CREATING A MONSTER Let’s talk about True Strength. Not one-dimensional strength. Not strength “tricks” that will fail you sooner or later when you’re in competition and it really matters. We’re talking true, whole-hearted, down-to-throw-weight-at-any-time strength. The same strength you saw in old school strongman competitors who would compete in Highland Games, arm wrestling, MMA, and any other sport they chose because their body and minds were trained to be successful in all manners of athletic endeavors. As you read and implement these ideas I’ve laid out here I promise you one thing: You will grow in mind and body in the best way that strength athletics can provide. If you plan on half-assing these techniques or cutting corners then don’t waste your time. Go back to curling in the squat rack because if reflects poorly on me. This is a hardnosed, no B.S. approach that is not easy, but most certainly worth it.
About Me
I grew up playing all types of sports - hockey, basketball, karate, track & field, swimming, - and finally got into football in high school. I hit a big growth spurt in the summer between sophomore and junior year. As soon as I got used to my new GIGANTIC body, I became a terror on the field. By my senior year I had more plaques and awards than I could count, including MVP, All-state, and second team [1]
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All-American. I went on to play at Western Oregon University, and then bounced around trying to make my way as a professional. When my football career ended I picked up strongman and instantly loved it. It didn't take long to get my pro card and become one of the top competitors in the world. When I look back on my relatively quick rise in the ranks, I realized my success was in great part to how I approach training and preparation.
Becoming the Monster When I combined what I knew about myself with what I had learned through years of training for multiple sports, I had two thirds of the puzzle complete. All that was left was to acquire technical knowledge in strongman and weightlifting. I was very lucky to have great coaches throughout my football career who were knowledgeable and very good at helping me understand how to build strength, while understanding my body. As a football player I learned that picking up your pace on accessory lifts is great for cardio and you still benefit your strength. You want to train your body to recover by kicking it into high gear, then resting. Forcing your heart to slow down, then exploding again into the fast-paced part of your routine. Even when you are in a controlled environment, you want your body to experience stressors that are similar to what you will face in competition. While I'm preparing for a powerlifting meet I'll take long breaks to force my body to stay ready through extended rest. Contrast that with strongman, where you have to be ready for up to six events in a day. If you haven't practiced it's going to show when in the last few events. You will simply break down.
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I've also learned to make cardio fun. That's right, I said MAKE CARDIO FUN. Simply put: Do whatever you can do to trick your mind into forgetting how much cardio sucks. For example, in football we would all line up as a punt team and take turns kicking, then collectively run down the ball. Even better, we would have the big boys like me return kicks and practice our Barry Sanders moves. Nowadays what I like to do is challenge someone’s cardio. Training partners, other competitors, whoever is around. Even if they're obviously going to wreck me, I tell them I'm going to kick their ass and try to keep my word. Competition creates intensity.
benefit you as well.
Switching up your routine is also great. I love the EMOM (every minute on the minute) style of training. You pick an exercise, let's say log clean and press, start a timer and at the beginning of every new minute you do your chosen number of reps in the exercise, using the rest of the minute to rest until the new minute. 8 minutes is a short one or 22 minutes is on the long end. I usually stick to 12 minutes. You can do squats, shoulder a stone, deadlifts - anything you want - just push yourself. Football athletes are some of the best conditioned athletes in the world, regardless of size. The mental aspect of training for success in football set the groundwork for my success in strongman, and a similar approach will
Know Yourself Self-awareness and a solid mind-body connection take time to develop. It also requires a great deal of focus and repetition that most people lack the discipline to practice. It starts very simply; just pay attention while you're lifting as to how your body is responding. When you were doing incline press did you feel it more in your shoulders or your chest? Did the upper back work you put in hit the right spot or did you mostly feel it in your biceps and forearms? Are you getting better? Pay attention to what your body is telling you and then adjust. If you're doing incline for shoulders and you're getting too much chest, sit up straighter. No upper back improvement? Change the weight or switch up the exercise. Most
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people use too much weight and never really hit the muscle they want. I'll talk more about that later. Pay attention to pain as well. Don't use it as an excuse, but at the same time don't pretend it doesn’t exist. Pain is very often a signal that you are doing something wrong, or just need to find a more efficient way to do the work. For example: shoulder pain is very common; most of the time a simple tweak in your form while pressing can fix it (we will touch on this again later). Elbow pain, knee pain, back pain all can be helped, if not eliminated completely by proper form and taking the time to rub the scar tissue out. Learn to roll and do soft tissue work. Don’t avoid it because it’s not “hardcore.” Get a two-dollar softball and use it to torture yourself into relief. Be aware of tightness in your muscles and mind your flexibility. Personally, if I don't take the time at least once a week to sit down and stretch I can feel my back stiffen and my hamstrings and shoulders tighten up. Find your rhythm, find your routine, and take care of your body. Oh, and DRINK WATER!
Do It Right Acquiring knowledge as a beginner to strength athletics wasn't tricky. I had great people around me and I did what I was taught in football: I watched film. Granted, most of what I watched now was on YouTube but the concept was the same. The people around when I got started had and still have a genuine love of strength athletics and were excited to help me learn. So, I would practice the movement over and over again, not until I got it right, but until I couldn't get it wrong. Take different lifts and break them into different parts to practice separately then put them all back together. Forget about weights, or what everyone else is doing and become fluid with the movements, and then you’ll have a strong foundation to build on. You don't want to find ways to "trick" the weight up. It might feel good for a moment to hit a PR like that but in the long run you're setting yourself up for failure. Force yourself to use good form and simple strength methods to set yourself on a path of long-term growth and success. You see it all the time – some guy talks about these big numbers he's hitting in the gym or even has a video of him pulling some big lift out of his ass – but put him on the stage where it matters and he will shrivel up and hide. I remind myself and people I train all the time that "you're not training to peak in the gym." This is why most of the time you spend in the gym the weight you use is irrelevant. Of course, if you plan on lifting heavy [4]
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for a competition or any other reason, you have to feel that kind of weight in training. It's different on you mentally and physically and to go in unprepared for that is stupid. However, there are many more options for planning intelligent training beyond just lifting as heavy as you can all the time. Most of your training can (and should) be done with less weight. You want to use the chosen muscle to the best of its ability without recruiting others in the lift. This will help grow and strengthen each muscle group to their full potential, ultimately making you stronger in those lifts that you use everything you have, and more, to get done. You can get a better workout curling 25 pound dumbbells with perfect form then a guy using 70 pounds who's basically hang cleaning them for show. You have to hit your clean reps and truly stretch the muscle out before contracting it to get the full benefits of the exercise. Does this sound a lot like bodybuilding? It should, because no matter how you slice it, the core of strength sports is building muscle. Muscle makes you strong. You can’t simply “will” a muscle into performing. You have to break it down, over and over, and let it rebuild itself bigger and stronger than before. Now, I will probably be the last one to put on posing trunks and a roll-on tan, but I’m not going to ignore proven methods for gaining valuable muscle just because someone decided that certain types of training are “bodybuilding” and others are for strength. That’s bullshit. Like you, I’ve spent hours and hours watching video of different exercises and trying to discover how successful athletes train. I would watch EVERYTHING on YouTube. I started with every single one of the World Strongest Man competitions. If you want to get fired up about getting strong, watch some of the World Strongest Man broadcasts from the 80’s. From there, I would seek out other, lesser-known competitions. I would watch three hour videos in a foreign language just to soak up knowledge. I started studying different competitors’ training videos. "I want to press like a beast," I thought. So, I'd look up Poundstone and Big Z. “I want to learn everything about the atlas stones.” So I watched Ortmeyer. These guys, these monsters of the sport, unknowingly taught me how to compete. It's important to film yourself too. You have to watch yourself to see where you can improve. It sheds a new light on your training that's undeniable. It's also a weird (but effective) way to get motivated and remind yourself to use proper form. When you're lifting in front of a camera, you are constantly reminded that you don't want to look like a jackass on film. As you make improvements they [5]
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become the new standard as well, because you've recorded it. Once you do something right you have to live up to that standard from that point on. You'll learn that film doesn't lie. Some days you'll feel you did something perfect, and then you watch the tape and realize it was far from where you want to be. Other days it will be the opposite: You'll feel terrible about a lift and it'll look great. Our bodies and minds can trick us but film never lies.
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Strength Staples The undeniable truth about getting stronger is that it’s simple. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. There are relatively few things you need to do in order to turn yourself into a monster. The key to making progress is focusing on these few things and hammering at them day in, day out. As my friend Matt Vincent says, “Train hard for ten years. Then you get to be strong.” • Your first goal is to lift heavy. Properly fatigue the muscles by using working weight that is relatively heavy: 80% of your max or more. o Use this weight in 3 to 5 sets. o This is where you learn to lift, and you push your limits every session. • Take plenty of recovery time between sets. Heavy work requires at least a minute of recovery, but usually more. • Do drop sets. After your work sets, lower the weight on the bar and do 2 sets at a much lighter weight you are extremely confident in. o There is no rep count you're going for. The goal is to keep going until you feel the pump, then do another 10 to 20 reps. o Take plenty of rest time and repeat. o This kind of lifting exhausts you, so it’s best to do it, at most, twice per week: once for an upper body movement and once for a lower. • Pay attention to your accessories. o You need strong arms: shoulders, biceps and triceps. o Traps are critical to success. o Upper back takes a ton of work to build. o Hamstrings can be a weak link – don’t allow them to. o Heavy lifting requires strong abs.
But Rob, I hate accessory work! I get it, I really do. You still have to do them though. Luckily, there is a method to simplify your accessory work once in a while. Burn Outs are the perfect way to get the work done, get a solid pump, and improve your cardio as well as your mental toughness. Be ready though; these will feel like torture. • Load bar to 60% of max using at least five different plates (if 60% of max is 145 pounds use 5-10 pound plates on each side. [7]
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• • • • •
Hit a set until failure, then rack and remove outermost plate. Repeat. When the bar is empty hit a few slow reps to stretch. If you have enough in you to get two sets then have at it, Hoss! These are called “suicides” by serious lifters around the globe. You will see why when you finish them.
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Anatomy of the Monster Bigger Traps You don't get huge traps from trying to shrug 1,000 pounds and barely moving the bar two inches. The trick to big traps is going to a heavy weight that you can still fully shrug and hitting quality reps with it, then moving to a light weight and doing a ridiculous amount of reps. I really like using the smith machine for these because it concentrates right on the target area. I also like it because I can change my position like leaning back or leaning forward over the bar and it holds me into place. You can also change your grip position from wide to tight. You have to realize your traps are shaped like a diamond across your shoulders and into your upper back. If you don't squeeze the whole muscle while training you're not fully working the potential of them. Bigger traps are very popular for aesthetic reasons but they also help stabilize your upper body for other lifts. There's a reason you look jacked when you deadlift: You are incorporating all those muscles you see popping up at once. I bet you just thought it was some Instagram conspiracy. Sample Shrug Routine • I hit traps 2-3 times a week. This is exactly what I do. • Smith machine shrugs. Don’t freak out! The smith machine helps you focus on smaller muscles groups by stabilizing the rising bar. o 135lbs, 3 sets of wide grip then tight grip. 30 reps each. o Try to touch your shoulders to your ear to keep the motion right
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Bigger, Stronger Shoulders Bigger shoulders are stronger shoulders. My brother Kalle Beck always says "guys who can press look like they can press" You've got to let go of the idea that high reps or working on small muscle groups isn't strength athletics. The best method I have found is to work up to a heavy rep range and test your maximal strength capacity then, drop weight and push your muscular endurance. There are several reasons this works, and yes, I'll explain. You never know what you'll have to do in a show. Strongmen don't have the luxury that power lifters have in knowing our lifts no matter the event, time, or place. We have to adapt, so being prepared to go the distance whether it's max weight or max reps is crucial.
With strength and size come stability and comfort. Guys with huge shoulders don't tend to have shoulder problems. It's the same as other muscles; guys with big biceps tend not to have biceps problems. With added mass and density, the muscle protects itself, and with that comes comfort and confidence. There's nothing like stepping up to a challenging press and having all the confidence in the world. Sample Shoulder Routine Work Sets and Drop Sets • Seated military press 5x (8,5,3,2,2) build to around 90% of your 2 rep max • Drop down to 40-50% of final weight-20 reps • Take 3 minute rest • 12-20 reps [10]
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Upper Back and Bench Press • Wide grip upper back 4×12 followed by • Tight grip upper back 4×12 then to light benchpress • Bench 4×(15,12,10,8,6) finishing around 70% of max • Drop down to 40% • Burnout Accessory Work • Curls • Traps • Triceps • Upper Back • Biceps/Triceps Superset It's a hard routine but it builds monsters. I've helped out several pros that have been around since long before me and watched their press jump up like crazy. IT WORKS!
Biceps When I first started out in strength Athletics I was told repeatedly that working your biceps is a waste of time. It was considered something pretty boys do. The other thing I noticed was guys were tearing biceps like it was going out of style and they didn't want to get left out. The idiocy in those two extremely prevalent truths boggled my mind. You need every muscle in your body to be prepared. It's as simple as that. If you think you don't need strong calves then you’re obviously never been pulling a max deadlift and felt every muscle up and down your leg seizing in defiance of their task or pulled a truck for that matter! Forearms? Look at the best bench presser of all time, Eric Spoto's forearms and tell me you don't need them. You use your biceps all the time in strongman and powerlifting. Most of the time they are stabilizers but there's plenty of lifts where those muscles are on the front lines taking the brunt of the attack that this sport can certainly dish out. Basically don't be a jackass, prepare your body for success. Sample Biceps Routine Once per week I curl heavy: • 4×6 at ~85% of max • 1×3 at ~90-95% [11]
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• When I'm unable to do them I "cheat curl" because my tendons need to feel the strain of the weight. • Then, twice a week I hit a quick "feather burn" I select a very low weight and do 3×50. o It needs to be light enough that all the way up to your 30th rep you’re thinking “this is too light” no need to push weight. Just pump blood into the bicep until it feels like it's going to pop and pump some more. This builds bigger muscles and helps repair them as well. It gets a ton of fresh blood in the area and supplies all the oxygen and nutrients it needs to thrive. Another great thing is there's no soreness the next day. You'll feel great!
Strong Triceps If I need to explain to you why triceps are important, please put this book down and slap yourself repeatedly. Someone from the Team Oberst staff will be with you shortly to assist in kicking your ass. Think about when you win the last round in Mortal Kombat, and the game says "FINISH HIM!" That's how you need to look at your triceps. You've earned a reward and now your triceps get to collect. They finish it. They need to be made of steel! They need to scare women and children when you pull them out. There's no worse feeling than getting a perfect rep to the "catching point" where your triceps take over and you should be seconds away from glorious destruction of everything around you and your fucking noodle arms give out in all that work was for nothing. I see guys all the time that could be BEASTS if they just worked their triceps. Bench press needs to be utilized for triceps once a week. It doesn't have to be heavy and it doesn't need to be more than an accessory lift but it needs to be done. [12]
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• Triceps are frontline warriors and need to be prepared as such • Once a week I hit skull crushers while lying flat on the bench. If you don't know what skull crushers are YouTube them. I'm not sure I can accurately describe them without a video. Skull crushers 4x(10,10,8,8) all at 80-90% • Tricep extensions – go back and forth between rope and metal each day 3×20 at maximum weight • Don't use your back, if you have to engage your lats it's too heavy. • Do the extensions twice a week on top of your regular upper body days. • It's also great to do close grip bench once a week. Get reps! 3×20 at 70%
Bench Press Bench press deserves to be a “main course” every once in a while for strongmen and women and for the power lifters reading this I have no need to explain the awesomeness of the almighty bench press. Like my brother from another mother Mark Bell says "how much ya bench bro?" This is part of the holy Trinity of Lifting (a combination of three lifts so alpha, they completely consume all power lifters.) My routine has always seemed weird to power lifters, until recently the greatest bench presser of all time, Eric's Spoto revealed that his routine is actually kind of similar... maybe that's why my bench so damn good! • Start with your feet planted solid on the ground in a comfortable but solid position trying to keep your knees lower than your hips. • Flex your back like you’re trying to pinch the pad you are laying on with the middle of your upper back. • Firmly grab the bar, slightly further apart than your shoulder length. Be smart in choosing your weight. You only need to use maximal weight sporadically. Building muscle density, strength and shape are all best addressed with a weight you’re comfortable with. • As you lower the weight to your chest keep your back flexed tight. • Squeeze with your hands and biceps to absorb the shock of the weight.
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• Keep your elbows tight, squeezing the bar like you’re trying to bend it, (pushing your thumbs out and pinky in) and this will help keep your elbows in the right place. • Aiming near the bottom of your rib cage. Use full range of motion. Stopping short in bench leads to a rough road of shoulder injuries in the future. Half reps or three quarter reps shorten the muscle fibers range of motion which sooner or later will end in tearing. The upward motion of the bar or press starts all the way down in your toes. Toes push through the floor, keeping tension up through the knees and into your hips. You’re lowering the weight and coiling up from the bottom like a spring. • Press up and toward your face ending with the bar over your nose • Bench press is NOT a straight up and down lift. Think of a track from your nose to your lower rib cage and keep the bar on it. This keeps the shoulders health and incorporates more chest in the exercise. • You’ll want to push out your elbows the heavier in gets. Fight the urge and protect your pecs and shoulder by maintaining good form. • There are tons of reasons to introduce new implements in your bench training. Sore wrists can be combatted with wrist wraps and chains can add an element of instability to the bar making your smaller stability muscles work harder. • One or my favorite pieces of equipment when I’m putting in work with my bench is the Sling Shot. Available at howmuchyabench.net The Sling Shot band helps keep your elbows tight while absorbing some of the weight and protecting the shoulder. It also overloads the triceps like a close grip would without risking injury to the wrists. You can use more weight than you normally would and get your body use to it. Don’t go into battle without the right gear! Sample Bench Routine Barbell Bench • Build to a max set of 3. • Drop to 70% of that weight and do 1 set of 15 • Drop to about 50% and do another set of 15 [14]
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• During your accessory lifts pay attention to your upper back, triceps, and shoulders. Three of my favorite bench accessory lifts are skull crushers, assisted pull-ups, and dumbbell rows.
Deadlift Deadlift is one of the purest forms of testing a man’s brute strength. How much weight can you pick up off the ground? It sounds like something caveman would do to prove who gets the largest piece of pterodactyl meat for dinner. Deads and I haven’t always gotten along. It's been in abusive relationships to say the least but for some reason I always go crawling back and tell everyone that “they only hurt me because they really love me.” Sometimes I feel like a strongman Tina Turner and deadlifts are my Ike. They promise fame and money but for some reason they love kicking my ass. I've developed my deadlift form and routine through trial and error. My first max deadlifts was three years ago. I pulled 485 pounds and it was quite possibly the ugliest pull in the long history of deadlifts. Now I’ve pulled 880 pounds (400 kilos) in a show and while it wasn't perfect it was much better than the original 485! The last thing I learned will be the first thing I explain to you: You don't have to be comfortable in your starting position; you need to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. For a while I really widened my feet to get comfortable at the bottom of my pull and that put me in a terrible position. You need to be compact [15]
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like a suppressed spring coil. • You want your arms tight to your body which will lessen the length of the pull as well as help you “coil up” • Push through your heels and force the weight on the bar to keep you from falling backwards, which will also keep it close to your body • Engage your hips as fast as possible throwing them forward violently • Before my pull I stretch out my hamstrings by straightening my legs while holding the bar and reminding myself to load up the hamstrings • I feel most effective with my feet just a hair pass shoulder width apart and my toes slightly pointed out • I also like to warm up with Romanian deadlifts to over correct my posture before pulls making the form feel easier • Stretching your calves and Achilles tendons really helps you get down into a good starting position Sample Deadlift Routine I’ve worked a lot through trial and error with this routine and one of my favorites is this one: • Warm up with Romanian Deadlifts (RDLs) to over correct your form. Get back to regular dead form around 40-50%of your 1 rep max • 1x5 @ 60% • 1x3 @ 70% • 2x2 @ 85% • 2x5 @ 60% • Concentrate on locking your upper back so it absorbs most of the punishment
Squat • Find a comfortable place to put the bar. Forget all of the high bar vs. low bar garbage and just get under it and see what feels good. • While holding tight to the bar, push elbows slightly forward and puff up your chest. This will help keep good posture • Some people like their toes forward, some like them slightly angle out. No matter what, remember KNEES GO TO TOES! As you descend make sure [16]
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• •
• • •
• • • • • • •
your knees stay over your toes to avoid degenerative knee problems and serious injuries Descend slowly and with control, traveling down into the hole is part of the exercise. Don't trick yourself into believing it's merely a catalyst for the rise back up Drop your butt not your chest. The heavier the attempt the harder this is so force this with lighter weights to help build a habit. Loosening your hips by stretching is also helpful, but don't stretch too much right before you squat, being too loose can cause injuries Sitting in the hole for a few seconds (pause squat) can really help with all these form tips. It's a very humbling exercise for us all, and a quick and brutal teacher. Always squat below parallel (unless doing high box squats.) You practice how you want to perform. Don't expect to cheat reps then be strong out of the hole when you need it On the descent push your toes and front of your feet outward and slightly down (like you are screwing your heels into the ground.) The outward motion helps keep your knees in place and the downward motion helps keep your feet/shoes from actually slipping too much on the floor The upward motion starts explosively from the floor up. (Feet to shins/calves to quads/hamstrings to hips to chest to elbows) Feet – explode like you're jumping up into the air but keeping your good form Shins and calves – flex hard seizing the momentum Quads and hamstrings – squeeze hard from the top of the knee all the way up to your hips and glutes Hips – fire forward as soon as possible while keeping them open (by keeping knees out) Chest – concentrate on keeping your chest up the whole time. It sounds funny but my coach use to tell me "nipples forward." Elbows – keep fighting to keep them slightly forward, that helps with the chest and in turn everything else
You get many varying opinions on what you should do with your eyes while squatting. In my case I like to keep it neutral line of sight straightforward at the start and stay at that point through the whole motion. So while I'm descending my head and eyes are raising in a while I come up it lowers with the motion. Try a [17]
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few different styles out while getting good at lightweight pause squats and do what you feel keeps you in the best position. Sample Squat Routine • Warm up slow. Take your time getting deep and feeling a good stretch • Work up to the first working set at 70% of max • 3x3 @ 70% • 2x2 @80-85% • Then drop down to 40-50% and get 10-15 reps. Be deliberate and in control of the weight. • I usually move onto single leg press afterwards
Master the Beast The sport of strongman relies, obviously, on being strong. As you progress, however, you will find that solid technique across a large variety of events will be what separates the guys on the podium from everyone else. At a certain levels, everyone is insanely strong; it’s the competitors who have smart, practiced technique and a desire to win at all costs who will walk away with the victory.
Log Clean and Press • • • • • • • • • •
Keep log close to you at start Chest up on lift Fully extended hips and stand fully erect to get log nice and tight Deep squat Use log to hold you in place Hold tight to your chest flexing lats to pull in into you Explode up firing hips to get the log momentum to rollup chest Stabilize Elbows high Solid upper back
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• • • •
Slight bend at the knees Explode up and press up and slightly back Finish with a triceps lockout Stay balanced to full extension
Sample Log Routine • 4 sets of 3 reps (1 clean, 3 presses) • Drop weight- 1 clean, 12 presses • Drop weight- 1 clean, max reps press
Power Stairs/Loading Pin Deadlifts • • • • • • • •
Firm grip High chest Flat black (as flat as possible) Feel on each side and extend with back Elbows out Extend hips forward Flex traps and upper back Bend knees and use them to push weight forward to put it on the platform • Use of platform is optional o Power Stairs- 5 sets of 5 reps (Use minimal rest between sets)
Keg Toss • Grab at handle • Legs slightly further than shoulders width • Swing low and as deep as possible without making contact between implement and floor • Chest up • Slight bend at knees • Explode upward using legs, back, and arms all in one motion • Straighten arms on way up • Release up and back at highest point [19]
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Keg Toss Sample Routine • 3 sets of 2 kegs • 2 sets of 5 kegs (as fast as possible -max height with minimal rest) Husafell Stone • Tilt stone over as far as possible without losing contact with the floor and bottom of stone • Stand over stone • Wrap arms around stone keeping contact with forearms • Stand up keeping stone close to your body • Squeeze tight trying to keep weight pressure on top portion of stomach • Short, firm, breaths. your breath will be restricted • Keep chest up • Flex upper back • Do several shorter length runs then maximal runs Husafell Sample Routine • Hussafel Stone 1-25 foot run • 1-50 foot run • 1 max run back and forth on 25 foot course Farmer’s Walk • • • • • • • • • •
Feet and hands as close to even as possible Firm grip Chest up Flat back Press feet “through the floor” almost like a leg press Push hips forward Chest up at top Straight arms Don’t let shoulders roll forward Move feet at even pace to avoid rocking
Sample Farmer’s Walk Routine [20]
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• light run of 50 feet • run of 70% max weight • max distance 80% max weight Stone Shouldering • • • • • • • • • •
Split stones with feet Bury hands as deep under stone as possible Squeeze stone as tight as possible You’re going to have a rolled back, it just comes with doing stones, it’s almost a good morning exercise Stand tall Put arms over stone, getting as much contact as possible Explode up Thrust hips forward, squeezing stone with arms Raise your arms up and over toward you shoulder Use off hand to balance stone and on hand to hold stone on shoulder
Stone Shouldering Sample Routine • 1st set- 4 reps • 2nd & 3rd set- 5 reps • 4th set- max reps in 3 minutes
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Yoke • Feet no wider then shoulder length apart- using short, quick steps to avoid wobbling and keep balance • Chest up • Cross bar placed on back where you would place squat bar • Push up with thighs • If arms are long enough, press out on the up right bars, flexing back • Keep firm and sold throughout • Take small steps to start • Heel to toe • As picking up speed, stay even and balanced Sample Yoke Routine • 1 light set of 25 feet • 2 sets of 50% max for 50 feet • 1 set of 70% max for 100 feet (as fast as possible) Tire Flip • • • • • •
Shoulders as flush with the top of tire as possible Wide hands, knees inside arms Explode through at an upward angle Press off toes, extending hips forward Keeping momentum is key As it reaches hip height, bring knee forward hitting the tire and pushing it along its path • As it gets near chest hght, switch hands from under grip to flat press to finish the movement, pressing the tire back over to the ground
Tire Flip Sample Routine • 60-70% of max weight • 1 set of 2 • 1 set of 3 • 1 max set of 6 minutes (Finish Strong)
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I want to thank you for reading my manual. Trusting me to help build your knowledge and strength is not an honor that is lost on me. Thank you to all my fans! Team Oberst is strong and growing every day. Together we can change the world! To my family I love you; your support has made me who I am today. My wife, my greatest friend, and the truest partner thank you for believing in me before it was popular. Make sure you check out my website www.teamoberst.com for updates on appearances and upcoming events. If you have any interest in personal online programming created, by me, for you and your goals you can contact me at
[email protected]
"If you want the ultimate, you have to be willing to pay the ultimate price. It's not tragic to die doing what you love." – Patrick Swayze, Point Break
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