Get A Grip - Club Training

Regular Grip

 Without huge fanfare, club training will undoubtedly increase your grip strength. This is a given, but as with many good things, this sometimes does not come without pain. Hanging on to a club and maintaining control of it is not an easy task especially on the elbow. Here are some tips to help alleviate some of the medial or lateral epicondilitis that can occur from club training.

         

Forefinger Middle Finger Grip

Pinky Ring Finger Grip

 Begin with your hand grip. Grab your club with one hand and swing it into a clean. Notice to see if you have a relaxed grip or if you're squeezing the living hell out of that club. IF you are doing the latter, try lightening the super crushing force you are summoning up to keep that club welded to your hand. Just relax your hand, hold the club firmly, not crushing, but with enough force to just keep it in the hand. You'll feel the handle pressure more on the meat of the palm rather than throughout the fingers and depending on the direction of the swing, the grip force should change from the index and middle finger to the pinky and ring finger. This is very counter intuitive but will save many lost training days not to mention some annoying pain. Practice holding the club as lightly as you can to develop a feel for when the grip needs to be increased or decreased without letting go. This will allow the club to do it's work providing a pulling or traction throughout swinging movements. The club's weight should feel as if it were drawing through the hand, not prying from it.

Ball Grip

 Another area of interest is the knob. To grip or not to grip is a good question. The knob is there to provide a secure stopping point should the grip slip and fail. It is also purposely used in more intricate movements especially forward and reverse wrist rolls and and with experienced club swingers in movements such as a mill or stiff arm swings. The pinky and ring finger may want to gravitate to residing on the knob during mills and other exercises which may feel insecure, but the newly learned, lighter pressure style of holding the club will keep it from flying out of your hands. Also, getting used to a knob causing friction in your palm may prove to be displeasing at first then slowly go unnoticed as more reps are done.

 Behind the head exercises such as shield casts or Gamma casts place the elbow in an unfriendly position IF not executed properly. Remember to let the club's weight pull down the arm while the club is traveling behind the head. If you try and hold the club higher, that force is pulling upward through the elbow's soft tissues and creates tension where the area should be more relaxed. This will lead to very sensitive elbows and again it isn't good form. Let the club pull the hand downward and don't resist by pulling from the elbow. Which brings us to straight elbows whenever the club is extended out in front, overhead, or to the sides. Having a slight bend in the elbow creates unwanted stress on it's ligaments and tendons.

 Swing safely my friends and let me know how you're progressing or ask any questions.

     

Club Training Side Cast

Club Training Side Swing

Unconventional Athletes Article June/July 2015

 The following is an article from UnconventionalAthletes.com

 There are many reasons to add clubwork to your exercise routine. Shoulder re/pre-hab seems to be the first answer that many club swingers cite. Other answers are increased range of motion, or, they   fit right into my kettle bell workout. Still others say that they enjoy the flow type of ‘katas’ that emulate elaborate sword techniques or doing a yoga session using a club. What ever the reason, it’s all good.

 By now, almost everyone in the fitness game knows about the benefits of clubwork. Increased performance in other areas of training or in the arena are sure signs that the clubs are doing their job. Some fitness enthusiasts train solely with clubwork, and while clubs alone won’t get you to enter a bodybuilding contest, they are  a great addition to shape, define, and harden muscles. With the right programming they will aid a powerlifter’s bench and deadlift. an Oly lifter’s speed, and sprinter’s performance. Fighters such as MMA and boxers have been using clubwork for years, after all it was the first battle training tool.

Humble Beginnings

 Beginning clubwork is exciting and frustrating simultaneously. The desire to copy the complex movements that so many YouTube videos show can drive a newbie into a tizzy. The first rule that must be adhered to is learn  the basics. This cannot be reiterated enough. From picking up and putting down the club to the basic swings, practicing correct form reduces injury!

 The front swing and squat are 2 important base movements. How many of you readers just thought what? Clubwork can be used for legs and this is where we’ll begin.

 The front swing. In clubwork, this is crucial to understand as it is for kettlebells. The front swing is important because that’s how the club will be raised to perform other exercises. Set the club on it’s top or muzzle, handle and knob upward. With your upper back flat and a neutral lower back, like a deadlift when the weight is above the knee, straddle the club so that it’s a bit to the rear past the ankles and grab hold of the handle, arms long, elbows locked then thrust the hips forward extending the torso and opening the knees, maintaining arm lock and flat back, forcing the club to travel up and outward bringing the muzzle to eye level. Remember the arms do not lift, they only act as a pendulum of the force generated by the hip thrust forward. The downward portion is the ‘braking’ to keep the club from hiking backward. As the club falls down, lean the torso forward like a hinge and slightly bend the knee, applying the brakes with glute and hamstring activation making sure that the club doesn’t travel any farther than 45˚ past the legs. Do not let the club hit the ground, this can cause injury. This may require practice for some, but the benefits will be there. When completed with most all clubwork exercises, lower the club as described above, but instead of swinging it upward, use the slight momentum to let the club drift forward until it slows and gently place it on the floor just in front of your feet - it is now ‘parked’. Keep in mind that this is a posterior chain exercise so be sure to engage those muscles and not squat - yet.



 The clubwork squat can vary. The easiest way to learn it is by placing the club on your shoulder much like baseball players resting their bats. Using your front swing, swing the club upward with control and catch it upon the shoulder you wish it to ‘rest’ on. Now, perform a regular squat, torso upright, scapulae pressing downward, neutral low back, weight loaded into the mid foot and heel descending the hips below the knee keeping the shins as upright as possible then drive upward through the mid foot and heels to the starting position. Keep the torso upright and stable and maintain that neutral lower back. As the squats become easier, the next step would be to hold the club upright with the elbows married to the ribs. This is the beginning of learning the front extended squat. Ultimately, the goal is extending the arms completely in front of the torso while squatting.

 These basics are a great place to start learning clubwork, practice them to get a solid foundation for future exercises.

Sore Shoulder? Your Body May Love You For It

 Club training is the one of the best ways to rehab or prehab your shoulders. The whole reason that I got into club training and designed the Adex Club was to get rid of an achy shoulder that had me in pain for a decade. Chiropractors couldn't fix it, other doctors and specialists wanted to operate but with no guarantee.

 My condition was a 'slightly' separated A/C joint and mildly torn rotator cuff muscles. Relying on time to make it better did nothing but increase the pain. At that time, training heavy was my thing so I'd tough it out through bench presses and live with the soreness. after all this is what we do, right? Until I had gotten to the point where a push up wasn't possible because of the pain. A single push up! The search to repair my shoulder now included seeking other ways of treatment.

 While searching the internet looking for relief Google directed me to a man swinging a club. He spoke of the healing benefits of club training and demonstrated some exercises with a light weight 5lb club. I didn't have a club but I did have a loadable dumb bell that I set up with 3lbs on one end. I tried hard to copy the man's patterns and began doing this everyday. Within a month, I was able to not only do a push up but 20.

 Fast forward through the development of the Adex Club, competing at Crossfit events, back to the gym for regular training all while holding jobs that require physical strength that include the shoulder. Cell tower climber, pizza man, crane operator/mechanic, ditch digger, truck driver - all these jobs wouldn't have been possible with a nagging shoulder. Incorporating club training into my regular workouts kept me working out and out working.

 The shoulder is an easy joint to injure, and the repair and rehabilitation can run into tens of thousands of dollars. Club training may be the way to either help heal or help prevent future or further injury, plus the upside of club training is that a full body workout can be accomplished with a few different weight clubs or just one Adex Club. I now use club training as my sole training preference, to do legs, upper body, arms, to stay lean and muscular. Give club training a try for your shoulder and discover what else you can do. Your body may love you for it. Also check into some of the conventional exercises found here by Mark deGrasse.

The Fitness - Life Crossover

 Reflecting on a failure can often be a good lesson if one does it properly. To just admit failure without learning why is a negative that will always remain as a bad feeling, but, if an assessment is made, it should turn to a positive.

Assessing Failure Immediately 

 How to assess a failure is a trait that must be learned, and though this should be taught in our school programming, it sadly isn't. Being truthful to oneself is an elementary character trait. Learning to be truthful can sometimes be difficult and is often disregarded due to the negative feelings it can provoke. People who live falsely in the 'positive mind set' tend to disregard failures and sweep them under a rug, while those of greatness embrace and search their failures for the err of their ways.

 Failure is a good thing, if one knows how to use failures to succeed. How many failures must Thomas Edison have had? If he failed, which he most likely did at everything that he made, and didn't analyze why the failure occurred, would he have gone on to invent so many things? The answer would be a resounding 'NO!' Mr. Edison kept trying, and analyzing each failure until he had success.

 This same concept can be applied to training. In a minute instance such as a single rep of a movement that failed, use your mind to decipher each detail and find the broken link - was my form good? Check. Was my rest time sufficient? Check. Is my nutrition on point? Check, and so on until the one little mistake, that one flaw is brought forth and identified, making sure that the next time it won't be that same thing to cause failure.

 Now this simple training analytical tactic can be pole vaulted into other areas such as work,  personality, relationships, efficiency, saving money, etc. Here is a concept that when practiced during physical exercise to proficiency builds the mind and character and that can make the big difference between failing and succeeding at everything. Go out and proudly fail at something today but be sure to give yourself some credit when that flaw is identified.

Power Clubwork Article from MegaMad Fitness

HOW TO BUILD POWER THROUGH CLUB TRAINING

WRITTEN BY DON GIAFARDINO ON MAY 27, 2015. POSTED IN FITNESS ARTICLES

Club Training has been used for thousands of years by warriors to develop power for the battlefield. Could this simple tool do the same to help you enhance your body?

WHAT IS CLUB TRAINING?

Let’s begin with the basic of basics. Club Training has been around for thousands of years simply because it works. Most of us are familiar with the lighter weight Indian Clubs that are swung in complex patterns which develop coordination, mobility, and speed not unlike an Olympic Fencer.

Then there are the bigger clubs; the large wooden ones or the more popular metal clubs of 15 to 45 pounds, originally designed to train warriors to deliver punishing power with heavy hand armaments. Heavy Club Training will be the subject of this article.

WHAT IS POWER DEVELOPMENT?

To me, power is the strength that you have to perform a specified exercise in a specific amount of time. So, if you are doing an AMRAP of Thrusters for a 30 second time periods, you’d be able to determine if your power output has increased if you see an increase in the number of reps performed or if you used a heavier weight for the same number of reps.

For example, if you did max effort Thrusters with 95 pounds and got 12 in 30 seconds, that’s 1,140 pounds moved. If you practiced Thrusters for a few weeks and your retest your AMRAP and you get 14 in 30 seconds -congratulations! You’ve increased your power because you just moved 1,330 pounds, OR if you kept the same 12 reps BUT instead of 95 pounds you used 115 pounds, you have increased your power.

Now that you have the idea of power we’ll apply it to Club Training.

POWER CLUB TRAINING WORKOUT PLAN

WARNING! – There is no doubt about the fact that if you follow this power program you will be buying more clubs, if you don’t have access to a complete set or an adjustable one already. 
 The exercises listed below can be found on YouTube demonstrated by many different instructors plus searching for them will entice you to watch more clubwork exercises. Watch. Learn. Grow.

I usually increase only 5 pounds between the Pre-Fatigue Sets and the Work Sets. 5 pounds is a big jump in clubwork. Better to chip away smoothly than to get injured rushing progress.

The workout plan will be a 4 day split into 2 upper body days and 2 lower body days. For the upper body days the exercises will be 1-Hand Inside Mills, 1-Hand Front Swipes, and 2-Handed Gamma Casts. A set is reps done on each arm (i.e. 1 set of 10 means 10 reps right arm and 10 reps left arm). The sample below is from my current program:

Pre-Fatigue Sets: 1 minute rest between sets.

Exercise	Weight	Reps	Sets
1-Hand Inside Mills	30	10	4
Front Swipes	30	10	4
Gamma Casts	30	10	4

Work Sets: 1 minute rest between sets.

Exercise	Weight	Reps	Sets
1-Hand Inside Mills	35	30sec AMRAP	4
Front Swipes	35	30sec AMRAP	4
Gamma Casts	35	30sec AMRAP	4

This is now your Base Power Program. Good form is important to reduce the chance of injury. I practice quite often on my ‘off’ days doing up to 150 reps with a lighter weight to get the feel of an exercise. This ensures proper form when the heavier weights are used.

Once you are able to perform the above workout getting 7-8 reps for ALL 4 Work Sets, take away one Pre-Fatigue Set and add one more Work Set for the next workout. Do this until you can get a full 8 AMRAP reps for all 5 Work Sets in 30 seconds. Now reduce to 2 Pre-Fatigue Sets and go to 6 Work Sets until 8 reps is reached again, then pat yourself on the back and begin over with the Base Program. This round the Pre-Fatigue Sets will be the weight you used in the previous Work Sets but for 4 sets of 10 and the Work Sets will add 5 pounds. Look how far you’ve come!

MegaMad Fitness

Clubwork Exercises Shield Cast Demo

Gamma Cast Demo

Clubwork Exercise The Clean