Week 2 : a bodyweight blend, a new way to drag a sled, and Tate reactivates the training journal

Scott Andrew Birdby Scott Andrew Bird | April 7, 2006
Filed in General , Weekly summary


This week's weather seemed to mirror the constantly changing mix of photography and weight training. As far as the weight training went, the rack sat gathering dust whilst I squeezed in any exercise I could.

Bodyweight blend

As much as possible, I train in the afternoon. Those who believe in the intricacies of workout timing may see the benefits of peak strength and a greater pain threshold; it just happens to coincide with my available free time. Plus the fact that I've been awake for several hours, and have eaten a few times.

For one reason or another, this just hasn't been possible over the past week. To partially combat this I've been doing impromptu sets of familiar bodyweight exercises - a set of 50 pushups here and 100 hindu squats there. It adds up.

Over the next couple of days (weekends are always great for this sort of thing), I'll work out a structured routine - mainly focused on bodyweight stuff for now (more boxes in the garage - the rack is still accessible, but only just). Probably along the lines of my travel routine.

Grip training with a sled

Bud Jeffries pulling a school busThe current backyard covers all of about 2 metres before a change in level (plus a brick wall, rocks or some other obstruction); so the art of sled dragging will have to wait for a larger space. In the meantime, I noted an idea from Bud Jeffries on combining grip training and sled dragging.

Pull the sled with a towel. Nothing more sinister than that (although I immediately began thinking of using rope, which would also have a great impact on grip). By varying the length/type/folds of the towel, as well as the numerous ways to drag the sled, a surprising variety of exercises appears. Yep, a sled is on the list of toys to get once I have somewhere to test them out.

Reactivation

Dave TateThe world of Dave Tate - at least the public side of it - is beginning to become clear. The latest set of major changes began with the article Gluteal Amnesia - The Dave Tate Story, which told the tale of the state in which Tate found himself after 23 years of competitive powerlifting. Suffice to say it was far from ideal.

Fast forward to John Berardi's recent revelation that he's helping Tate clean up his diet (also in a sorry state). What prompted these changes? Tate's latest article on EFS explains it all.

The upshot is that everyone gets to watch a fairly radical transformation take place, courtesy of the re-activated Dave Tate Training Log. Not to mention the numerous benefits that Tate himself will no doubt reap from the process.



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