Straight to the Bar

I love training with clubs & maces. A great way to get a top workout in a small space, using minimal equipment, without wasting time. Perfect.

What to get

The equipment is pretty simple. I personally use the loadable* clubs from Strongergrip, which I highly recommend. There are also plate-loadable clubs, as well as several DIY options, such as this :

* Loadable = fillable with things like ball-bearings, lead shot, steel shot, or sand. The type of media you choose will determine the final weight of the clubs (lead shot is the choice when you’re looking to make them as heavy as possible).

• Home-made Clubs. Good stuff.
  

In terms of space, the workouts don’t require all that much – clubs are ideal for a home gym. As long as you have room to swing them in front of you and to press them overhead, you’ll be fine.

NB : I work with club manufacturers all over the world. To find one nearby (and cut the postage costs down a little), consider some of these :

• Loadable clubs from Stronger Grip (clubs shipped from US)
• Monkey Bar Gym (clubs shipped from US)
• RMAX (clubs shipped from US)
• Revolution Clubs (clubs shipped from US)
• London Kettlebells (UK only)

What to do with them

There are many, many ways to train with clubs. Here are a few of my favourites :

• Clubbell exercises
  What can you do with clubbells? Over to Izzy.
  
  
  
• The Iron Sheik’s Persian Clubs
  Remember the Iron Sheik? Love it.
  
  
  
• Club Swinging in the House of Power
  Varzesh-e Pahlavani in the Zurkhaneh (‘House of Power‘). Excellent.
  
  
  

There are also a number of superb club exercises on the Circular Strength DVD. Highly recommended.

Where to find out more

There’s actually quite a bit of info (both online and offline) available on club training methods, including :

• Encyclopedia of Clubbell® Training
  For a detailed look at club training, you can’t go past Scott Sonnon’s Encyclopedia of Clubbell® Training. Incredible resource.
• Dynamic Weight Swinging
  Ryan looks at the way in which leverage training can carry over into other activities.
• Gymchat 137 – Grip, Clubs & Health
  Here we’ll be discussing club & mace training in great detail. If you’re on Google+, swing by.

Final thought on club training

I love all kinds of leverage training, and clubs are never far from my hand. Once you try them, you’ll quickly see why. Beautiful things.