The Cave

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Keep watching and you’ll see how we tweaked a very basic exercise, the squat, to make it even more challenging.

general warmup (15 minutes)

resistance band pull a parts x 120 reps

resistance band archer pulls x 25/25 reps

long cycles x 40 reps

inch worms x 50 feet

specific warmup (5 minutes)

banded kettlebell squats set up and light practice

strength (20 minutes)

banded kettlebell squats x 8 reps x 4 sets

conditioning/accessorywork (2 rounds)

heavy swings x 12 reps

weighted situps x 12 reps

I was just thimking about how many ways there are to press a weight

You can press it overhead from a standing position.

You can bench press it.

You can do a machine press sitting down.

In fact, you can even press parallel sitting down on a machine.

However, when you are on a machine it’s doing the stabiliaztion and balance for you.

Can you get strong using machines?

Of course you can!

The bad part is you give up a lot just to move more weight.

So here’s a way to press parallel to the floor without giving up working on your vital stabilization and balance while you are building strength.

Try this one. A picture is worth a thousand words!

Coach D (941) 228-8341

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Everyone in the somewhat civilzed world has heard the mantra “no pain, no gain” for decades.

Many of us, myself included, have taken that approach and often paid for it later.

Am I saying we shouldn’t push super hard in our training?

No, not at all!

We should attack our training with focused effort but not in a reckless way.

I began coaching people in martial arts in 1969.

I also trained soldiers in IED’s,landmines, demolitions,and other dangerous but necessary skills during my military years, as a Squad Leader.

For about the last 18 years I have been coaching people in strength & fitness.

One of the many things I learned about coaching people in all of those things was you can’t rush your way to solid progress.

You must establish good basics first then progressively move forward.

Here’s a few examples from each of the above areas:

In martial arts, don’t try to teach someone a spinning back kick before they can even do a basic back kick.

Don’t rush the process no matter how badly they want to learn the “fancy” stuff.

In the military when setting up demolitions, take the time to insure that all the firing systems are in place and double-checked.

When disarming landmines, be meticulous. You’ll only ever make one mistake.

In strength & fitness, don’t let anyone attempt real heavy squats if they cannot already squat a respectable weight below parallel.

Some people might think all these things are common sense.

Common sense is in very short supply overall.

People let their egos get in the way of their progress.

Either they learn horrible technique or they get injured.

Torn tendons and other injuries can derail your training for a long time.

Poor technique will punish you in the end.

It only takes one bad lift under a heavy load to end your lifting days altogether.

So work hard and smart.

Work with an experienced coach when ever you can.

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This is where we will be feasting after the heavy lifting this Saturday at Iron Brotherhood.

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