What a Navy Seal Has to Say...

Since I first talked about the "3 Rounds of Hell" I have had so many great emails from people telling me how brutal it was and how almost impossible it seems. I began to think if I had made the challenge too hard as I had yet to receive an email or video about anyone accomplishing it. Then the challenge got its own test! 

A former Navy Seal and current special operations soldier "Tim" came back to Arizona after some recent military training. "Tim" is absolutely no stranger to hard workouts, the times I have worked with him it just simply amazes me his mental toughness, it is just from another planet! However, after catching up with "Tim" for a bit he asked me if I had anything new for him. That is when I thought I would unleash the "3 Rounds of Hell" on him. To say he was excited was an understatement! 

The next day Tim dedicated his whole workout to trying to accomplish the "3 Rounds of Hell". I was very intrigued to see if someone could get through it or would I have to modify some of the criteria? Tim weighed in at 215 so we figured out he would use the large sandbag loaded to 150. After a brief, but focused warm-up Tim tackled the challenge. The first round seemed almost easy, the second you could tell some fatigue was coming, the third he almost looked mortal!!! He did it!! Yes, Tim completed the "3 Rounds of Hell", but laid on the ground for a good ten minutes. 

Tim thought it was a heck of a challenge because it tested not only his strength, or endurance. It tested his willpower, his hands, his upper body, lower body, EVERYTHING! Sad thing is he was contemplating a "5 Rounds of Hell"! Well, until more mortals accomplish this goal I think I will stick with the three rounds, but that doesn't mean I don't have some tricks up my sleeve.

I am going to start launching a video series on how to train for the "3 Rounds of Hell". Most people would assume that simply trying to do more and more work with shouldering would be the best route, but that isn't so. There are many supplementary exercises one should employ that will greatly enhance your ability to get through the challenge. 

The first mistake people make is they don't realize that the upper body is heavily involved with repeated bouts of heavy shouldering. Often it is the hands, upper arms, and upper back that fail people. The gripping and shifting of the weight can seem as though it adds severe weight to an already heavy implement. What can you do? These are exercises I like to implement and will talk more about in later videos:

1. One-arm shouldering

2. Bent-over row grabbing on the sides

3. Bear Hug rowing

4. Bear Hug walks

The next most common mistake is that people don't have good enough flexibility in their hips to keep the repeated hip drive going. When people are tight and try the challenge they will find that they start using their low back as a prime mover and they move very inefficiently and become tired VERY FAST!

What can you do? These are some of my favorites...

1. Hurdle Zercher Squats

2. Overhead Lunge

3. Heavy Bear Hug Squats

4. Overhead Chops

Of course you also have to be strong in the hips and low back. What can you do besides just shouldering? 

1. Shouldering Suspended Lunge

2. Zercher Goodmornings

3. Get-up Bridge

4. No Pivot Half Moon Snatch

So, you see there is far more than just shouldering over and over. These twelve supplementary exercises will go a long way in building that foundation. Next time I will show you some of them in action and we will go more into how you put it all together into a program that will let you dominate the "3 Rounds of Hell" like Tim did!