The Neighbors Probably Think We're Nuts (Tractor Tires, Cinder Blocks, & Sledge Hammers 2.0)

Oddly enough, the people I work with out at the Renaissance Festival here in Minnesota tend to joke about that a lot.  With The Dueling Grounds, which is a stage combat group here in the Twin Cities, we joke about that a lot.  If you saw your neighbors sword fighting in their back yard, what would you think?

Now with the Robin Hood and The Merry Men Show, add in our strange workouts to the stage combat practice.

As I hinted in the last blog post, we added two new pieces to the workout.  One is a brand new workout, the other is the sandbag to replace the punching bag.  I'll outline the workout again and note the changes.  Due to a sore shoulder, Ted sat this one out and took some pictures for this post.

WARM UP
No change here really.  5 minutes of stretching and some medicine ball tossing to warm up the body.  

SESSION 1
No changes here either.  All exercises are done for 1 minute and are done twice, alternating between the two with a 15 second rest period in between.

Tractor Tire Flip:  Lift tire, flip, repeat.  I had originally planned to do 5 tire jumps whenever there was a change in direction . . . I did it the first time . . .

Sometimes finding a good grip is difficult

You'd almost think this was the easy part

 Cinder Block Farmer's Walk & Kettlebell Swing:  Walk for 20 yds holding two cinder blocks, set one down, do 5 Kettlebell swings, repeat.

SESSION 2
We did make a change here.  There are now two workouts in this session.  Both done for 2 mins 15 secs with a 30 second rest period.  The Cinder Block Stack & Pass remains, then we added Chains.

Cinder Block Stack:  (without Ted, there is no "stack & pass")  Stack all four cinder blocks on top of each other on the ground to your side.  Pickup one cinder block at a time and stack on a platform.  Then take off of the platform and stack back on ground.  Face other direction and repeat.

I was pretty sure he took much more of these . . . 

Chains:  I can't say I have ever seen this done with chains.  Typically it is done with about 2" thick rope.  The 20 foot chains worked great though.  We did tape the ends to give us a stiff handle to grasp.  The other end of the chains are criss-crossed and set under the tractor tire . . . then we put the punching bag on the end . . . then we put a cinder block on top.  There are three motions that I used.  Up and down, circles out, and circles in.  The effect you want is to make a wave through the chain as you do the motion.

SESSION 3

The only change here is that we replaced the 75lb punching bag with a 90lb (approx) homemade sandbag.  In my next post, I'll provide detailed instructions on how to make one . . . and how not to make it so heavy.  All exercises are done for 1 minute and are done twice, alternating between the two with a 15 second rest period in between.

Sledge Hammer:  Hit the tractor tire with a sledge hammer.  I used a side swing and an overhead swing, switching grips after 10 hits.  We are still unsure on the exact weight of the hammer, but it feels like it weighs a ton by this point in the workout.

Sandbag:  My intent was to make the bag about 75 lbs . . . it's a bit heavier, but it worked.  This workout goes:  5 push ups (on bag), 5 bent over rows, 5 squat lift to shoulder, 5 overhead presses.  Then set bag on shoulders and run.  After the lifting, I got about three 20 yard runs in before the timer ran out on the minute.

5 Push Ups

5 Bent Over Rows

5 Squat to Shoulder Lifts

5 Overhead Presses

Now Run!

So there you have it.  Leave a comment or share with your friends.