It is rare that a week passes without receiving questions about squatting. I am regularly asked about barbell squats, unilateral options, the potential of either, the differences between each, and what athletes really need. I also get my share of “how much can you squat” questions.

The reality though is that I’ve spent little time with barbell squats for the last 15+ years. I am certainly not against barbell squats, but it is an exercise that has little to do with my role as a trainer. I train fighters during the day so I’m often inside the ring holding mitts, outside running with them, and/or leading them through conditioning drills. As much as I may want to squat, it rarely makes sense as I need my legs to be fresh when I’m moving around the ring with one of the fighters.

I do however mix in a good share of unilateral leg training as I can get it in almost anywhere and I don’t need nearly as long to warm-up before performing challenging variations. Such variations do not involve as much weight (when compared to barbell squats), so the need to gradually warm-up towards max-effort loads is nonexistent.

Yet with that said, I had an itch to squat barbells a few months back. I wanted to mix them in without interfering with my coaching duties. I began squatting on Saturday mornings last fall at a time when I didn’t have any fighters with bouts lined up. After approximately 1 month, I was able to work up to 405 pounds (related discussion here). It was not a one rep max, as I didn’t feel comfortable enough with the movement to push myself to determine a true max.

Soon after, we began preparing for a bout in December (last year), so I eased off the squats as my Saturday mornings shifted back to training sessions for the fighters. It was fun while it lasted.

As for the relevance of this blog entry, I recently came across an article from Ben Bruno which addresses a similar topic. Ben is quite strong and performs a considerable amount of single leg training. In the article below, he shares the results of a test that he performed on himself. If you have any interest in single leg training, his work is certainly worth a look.

Single Leg Training Put To The Test

The Sandow Plus site recently added an electronic copy of another well known text from the past. Below you can download over 700 pages from The Encyclopedia of Indian Physical Culture.

Please note that the file size is quite large (over 150 megabytes). To download the file, right click the link below and choose the Save Target As or Save Link As option.

The Encyclopedia of Indian Physical Culture

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What we call wisdom is the result of all the wisdom of past ages. Our best institutions are like young trees growing upon the roots of the old trunks that have crumbled away. – Henry Ward Beecher

Below is a video that was posted to this blog once before (in October 2011). Unfortunately, the original video was removed from Youtube.

For those who missed the first entry, the video was filmed in 1981 (yes, over 30 years ago). Within the footage, you will see several Russian boxers training with many exercises that have been popularized again in recent years. You’ll see bag drills, barbell exercises, medicine ball throws, bodyweight movements, and more.

Once again, successful training strategies for competitive fighters have been around for a long time. Those who believe otherwise are those who have failed to look at the past.

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Don’t reinvent the wheel, just realign it. – Anthony J. D’Angelo

Following a recent entry on handstand pushups (here), I’ve had a few questions come in about the possibility of larger athletes performing them. Within the original tutorial, I mentioned Paul Anderson performing the exercise, but it appears that many are not familiar with his name.

If you haven’t heard of Paul Anderson before, an abbreviated description would be strength legend. The video below captures some classic footage of him. Handstand pushups can be seen around the 1:10 mark.

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Another strength legend known to perform the exercise was Doug Hepburn. Like Paul Anderson, he’s been mentioned on this blog before (see here).

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Yet another heavyweight example comes from no other than Arnold Schwarzenegger. He too was a fan of the exercise.

In summary, don’t use size as an excuse to shy away from handstand pushups. Working with a larger body only makes the exercise more challenging. Typically, our goal is to work with challenging exercises so added size can be viewed as a plus.

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Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable. – Theodore N. Vail

Following my recent entry on handstand pushups (here), I received an email with a link to the Karl Gotch video that I referenced within the tutorial. You can watch it below.

Within the video, you’ll see several bodyweight movements. The exercise demonstrations begin at approximately the 4:45 mark. Handstand pushup demonstrations begin at the 9:00 mark.

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Conditioning is the greatest hold. – Karl Gotch

Below is a new video tutorial that details how to build an inexpensive pair of handstand pushup handles.

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For more homemade equipment ideas, please refer to the link below:

Homemade Exercise Equipment Archives

While infomercial gadgets come and go, there are a few time tested tools that have delivered results for longer than we’ve all been alive. The jump rope is an excellent example. Legendary fighters from past and present have relied on the effectiveness of a simple jump rope.

Below is a brief video compilation that shows the jump rope in the hands of several all-time greats.

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There’s not a muscle group that you use in the ring that jumping rope doesn’t work; that’s why it’s such an important part of the fighter’s workout. Turning the rope and keeping it turning works your hands, wrists, forearms, and shoulders – which you use for punching. Getting up over it works every part of your legs, from your calves to your thighs – which you use to move. And the constant movement works your heart and lungs, which, of course, run everything else. – Joe Frazier

My new jump rope conditioning DVD is now in stock. The DVD is 1 hour and 53 minutes and includes a 44 page e-book. The price is 13.95.

Additional details can be found at the link below.

Jump Rope Conditioning For Athletes

If you have any questions, please email me at ross@rosstraining.com. I’ll be happy to assist in any way that I can.

Thank you for the support

Ross

Below is a brief video that I created to advertise an upcoming DVD that will be ready in the next few weeks. The footage seen within this sample video is fast paced, but the instruction within the actual DVD is obviously step by step (starting with tips for complete beginners).  There isn’t much that can be learned from full speed work.

I will have more details to post in the next week or two…

Considering the popularity of a recent strongman post, I believe many will enjoy the video below.

Take a look as strongman Mark Felix prepares for the World’s Strongest Man in yet another low-tech, high-effect environment. As you will see within, Mark trains like a beast without any of the fancy amenities that you’ll find in most modern gyms.

Fortunately, the crude environment hasn’t slowed his development. Mark Felix continues to improve, despite his late start to strongman competitions. It wasn’t until age 37 that he began competing.

As for his specialties, Felix is known to possess incredible hand strength. Below you can see one display of such strength as he crushes a one arm deadlift following an injury in 2008. Clearly, he wasn’t one to sit around and sulk during the injury. He found other ways to stay busy.

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All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.
- T.E. Lawrence