Strongman Conditioning Training Day

Bigger Stronger Leaner Powerlifting & Strength Sports
1 
I've been following a training template similar to WS4SB for the past few months and really like how it's working. I've made some changes to the program to fit my goals, but overall, it's a close mix of WS4SB 2 & 3.

I perform my Max-Effort Upper Body day on Monday, followed by Strongman Conditioning or sprints on Tuesday, rest on Wednesday, Dynamic/Max-Effort Lower Body on Thursday and Repetition Upper Body followed by sprints on Friday. On Saturdays, I play tackle football with friends.

I decided to take a few pictures during my Strongman Conditioning day yesterday, so here’s a description of what I did (I make changes each week).

I did something new this week by adding the Xvest. I loaded it with 20lbs, and this made an incredible difference in the overall conditioning needed for the workout. It also made it much harder!

[center][u]Nate Dogg’s Strongman Conditioning Day[/center][/u]

Exercise 1: 80lb Sandbag carries for 3 sets of 80 yards each using different holds.

My partner and I started out with sandbag carries. On the first set, we performed a bear hug hold:

[center][photo]8579[/photo][/center]

The second set consisted of a Zercher carry for 80 yards:

[center][photo]8580[/photo][/center]

And the last set consisted of a shoulder carry (40 yards on one shoulder and 40 yards on the other - I didn’t take a pic of this one).

Exercise 2: Farmer’s Walks with 75lb dumbbells for 3 sets of 40 yards each.

Just as it is stated above, my partner and I picked up the 75lb dumbbells and walked 40 yards and performed three total sets. Next time we’ll need to increase the weight:

[center][photo]8581[/photo][/center]

Exercise 3: 60lb Sandbag Clean & Press for one set of max reps in 60 seconds.

This doesn’t seem tough, but one set of as many reps as possible in one minute will leave you completely winded. I can clean a lot more than this, but it’s still a good workout even with a moderate weight.

[center][photo]8582[/photo][/center]

[center][photo]8583[/photo][/center]

Exercise 4: Backward and Forward Sled Drags. 2-3 sets of each alternated for 40 yards each.

Backward and forward sled drags are a great “finisher” to a strongman conditioning workout. The backward sled drags make your quads burn like nothing else. And the forward sled drags feel good and give your quads a break. I loaded my sled with as many plates as I could fit and had available to me (280lbs total):

The Elite FTS Sled with straps and 280lbs loaded up:

[center][photo]8584[/photo][/center]

Backward sled drags are a killer:

[center][photo]8585[/photo][/center]

Forward sled drags are fun too:

[center][photo]8587[/photo][/center]

Although only four exercises were used, this workout is extremely tough and works very well. I normally can complete it in 35-45 minutes depending on how many sets of each exercise is performed. I also switch around exercises each week so I’m not doing the exact same workout each time.

If I don’t perform a strongman conditioning day, I use some other conditioning exercises such as bodyweight circuits, kbell exercises, sprints, etc.

2

Nice work. Why is your sandbag all uniform in shape? Is it a heavy bag/punching bag?

3

Great thread, I’ve been thinking of mixing some strongman stuff into my routine. I’m curious if you’re trying to put weight on following the WS4SB, and if so, how much more do you need to eat with this much conditioning thrown in? Something like this must burn a ton of calories. Also, does the conditioning impact your gains in the gym at all, or have you found a good balance of intensity?

4

[quote]CaliforniaLaw wrote:
Nice work. Why is your sandbag all uniform in shape? Is it a heavy bag/punching bag?[/quote]

That particular sandbag is the Iron Woody bag. The unfortunate thing is that it is uniform unlike other sandbags I have from Josh Henkin.

The Iron Woody bags are great because of all the handles available, but when you fill the bag to the max weight (like I did) you lose the purpose of using a sandbag (the weight no longer shifts or makes it hard to lift). If I used less weight, the sandbag would have a more “natural” flow and shape since the weight would be able to shift when using it.

5

[quote]T3hPwnisher wrote:
Great thread, I’ve been thinking of mixing some strongman stuff into my routine. I’m curious if you’re trying to put weight on following the WS4SB, and if so, how much more do you need to eat with this much conditioning thrown in? Something like this must burn a ton of calories. Also, does the conditioning impact your gains in the gym at all, or have you found a good balance of intensity?[/quote]

I’m not “trying” to put on weight, but I have gained a few pounds in the past two months. And I’ve done it without trying to increase my calories (at least not intentionally).

These workouts are intense, but they are fairly short, so I don’t know if they are burning a ton of calories or using up a ton of extra energy. I recover fine because I use Surge post-workout, and I also take Wednesday as an off day. Then I go back Thursday for my max-effort lower body workout. I have not felt or noticed any negatives doing it this way.

6

Cool thread. You should get some stones…nothing beats them in my opinion.

7

Stones would be cool, but I just don’t have a place for them in or near my apartment! I get enough attention doing what I do now!

If I had room for something else, I’d get a large tire for some heavy tire flipping! :wink:

8

[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
Stones would be cool, but I just don’t have a place for them in or near my apartment! I get enough attention doing what I do now!

If I had room for something else, I’d get a large tire for some heavy tire flipping! ;)[/quote]

The people staring is kinda funny. We actually have some middle-aged women that set up lawn chairs sometimes to place bets on who will get paralyzed first.

Tires are awesome it’s just hard to find the right weight. Most are either way too light and the rest are impossible to do on your own (1200+), at least around here.

Good luck.