While I believe everyone (except a select few with spinal problems) can and should get the benefits of bridging exercises I recognize that this move is certainly not for everyone.
I’ve taken to bridging skills over the years supporting ever increasing weights while in a wrestlers bridge. This move is just a support, holding the weight in place. The limitation before was getting the weight into place. Unless I had a training partner this was impossible for me to do as I increased the weight I could hold. Now that I have a power rack my previous limitation is gone.
Though to be honest with you I shouldn’t have gone for this weight. Although I had kept up in my neck work I hadn’t really worked the support in awhile. And normally when I do this I hold for time, usually 30 seconds.
But I had the power rack and I got excited. After a few warmups sets I did this. With 275 lbs. it was much closer to a max attempt than I should have gone. Oh well. I pulled it off with some effort, but no problems.
Like I said before, this isn’t for everyone (and I do plan to support more weight in this move than anyone else.) But if you want a strong neck and spine there’s plenty of work to do before you even approach this level. My Advanced Bridging Course will get you going building the needed strength and flexibility.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Bodyweight Exercise, Feats of Strength, Oldtime Strongmen, Videos by on Mar 13th, 2010. 3 Comments. 
Today I want to talk about two different sorts of Convict Conditioning and which one you might want to try.
I know a guy who recently got out of prison after spending just a couple months inside.
We got on the subject of working out while he was there and the stories he told me where ridiculous. This is close to and actual overheard conversation he heard:
“Let’s see, we did chest and arms yesterday so today let’s work our pecs and biceps. And then tomorrow we’ll go big and do some benching and curls.”
Zero leg work. Zero back work. In my opinion, the bench press and curls can be part of an effective program. PART. Not the whole damn thing!
And the worse part was he said three people in the whole place could bench 225 lbs or more. You’d think if you only did a couple exercises you’d at least get good at them.
And most would do heavy cheat curls with…80 lbs. I wish I could show you his imitations of their atrocious form. And moving from barbell curls to preacher curls to isolation curls and so on. The advanced guys might…MIGHT do a few one arm rows.
When my friend was doing pullups (yeah I know, a real ‘out there’ exercise) one inmate asked him if that worked the shoulders. He was the only guy doing pullups in the whole place!
This whole conversation started when I showed him Convict Conditioning, a recent publication from Dragondoor. On the cover is a man in the middle of doing a one arm handstand pushup. Must be very different penitentiaries for this colossal chasm of difference in training.
Considering I do lots of training with bodyweight exercises (and have my own courses devoted to two of the moves found inside – bridging and handstand pushups) I bought the book and read through it. In it Paul “Coach” Wade takes you through 6 exercises which lead up to some impressive feats. These include:
One Arm Pushups
One Leg Squats
One Arm Pullups
Hanging Leg Raises
Stand-to-Stand Bridges
One Arm Handstand Pushups
Each exercise is broken down into ten progressive steps. These steps take you from remedial exercises (usually the first 3-4 steps) up to these advanced moves.
That’s a real important thing most people don’t grasp. Making bodyweight exercises progressive isn’t as easy as throwing another plate on the bar. And in all training progression is the name of the game. So I have to applaud the effort of systematizing the progression as its laid out in this book. I don’t 100% agree with every one in here but overall it’s really good.
Now, I can do four of these moves but was particularly interested in the progressions he used for the other two, as they are exercises I‘d like to do one day. (I’ll let you guess which of the two exercises are quite a bit more difficult then the others.)
For anyone wishing to do the same I recommend getting Convict Conditioning and applying what you learn inside. It’s well worth it.
Even if you just did this routine you’d be fairly well off. Of course you really should add conditioning work as well and hand and neck training but besides that it’s a great program.
Anyone who wishes to train should master their bodyweight to some degree before touching any other training tool. You don’t have to be able to do all six of these moves but being at steps 5 or 6 in the progressions would not be a bad idea.
You can get Convict Conditioning by clicking here.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. I would never recommend a product I do not believe it and use myself. That being said I will be paid a small commission if you buy this book by clicking on the links on this page. After all I am running a business here.
Filed under Bodyweight Exercise by on Jan 6th, 2010. 5 Comments.
Today I’m going to give you a tough kettlebell and bodyweight exercise workout.
I first came up with this workout after hearing reading about Bud Jeffries’ concept of Yardstick Conditioning in Twisted Conditioning 2 several years ago.
I wanted a way to combine kettlebell exercises with bodyweight exercises in a single intense workout that would test overall conditioning as well as build muscular endurance. I picked four exercises that I felt where foundational and ones I wanted to work on. Those exercises are:
Double Kettlebell Jerks
Pushups
Bodyweight Squats
Kettlebell Snatch
(When I originally did this it involved hindu pushups and hindu squats, although when I started doing this workout again recently I’ve done the regular versions of pushups and squats.)
Each exercise is done for 5 minutes straight. Then without a break you move onto the next exercise in the order listed.
The goal is obviously to do the highest number of reps in each exercise.
But another big goal is to get to the point where you can do the exercise without dropping the bells or getting out of position for the whole five minutes. This means you can only rest with the kettlebells in the rack or overhead position for the jerks, and just overhead with the snatches. You can do as many hand switches as you need with the snatches.
On the pushups you stay in the plank position (much easier to maintain five minutes of hindu pushups). With squats its easy to go all five minutes so recently I added cables, a portable power jumper from lifeline, to make them harder.
Of course, in the start do as many sets as you need to do the whole five minutes.
For the kettlebell exercises I use 24 kg bells. You’ll want to start lighter especially if you have no experience with long sets. Eventually I’d like to work up to 32 kg bells. That may take awhile. I shouldn’t have to say it but technique is real important here.
I would recommend only doing this workout once per week mixed in with your other training. And each time you do it you seek to add just a few more reps to each exercise.
It’s a challenging workout. But rewarding and if you enjoy bodyweight exercises and kettlebells it’s a great way to work on those fundamental exercises.
Give it a try and let me know how you do.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Bodyweight Exercise, Conditioning, Kettlebells, Workouts by on Nov 16th, 2009. 2 Comments.
An important part of a complete training program is to do some sort of conditioning work. Of course, this can come in many shapes and sizes.
Sprints, kettlebell swings and snatches, skipping rope, and high rep bodyweight exercises are a few of my favorites.
And just like in any other training, your conditioning work should be made progressive. The thing is its not so easy as just adding more weight like you can with a barbell.
In these cases you’ll most often be working with volume and time. That is to do a certain amount of work (no matter the exercises or tools used) in a period of time.
If you can do the same work in less time, or more work in the same amount of time you’re doing better than before. Since this is a conditioning based activity progress means you’ve improved your conditioning.
You can change up what you do to condition yourself from session to session as long as you have a ‘test’ workout. That’s a specific workout you come back to again and again to see if you’ve improved.
I’ll share with you what I use later on to test out my conditioning levels, later on. But for now just make sure you do progressive training when it comes to strength AND conditioning.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
Filed under Conditioning by on Aug 11th, 2009. Comment.
One of my brothers who was in town is into Crossfit big time and he convinced me to go along with him to one of the local gyms this Saturday.
When we got there I was asked if I had done Crossfit before. My answer was ‘sort of’. I had done Crossfit style workouts several times, and knew how to do the lifts, but had never actually trained at a Crossfit before.
Since I was substituting my normal Hill Sprint workout with this one I was hoping it would be more conditioning focused and I wasn’t disappointed.
Here’s the workout:
3 rounds of 400m Run, 12 Deadlifts w/ Bodyweight on the bar, & 21 Box Jumps done for time
My time was 11:52. I finished second in the group of about seven. Only eight seconds behind (but I was using a bigger box to jump on).
I’m not going to lie. It feels good to go into someone else’s house and perform near the top. Of course, I train hard and heavy all the time, just differently from what is typically done in Crossfit.
And I know there are certain other workouts that could have happened that I wouldn’t have performed as well on.
There are great benefits to training like they do at Crossfit. It develops all around fitness using all manner of exercises. From gymnastic and bodyweight exercises to Olympic and power lifting. You’ll build strength and endurance almost always at the same time.
The randomness of it can be both good and bad. It will keep you excited and the body will never really adapt. However if you have certain goals you want to achieve its not the most direct path.
The competitive element pushes you to work harder then you might normally do. However, I’ve seen some people neglect form to go faster and also due to being tired. This can lead to injuries which is never good.
It was a fun time and a good workout. I may be going back every once in awhile just to test myself and shake things up a bit.
They also have a bunch of knowledgeable coaches. I know I’ll be going to get some help on Olympic lifting which I have little experience in myself.
Sometimes you need to train outside your box even if it’s a good box that you train in.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Next time I’ll have a video for you of a somewhat extreme feat of strength. I’ll tell you I can feel the soreness in my head and neck right now from doing it yesterday…
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Bodyweight Exercise, Conditioning, Strength Training Concepts by on Aug 3rd, 2009. Comment.
There are bodyweight guys. There are kettlebell guys. There are clubbell guys. There are barbell guys.
Some of its marketing but I think the biggest reason behind this sticking to one system is exactly what happened me.
I use to go to a commercial gym like most people seeking to get fit. And I never got much by way of results. Then I found out about bodyweight training. After a little testing I went full force into that.
This was good and bad. The good was that I focused on that training and saw lots of benefit from doing it. The bad was that since I was now getting results I thought anyone who did anything else was wasting there time.
Over time I started using some other training implements and saw the benefits in doing so. The fact, is each tool has its own unique advantages and drawbacks.
Bodyweight exercises are great because you can do them anywhere. They quickly get you in tune with your own body. And you really should have some mastery over you body before doing anything else. But sometimes in life you have to pick something heavy up, and there’s no way you can recreate that with bodyweight exercises.
Barbells are great because they are balanced, actually the perfect tool for lifting maximum weight. With plates you can incrementally use more and more weight. But for the most part the training is one-dimensional. And that balanced tool can act against you when you have to lift something that’s not made for lifting.
Clubs are great because they offer real three-dimensional training. You can hit the arms and shoulders in ways that can’t be replicated. But for building maximum strength levels they may not be your best choice.
I could go one but I think the point is clear.
In my training I use bodyweight, kettlebells, clubbells, Indian clubs, trap bar, barbells, thick handled dumbbells, block weights, grippers, the formulator, sledgehammers, nails, bands and I’m sure there are a few other items I’m forgetting.
Each tool has its purpose and that’s why I use it. In the end that’ll make you stronger and a better athlete.
In strength,
Logan Christopher
P.S. Making good headway on the big project I mentioned last time. Next week I should have an update, the first details on what it is.
Filed under Barbells and Dumbbells, Bodyweight Exercise, Kettlebells, Odd Objects, Strength Training Concepts by on Jun 10th, 2009. Comment.
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