Can You Handle The Bear!

There are so many aspects of sandbag training that get overlooked that it is often hard for me to even know where to begin talking about. Very few people utilize the bear hug sandbag position. Varying holding positions allow for different training effects and variants that are important to fitness and sports programs. The bear hug is one of those positions that people completely ignore.

Why the bear hug? For beginners it is a perfect position to learn sandbags as it is a very stable and balanced position. Holding in this manner allows for greater depth of movements in exercises such as squats, but also greatly challenges the trunk in ways like nothing else. Don't even mention the upper body stimulation one gets through tremendous arm and upper back work.

For more advanced lifters and athletes, the bear hug position is vitally important as many sports require strong isometric holds, yet they never train it. Most spend their time purely on dynamic strength training, so utilizing isometric bear hugs should be a cornerstone to many athletes and strong lifters.

However, you just don't need to squat. There are many variations of the bear hug, even better in a great super complex I call "The Bear". This series trains the body from head to toe and is perfect for strength, endurance, speed, and flexibility. Watch the video and tell me how you do taming "The Bear"!

Small But Mighty

Let's face it in strength training, generally, the bigger, the better. I have long been guilty of this mind set. If there is something heavier, bigger, or more awkward, the more I get excited. Strength training though isn't always about load, I know, sounds weird coming from someone who loves lifting heavy things! I learned the hard way though that this line of thinking isn't always the best for longevity.

Once you sustain an injury like I did with my low back they never go completely away, but can be managed carefully. When I became active in strongman there just wasn't anyway my back could keep up with the other lifters. In a sport like Strongman, being able to lift big things is definitely the key! I had to think what weaknesses the other competitors had that I could optimize. It came to me in the idea of being faster and more mobile. Too many lifters sacrifice their mobility for more strength which is even evident in many sports as well.

So, I didn't try to overtrain and strain my back, instead, I trained far more variety of movements than most of my competitors. This allowed me to suffer less injures, maintain my athleticism and speed, and compete with guys who were stronger on the classic bar lifts. How does that apply in other areas?

This experience taught me the value of not losing sight that many of us need a lot of general training. Very few of us are elite athletes that train hours and hours upon the day. This means many of us fight chronic tightness and lack of movement excellence. By moving in a variety of patterns you can regain your own "inner athlete" and reduce your chance of experiencing injuries in your training.

Besides being designed for people new to fitness, my small sandbags were designed with the ability to perform more movement. A sloppy filled lighter sandbag is too difficult to perform diverse motions and patterns.

That is how I developed the Sandbag Stealth Challenge. Based upon the small sandbag this program is designed as not only a means to develop great strength-endurance, but mobility, strength in a variety of ranges of motion, help chronic injuries, and develop a resilient body that allows anyone to be an athlete! Try my challenge by following the video below:

Workouts for Busy Parents

What do you do when training can't be the focus on your world? What happens when you are responsible for your family? Most people give up on their fitness programs because it becomes too overwhelming to continue on a fitness program. However, that is one of the worst things you can do for yourself.

More and more people are single parents, and many times even in two parent households, both parents have to work. This seems too often mean sacrificing yourself and what is good for you for the sake of the family. While that can be admirable, sacrificing one's health does little for the good of the family.

I have worked with a lot of overweight kids. I wish it was a population that I never had to work with, not because I do not like the kids, but because it is a type of population that shouldn't exist. In fact, I remember losing it one time on a parent, yep, it usually is the parent's fault! I lectured her because she had brought her son to me that she believe had all sorts of problems. From ADD to "muscle control issues" to a host of other things, this Mom was convinced her son had something very wrong with him. You know what, he did! It was what they did at home.

I found out over time that the young man ate sugary breakfast cereals for breakfast, pizza and fast food for lunch, and often ate out for dinner. No wonder this young man was overweight and out of control. At the age of 12 parents still have a lot of control over these situations, there is no excuse. You can not ask your child to do something you won't!

I remember another client, Samantha. I told her not to keep bad foods in the house because every time she did, she ended up snacking on them. This was particularly true of ice cream and when I really confronted her about it (because she couldn't understand why she wasn't losing weight) she told me she didn't want to deprive her children of those foods, WHAT?! I turned and asked her 14 year old son standing next to her if he would feel deprived by not having ice cream in the house and he said a strong, NOPE! Truthfully it was Mom that wanted the ice cream in the house, not the kids.

Typically families that have unhealthy lifestyles will have children that model these bad behaviors. This is why I asked fitness expert, Chris Lopez to share some information with me. Why Chris? Very simply, Chris has written extensively on to create effective fitness programs for busy parents. His great site www.fitandbusydad.com is a great resource for those that want to be in great shape, but not sacrifice the priorities in their life.



Listen to Interview Here

Want to see how to make real fat loss workouts that can be done really fast? Check out today's training video as well. Featuring the new U-fill it Kettlebells, this is a simple and fun workout that can be accomplished with the U-fill it Kettlebell and Ultimate Sandbag.

In addition, I will show you some of my favorite fast fat loss routines...

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