www.MichaelReid.ca

FARMER'S WALK: my new quick morning work out

This is something I have started doing over the past few months and I can't believe it has taken me this long to actually do it.

Well, I do know why it has taken me a while to figure it out because what I do is so simple yet so hard.

.... the Farmer's Walk.

 

Note: not a picture of me; gloves are not needed.

Traditionally, the Farmer's Walk is an event you would see in a strongman contest.

I am certainly not the first person to praise the farmers walk. It is just so simple and sinister.

What is a "farmer's walk"?

Take a heavy weight in each hand and go for a walk.

For me, I do this at home with the two heaviest weights I have which are a 32kg and 24kg Kettlebell.

I take one in each hand and walk BUT I have a secret method.

I live on the top floor in my building, it's 80 steps down.

I take the Kettlebells, walk down the stairs, out the door and do one lap around the block which is ~300m, then back up the stairs. Once I start there is no wimping out, no elevator to take and no short cuts.

The whole thing takes me around 9-10 minutes to complete. Every time I need to put the weights down I switch around the Kettlebells.

Why do the Farmer's Walk?

- Easy to do it right; it requires a fairly low movement IQ. Can you walk? If yes, then you can farmers walk.

- Grip strength; if your forearms are not burning by the end then pick a heavier weight or go for a longer walk.

- Upper Back; it gets fried.

- Trunk Strength (see research article below)

I like doing these first thing in the morning. I am usually not a morning exercise person. My body is just to stiff for any serious movement but not stiff enough for the farmers walk.

It is a great way to start the day and if I just do this I get a little blast to my metabolism with still enough reserves left to continue training either right after the walk or later in the day.

To be honest the first time I did this I was totally fried the whole day!

The farmers walk is also a very shoulder friendly exercise, so it is great for Water Polo players, swimmers and other over head throwing athletes like Baseball or Handball.

You can also do this by holding the weight in different positions.

For example: overhead; carry only one weight; 1 overhead + 1 suitcase style; front squat/rack position; Zercher/bear hug the load; and so on.

It gets better! Here is some research.

McGill, SM, McDermott, A, and Fenwick, CMJ. Comparison of different strongman events: trunk muscle activation and lumbar spine motion, load, and stiffness. J Strength Cond Res 23(4): 1148–1161, 2009

ABSTRACT

Strongman events are attracting more interest as training exercises because of their unique demands. Further, strongman competitors sustain specific injuries, particularly to the back. Muscle electromyographic data from various torso and hip muscles, together with kinematic measures, were input to an anatomically detailed model of the torso to estimate back load, low-back stiffness, and hip torque. Events included the farmer’s walk, super yoke, Atlas stone lift, suitcase carry, keg walk, tire flip, and log lift. The results document the unique demands of these whole-body events and, in particular, the demands on the back and torso. For example, the very large moments required at the hip for abduction when performing a yoke walk exceed the strength capability of the hip. Here, muscles such as quadratus lumborum made up for the strength deficit by generating frontal plane torque to support the torso/ pelvis. In this way, the stiffened torso acts as a source of strength to allow joints with insufficient strength to be buttressed, resulting in successful performance. Timing of muscle activation patterns in events such as the Atlas stone lift demonstrated the need to integrate the hip extensors before the back extensors. Even so, because of the awkward shape of the stone, the protective neutral spine posture was impossible to achieve, resulting in substantial loading on the back that is placed in a weakened posture. Unexpectedly, the super yoke carry resulted in the highest loads on the spine. This was attributed to the weight of the yoke coupled with the massive torso muscle co-contraction, which produced torso stiffness to ensure spine stability together with buttressing the abduction strength insufficiency of the hips. Strongman events clearly challenge the strength of the body linkage, together with the stabilizing system, in a different way than traditional approaches. The carrying events challenged different abilities than the lifting events, suggesting that loaded carrying would enhance traditional lifting-based strength programs. This analysis also documented the technique components of successful, joint sparing, strongman event strategies.

Basically, the research shows that with the Farmer's Walk, as well as other traditional strongman events, the trunk musculature is highly challenged. It also demonstrates that a stiffer trunk can enhance the strength output of the hips. I think this would also be the case for the shoulder joint complex and all the way down the upper and lower appendages.

I also look at this as more reason to do full body lifting exercises. For example, with the Farmer's Walk, the load is in the hands but the legs are the prime movers, everything in between the hands and the feet are being worked. If they weren't, your would not be able to maintain an upright posture.

I also learned a new term from reading this research article.

Do you know the meaning of "buttressed"?

I didn't till I looked it up, this research article was actually the first time I have seen this word. I found out it is usually used in the context of buildings and other similar structures.

but·tress  (btrs)

n.

1. A structure, usually brick or stone, built against a wall for support or reinforcement.

2. Something resembling a buttress, as:

a. The flared base of certain tree trunks.

b. A horny growth on the heel of a horse's hoof.

3. Something that serves to support, prop, or reinforce: "The law is by its very nature a buttress of the status quo" (J. William Fulbright).

tr.v. but·tressed, but·tress·ing, but·tress·es

1. To support or reinforce with a buttress.

2. To sustain, prop, or bolster: "The author buttresses her analysis with lengthy dissections of several of Moore's poems" (Warren Woessner).

source: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/buttressed

Enjoy and Be Well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Playing Around with a Back Bridge

Currently this is my personal feat of flexibility.

Feat

a deed notable especially for courage; an act or product of skill, endurance, or ingenuity

http://www.merriam-webster.com/netdict/feat

Enjoy and Be Well,

Michael Reid, B.HE. CSCS, RKC

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Kettlebells are Best for Fat Loss

This research article came out this past week and has been whipping around my community of colleagues like ______________ (insert something crazy).

It concludes that Kettlebells burn ~20 Kcal/minute which is a HUGE number. This is 2-4x greater when compared to other popular forms of exercise (e.g. swimming, walking, jogging, weight training).

download the article for FREE: http://www.acefitness.org/getfit/studies/Kettlebells012010.pdf

The lead researcher from the study says:

“We estimated oxygen consumption and how many calories they were burning aerobically, and it was 13.6 calories per minute. But we also measured the blood lactate, so anaerobically they were burning another 6.6 calories per minute,” explains Porcari. “So they were burning at least 20.2 calories per minute, which is off the charts. That’s equivalent to running a 6-minute mile pace. The only other thing I could find that burns that many calories is cross-country skiing up hill at a fast pace.”

The exercise used was the Kettlebell Snatch which is an intermediate Kettlebell drill, but beginners can get similar benefits from performing Kettlebell Swings.

Kettlebell Swing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyunpidlFnQ

Fredrik, the athlete in the video has been training for some time; 60kg is not the recommended weight to start with.

Generally, females will start with 8-12kg while most men will start with 16kg.

Be Well,

Mike Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Naked Get Up

This is an exercise that is a prerequisite for the Turkish Get Up.

The Turkish/Naked Get Up is a great exercise for improving the durability, strength and flexibility of the entire body, not to mention building bullet proof and resilient shoulders in the process.

When you can do the Naked Get Up with very good technique then try it using a very light Kettlebell (8-12kg).

SUMMARY

• Start with just just a shoe or sandal.

• The implement you use doesn't really matter but it should not be heavy and if it falls off your fist it should in no way harm the athlete or anyone around them (i.e. it must be light).

• Work up to performing 5 x 1 reps/side, alternating each side with each rep.

• This will typically take anywhere from 5-15 minutes to complete.

• Even though it is just a “shoe”, the Naked Get Up is much harder then it looks and can be very taxing. Build up volume and frequency gradually. Ultimately you could do the Naked GU almost everyday of the week.

• When first learning the exercise, breaking it up into smaller segments is a very good idea. See the reference below titled: “Kettlebells from the Ground Up ...” for more information on how to exactly do this.

• Be patient and practice, practice and practice some more. If you are a coach, please learn the Naked Get Up yourself before you implement it into your athletes program. You will be surprised by what you find out about your own body.

• Finally, enjoy the process of moving your body in ways that you may have never done before. It's a wonderful journey and you are NEVER to old to start.

Enjoy and be well,

Mike Reid

www.michaelreid.ca

www.WaterPoloTraining.net

Screwing on the Floor

This is a really cool video.

I feel so inspired by watching the fluid movement this athlete displays. I thought to myself after watching it the first time, "hey, that doesn't look that hard". I was dead wrong, I could not get passed the first move where you squat down and drop one knee in-toward the floor.

I am going to practice this.

Be Well,

Michael Reid
www.michaelreid.ca

www.waterpolotraining.net

VIDEO LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PO33I-Qbc9k

Great Movements #3: Lizard Push Ups

No, no, no, this is not some new variation of the push up but of Jamaican lizards that do push ups and other physical displays to ward off other males from their territory.  Read More

Push Ups are actually one of my favorite upper body exercises.

Great for shoulder health and core stability.

Works more then just the chest, shoulder and arms, done properly your trunk muscles must work in-order to hold proper alignment.

In the video below I demonstrate some of my favorite variations of the push up.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

Great Movements #2 - hip Flexibility Drills

In the below video I go over a series of movements to improve your lower body flexibility with particular attention to the hips.  All the drills are based on the Squat, Lunge and Dead Lift.  Great to use before training sessions as part of a warm up.

Be Well,
Mike Reid

PS  this is also the video to accompany an interview that I did with www.TheCrossOverMovement.com.

Great Movements #1

This is the first installment of "Great Movements".  It could be called "Great Exercises" but I decided to call it movements which will give it a little broader scope.  I will be including conditioning & rehab exercises, flexibility  & mobility drills, and other techniques I use with the athletes I coach.

One of my current favorite lifts is a combo lift that utilizes the clean, overhead press and jerk.   It is really nothing earth shattering but the classic clean & press with the addition of the jerk at the end.

I will generally place this exercise at the beginning of an exercise session and if I am doing an upper/lower body split I will place it in the upper body session.  It is not overly taxing on the legs, so I would not be worried about doing this either the day before or after a hard leg training day.  I currently use this with my basketball teams in-season training and they usually perform this combo two days before a game.

What load to use?  When using combo lifts, the weakest movement determines the load.  So in this case, the Overhead Press will determine what load you will use.  I like using this combo in a strength/power phase so I will prescribe a load of 80%+ of the athletes Overhead Press 1 RM.  As far as sets and reps I like using 4-6 sets with the reps being 1+1-3+2 which means 1 Clean, 1-3 Overhead Presses & 2 Jerks.  I prefer the split jerk for most athletes and will have them alternate their lead leg.  So, if they finish the set with 2 split jerks, they will do one with the left foot forward and one with the right foot forward.

Before you try this yourself or with your athletes you must first qualify to even attempt the combo.  How do you qualify?  Well, you must first be able to do the three lifts of the combo on their own.  Do not try putting a combo together of several new movements.  So with this combo it must be asked, Can you Clean?  Can you Overhead Press?  Can you Jerk?  If yes to all three, you can then try them altogether.

Have Fun,
Mike Reid

Further Explanation of Combo lifts: www.t-nation.com