A Cruel-But-Kind ‘Strength Capacity’ Workout
Recently in my articles I’ve talked about a couple of important things you must know for your own long-term strength and health.
For best results for life-long strength gains, over the long run you need:
1) ‘General physical preparedness’ a la an intelligent variety of strength exercises
2) Various rep ranges for the exercises in your program
While it’s natural that we gravitate toward the exercises that we’re best at and that we like (same with certain rep and set ranges), if that’s all you ever do, you’ll work yourself into a corner and will find mainly plateaus, tweaks/injuries, and frustrations waiting for you. Ask me how I know this.
The way to avoid this sad and all-too-common fate?
Simple: rotate the rep ranges and exercises you do throughout the week.
This allows you to continue doing the exercises and rep ranges you like and are good at, while challenging you with exercises and rep ranges you don’t like so much.
The result will be greater strength and muscle gains, AND faster workouts, since “incidental endurance” is a nice side effect of this type of training.
Here’s a sample workout from a program I’m working on right now that combines these principles into brief, effective workouts that crush weakness and build all-purpose strength and muscularity that you can whip out and astonish people with any time you want.
COMBO #1 — Upper body
A1) Chinup — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
A2) Bridge floor press —1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Repeat x 2
(Not sure what a Bridge Floor Press is? Check out this article here: #2 Kettlebell Pressing Variation You’ve (Probably) Never Tried | by Aleks Salkin | In Fitness And In Health | Sep, 2022 | Medium)
COMBO #2 — Lower body
B1) Single kettlebell clean — 10 reps per side
B2) Single-side kettlebell front squat — 10 reps per side
Repeat x 2
COMBO #3 — Core
C1) Floor Leg Raise — 8 reps
C2) Russian hockey deadlift — 8 reps per side
Repeat x 3
(Not sure what a Russian Hockey Deadlift is? Check out this video: https://youtu.be/98SMUwkVQb0)
Give this a shot and drop me a line to let me know how you like it!
On that note, if you like training that:
- Gives you more strength than it takes from you
- Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously
- Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine
Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge.
As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current workouts — NOT instead of them.
Even cooler:
Many find that it actually amplifies their strength in their favorite kettlebell and bodyweight moves, like presses, squats, pullups, and more.
And best of all, it’s free.
How free?
I’m talkin’ freer than the 4th of July, my friend.
Get thee thine own copy here => http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com
Have fun and happy training!
Aleks Salkin
