Conditioning Options?

Im adding some conditioning/gpp into my program and wanted to get some more options.

Currently, Ive been doing hill sprints 1x per week, and hiking with a 90lb punching bag on my shoulders 1x a week.

This has been pretty good, but I would like more.

One other thought I had, was to use my 90lb bag, and do bear hug carries at the local park.

Im thinking of building or buying a sled, but had some questions.

  1. Will using a sled damage the grass? I would use it at the local public park by my house, but dont want to get kicked out if it tears up the lawn.

  2. With a sled, how much weight would I likely need to add to make it an effective workout? I think I have probably 200 or so pounds in plates.

Any other good suggestions for conditioning, that would require minimal amounts of purchases or building?

Thank you.

Check out some of Ross’s stuff at www.rosstraining.com

Also, doing one of Thib’s Metabolic Pairings (search it) workouts once a week I think would be a good idea. His Running Man article has some damn good workouts in there too.

And then there’s good ol’ Strongman stuff: Tire flipping (look in your phonebook and find a tire company, you should be able to find one for free… look for 300/400 lb tires)
Forward/back sled dragging as you mentioned, Farmer’s walks (Heavy DBs, Milk/water jugs, etc)
Sandbag carry (You can make your own for cheap)
Keg clean and press (fill it half way)
Keg carries

Dan John’s complexes would work well.

i say go for some strongman stuff if you can.

if not, the complexes are badass.

A sled will definitely tear up a lawn if you’re using any significant amount of weight. Maybe you could bring your sled in to your gym and use it in the parking lot. That’s what we do at my gym.

You should do the conditioning programs at www.zombo.com

They are great at building the shoulders and traps up well.

-chris

[quote]Avocado wrote:
You should do the conditioning programs at www.zombo.com

They are great at building the shoulders and traps up well.

-chris[/quote]

what the heck is zombo.com? i went there and it was some french guy saying “this is zombo.com. you can do anything if you put your mind to it. the only limit is yourself”

[quote]tommytoughnuts wrote:
Avocado wrote:
You should do the conditioning programs at www.zombo.com

They are great at building the shoulders and traps up well.

-chris

what the heck is zombo.com? i went there and it was some french guy saying “this is zombo.com. you can do anything if you put your mind to it. the only limit is yourself” [/quote]

gotcha. too bad you spoiled it for dankid. Dan kid needs more illusionary size:

http://www.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_beginner/creating_the_illusion_of_size

-chris

You can do anything at Zombocom…

Jump Roping
Bike Sprinting
Sprinting
Burpee Modifications
Dumbbell Swings
Barbell Complexes
Roller Blade or Tricycle Sprinting
Whatevs

I’ve been working and looking at doing the same thing. If you want to build your strength in addition to the GPP/conditioning, I found a cool version of crossfit at crossfitfootball.com. They have a very different type of WOD that focuses on heavier metcon’s that I will be working into my Oly lifting routine. Just my .02 worth. I know many people hate on the crossfitters, but I think there is some validity to it. Rosstraining is really good too!!

[quote]olylifter106 wrote:
I’ve been working and looking at doing the same thing. If you want to build your strength in addition to the GPP/conditioning, I found a cool version of crossfit at crossfitfootball.com. They have a very different type of WOD that focuses on heavier metcon’s that I will be working into my Oly lifting routine. Just my .02 worth. I know many people hate on the crossfitters, but I think there is some validity to it. Rosstraining is really good too!![/quote]

There’s asolute validity in the training, especially the individual parts of it. It’s the longitudinal programming that lacks validity. The homeboy science, outrageous claims, weekend certification and dangerous application of many exercises is what reduces the validity of the organization.

It doesnt detract from the fact that they incorporate great exercise selection and equipment, they just use them sub-optimally.

-chris

I got a sled not too long ago and I’ve been running sprints w/ it as I hurt my shoulder and can’t do too much else.

The grass has been fine w/ it but I don’t have to load it much, usually 35/45lbs for conditioning work. My sprints are usually about 100-200m, although I could be way off, as I haven’t been to a track for awhile.

I’ve been toying w/ the idea of bear hug carries too, while dragging the sled. Zercher carries as well sounded particularly brutal while dragging the sled.

Bear crawl sled drags sounded interesting too.

[quote]Avocado wrote:

There’s asolute validity in the training, especially the individual parts of it. It’s the longitudinal programming that lacks validity. The homeboy science, outrageous claims, weekend certification and dangerous application of many exercises is what reduces the validity of the organization.

It doesnt detract from the fact that they incorporate great exercise selection and equipment, they just use them sub-optimally.

-chris[/quote]

Agreed, but if you are just wanting to add GPP work to the program, it is worth a shot, especially if you have no idea about going about programming it into your routine. That’s what I’m doing. The idea is to keep your metcons short (5-10 minutes) so as not to affect recovery from strength training. They even say that if you start experiencing overtraining, you cut out volume or reps in the metcons first and foremost. I just think it is a quick way to get things going for conditioning. Plus, I like how the Football version incoporates heavier metcons instead of the main page stuff. I don’t know about the long term programming of it, and don’t really care too much. If my Oly lifting starts suffering, the crossfit gets reduced or goes away entirely. I’m just doing it as an experiment. Good discussion and ideas!!!

[quote]olylifter106 wrote:
I’ve been working and looking at doing the same thing. If you want to build your strength in addition to the GPP/conditioning, I found a cool version of crossfit at crossfitfootball.com. They have a very different type of WOD that focuses on heavier metcon’s that I will be working into my Oly lifting routine. Just my .02 worth. I know many people hate on the crossfitters, but I think there is some validity to it. Rosstraining is really good too!![/quote]

Sweet! thanks for the link. Should give me some ideas. It looks to be a little better than crossfit, but there are still some things i’d stay away from, like the high rep O-lifts and such, but should be good for ideas.

I also found crossfitfootball.com while searching for similar workouts.
My experience with the site’s programming has been pretty solid. I have been slightly bastardizing it, in that I won’t do some of the more ridiculous stuff (185 lb snatches 30 reps for time), and I will usually take the ridiculous days off. Outside of that , it is helping me get my metcon in while still increasing my main lifts (squat, dl, bench- i’m not much of an oly lifter). I think it will be fun for me to continue doing for the rest of the summer. As long as you don’t do some of the stupid stuff and take rest if you feel that you are over training, I think crossfitfootball might work for you.

I have been doing it for about a month now and will do it until the end of August before I start a new routine, so I’ll let you know if I have a bad experience with it.

[quote]PB Andy wrote:
Check out some of Ross’s stuff at www.rosstraining.com

Also, doing one of Thib’s Metabolic Pairings (search it) workouts once a week I think would be a good idea. His Running Man article has some damn good workouts in there too.

And then there’s good ol’ Strongman stuff: Tire flipping (look in your phonebook and find a tire company, you should be able to find one for free… look for 300/400 lb tires)
Forward/back sled dragging as you mentioned, Farmer’s walks (Heavy DBs, Milk/water jugs, etc)
Sandbag carry (You can make your own for cheap)
Keg clean and press (fill it half way)
Keg carries[/quote]

Ross’s stuff is great for conditioning and strength training as a combat athlete. I recently purchased his Full Throttle Conditioning book and it’s great. He lays out potential workouts and also gives sample templates of how one would incorporate them into strength based workouts.

prowler push