Grip Training: Benefits of Sledgehammer Training

If you don't currently have a Sledgehammer to train with, I suggest you march right out and get one right now.  There are so many benefits of sledgehammer training, it is just a great way to spice up your training.

You get them at just about any store, or even right off the Amazon Website.

Speaking of Sledgehammers, I put up a new post on the site about someone who as done more impressive things with Sledgehammers than anyone walking the Earth - Slim "The  Hammer Man" Farman.

Here's the post <= My Knuckles Were Sore

Slim is famous for some unbelievable feats with hammers, many of which I would have to specialize on in my training for years in  order to match and most likely still never come close.

However, I was surprised to see some remarkable progress in one particular feat Slim is famous for which has been called "The Slim Lever."

Check the new post out to see how it's done.

Now, as I said, there are many benefits to Sledgehammer Training, and it is a good idea to have at least a 6-lber in your arsenal if you are a woman and an 8-lber if you are a man.  Let's run down some of the benefits of sledgehammer training.

1.  Grip Strength

It takes a concerted effort between the forearm, wrist and the hands to maneuver a Sledgehammer. 

It doesn't matter if you are swinging it around with faster movements, or if you are being more strict and controlled with it, Sledges will light you up.

To give you an idea of the many ways you can  use these for Grip Strength, you can use them in strict movements to strengthen the wrist movements of nail bending, you can use them more dynamically to strengthen faster movement patterns like a golf or baseball swing, and you can even add weight to them and rotate them like a wrist curl. 

All of these techniques are easy to set up but blow your forearms up and give you much tougher wrists and hands. And honestly, we've only scratched the surface of what you can  use them for.

2.  Cardio

If you are looking for a new to train for some cardiovascular  fitness, then try swinging a sledgehammer and striking a tire or a tree stump. 

Try just 30 seconds of constant overhand swinging and you will see just how demanding it is, even with a relatively light sledgehammer.

3. Shoulder Health

Most people don't think of this one, but it is true, sledgehammers work the shoulders very well, especially if you swing them in circular forms, similar to how Indian Clubs and Maces are used.  Just a simple sledge can be really useful toward loosening up the shoulders prior to a big pressing workout, or to help you get into better position under the bar for squats.

4.  Core Strength

Because of the awkward nature of the sledgehammer, your core has to work quite a bit harder and definitely in a different way when swinging one. 

And don't just think of the core as the abdominal muscles alone, think of the lats and the glutes as well.  All of these body parts are firing when you swing a sledge, especially if you can swing laterally against an object like a standing tire - talk about crazy rotation and deceleration training.  This is great for bat and stick sports and even combat athletes.

5.  Contra-Specific Training

Contra-Specific Training is a concept that is out there but you don't hear much about yet, but I think you will in the future.  The main idea behind it is strengthening opposing movement patterns. 

A prime example would be coupling Pull-ups with Military Press because they work complimentary pulling and pushing movements. 

Sledgehammers can accomplish the same thing, especially for those who do so much Kettlebell work, which involves Extension of the body.   Sledges, when used to strike down onto something, work powerful Flexion - both styles of training compliment one another very well and I think with time you will see more and more of this mentioned.

Sledge work is great for everybody.  It can be done as a way to isolate movement patterns like various wrist and forearm actions, or it can be done in more of a full-body, multi-joint manner of training.

So make sure you get one for yourself (you can grab one here) and don't forget to check out the new post on Slim the Hammer Man.

All the best in your training.

Jedd

Creating Tension to Increase Strength

DIESELS,

 

Today, I am sharing with you one of the biggest

keys to improving strength performance, and I

learned this when I first started tearing cards.

 

Incidentally, the Card Tearing Week special is

still going on and you can pick up the Card

Tearing eBook for just $19.99 right here.

 

When I first started tearing cards, there was

a lot of grunting, sweating, and fury, but there 

wasn't much tearing going on with the deck of 

cards.

 

Instead, the cards would slide all over the place

and I couldn't do what I wanted with them. 

 

Maybe you have seen this when you have torn

a deck of cards?

 

Eventually the decks would tear, but they were

turned into a mess because I had no control

over what I was doing.

 

This was very early in my strength journey, and

I was learning as I was going, and around that time

I read an article by Pavel Tsatsouline about Tension.

 

He wrote about creating Tension in the larger

muscles of the body in order to stabilize joints

and transfer this strength into the extremities. 

He was talking about the Bench Press in the

article, but I thought, "this has got to work

for card tearing."

 

So, I began experimenting with Tension, and

I found that if I squeezed the deck of cards really

hard, the muscles all the way up my arms and

into my torso would eventually all turn on as well.

 

Give it a try - you will see for yourself what I mean.

 

If you don't feel it, then practice it, because Tension

is a skill.

 

So then I thought, well what if I tense up the upper

back and torso first?

 

What I found was the Tension would radiate down

the arms into the hands (just like Pavel had described

in the Bench article) and it felt like I had a much

better grip on the cards.

 

Once I got a hang of this Radiant Tension, card

tearing became a lot easier for me, and I even began

experimenting with other techniques of card tearing

(there's lots of different ways to tear cards, like I

cover in my Card Tearing Ebook)

 

What's awesome is, if you are passionate about Card

Tearing or another Feat of Strength, once you get

good at applying Radiant Tension with your favorite

feat, you can apply it to the other feats. 

 

And you can also apply it to other more conventional

lifts.  So even if you are not big into something like

Squats, you can learn to apply this concept to your

Squatting.

 

After a while, you will even notice that once you

strengthen your skill of Tension Production, you won't

even think about creating tension - you'll just do it

when you need to.

 

So, in a way, Tearing Decks of Cards can help you

improve your squat.

 

All the best in your training,

 

Jedd

 

P.S.  If the emails become sporadic in the next few

days, I apologize ahead of time, but I will be

traveling to Ohio for Grip Sport Nationals and won't

have my regular computer access.  Wish me luck,

and I will have a full report next week.  And if you

want to pick up one of my most popular ebooks,

check out http://www.CardTearing.com.

Nothing is Going to Stop Me

I do coaching in many ways through the internet and it gives

me the opportunity to work with many different people

in varying degrees of one-on-one interaction.

Whether it's TheGripAuthority.com where I work with more

people but on a less-personal basis, or my One-on-One
program where I work with fewer people, but have more
personal contact, I am all about helping people attain their
goals.

However, one thing you have to know about training -
whether  it is for Grip Strength or some other aspect of the
Iron Game, you've got to have the right Mindset.

In other words, you can't go into your training doubting
yourself.

If your goal is to lift a certain weight, like the deadlift, or
pick up a certain Grip Strength challenge item, or do some
other awesome feat, you can't have any doubts that you
will get it.

You have to have the mindset that - -

                        "NOTHING is going to stop me."

Here's a little story...

I used to train with a guy all the time who would constantly,
right before he went for a lift, say something like, "Man I
don't know if I can lift this."

I would get on this dude's case all the time because that
kind of sh*t used to pi** me off big time!

You have to go after your goals like a savage, crazed,
BEAST.

If you fail at doing something the first time, who cares? 

Failing once doesn't mean you won't ever get it.

Ever watch those TV programs where the lions go after
the gazelles?  Those savage, crazed BEASTS will run
around the savannah chasing after prey for hours until
they tackle one.

If they quit their pursuit after one miss, they'd never eat,
the pack would die off, and the Lion race would go extinct.

That's how you've got to go after your training.  Like a
Lion in the grasslands chasing down their prey.

I'm not saying you need to grow your hair long and growl
out loud every time you lift (although I am enjoying doing
just that these days) but you do need to approach each set in
 the right way.

If you are letting little doubtful statements like, "Not sure if
I can do this" enter your mind, stop it right away and think
of something else to replace it.

One thing I like have been using lately is "This is MINE,"
before I go after a lift.  In the past, I have even used,
         
                "New Record in December, Baby!"

You might have something else, like "Light Weight" a la Ronnie

Coleman.  Or maybe there is a line from a movie you like.  

Find something you like and run that through your head 
every time you are about to hit a lift and you will see 
improvement.

Whatever works for you to develop that "NOTHING is going
to stop me from reaching my goals" type of mentality,

Heck, you can even wear shades in the gym and declare right
before you go for something HUGE, "I came here to kick ass
and chew bubble gum, and I am all out of bubble gum, like
Rowdy Roddy Piper in the movie, Them."

Whatever gets you in the right frame of mind - like the Lion
on the  prairie hunting down those tasty gazelles.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

P.S.  I first learned how truly powerful this Mental Training
can be when I was shooting Road to the Record.  I was training
for the  Two Hands Pinch world record and I kept saying, over
and over - "New Record in December Baby!"

Sure enough, it worked and I've never stopped doing it since.

If you want to see exactly what I mean, check out my DVD, 

Road to the Record, and see how I train like a savage, raging, BEAST.

New DVD: Braced Bending

Mike Rinderle and I have released our second project together, called, Braced Bending:  How to Detroy Everything in Your Path.

In this one, we cover techniques for bending not only various lengths of steel, but also wrenches, horseshoes, hammers, and even how to roll frying pans.

So check this thing out today.  Braced Bending DVD

I want to hear about the damage YOU can cause.

All the best in your training,

Jedd

What I Read on the John

Because I have a little daughter that seems to get bigger and smarter every day, I try to spend as much time with her as possible.

However, I also know the importance of continuing to learn and develop.

So what I generally do is keep a couple of books near the porcelain throne in order to read them bit by bit and continue to learn without having to miss out on cool stuff with my daughter.

She says, "Uh Oh," every time she breaks a crayon or drops her bottle now, by the way...

We have two different bathrooms at my house, so these are the two things I am reading.

1. Vince Gironda, Legend and Myth - It' taken me a while to get through all of this book, since its 334 pages, but it is a pretty entertaining read.

Gironda seemed to go beyond what everyone else was doing back in his day.

For instance, Gironda instructs AGAINST using milk for protein shakes. He says Milk has too much carbohydrate, that it is incompatible because Protein is an acid medium and Carbs are alkaline.

He also says not use a blender for shakes because the blender emulsifies the fat and it becomes a "suspension too small for digestion." Instead, he suggests mixing protein with heavy cream, using a spoon, and then eating it like pudding.

Sounds freaking crazy, but everybody thought I was crazy for lifting the Two Hand Pinch apparatus the way I do. Now all the people that lift it like me are lifting way more than they used to and the people that say I am crazy are stuck at the same weight while I continue to push the record up.

Whether you think Gironda is bonkers or not, take this into consideration.

Gironda suggests an exercise for upper back development called High Bench Rowing where you lie face-down on a bench and row dumbbells in an abbreviated range of motion.

This sounds amazingly similar to a movement called a Bat Wing, described by the legendary Dan John in a T-nation article I read not too long ago. Dan John is also the author of the other book I am in the process of slowly digesting... (see below)

Look, if you are a person whose sole interest is Strength Training, then Gironda's Book is not for you, BUT if you are focused on muscle building in your training, there are probably some damn good gems in this book for you.

I mean, on page 164, it outlines Gironda's approach and method of Barbell Pressing for delt development. While many articles and guru's out there will tell you that Military Pressing should be done first as the primary way to train delts, he looks at it totally differently and says they should be done as a finisher and in a completely different way from anything I have ever read before.

If you have been thinking about getting this ebook, you should hurry because the Intro Sale is over tonight.

You can go here to get it = > Gironda Book

2. The other book I have recently started is a collaboration from Pavel Tsatsouline and Dan John called, Easy Strength. I have only just started this one, but considering the breadth of information both of these guys have put out, I'd bet this one is going to be awesome.

This one is more of an athletic strength training book and includes topics like training various degrees on 1 Rep Max, the use of Big Core Lifts, Program Design, Plyometrics, Lifting Heavy Weights, etc.

I will bring you more information on this down the road, as I have only had the opportunity to start this one recently.

Until then, have an outstanding weekend and all the best in your training.

Jedd