Is Your Finisher Going to Finish You?
By
Joseph Leff
You’ve just spent an hour doing a grueling full body workout. Your body is spent
from deep, heavy squats, weighted chins, and max effort incline presses. So what
do you do now? How about loading up the bar for deadlifts? Why not do them with
an underhand grip while you’re at it? Or while standing on a low box?
To most sensible, experienced lifters, the idea of doing this seems ridiculous.
Surely, you’re just setting yourself up for injury. Yet how many of these same
lifters would flip a heavy tire under these same circumstances? Plenty.
Somehow, the idea got into the heads of trainees that Strongman exercises, when
mixed with lifting, should always be done after the lifting. But why should this
be the case? Better to examine the Strongman exercises for what they are in
terms of load and movement and then place them in the workout.
For example, look at the tire flip mentioned before. If you’re lucky enough to
have a 600- or 700-lb tire at your gym, count your blessings. But use it at the
appropriate time for maximum effectiveness and minimum risk of injury. In my
opinion, put this early in the workout rather than later or last. It could be
first after a good warm up. An equally good option is after a warm up and then
explosive work, whether it be an explosive full body exercise like snatches or
one more limited to upper or lower body like benches or squats.
There are, of course, plenty of good finishers that are good at the end of a
workout—pushing or pulling a
Prowler with a moderate load, pulling a sled also
loaded moderately, doing bear crawls, doing bear crawls pulling a sled, and so
on. Of course, if the weight workout was for another part of the body, there
isn’t any reason not do a near max effort finisher. An example of this is
grinding out some heavy Prowler sprints after a grueling bench workout.
There isn’t any reason why you can’t use weights after Strongman equipment. An
example of this is an MMA fighter who wants to develop strength and then get in
some work to develop anaerobic activity and muscular endurance. For this, he
could do several sets of heavy farmer's walks, tire flips, or sandbag carries.
He could then follow up with barbell complexes.
Strongman training is one of the best tools for athletes. By using the preceding
guidelines, you can use it safely and for maximum effect.
Joseph Leff has published articles on training in Dan John’s Get Up! and on
Eric Cressey’s website. He has competed in powerlifting and Strongman and lives
in Santa Monica, California.
Elite Fitness Systems strives to be a recognized leader in the strength
training industry by providing the highest quality strength training products
and services while providing the highest level of customer service in the
industry. For the best training equipment, information, and accessories, visit
us at www.EliteFTS.com.
