I am an advocate of functional strength also known as real world strength.  I want to be as strong as I look and  be able to utilize my strength in real world situations and not just in the gym throwing barbells or kettlebells around.  In order to accomplish this, we must employ a system in the gym that mimics situations one might find out in the real world.

It isn’t often that we are called upon to be strong for only a second or two.  Usually we need to be strong and remain strong for several seconds or even minutes.  If your car breaks down in the middle of the street and you need to push it out of the way, how long will it take you?  10 seconds, 20 seconds, 30 or even a minute.  How about a fight for your life.  A low life thug comes up and tries to rob you or worse yet, he tries to have his way with you.  How long are you going to have to exert yourself in a situation like this?  Obviously you are going to fight until you win.  You encounter a person who has been incarcerated in prison, a person who has nothing but time to workout, you better be ready.

Hopefully you won’t ever find yourself in a life or death situation like this, hopefully you will only need your strength to push the car out of the road or move the couch.  The what for doesn’t really matter, what does matter is, are you going to be prepared?

To build this kind of sustained real world strength, we must design a workout in which we monitor our progress with a stop watch and not by how many reps or sets we performed.  Here are a few ideas for you to try.  You will need a digital clock or stopwatch for these.

1. Pick your favorite full body lift and a weight that you could perform maybe 3 or 4 reps comfortably.  Now, perform 2 reps on the minute for 5 or 10 minutes, you decide.  So at 1 minute, you perform 2 reps, at 2 minutes 2 reps, at 3 minutes 2 reps at 4 minutes 2 reps and so on.  If you perform a lift that takes you 20 seconds to perform 2 reps, your rest would be 40 seconds before performing another 2 reps.  After you get the hang of it, switch it up by performing 2 reps every half minute or 3 reps every minute, again, you decide.  If 10 minutes doesn’t do it for you, do 15 or 20, use your imagination.
2. Try cycling your rest between sets during your workout.  I usually perform a set and then rest a certain amount of time between before doing another one.  The time remains constant during the lift.  The next time I workout, I will try and perform the same number of sets and reps, but reduce the time between each set, thus performing the same amount of work, but in less time.  With this method, I actually cycle the time between sets during the same workout.  Lets say we are performing long cycle double kettlebell clean and jerks.  Do 1 set and rest for 3 minutes.  Do another set and now rest for 1 minute.  Another set and rest for 2 minutes and then another and rest for a minute and a half.  Never the same amount of rest between sets.  In my experience, this really throws off your body and makes for a challenging workout even though the weight I use might not have changed.
3. Lastly, pick a full body lift and just lift for time instead of reps.  Put 30 seconds or a minute on the clock and perform as many reps in good form as you can.  Rest for 30 seconds and repeat.  This technique will enable you to not only get strong but improve your conditioning at the same time and melt away the fat.  Do heavy barbell clean and presses for 30 second cycles and it won’t be long before you are breathing like a steam locomotive.

These are just a few ideas for you to think about.  If you use your imagination, you can come up with a lot of different scenarios in which you can employ the clock as a monitor of progress instead of reps and sets.  There is no wrong way to do this.  My goal is to get you thinking outside the box.   Remember though, good form is an absolute must.  Don’t sacrifice it.

Kill It!

Dennis

P.S. – Have a question about anything I’m doing, email me and I’ll be more then happy to answer it.  ironkettlebellfitness@gmail.com

Before entering into a fitness routine, especially one that incorporates kettlebells, be sure to consult with your physician or medical professional to be sure you are healthy enough to begin a strength and conditioning regimen.  Be sure to learn the proper way to perform each lift and complete each exercises in strict form employing a spotter when applicable.  In other words, if you hurt yourself, it’s your fault.

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