Rogue Globes

Damn I love getting new toys.




Last night this big ball of fun came in the mail along with my new Onyx Bands from EFS and between that and the truck being delivered with my racks and other items I'm like a fat kid at a buffet...or just me at a buffet. I get pretty happy about buffets.

So anyways I couldn't wait to get this thing hooked up and rock some pullups. Or at least a few. Its tough! As in theres nothing to grab onto so hold on for life sort of tough. Not having any sort of grip really puts the stress on the arms and chest since you have to squeeze the living hell out of the ball in order to stay on. Otherwise you will just slip right off.

This thing will definitely be a good time and Im glad I got one while they are in stock. I've been pining for one since the Arnold so many months ago and Rogue has been out of stock since. I have some ideas for this that Im sure will add some fun twists to workouts later on.

Grip4orce - Use and review

Long time ago I ran across something interesting and what I thought at the time sort of bizarre. An ad on a forums saying how great these little black rubber handles that snap onto bars and what they did for grip strength. I wasn't sure what to think since I never heard of this company nor had much experience with grip training. Not even sure what possessed me to buy them but what I do know is Im glad I did.

The funny thing is when I first bought these things they were on back order for what must have been 4 or 5 months. Their website wasn't fully functional yet but I saw they had an offer so I figured what the hell? I also bought two pairs, regular and stiff. Apparently the initial design department didnt think that there was any reason to put any sort of distinguishing mark on them as until you squeezed them you couldn't tell which was which. A pair of wire cutters taking a snip off a corner on the stiff pair did the trick. I havn't tried the newest but with all the new colors and that Im hoping they did something to resolve this issue by now.

As far as construction and cost Im pretty surprised at how durable these are. I've had them for almost a year now and have been regularly using both and they are still as good as the day I bought them. Cost was roughly $40 each minus a %15 discount on the back order which I thought was solid. And considering these can be attached to practically any bar or object the cost is well within reason.

So what do my athletes and myself use these for?
Everything.

Quite frankly theres very little in the lifting department that you cant just clamp these things onto. And compared to Fat Gripz the Grip4orce grippers need to actually be squeezed onto the bar and can easily open up during the lift if you are not careful. This really puts your grip on notice if its lacking. So all the wrist wrap junkies out there may not appreciate what Grip4orce will do to their egos.

So far what I have found most effective using the G4's is during either dynamic or high volume upper and lower days where the weight just is not as heavy and the extra reps will really blow up my forearms. Pretty good example is doing simple exercises like DB shrugs or rows for 12-20 reps. Also lower work performing deadlifts or trap bar deads really hits the hands as well.

Lately, I've noticed I have been using them more and more during heavier workouts. Can really feel my grip strength increasing and catching up to the rest of my lifts. To put it in perspective I couldn't even pick up 315 off the rack much less shrug or dead lift while not Im pretty confident with that and more. What really hammers the grip strength, bottom line, is any sort of high rep pulling work (back and bi's for example). It definitely adds a little variety to press work but not nearly as effective as pulling weight.

I still plan on getting a few pairs of Fat Gripz down the road and will definitly buy a few more pair of Grip4orce for my future gym for extra grip work. I really like the product and between the cost and abuse they are definitely worth it when considering how much they save from buying fat bar equipment.

So if you are wondering I'd highly recommend these. Check 'em out -  http://www.grip4orce.com

Chain lifting - Accomodating resistence at its finest part 1

So I finally decided this past Monday that it was a good time to get some chains. Heard of a nearby place that sells all kinds of different hardware and at a reasonable price. To put it in perspective chains from a exercise equipment supplier have some crazy prices. Usually around 110-140 bucks for a pair of 20 pounds chains. Total weight at roughly 40-45lbs. So about $3 a pound. Kind of ridiculous. So I found McMaster Carr right down the highway in Aurora that has chains for dirt cheap compared to others. At about 9 bucks a foot I think I saved roughly 30 or more per pair with attachment chains and links included. So not a bad deal despite the complete utter cluster#$&@ that happened when I tried to order the damn things...

So heres the story-

I head out to Aurora around noon thinking I call them up and make the order, swing by play-it-again sports, and then come back to grab the chains. Seemed simple enough, right? Well it started that way. I make the call when Im about 15 minutes out and they inform me it will be about an hour to complete the order after I made it a point I AM ON MY WAY to come pick it up. So no worries. I'll get some shopping done and it'll be ready when I get around to them...WRONG. So a little over an hour passes by and I walk up, give them my info, and suddenly a puzzled look comes across the guys face.

"Hmmmm..."

Hm?

"Well it looks like your order was shipped." (Mind you it cost me about 10 bucks in gas to get there plus the tolls while shipping was somewhere around 90 dollars total so Im a little annoyed now).

"Hey it was supposed to be will call, man."

"Yea, Im not sure what happened. Well let me get you another order in and it should be ready in about 15 minutes"

So here I am thinking "great Im going to have 12 friggin chains when this is said and done and be about 600 in the hole. NOT what I was planning on.

"Ok. Yea they have the order so it should be out soon"

Alright. Whatever. I still have some time before practice. I can wait 15 minutes. So I shot some texts out to my athletes and let them know I was going to run a few minutes late but no big deal. Well except the man must've been on some seriously good medication as it took well over an hour and a half to get my new order ready. So not only do I still not have chains yet but practice AND the anticipated testing day is a complete wash. Its already 330 and Im still stuck in some massive warehouse the size of the IX center.

"Ok sorry about the wait you can head around back and pick them up."

Are you shitting me?? After all this they were around back?? For all I know they could have been ready for awhile but I was sitting up front waiting around with dumbass who doesn't understand how time works.

Alright, whatever, the day is already lost so lets make the most of it. I head around back. Grab the bucket of chain (which seemed kind of light for the listed 127lbs but I figured 'well I have been getting stronger') and was on my way.

Finally Im back in Brunswick. After a quick stop to Home Depot for the rest of the pieces I needed Im back in the high school weight room. Home sweet home.

Lets crack these babies open....

I pull two out and link em up to the bar. Bench a few times. All is well. Pull out two more, chain em up, bench a few more times. Feels good. So I reach in to grab the other two...remember when I said it felt light? There was only one chain left. I ordered 6 and was given 5. Alright now really? I was starting to feel a little better until this happened now I got 6 chains in the mail and 5 in front of me. Where do they hire these guys?

It gets better...

So I send them an email 'kindly' voicing my frustrations with the day thus far. Was responded later with "please use this shipping account to send them back and you be issued a full refund for the bad order". Ok well thats good to hear except I got to lug around a heavy ass bucket to UPS to send a bogus order back.

Then I noticed something-

The chains on the left side of the bar were grazing the ground like they are supposed to. The right side- hanging freely. I checked the links and they were even in height so wtf? Why is one higher than the other? I begin to take each chain off and lay them down next to each other....

AW SUNUVA $#%$^@#*$@#*%^#*($@($!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok so lets recap. Not only did they completely misunderstand "I am coming to pick them up DO NOT ship them", they have no idea how long it takes to cut chains and prepare an order, they can't count, and now apparently dont know how a tape measure functions. Its complicated stuff I am sure.

Heres the worst...maybe they just had their B-side working service that morning. Maybe it was just because it was Monday and McMaster pulled their complimentary employee coffee. Maybe the company Cinco De Mayo party just royally screwed up their staff so bad that they were still recovering until Tuesday and therefore normal human functioning on any sort of intelligent level just ceased to be. Tequilas ridiculous.

I don't know.

What I do know is they still have a better location and way better prices than anyone else. So what does this mean? Well like Jim Carey said in Liar Liar - "Guess Ill just piss and moan like an incompetent prick!"

No, seriously, thats about the whole point of this post. Have a good weekend!

British Circuit - Crossfit crack

This is my template for a brutal and almost infamous workout amongst my athletes that quite frankly will send chills down anyones spine to whom I mention it to - The British Circuit. A circuit involving higher rep sets using Olympic lifts mixed with squats and choices of supplement exercises to induce a severe system shock. Sounds fun right?

Well lets get some background first.

A few years ago (few meaning around 8 or more) I attended a clinic for track that happened to have a popular guy named Jud Logan speaking. If you dont know this man you probably havn't done your homework. The topic was off-season conditioning and strength training. The big one that struck out amongst some of his other ideas was, as the title mentions, The British Circuit. Now mind you this came out LOOOONNNGG before Crossfit was even thought in any public sense. In fact I think 10 years ago there were only a handful of 'boxes' floating around the country compared to the thousands now...but I digress.

As Jud went on to discuss the circuit and I scribbled it got me excited to try it out. Sounded simple enough;
-Clean
-Squat
-Snatch
-Squat
-Overhead
-Core (a REAL core exercise...not some lazy crunching shit)
6 reps each with about 2-3 minutes rest between sets and start with roughly 55% of max in each lift.

So here Im thinking '55%? Sure whatever.' So I went home and next day gave it a go....<blurp> goes what little substance I had in my stomach by round 2. WTF just happened?!?! Jud was not joking when he said he puked his first time out as well. Damn was I not expecting that. So like any sadistic coach I immediately implemented it into my athletes workouts. Only one incidence so far of yack attack is when a shot putter a few years back thought he was hot stuff and went with 65%. He made it to the second round of snatches before I saw him dump the bar and run into the locker room. Another thrower/hurdler went at it pretty hard and afterwards didnt say a word to me the rest of the day. Good times.

So, anyways, fast forwarding to the present I have been playing around with that method and got some pretty nice results as far as off-season conditioning. Now, mind you, this is NOT a strength development program. And its tough to manage with a large group but is an excellent tool for strength conditioning and work capacity. Or just GPP for short (General Physical Prep).

Above was the original template I got but below I am outlining my variations and modifications I have made since then. Really its just about playing around with different equipment and reps/sets to see what works best.

This is the basic template. Further down are actual workouts we've done currently or in the past.
Each set 6-10 res for 2-4 rounds. Normally 2-4 minutes rest between rounds with minimal rest between exercises. Minimum of 6 complex movements with 1-2 core exercises. Advisable to start with 50% and work up. Its much tougher to start too heavy and work down.

-Pull (clean, dead lift, swing, swiss bar or log clean, etc.)
-Squat (back, front, box, single, squat jump)
-Fast pull (snatch, db snatch, kb snatch, med ball throw, tire flip)
-Light Squat (front, bulgarian, lunge, split jump)
-Overhead (push press, jerk, kb variation, mb push throw)
-Complex core (landmines, good mornings, curl ups, dragon flag)

There is definitly a lot of variety that can be thrown together. So its not just limited to oly lifts either although that was the original idea presented to me. Either way below is some ideas you can use to start off or just throw in your own!

BC for strength endurance/power;
6 reps each. 3-4 minutes rest between rounds. 55% of max starting week 1. Add an additional 5-10% each week or even each round to increase strength. Can be done 1-2x's a week.Continue for 3-6 weeks.
- Power Clean (or deadlift)
- Back Squat
- Hang Snatch (or tire flip)
- Front Squat
- Push Press
- Good Mornings
- Curl ups x15reps

BC for volume/hypertrophy/work capacity/stomach purging;
8-10 reps. 2-3 minutes rest. 50-55%. Add weight when desired. 1-2x's a week. 3 weeks continuous.
- Hang Clean
- Back Squat
- Hang Snatch (or close grip snatch)
-Front Squat (kettlebells or heavy bags/ stones work too)
-Dumbbell Push Press
-Romanian Dead Lifts

BC for SPEED
8-12 reps. 4-5 minutes rest. Relatively light weights.
-Trap bar deadlift (or dumbbells)
-Squat Jumps
-Swings
- DB Snatch (split reps- if doing 10 then perform 5 each hand)
- Split jumps
- Glute ham raise or Glute Bridge
- Reverse Hyper or Back Extension

BC for STRONGMAN
These numbers are up to the lifter due to the variety of the lifts. Continuous circuit stays the same. This is designed more as a conditioning circuit and speed endurance. 
-Deadlift
-Squat
-Stone to Chest
-Drag
-Axle Press
-Yoke Walk
-Hold (Ive used two cannonball handles attached to kettlebells for this one. works well)

BC for the kool aid drinkers
(honestly I just drew this up as Im writing this blog so try at your own risk! how many times can you get through?)
8 reps each. Continuous for 10 minutes.
-Power Clean
-Squat
-Snatch
-Walking Lunge
-Push Press
-Deadlift

Im sure if a Crossfitter saw this they can apply it to their own training with some different variations. My experience with the 'cult' is pretty minimal and unfortunately only a handful I've talked to left a positive image the rest not so much.

Enjoy!