Another website that's pro-hammer
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 5:49 pm
This is an e-mail from John Wood of Functional Hand Strength:
I grew up in a weight room with a lot of "interesting things" (to
put it mildly) so things like sledge hammers used as training tools
were not something that ever struck me as out of the ordinary.
To a lot of people though, training with a sledge hammer might as
well be something from outer space since it is so foreign to them.
The truth is, sledge hammer training goes back a long way both
in terms of a conditioning workout (by swinging it) and as a
leverage tool.
Today Im only going to focus on the leverage training aspect and
save the "Swinging" part of it for some other time.
I will say, however, that if you do decide to swing a sledge hammer
as part of a conditioning workout, for Petes sake, dont just put it on
your shoulder and drop it like I see a lot of people doing - its called
"swinging" for a reason and that is where there training benefits come
from.
Anyhow, as far as training goes, a sledge hammer is a great tool -
it only weights little in actually weight but you can use the
leverage factor to increase the relative resistance and make any
movement as challenging as needed.
Iron Game author George Jowett used to have what he called
"leverage-bells" which operated on the same principle.
You can get a sledge hammer at any hardware store and I suggest starting
out with a 6 or 8 pounder. I do, however, recommend two specific brands
over the rest I have used and it is because the handles do not warp over
time.
You can find out what those brands are in the sledge hammer training
guide that comes with the Slim The Hammer Man DVD set:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/s ... g_DVD.html
Now, as far as training goes, there are a number of interesting exercises that
can be done with a sledge hammer, especially for the forearms and grip.
Here are a few of them:
1. The Front Lever - a la Slim The Hammer Man
2. Pronation/ Supination
3. Hammer (literally) Curls
4 Front or side raise
5. And one of my personal favorites, sledge hammer finger walking
(save this one for last in the workout)
Train hard.
John Wood
P.S. Slim The Hammer Man got his name for good reason - he has moved
hammers that no other man before of since can budge. Find out more about
him right here:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/s ... g_DVD.html
Copyright, John Wood, 2007
This email is protected by copyright, 2007, All rights reserved.
Reproduction of any portion of this email is strictly prohibited
without the express written consent of Thunder Dome Media
and John Wood
Functional Hand Strength
Website: http://www.FunctionalHandStrength.com
E-mail: info@functionalhandstrength.com
I grew up in a weight room with a lot of "interesting things" (to
put it mildly) so things like sledge hammers used as training tools
were not something that ever struck me as out of the ordinary.
To a lot of people though, training with a sledge hammer might as
well be something from outer space since it is so foreign to them.
The truth is, sledge hammer training goes back a long way both
in terms of a conditioning workout (by swinging it) and as a
leverage tool.
Today Im only going to focus on the leverage training aspect and
save the "Swinging" part of it for some other time.
I will say, however, that if you do decide to swing a sledge hammer
as part of a conditioning workout, for Petes sake, dont just put it on
your shoulder and drop it like I see a lot of people doing - its called
"swinging" for a reason and that is where there training benefits come
from.
Anyhow, as far as training goes, a sledge hammer is a great tool -
it only weights little in actually weight but you can use the
leverage factor to increase the relative resistance and make any
movement as challenging as needed.
Iron Game author George Jowett used to have what he called
"leverage-bells" which operated on the same principle.
You can get a sledge hammer at any hardware store and I suggest starting
out with a 6 or 8 pounder. I do, however, recommend two specific brands
over the rest I have used and it is because the handles do not warp over
time.
You can find out what those brands are in the sledge hammer training
guide that comes with the Slim The Hammer Man DVD set:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/s ... g_DVD.html
Now, as far as training goes, there are a number of interesting exercises that
can be done with a sledge hammer, especially for the forearms and grip.
Here are a few of them:
1. The Front Lever - a la Slim The Hammer Man
2. Pronation/ Supination
3. Hammer (literally) Curls
4 Front or side raise
5. And one of my personal favorites, sledge hammer finger walking
(save this one for last in the workout)
Train hard.
John Wood
P.S. Slim The Hammer Man got his name for good reason - he has moved
hammers that no other man before of since can budge. Find out more about
him right here:
http://www.functionalhandstrength.com/s ... g_DVD.html
Copyright, John Wood, 2007
This email is protected by copyright, 2007, All rights reserved.
Reproduction of any portion of this email is strictly prohibited
without the express written consent of Thunder Dome Media
and John Wood
Functional Hand Strength
Website: http://www.FunctionalHandStrength.com
E-mail: info@functionalhandstrength.com