I’m a big fan of front carries (like carrying a sandbag or keg), as I find they make you brutally strong and do a great job of making you feel like you’re going to die. The only real side carry I’m a fan of is stupid heavy yoke walks, and that’s more because they build willpower incredibly well, but will also break you down hard.
The prowler is still up there as my absolute favorite conditioning tool though. Minimal technique, stupid easy to load, will gas you hard, easy to scale difficulty, etc. If I wasn’t a strongman competitor, I’d just use the prowler for all my conditioning.
I’m trying to get better about simplifying, plus enjoy myself a bit, so strong + want to die (in a short amount of time) sounds like a great combination. Right now I just run up a hill a lot because it’s literally right outside my door.
My gym has a push sled, farmer’s walks handles (but no yoke) and various kegs; I need to start taking advantage of this immediately!
Do you have to “account” for carries differently than other conditioning? Or is 15 minutes of sucking = 15 minutes of sucking? I’m sure I’ll figure it out after a few days either way…
I never really program conditioning. I just come up with a really dumb idea and then try to do it until I can’t. Somedays, that’ll be like 3 minutes (like trying to do Crossfit’s “Grace” workout with an Axle") and other days it can last an hour, but if I consistently feel that feeling like my lungs are breaking and I want to quit, it tends to mean I did good for the day.
Thank you as well for the explanation. I don’t compete in anything; lifting is probably more mental/ emotional for me than anything. However, I think we’re all lying if we don’t want to be as strong/ fast as a linebacker and look like awesome naked…
That said, right now I just want to not think and push hard in the gym and still come out better in some way (the naked linebacker from above). Your point about getting it done quickly and brutally hits home for me right now.
And I totally get your point on the “basic movement” bit. There’s some things I should probably just be able to do.
@jamie1357
Sorry for derailing man, but honestly you should take advantage of being a teenager:
Eat big, whole food meals. Definitely don’t fear pizza/ cheeseburgers. I also wouldn’t count calories at your age; it just seems too sad and you should be out being awesome.
Get stronger on basic movements (@flipcollar just listed them)
Work hard at whatever conditioning you choose
For the love of all that is holy, play sports. You’re going to miss them when they’re gone.
HELL YEAH. Adults spend hundreds of dollars to do adult sports leagues, and the more serious they take it, the more expensive it is. The mediocre ones are basically drinking leagues. Do it in school while you can, or via intramural sports leagues in college.
I get the feeling you’re not 13 percent body fat. It’s really rare for a teenager to accurately gauge their body fat percentage, and most importantly, it doesn’t matter what arbitrary number you assign to yourself, it matters how you look.
Don’t use mass gainers.
If you’re skinny, and have been skinny, you’re probably not gonna get fat if you eat relatively healthy food. I don’t think you should deprive yourself of a cheeseburger, or a pizza, or a donut, but eat mostly healthy food and you DEFINITELY won’t have to worry about getting fat.
Don’t use mass gainers.
Pick a workout routine that you didn’t write yourself. Upper/Lower, Push/Pull/Legs, Full Body, Bro Split, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days, they will all work with some form of progression, lots of conditioning and a solid diet.
If you’re having trouble taking shits, use a mass gainer. If you want to gain mass, refer to points 2 and 4.
This equates to 1000-1200 ish calories. Split it in 2 and drink half with or immediately after breakfast and the other half after your last meal of the day, don’t let this ruin your appetite as you will eat less at other meals and render the whole thing pointless. Doing it the way I suggest gives you enough time to get hungry again by lunch time.
Gluten free oats may be the difference between stomach upset or not, don’t take the risk and get gluten free. If you freeze the bananas it reduces the flavour and makes it nice and cold immediately after making. Any flavour whey you would like, easy peasy.
That’s literally my PWO shake every day. Sometimes I switch the oats for granola or nix them altogether, and I add water and ice to make it thin enough to chug in one go. Mmmmm.