpp. Or better yet, spend a lot of time doing this heavy shit in combination with your powerlifting gym work, and see what a hulk you become..

 

[True2KungFu]

i like wheelbarrow work actually. Fill a wheelbarrow full of wet dirt and sprint with it, unload, fill with heavy blocks, then walk with it. Try and move one uphill. THATS total body strength.

 

[Chad Hamilton]

It seems that the blackjack is pretty simple to chop.
The cottonwood is a bitch, all twisty grained.
Oak is a good wood for chopping, not too easy, takes a few reps.
Maple is is fairly simple.

 

[Tornado]

just get a fucking job on a construction site.

...or pick up carpentry or woodwork as a hobby.

 

[BAS_FAN]

thing about that is u gotta eat a shit load of food and protein so u dont lose ur muscle, i know people who've messed that part up

Its called General Physical Preparedness (GPP) and its manly

where do you find these pics???
LOL

 

[Madmick]

strength and power is turing into the mountain man section.
i mean seriously....wtf?

Actually, much of the stuff I see the CSCS's doing amounts to GPP with more of a focus on stability training.

The problem is that many of them also think that this can form the core of a strength regimen. I even saw the division within the gym where I work. Mike and Brook fall on (I'm guessing it's Boyle's side) while Jeff and Bobbi are more darkside.

I would be remiss if I didn't observe that Jeff and Bobbi are a shitload stronger than Mike and Brook. Jeff's a competitive powerlifter and Bobbi is probably the most all-around fit person I have ever known (she does sets of windmills with 40+ pound kettlebells and runs about 12 miles a day- she's fucking awesome). Mike is probably the most naturally gifted athlete to have ever come out of my high school, but he let it go. He high jumped 7'5" as a freshman in college before (what I'm thinking happened) he found himself in a pond with fish as big as him, and realized that maybe if he did give 100% of himself, he still probably wouldn't win; growing up the way he did where he never had to try to win, he wasn't mentally conditioned to accept that. I think he quit.

Anyways, he owns a Bowflex and can barely dunk now. He gave me a program with pistols as the core of my leg workout and DB SLDL's for my lower back. It was just crap. But he's trained all the olympians and whatever (I'm beginning to seriously doubt he "trained" them) and although I never really saw them argue, I could tell what Jeff thought of Mike and Brook's routines, but he held his tongue because of that ace (and in the name of peace, which is never a bad idea). Jeff's never lived anywhere but Red Bluff, so there's no one to train here. You can't turn lead into gold.

When I first came into this forum, Mike was still my boss (he quit) and I was enamored of him. That has waned along with much of my regard for this "functional" training, and truly I owe that to the board. So thanks for that, guys, you saved me. I understand now why "functional" is a bad word in here. It still has a meaning to me (the one I gave Carnal), and I still use it when I train people at the gym, but I've been trying to forego using it in here.

Funny aside: Jeff and Bobbi are a tenuous couple. Mike and Brook are engaged. I don't know why that's funny to me, but it is.

 

[krellik]

Madmick is this your version of days of our livses? I have tried to re read your post 3 times now and I dont get it at all. Sorry mate.

 

[Madmick]

Madmick is this your version of days of our livses? I have tried to re read your post 3 times now and I dont get it at all. Sorry mate.

Shit, is it that confusing? I usually don't have that problem, here, let me read it.

 

[krellik]

Shit, is it that confusing? I usually don't have that problem, here, let me read it.

It is also quite possible that I am an iliterate swede with limited english..

 

[Madmick]

It is also quite possible that I am an iliterate swede with limited english..

No it isn't. That post was shit.

It's a complicated timeline and when I started writing that response to Bas_Fan I was not planning on going that in depth. So it got all jumbled.

I just spent about 10 minutes writing a clear-cut explanation, then right as I finished, I accidentally closed the window, so I'm depressed about that.

*EDIT* Also, I hijacked a great fucking thread. Honestly, Urban or Kabuki, I wouldn't mind if you deleted all my posts in this thread. It's useless clutter.

 

[Still Water]

this is what I do all day at my job. mostly digging, picking, and beating things with a sledge. I've gained about 12 lbs since August.

 

[AxeGrinder]

anyone ever used a jackhammer...pretty fun too...quite a workout if your working something tough...maybe a little inconvienent though...anyway, since were talking oldschool excercises, why not get like...3 or 4 nice sized boulders and throw them around...I've seen alot of old-time boxers do that...

 

[Madmick]

anyone ever used a jackhammer...pretty fun too...quite a workout if your working something tough...maybe a little inconvienent though...anyway, since were talking oldschool excercises, why not get like...3 or 4 nice sized boulders and throw them around...I've seen alot of old-time boxers do that...

I went out and chucked a bunch of firewood the other day. That was fun. I was cleaning 50-100 pounders, trying to explode and throw them as high as I could into the air.