Warriortraining.co.uk

Homemade Weight Bench

2012-01-08T16:28:00.003Z

I've recently started a strength program that requires bench press (Stronglifts 5x5), but I did not have a bench. I've accumulated a lot of off cuts from my various DIY projects and it was time to put them to use.

Obviously the bench needs to support both the weight of the user and the weight of the bar being lifted, so it needs to be strong.

I scoured the internet for plans and found a great set on Homemade Strength. This bench looked the business. The uprights were 15" 2x4. I had a load of 12" 2x6 left from my decking and wanted to use that (they were not great for much else!) so I needed to think about raising the bench a little so it would not be too low.

I scoured the internet some more and found these plans at Home-Gym-Bodybuilding.com where the uprights were mounted on 2x4, thus raising it another 2 inches.

Putting those two ideas together I came up with the following frame. All pieces glued and screwed (with exterior wood glue and 3" deck screws) and the frame was a collection of 2x4, 2x6 and 2x8:

The only things I paid for specifically on this project was the materials for the cushion. Some 2" foam, leatherette cover, a piece of 18mm MDF offcut to mount the foam on, some bolts and wing nuts to make the cushion detachable. This came up to about £15.

3 coats of woodstain and I had a complete bench:

I will not be posting a full guide to measurements etc, as I have not tested the full weight capabilities of it yet. This was more to show what is possible with a stack of wood most would call scrap!

Happy lifting!

Training Photo - 4th December 2011

2011-12-04T18:55:00.002Z

Whenever training outside in the winter, always keep a tarpaulin close by to cover your (homemade trestle) squat stands in case your training is interrupted by rain!

DIY Homemade Deadlift Blocks

2011-11-22T16:59:00.013Z

Deadlift blocks are used to raise a deadlift from the ground a set height. Raising the start of the deadlift allows more weight to be shifted as it shortens the lift (known as partial deadlifts).

With all the DIY builds I've done I've amassed a lot of off-cuts and scrap wood which turned out to be just what I needed to make these blocks. However, if you were to buy the materials yourself, it would be cheaper than buying one ready made. Plus it's fun to build stuff!

My materials were:
2x4" wood
18mm plywood
Approx 1x1" wood (in the picture I had an offcut of deck board which I planned to cut but found some other offcuts which I used instead)
Decking screws (I used some 65mm/75mm ones)
Hand saw
Drill (not pictured)
Tape measure (not pictured)

First thing to do is cut down the 2x4" wood to make a square, plus an extra horizontal piece in the middle. This extra piece is to support the plywood and reinforce it, to stop it from splitting under the weight of the bar and plates.

The square measures approx. 36cm x 33cm.

Using 2 screws for every join, attach the 2x4" pieces together. It's not necessary to use glue in my opinion.

The plywood is approx. 40cm x 40cm. Take the plywood and screw it on top of your 2x4" frame. You only need to use a couple of screws per side. I also had to cut the plywood as necessary as my offcuts were different size.

Next, take your small approx 1x1" wood and screw 2 rails to the top of the plywood. These are to act as a stopper to make sure your bar does not roll off the blocks if you are lifting on an uneven surface.

And that's it!

The following picture shows 160kg on the blocks, and they held up fine. I even stepped on each one whilst the 160kg was on the blocks, so adding 75kg each side. They held up fine even with this extra, so theoretically they could take 300kg+. I do not have that weight in plates though so I can't test this myself!

These blocks are approx. 11cm tall. It is very easy to make them higher by going from 2x4" to 2x6" or even 2x8".

Happy building!

Testing out max box jump

2011-09-01T18:51:00.003+01:00

Tested out max box jump last night at Crossfit CM2 and PB'd by 4" at 48". Still got more in the tank as well.

Charlie Denning's Event Write Up: UK Strength & Power Series North Meet, Crossfit 3D Manchester, 20/08/2011

2011-08-28T16:16:00.003+01:00

Here at Warriortraining.co.uk (WT) we all train very hard towards our particular goals. This year I wanted to compete in the UK Strength and Power Strongman event in Manchester. Our old WT chum Chet puts together a wonderful event and, having competed last year, I was eager to compete this year. It’s a great test of one’s training and an excellent place to meet like minded people.

The UK Strength and Power Series ran three qualifying events this year and this will culminate in a final on 01/10/11 at Beaverfit in Shropshire. WT member Davie had competed in the SW qualifier and progressed to the final with a fantastic 2nd place. Jules had competed in the ladies event at Reading, and won it brilliantly, to ensure WT would have two members at the final.

Davie attended the Manchester as a Strength Shop representative, selling his wares and dishing out man love aplenty. Tom (Schwinners) was judging and stat making. However, beneath his usual cool exterior, I could see he was eager to get involved. (It was obvious, Tom)

Damien (Keyser_Soze) was signed up for the heavyweight category. John (Flash) weighed in healthily into the Middleweight category. I had planned on competing in the lightweight category. However, I was unable to make weight and ducked gloomily into the middleweight category. Mildly disappointed was an understatement.

First event was Circus Dumbbell clean and press. In hindsight, I was badly prepared for this. My form compared to others was bad. I wrenched out 8 reps at 42kg in 75 seconds. I was coached by the judges as I did the event and was slightly gutted to hear my first practice was a “no lift.” John lifted 14 reps at 42kgs - an excellent effort, whilst Damien came in and smashed 14 reps at 53kg.

Up next was a Transit van pull. I came in first again, pulling the course in 34 seconds. The speed of hands up the rope was key and hand-eye coordination was prevalent in keeping tension on the rope.
John flashed (pun) in in 37 seconds. Damien pulled a great effort and touched down in 26 seconds.

The third event was the one hand deadlift, an event I was not looking forward to with my childlike hand size. A good hook grip, pain tolerance and guts were the tools needed. Having tested in the gym and pulled a 105kg, I went in determined to let the occasion take me to the limit. I pulled 120kg. Ecstatic. John put 25kg on his PR to pull 135kg. Epic. Damien then wrenched up 145kg to take 2nd in the heavy weights. (Behind an astounding lift of 180kg.) Damien lead the heavyweights going into the last event.

The last event was a medley of yoke, farmers walk and yoke. The weights put on were heavy. Middleweights and heavy weights were moving a farmer’s walk of 90kg and 100kg respectively. The yoke was 190kg and 210kg respectively. It was a suck fest. I completed the course in 4minutes 25seconds and it was very hard, it was also one of the most life affirming moments I’ve ever had. John didn’t complete the course spent 6 minutes in purgatory. Not once did he back down, however, and he took himself to the limit.

Damien and Davie squared off in a last minute contest in the medley (my idea) due to Damien having no one to compete beside. Damien was looking fatigued at the end and took his body to the edge to complete the course.

Damien’s placing was enough to take a share of the lead in the competition. He progresses to the final to join Davie and Jules. One lesson was learnt from everyone at the event - must train harder. Now get back in the gym.

Update

2011-05-14T18:54:00.003+01:00

Wow, last post in February? I've been slack!

Daily Training Photo
This has unfortunately taken a break. I ran out of new photos to post. In hindsight I need to get a stock of photos prior to starting this up again. Aiming to get this back up and running in July, so in the meantime if you have a training photo to submit, check out the instructions on the forum here.

Training Summary
There has been some great training going on by the members on the forum. A few are training strongman stylee, to compete in the UK Strength and Power Meet held at Crossfit Reading. Check out the following video of member keyser_soze throwing stuff overhead:

I'm currently following The Juggernaut Method E-Book by Chad Wesley Smith. It's got similarities to 5/3/1 by Jim Wendler and thus far I am enjoying it very much, as I'm able to combine strength training with power (jumps & sprints), conditioning (hill sprints) and skill (bouldering). It's also the first time I've opted to program my training without fitting all lifts into one week - I'm doing four main lifts (bench/press/squat/deadlift) but only three within a week, to allow for much needed rest days.

Twitter
Warriortraining.co.uk has it's own Twitter Page. Still trying to get the hang of it!

Equipment Guides
I still have some outstanding homemade equipment guides to write up, including a sled for sprints, a glute ham raise platform and an isometric device. These will all follow over the coming weeks/months, so keep an eye out.

That's it for now. Hopefully the next post will not take three months to write ;)

In training
Schwinners

Daily Training Photo - 06/02/2011

2011-02-06T21:14:00.002Z

Tom (Schwinners) doing ring dips

Daily Training Photo - 05/02/2011

2011-02-06T21:14:00.001Z

Derek squatting in the Hobo Gym

Daily Training Photo - 04/02/2011

2011-02-06T21:13:00.001Z

Tom (Schwinners) indoor bouldering

Daily Training Photo - 03/02/2011

2011-02-06T21:12:00.000Z

Lewis (lewismansell) overhead pressing a tree trunk

Daily Training Photo - 02/02/2011

2011-02-06T21:11:00.000Z

John (Flash) and Charlie (no9cvd) doing burpees with a jump onto a bench

Daily Training Photo - 01/02/2011

2011-02-06T21:10:00.000Z

Tom (Schwinners) doing one legged squats

Daily Training Photo - 31/01/2011

2011-02-06T21:09:00.000Z

Damien (keyser_soze) racking up 140kg ready to squat

Daily Training Photo - 30/01/2011

2011-02-06T21:06:00.000Z

The day of Winter Tough Guy 2011. Here's a photo from Winter Tough Guy 2010, with Damien (keyser_soze), Tom (Schwinners), Nick (Viking-D), Charlie (no9cvd), Lewis (lewismansell) and Andy (Atech) all ready to go before the race. YOHIMBE!

Daily Training Photo - 29/01/2011

2011-02-06T21:02:00.002Z

Charlie (no9cvd) and John (Flash) having a "dip off"

Daily Training Photo - 28/01/2011

2011-02-06T20:57:00.000Z

Davie bear hug carry

Daily Training Photo - 27/01/2011

2011-02-06T20:56:00.001Z

Damien (keyser_soze) rowing

Daily Training Photo - 26/01/2011

2011-02-06T20:55:00.001Z

Tom (Schwinners) overhead push press

Daily Training Photo - 25/01/2011

2011-02-06T20:53:00.000Z

John (Flash) doing squats with a Bulgarian bag

Daily Training Photo - 24/01/2011

2011-02-06T20:49:00.000Z

Davie shoulder carry

Daily Training Photo - 23/01/2011

2011-01-23T21:41:00.000Z

John (Flash) doing log rows

Daily Training Photo - 22/01/2011

2011-01-22T14:52:00.000Z

Tom (Schwinners) doing squats out of builders trestles. Great sub if you can't afford a squat rack/cage

Daily Training Photo - 21/01/2011

2011-01-21T22:32:00.002Z

Mikey (Krab) carrying a sandbag uphill

Daily Training Photo - 20/01/2011

2011-01-20T22:59:00.001Z

Damien (keyser_soze) doing farmers walks with homemade kettlebells

Daily Training Photo - 19/01/2011

2011-01-19T22:07:00.001Z

Tom (Schwinners) doing sledgehammer swings

Daily Training Photo - 18/01/2011

2011-01-18T22:47:00.002Z

18th January 2011 - Davie doing sandbag get ups

Daily Training Photo - 17/01/2011

2011-01-17T22:13:00.001Z

Damien (keyser_soze) loading an atlas stone onto a homemade platform

Daily Training Photo - 16/01/2011

2011-01-16T11:49:00.003Z

Tom (Schwinners) doing 43kg kettlebell swings with homemade kettlebell

Daily Training Photo - 15/01/2011

2011-01-15T09:15:00.001Z

Russell bench pressing in the Hobo Gym

Daily Training Photo - 14/01/2011

2011-01-14T06:47:00.001Z

Charlie (no9cvd) doing box jumps

Daily Training Photo - 13/01/2011

2011-01-13T07:28:00.001Z

Lewis (lewismansell) swimming

Daily Training Photo - 12/01/2011

2011-01-10T23:07:00.003Z

Tom (Schwinners) doing parallette press ups with feet elevated

Daily Training Photo - 11/01/2011

2011-01-10T23:06:00.003Z

Damien (keyser_soze) lifting a 55kg Atlas Stone

Daily Training Photo - 10/01/2011

2011-01-10T07:17:00.002Z

Mike (Krab) on the rower

Daily Training Photo - 09/01/2011

2011-01-09T08:28:00.002Z

Nick (Viking-D) hitting the bag

Daily Training Photo - 08/01/2011

2011-01-08T07:48:00.002Z

Guillaume (bguigz) doing door pull ups

Daily Training Photo - 07/01/2011

2011-01-07T07:00:00.001Z

Charlie (no9cvd) doing handstand press ups on concrete blocks

Daily Training Photo - 06/01/2011

2011-01-06T06:55:00.001Z

Davie doing some overhead presses in the Hobo Gym

Daily Training Photo - 05/01/2011

2011-01-05T07:47:00.001Z

Guillaume doing dips in the kitchen

Daily Training Photo - 04/01/2011

2011-01-04T06:33:00.001Z

Damien doing kettlebell swings

Daily Training Photo - 03/01/2011

2011-01-03T11:23:00.001Z

Tom doing L-sits on homemade wood parallettes

Daily Training Photo - 02/01/2011

2011-01-02T10:00:00.001Z

Garages are not for cars - they are for home gyms! Mike squatting in Damien's garage gym. Great depth on the squat!

Welcome to 2011!

2011-01-01T12:25:00.002Z

So a new year is upon us. Each day this year we will post a daily photo of one of our members training. This will hopefully help provide motivation to others.

First up, Charlie showing us that you really can be creative when it comes to pull ups - what an excellent idea!

Fun with Knee Jumps

2010-12-16T19:48:00.001Z

Homemade Adjustable Box Jump

2010-11-08T19:12:00.006Z

As with all homemade equipment, this is merely a guide, and if you decide to follow it, it is done at your own risk.

A few months ago, I made a homemade plyo/box jump (video here). It has served me well, especially as all the wood was essentially scrap. However, it took up a lot of space in my shed, is not waterproof and is limited to three sizes (16", 20" and 24"). So I set about coming up with something new that would be waterproof (stored outside) and provide many height options.

Here is the finished article!

First thing to get was some treated exterior grade wood - some 2x4, 2x6 and 2x8, as I wanted it to be built like a tank!

A frame was then constructed. The uprights are 50" tall 2x8, with 2x4 attached at 90 degrees to minimise flex. The bottom bit connecting the two uprights is a piece of 2x6 measuring 24". Where the uprights connect to the bottom, there is a mish mash of small pieces of wood which I kind of made up as I was going along but it seems to work! There are then two bits of 2x4 that act as lateral supports to minimise rocking. All attached using exterior wood glue and 3" decking screws. The frame looks like this:

After two coats of fence/shed preservative it looks like this:

On each upright there are 16mm holes drilled on both sides, to allow two M16 bolts to be passed through and attach to a 8" piece of 2x4. This acts as the support to hold the platform in place. The fit is so tight at the moment that it doesn't require a nut to hold in place, but I have purchased some in case:

The platform is constructed using two 24" pieces of 2x6, attached/held together by a 12" piece of 2x4. In the corners are small offcuts of 2x4, spaced 8" apart:

This allows the platform to literally just sit like so:

In place the platform looks like this - which makes up the jumping surface:

So there it is. This cost me approximately £50 to construct, most of which was for the wood, some money for the bolts/nuts and some money for the preservative. I already had the wood glue and screws from earlier projects. It currently lives outside on my patio (raised up on four small bits of 2x4 to stop it from getting damp underneath) and is holding up well.

To date I have drilled up 6 heights - 12", 18", 24", 30", 36" and 40". Theoretically it can go upto 50" (yet to be tested) and I can add new heights in between as needed by simply drilling two holes on each upright.

Below is a video showing it in action:

Homemade Ab Wheels

2010-10-30T15:08:00.007+01:00

As with all homemade equipment, this is merely a guide, and if you decide to follow it to make your own ab wheels, it is done at your own risk.

A normal, shop bought ab wheel has two wheels together in the middle, with a position on either side to hold with your hands. Such construction means you have to do wheel roll outs with two hands at once.

Ross Enamait of Rosstraining.com has brought the idea of an ab wheel that can be operated by one hand only to the masses. He makes a homemade version here and here.

I live in England and lawnmower wheels are not easy to come by. So here is what I did - all it invloves is to take a wheel you buy in a shop, two hose clamps (available from any DIY store), and a knife/pair of scissors.

Here is the finished product:

All you need to is take one of the existing handgrips off, cut off the end so you can slide it along to the middle of the bar. Then you can place one wheel either side of it, then put one hose clip either side to stop the wheels falling off the end. And voila!

Whilst a one handed wheel roll out might be hard to do, this kind of design is useful to allow you to roll out with one in each hand. Whilst a normal roll out follows a path straight forward, having two allows you to make different paths, like "T" (similar to a "fly" like you might do with rings/dumbells), and so on.

Happy rolling!

Homemade Plyo/Jump Box - Video

2010-08-03T16:23:00.004+01:00

Later than planned, here is a video of me using the jump box I created here

The box has 3 platform heights - 16", 20" and 24", which makes it great to help with progressions, especially one legged jumps.

I'd like to point out that because of the way the box is constructed, it is heavier one side than the other, so requires a weight plate to be placed inside the frame to stop it rocking.

Homemade Parallettes

2010-07-27T18:19:00.003+01:00

As with all homemade equipment, this is merely a guide, and if you decide to follow it to make your own parallettes, it is done at your own risk.

I attempted to make parallettes out of PVC piping, which seems to be a common choice for the homemade versions. In the UK, this is not so easy. Two main problems I ran into:
1) PVC pipe is not overly strong in the UK compared to say, the US. So strength is an issue.
2) The construct relies on using "tees" which need to be at 90 degrees. However in the UK, they come in either 88.5 or 92.5 degrees (when I was looking for tees for 40mm pipe). Thus the uprights of the parallettes will be at an angle (if only slight).

So I decided wood was the way forward. End product was this:

The feet were simply 2"x4" timber, one on top of the other (4" tall), glued and screwed. I cut 45 degree angles to make slanted sides to allow me to transition from l-sit to handstand without the feet getting in the way.

The rails are made of lengths of wooden hand rail I found at my local timber merchants. It is about 40mm in diameter. I cut this to 24" lengths, then glued/screwed them into the feet, like so:

The great thing about this rail was that it has approximately a 15mm flat part, allowing me to easily attach it to the feet and stop it from wanting to move. Not sure I explained that very well, so here is a picture:

The whole lot cost me about £7.50. I have started with low parallettes, but these would be very easy to raise by gluing the feet to more lengths of 2"x4".

Despite my initial concerns about the strength of wood, these are very strong. I would like to add though that you should check the strength of your parallettes firstly by training a low move like an l-sit before trying something like a handstand, as I can only vouch for the strength of the wood I purchased.

Crossfit Reading Strength & Power Meet 2010 (in association with FK.UK)

2010-06-14T07:25:00.003+01:00

On Saturday 5th June, many people descended on Tadley Green Rugby Club to take part in the Crossfit Reading Strength and Power Meet 2010 (in association with FK.UK). It was a fantastic day in which Warriors met with fellow Strongmen and Strongwomen to participate in many events aimed at the functional athlete.

A great day was had by all, and congratulations go to no9cvd and Jules, who each came second in the sub-75kg men's and sub-61kg women's events respectively!

Here is a picture of some of the Warriors at the event:

Below is a video from member Schwinners' of his events:

To order prints from this event, please see Emmie Bates Photography.

For more information on the next event, keep a check on the FK.UK website.

Homemade Plyo/Jump Box

2010-05-31T17:06:00.004+01:00

As with all homemade equipment, this is merely a guide, and if you decide to follow it to make your own plyo/jump box, it is done at your own risk.

We recently purchased a new wardrobe which meant I had to dismantle the old one. It was a built in wardrobe but very dated. However this meant it was built on a frame of 2x2 timber, with some 1/2" chipboard for some shelves. As I couldn't be asked to take the timber to the tip and I had wanted to make a plyo box for a while, I set about having a crack!

Here is the timber and my sawhorses (aka my squat spotters!)

I had seen this video where Mountain Athlete made a combination box that was 24" x 20", so it could be flipped over to allow it to be used as either a 20" or 24" box.

I fancied going one stage further, and having one that was 16", 20" and 24". After some drawings I set about making it. My woodworking skills are still a bit poor as I'm very lazy when it comes to cutting and measuring, but hey it seems to have worked!

Frame made all glued and screwed, with additional beams under the landing surfaces for extra stability. Then covered it in carpet (also from the old wardrobe), so I ended up with:

16" box

20" box

24" box

All in one! And it cost me time (about 5-6 hours total, because like always you run into problems!) and just screws and glue which I already owned! If you had to buy and make it yourself, I'd say you could do it for £20-£30 maybe, at a very rough guess!

Will make a video over the next few days - can't jump on it now as I did some stuff to it earlier and the wood glue needs to dry. However I did jump on it yesterday and it seems pretty sturdy! Even if not it cost me nowt and next time I would use 2x4 timber instead.

Workout of the Week 14, 2010

2010-04-13T20:06:00.002+01:00

Week beginning Monday 12th April 2010
Workout of the Week 14, 2010 - Forum Post

Thanks to all those involved in Warrior Week #2!

2010-04-12T00:00:00.003+01:00

Warrior Week #2 is now over, and it was a great week! Some brilliant performances in the 5 workouts set during the week.

The final league table is as follows:

1st - keyser_soze - 17 points
2nd - no9cvd - 17 points
3rd - mini_Keyser_soze - 13 points
4th - Jules - 10 points
5th - lewismansell - 9 points
6th - Flash - 7 points
7th - Mr Cronos - 3 points
8th - Krab - 2 points

Keyser_soze wins on account of placing 1st in 2 events, whereas no9cvd placed 1st in 1 event.

Watch this space for Warrior Week #3, hopefully in about 3 months...

Warrior Week #2, Workout #5 - Friday 9th April 2010

2010-04-09T18:10:00.002+01:00

Date: Friday 9th April 2010
Workout: See here

Warrior Week #2, Workout #4 - Thursday 8th April 2010

2010-04-07T22:02:00.002+01:00

Date: Thursday 8th April 2010
Workout: See here

Warrior Week #2, Workout #3 - Wednesday 7th April 2010

2010-04-06T22:09:00.001+01:00

Date: Wednesday 7th April 2010
Workout: See here

Warrior Week #2, Workout #2 - Tuesday 6th April 2010

2010-04-05T18:07:00.002+01:00

Date: Tuesday 6th April 2010
Workout: See here

A video demonstrating the exercises can be found below:

Warrior Week #2, Workout #1 - Monday 5th April 2010

2010-04-04T23:02:00.003+01:00

Date: Monday 5th April 2010
Workout: See here

A video demonstrating the exercises can be found below:

Warrior Week #2

2010-04-04T22:46:00.003+01:00

Following on from Warrior Week #1 in August 2009, we are running our 2nd Warrior Week between Monday 5th April and Friday 9th April 2010.

Workouts can be found here:
Warrior Week #2 Forum

Workout of the Week 13, 2010

2010-04-04T13:35:00.001+01:00

Week beginning Monday 29th March 2010
Workout of the Week 13, 2010 - Forum Post

Workout of the Week 12, 2010

2010-04-04T13:33:00.001+01:00

Week beginning Monday 22nd March 2010
Workout of the Week 12, 2010 - Forum Post

Rest week.

Workout of the Week 11, 2010

2010-04-04T13:31:00.002+01:00

Week beginning Monday 15th March 2010
Workout of the Week 11, 2010 - Forum Post

Workout of the Week 10, 2010

2010-04-04T13:27:00.002+01:00

Week beginning Monday 8th March 2010
Workout of the Week 10, 2010 - Forum Post

Workout of the Week 9, 2010

2010-04-04T13:26:00.002+01:00

Week beginning Monday 1st March 2010
Workout of the Week 9, 2010 - Forum Post

Workout of the Week 8, 2010

2010-04-04T13:25:00.003+01:00

Week beginning Monday 22nd February 2010
Workout of the Week 8, 2010 - Forum Post

Workout of the Week 7, 2010

2010-02-16T12:02:00.003Z

Week beginning Monday 15th February 2010
Workout of the Week 7, 2010 - Forum Post

Workout of the Week 6, 2010

2010-02-11T23:07:00.002Z

Week beginning Monday 8th February 2010
Workout of the Week 6, 2010 - Forum Post

Workout of the Week 5, 2010

2010-02-03T18:52:00.001Z

Week beginning Monday 1st February 2010
Workout of the Week 5, 2010 - Forum Post

Video to follow...

Tough Guy 2010

2010-02-02T22:19:00.003Z

On Sunday 31st January 2010, 6 of us from Warriortraining.co.uk set about completing Tough Guy. Schwinners, lewismansell, no9cvd, keyser_soze, Viking-D and Atech all took on the gruelling course.

If you want to read more about our time at the event, check out our Tough Guy sub-forum. And to help you visualise, here is a video shot on the day by another one of our members, Flash:

Workout of the Week 4, 2010

2010-02-02T22:15:00.001Z

Week beginning Monday 25th January 2010:
Workout of the Week 4, 2010 - Forum Post

No video this week - running videos are not that interesting!!!

Workout of the Week 3, 2010

2010-02-02T22:14:00.002Z

Week beginning Monday 18th January 2010:
Workout of the Week 3, 2010 - Forum Post

Workout of the Week 2, 2010

2010-02-02T22:11:00.001Z

Week beginning Monday 11th January 2010:
Workout of the Week 2, 2010 - Forum Post

Workout of the Week 1, 2010

2010-02-02T22:05:00.002Z

Week beginning Monday 4th January 2010:
Workout of the Week 1, 2010 - Forum Post

Warrior Week #1

2009-08-29T02:17:00.003+01:00

From Monday 17th to Friday 21st August, we ran our first 'Warrior Week'. This was a series of 5 workouts over 5 days that tested various strength and conditioning qualities.

We had a great turn out from the forum members and congratulations go to no9cvd for becoming our first winner.

To read more about the workouts and the results, follow the link below:

Warrior Week

Workout of the Week #39

2009-08-29T02:15:00.000+01:00

See the full post on the forum here

Set a timer for one minute
In the first minute, perform 1 pull up
In the second minute, perform 2 pull ups
In the third minute, perform 3 pull ups
In the fourth minute, perform 4 pull ups
In the fifth minute, perform 5 pull ups
In the sixth minute, perform 6 pull ups
In the seventh minute, perform 7 pull ups
In the eighth minute, perform 8 pull ups
In the ninth minute, perform 9 pull ups
In the tenth minute, perform 10 pull ups

Total time of 10 minutes and total of 55 pull ups.

Pull ups should be strict and from deadhang. As I know this is not possible for everyone to do over all 10 sets, do the following:

- Perform as many strict deadhang pull ups at the start of each set
- When you can no longer do deadhang pull ups within a set, finish the set with jumping pull ups. Then go back to deadhang pull ups at the start of the next set.

Workout of the Week #20

2009-04-20T19:34:00.001+01:00

Last week's workout of the week was a bit of a leg killer! The workout was as follows:

Use a football pitch or the dimensions in brackets:

(starting at goal line)
Lunge walk to edge of penalty area (~20m)
Run backwards to goal line (~20m)
Bear crawl to half way line (~50m)
Run backwards to goal line (~50m)
Sprint to other end (~100m)
10 burpees
Jog back to start (~100m)

5 rounds for time

Here were the times from those who participated this week:

Schwinners - 19:04
No9cvd - 20:29
Fozzi The Bear - 21:37
Flash - 22:23
Anne - 26:20 (4 rounds)

Workout of the Week Update

2009-04-13T19:20:00.006+01:00

Over the past few weeks, we have continued with our Workout of the Week. For results and discussion, check the forum here.

This week just gone (week 19 for us) was 50 burpees for time. Here are some of the results:

Mister C - 2:51
bigdaddy - 3:24
no9cvd - 3:28
Schwinners - 3:34
keyser soze - 4:00

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2009-04-06T17:36:00.002+01:00

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Video: First warriortraining.co.uk meet in Essex!

2009-03-29T21:12:00.002+01:00

Today we had our first meet in Essex!

The training pretty much went like this:

1) 1 mile run wearing ~10kg weighted vest

2) 3 or 4 weighted vest hill sprints, followed by a 0.9 mile loop wearing weighted vest

3) 1 mile walk back wearing weighted vest, but sprinting each incline

4) Circuit we devised on the day:

5 SB clean & press, 32kg
10 sledgehammer swings (5 per side)
SB shoulder to 50m run with SB, 40kg
10 kettlebell snatch or swing (5 per side), 16/20/24kg
SB shoulder to 50m run with SB, 40kg
4 circuits each, taking it in turns to do the circuit

5) A lot of car pushing!

6) 3/4 hill sprints

7) Pub lunch finisher!!!

Roll on the next one :)

Equipment: My "new" dip belt

2009-02-06T19:25:00.002Z

As with all homemade equipment, this is merely a guide, and if you decide to follow it to make your own dip belt, it is done at your own risk.

When I say new, I actually made it a few weeks back. I caught a glimpse of it a few minutes ago, and realised I'd planned to blog about it weeks ago but never did!

It was fairly simple to construct. The chain was a "Welded Steel Chain" from my local Wickes. 2m length, 5mm thick chain, 35mm individual chain length, maximum load 125kg. Cost me about £7. The padding is simple pipe insulation, costing about 60p, affixed with a few bits of gaffer tape. Finally, I got the chunkiest caribiners I could from my local climbing shop. They were £12 for the pair.

So for about £20, I have what has so far felt like a strong bit of kit.

If I did it again, I wouldn't have gone so OTT with the caribiners. They are a bit too chunky for the chain, which makes it a little awkward to change weights. But still it feels sturdy and that's the main thing!

Reviews: Ultimate Sandbag - Medium (upto 80lbs)

2009-01-22T21:26:00.001Z

Previously, my sandbag was a green army canvas duffel bag I got for £10 from a local army surplus store. Here is a picture of it:

Whilst this bag was hard wearing, it's main problem was that the bag was not completely sealed - if the small bags of sand inside broke, then sand would fly out of the top opening of the bag. This obviously became quite messy. So I invested in an Ultimate Sandbag, which I brought via Crossfit Reading.

(Picture: SandbagFitnessSystems.com... note: the bottom is the filler bag that is bought separately)

The bag comes in 3 sizes - small (upto 45lbs), medium (upto 80lbs) or large (upto 160lbs). The bag is completely sealed, via a heavy duty zip and heavy duty poppers along the length of the bag. These also mean it's very easy to load/unload with small sandbags, and it's very hard for sand to escape the bag.

The bag has many handles on it which are useful. There are two handles around shoulder width apart, which are great for deadlifts, cleans, etc. There are two handles on the very ends of the bag (so are quite wide apart) and add a new dimension to holding/moving the bag, as the weight sags in the centre of the bag. There is also one long handle or strap that spans the length of the bag.

The shape of the bag is long and thin. This is handy for most types of movement - shouldering, zercher squat, clean, press, etc.

My only reservation with the bag is that once the bag is full to capacity, there is no way of grabbing the bag by the outer material. This is mostly due to the thick, heavy duty material used in the outer bag that is quite rigid. So if grip training is key for you, either don't buy the bag, or buy the larger bag and don't fill it up fully, so that there is loose outer material to grab.

Overall, a good investment, and a very useful bit of kit.

New ideas for the blog...

2009-01-22T21:21:00.000Z

Since the blog was created, I have been racking my brains for ideas on how to use it. As warriortraining.co.uk has both a website and an active forum, the scope for additional content to put on here is limited.

In the past few months I have been accumulating a lot of new training equipment. When researching the equipment before buying, I have often found a lack of reviews on the equipment, and so a few of the purchases have been made with an air of nervousness about whether they would be worth the money.

So my new idea for the blog is to write up some equipment reviews for equipment I have purchased. A few of the most recent bits of equipment I have bought are "upgrades" to equipment I own, so hopefully I can provide comparisons between the two.

I will begin with a review of the "Ultimate Sandbag". Please feel free to post additional questions to the reviews if you have any.

I'm always open to ideas for the blog, so if you have any, please post a comment to this blog entry!

WOW update, and first post of 2009...

2008-12-30T18:24:00.001Z

The workout of the week has continued over the past few weeks, but with it being the festive season, participation has not been as high as usual (me included!) so I have not blogged about it. Now it's the new year, we'll hopefully get back on course.

So 2008 is now over, and 2009 has begun. For me, 2008 was a good one training wise. Although I did not reach many of the goals I set myself at the beginning of 2008, I've learnt a lot and kept my training relatively consistent. 2008 was also a great year for warriortraining.co.uk, seeing everyone go from strength to strength in their training, and also it's been great to welcome new members on board. Long may this continue into 2009.

I thought I'd begin the blog in 2009 with a compilation video. It's a mix of clips from some of my training videos in 2008, plus a few new ones filmed recently that I haven't used before. I hope you enjoy!

In training
Schwinners

Workout of the Week 5

2008-12-07T21:41:00.000Z

Sorry for the late update. Just a quick catch up for last week's Workout of the Week. This week, it was ICT#5 from Ross Enamait's book Never Gymless. The full forum thread is here.

The results were as follows:

Rees - 16 rounds
no9cvd - 13 rounds
Schwinners - 11 rounds, 5 burpees
Gubernatrix - 11 rounds
Flash - 10 rounds, 2 burpees
Ben - 5 rounds (as a finisher after deadlifts!)

Good work again everyone. Let's keep this going :-)

Workout of the Week #4

2008-11-27T19:26:00.000Z

I'm a day late in posting, as we did our fourth workout of the week yesterday! This week, we did another Crossfit style workout:

50 situps
50 double-unders/tuck jumps
50 situps
50 lunge walk paces
50 situps
50 burpees
50 situps

Times were as follows:

Rees - 7:57 (tuck jumps)
Mister C - 13:07
Schwinners - 14:27
Gubernatrix - 14:32 (tuck jumps)
No9cvd - 15:05
Flash - 18:42

Great effort guys and gals, and an amazing time by Rees!

Workout of the Week #3

2008-11-19T20:35:00.000Z

Today was the third installment of our workout of the week. This week, we opted for a simple, yet ass-kicking workout - 100 burpees for time. The burpees were Ross style - press up and jump as high as possible with each rep. Additional weight was optional. Here are this week's results:

No9cvd - 9:35
Schwinners - 13:17 (with 15kg weighted vest)
Flash - 15:01 (with 10kg weighted vest)

Great effort guys - 100 burpees is a difficult challenge at the best of times, let alone at 6.30am!

As today's workout was related to burpees, I'll leave with a link to an old blog entry about burpees, and an old burpee video I did for the warriortraining.co.uk website.

Blog entry - Burpee Bonanza (videos included)

Video - Burpee Conditioning

Workout of the Week #2

2008-11-13T21:10:00.000Z

Yesterday (12th) we did our second workout of the week on the forum. We had 5 participants this week for a workout from Crossfit called "Jeremy":

21-15-9 reps of
Overhead Squat (unweighted/broom handle or with weight upto 95lbs)
Burpees

Full thread is on the forum, here.

Below is a video posted by a member on the Rosstraining forum. It is a compilation of some of the workout videos posted on the site. Enjoy!

The power of the Internet

2008-11-05T18:31:00.000Z

Wednesday 5th November 2008, 6.30am. Seven Warriors, each in different locations, donned their warm clothes and headed outside to train. The chosen workout was The Interval Challenge by Ross Enamait. This was workout of the week #1 for us at warriortraining.co.uk. The challenge was arranged via the forum.

These days, I do a lot of my training in the morning, to help fit it around my work commitments. I train at a park near to where I live, and at 6.30am, there are few people around - the odd dog walker and commuter walking to the bus stop. However, this morning was different. Because I knew that there were others doing the very same thing at the same time (although geographically distant), I felt like we were all at the park and taking part in a group training session. This spurred me on, and I smashed my previous time of 22:48, finishing in 20:29.

For me, that is the power of the internet! How else would such an event happen?! Thanks to all those who partook today - looking forward to next week!

I'd like to make two special mentions.

John aka Flash - he dedicated his workout to his Father, on the anniversary of his Father's passing. He'd be proud of you mate.

Charlie aka no9cvd - he did the workout on his birthday!!!

Training first thing in the morning is difficult, especially now we are approaching/already in winter. It's too easy to make excuses not to get up and get training. Next time you feel like making excuses, watch this video:

Pain is temporary, but pride lasts forever

2008-11-02T12:16:00.001Z

I logged on earlier and saw that my last blog post was on Wednesday October 15th... So the purpose of this post is to (hopefully) make me realise I need to update this more often!

As that paragraph can't really constitute a blog entry, I'll leave you with a video I saw earlier on a thread on the Rosstraining.com Forum. I think this sums up the phrase "Pain is temporary, but pride lasts forever".

Enjoy

Where do we get our training ideas from: Part 3 – Other Websites

2008-10-15T17:44:00.000+01:00

So far, I've written about Rosstraining and Crossfit. Whilst this is where we get the majority of our training ideas from, there are a whole host of other websites and blogs around the internet offering great ideas. I'll run through a few below:

Gym Jones
This is a great resource for training ideas. Each day, the website is updated with an entry showing the training they've done, so there are hundreds (if not thousands) of workouts on there. Gym Jones trained the actors in the film "300".

Beast skills
This site is full of in depth tutorials on how to perform great strength exercises, such as the muscle up, one arm chin up, pistols (one legged squats) to name a few. Each tutorial explains how to perform the exercises, progressions to build up to the exercise if you cannot perform it, common faults, etc.

Gubernatrix
A great blog by one of our members, Gubernatrix. This touches on all aspects of strength and conditioning, with many comprehensive guides including exercise how-tos and routine generation. It also includes information on books, nutrition, and also discussion surrounding the perceptions about women's weight training.

Youtube
Although it's not a specific strength and conditioning website, Youtube can be a goldmine for training ideas, as it is used by most people from around the world to upload their training videos. Tread with caution though, because anyone can make a video (whether qualified to or not), so copying them could result in injury.

This list is not a complete list – there are plenty of other great sources around the net, some of which can be found on the links page on our main website.

Where do we get our training ideas from? Part 2: Crossfit

2008-09-27T11:51:00.000+01:00

Today, I will talk a bit about Crossfit. As they say on their website, Crossfit "delivers a fitness that is, by design, broad, general, and inclusive" and "is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience". The program is not changed for different individuals, only the load and intensity are varied based on ability.

On the Crossfit website homepage, they post a "Workout of the Day" (or WOD). Many Crossfitters follow this religiously, whilst others dabble in the WOD every now and again (including me!). A lot of the workouts have names, including those named after girls and heroes (those who have sadly died in combat). The workouts are summarised here.

Although based in America, Crossfit has a following across the Atlantic, with various Crossit affiliates are dotted around the UK. The timing of this post happens to come just over a week after Crossfit hosted their certification in Manchester, England.

Here are some useful links to find out more about Crossfit and get stuck in:

Crossfit - the main website for Crossfit. It includes a daily WOD, descriptions of the workouts, instructional videos, journals and much more.

Brandx - the official site for information on scaling Crossfit workouts.

Funckey - a UK based forum, whose members are mainly Crossfitters. Special mention to Crossfit Reading, Derby, Central Scotland, West Sussex, Ireland - those who run each of these affiliates regularly post on Funckey.

I'm based in Essex, and unfortunately there is no Crossfit Essex! So everyone get on board, support your local Crossfit, and then maybe the popularity will spread and result in me getting a local Crossfit ;-)

Here's a video of one of their benchmark WODs, Fran, to give you a taster of what Crossfitters do:

Where do we get our training ideas from? Part 1: Rosstraining

2008-09-10T18:53:00.000+01:00

Firstly, I'd like to make an apology. In my last blog post, I said I would update this blog often. However, this is my first post in a week. Oops! I'd best get blogging!

Anyway. I thought it would be an idea to spend a few of the early blog entries giving a bit of an introduction into where we get our training ideas from. I plan to write three entries: one on Rosstraining, one on Crossfit, and one focusing on a collection of other great websites, forums and blogs.

I will start with Ross Enamait, founder of Rosstraining. Simply put, he is the reason that warriortraining.co.uk was originally set up. Most of our original members found each other via a thread on the Menshealth forums about Ross. The rest is history!

Ross is currently a personal trainer, and was formerly a semi-professional boxer. I originally purchased his book, "The Underground Guide to Warrior Fitness" (now discontinued) upon strong recommendation. This book made my training more structured and more enjoyable. Since then, I have also purchased "Infinite Intensity", "Never Gymless", and "Full Throttle Conditioning". All three contain excellent content on strength, conditioning, core, nutrition and program creation.

According to his website, "Ross is committed to excellence and advancements in high performance conditioning and functional strength development." Ross is all about intensity and hard work. To quote the man himself , "You get what you put into it" (from this article).

Ross owns the website Rosstraining.com, which also has an excellent forum community. He is very approachable, and in the past he has happily answered my training questions via email. The products mentioned above are all available through his site, and though he is based in America shipment of his products is fast, with most of the books I ordered arriving in the UK in around a week! (I would like to point out that I am not on commission for selling Ross' products!)

Below you will find useful links to find out more:

Website
Forum
Blog

A final treat. Here is a video Ross has made, and it is a compilation of his training from 2003 - 2008. Some very impressive stuff, and very inspirational. Enjoy!

Welcome!

2008-09-03T20:07:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the new warriortraining.co.uk blog!

Thought it was about time I gave this blog lark a try. Not much to say right now, except to leave you a few links:

Website
Forum

I hope to keep this blog updated regularly, with new videos, links, articles and more!

Burpee Bonanza

2008-09-03T19:45:00.000+01:00

I was recently challenged by fellow training nut Chet (founder of FK.UK) to come up with burpee variations. I did a video last year demonstrating a few burpee ideas using just my bodyweight and a space on the ground.

This time, I decided to mix it up a bit more, using a park bench, park climbing frame, and again some more bodyweight only ideas:

Chet, Andy (owner of Crossfit Reading) and our member John have also come up with some great ideas. Links to their videos are shown below:

Chet
Muscle up fun and games
Burpee bonanza

Andy
Burpee power snatch
Burpee mash up

John
Burpee variations

Hope you enjoy the videos!