In this vid, we do some thick bar/thick handle training, which should be part of any program where maximal functional strength is the goal. For more info, also see my write on the topic HERE.
Product Review!
This week I review the Lock-Jaw collars. This product will go into the “BrinkZone Approved” section of the site as worthy training gear you’ll want to add! These collars bridge the gap between being super easy to get on and off, and being very secure. Watch this new vid and decide for yourself. If interested in picking up a pair of the Lock-Jaw collars, or for more info, click HERE
If you follow my stuff, you know I’m a big fan and regular user of drag sleds. As I said in a prior blog post, If you are not doing sled dragging, you should be! I consider it the most under utilized lower body exercise going. Forward is hard, reverse is brutal. According to the Elite Fitness site, the benefits of sled dragging is:
• GPP Work
• Injury Rehabilitation
• Strength Training
• Prehabilitation
• Increased Work Capacity
• Hypertrophy
• Starting Strength
• Acceleration Strength
• Strength Endurance
I’m a big fan of drag sleds. However, the Prowler sled takes it to another level. It’s your standard drag sled on steroids! The Prowler is, bar none, one of the best strength, conditioning, GPP tools you can use! Below is a short vid of my pal Jim and I doing some Prowler sled pushing… If you’re interested in The Prowler, there’s a link to EFS via the recommended products section HERE.
This vid is a follow up to prior comments I made regarding these sneakers that promise to firm up your legs and butt. After viewing this vid, you can see prior comments: The Facts About Building the Perfect Booty!
If you want to read up on the studies mentioned in this vid, see: American Council on Exercise: Study Finds Toning Shoes Don’t Work
“Energy bracelets” are all the rage these days, and frankly, a total waste of money. From Sunny FL, I give the straight scoop on these products.
I’m sure many of you have seen The Shake Weight on TV, or on the ‘net. I was walking through Dick’s Sporting Goods store looking for some new workout clothes, and saw the Shake Weight. Of course, I had to review this new “revolutionary” exercise machine… 
BTW, The company claims there’s research behind this gadget. There was a “study” comparing it to a one arm 2.5 dumbbell curl that was a joke. It was a the perfect study set up to get an effect, vs actually compare something valid. Not surprisingly, they found the Shake Weight used more muscle mass, burned more cals, etc, then a single arm 2.5lb dumbbell curl. Had they say compared it to shaking a gallon of water in a similar motion, they would have found the water at least as effective, or more so due to the water weighing more. Had they done something closer to an apples to apples comparison, no such effect would be found…
The study attempts some complex mumbo jumbo - what I like to call baffling people with BS - to make the Shake Weight look superior, and to a 2.5lb dumbbell curl, it was. No surprises there. Take a sand bag you can get for around the same price, via SandBag Fitness Systems (see recommended products section for more info) and do a circuit of exercises, and I assure you, the sandbag would blow the goofy Shake Weight away on all levels.
It’s not rocket science folks!
Oh, and for those who dared me, here’s my Snuggie Review!
The TacFit Commando program is a bodyweight-only program designed to get people into top physical condition. That’s not as hard to do as it sounds. However, getting people into top physical condition, maintaining it, and avoiding injuries, over-use syndromes, and over-training syndromes, is another matter altogether. Many programs will achieve the former, and very few will achieve the latter. TacFit Commando is such a program. It’s not the latest greatest program to jump on the “functional fitness” bandwagon by slapping together a bunch of unrelated exercises, it’s a well thought out well designed program that follows many of the core principles I have been writing about for years. Why do most programs fail in the long run? Here’s why:
Using The GymBoss Interval Timer for GPP/Conditioning Part II!
Per my video of my current GPP/Conditioning day using the GymBoss Interval Timer, which was fun to make, not so much fun to follow, I have made another with Kelly D! I’m no cross training/endurance God I can assure you, and brief, intense workouts like this are how I prefer to get in my conditioning workouts. As you will see, Kelly is in great condition, and now no women out there have any excuses not to try this workout! 
I recommend an interval timer like the GymBoss, but one could do it (less efficiently I might add..) with a stop watch. Enjoy!
Using a GymBoss Timer for GPP/Conditioning Day!
Per my write up of my current GPP/Conditioning day using the GymBoss Interval Timer in a recent blog, I decided to make a vid of the actual workout, which was fun to make, not so much fun to follow! I’m no cross training/endurance
God I can assure you, and brief, intense workouts like this are how I prefer to get in my conditioning workouts. Try it, you’ll enjoy it. OK, you wont “enjoy” it in the classic sense, but you’ll know you have been through a workout! If you do, let me know! For more specific info, additional instructions, etc on the workout, click Here. You can find the Timer listed in the Recommended Products section of the site also.
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Getting Into Great Condition Using an Interval Timer
Outside the programs that are designed to obtain a specific goal, such as increases in 1RM strength, or an increase in muscle mass, etc, conditioning workouts can also be an integral part of a well designed program. In my earlier days, like most western trainers, I generally ignored General Physical Preparedness (GPP)/ general conditioning when focusing specifically on an increase in strength and LBM. The more western approach to increasing strength, muscle mass, or what ever the specific goal, is to simply focus on the training that follows the goal, and generally ignore everything else. For example, if you want to be good at the powerlifts, just practice the powerlifts and so on.
