Beginner's Help

[Mike]

OK, I'm a total noob to clubbells and am looking for some help with program design. I have a 45 lb. club and Doug's ABC manual. Basically I want to get to the point where I can do some of the more sophisticated movements in the book (clockwork squats, mills etc.) and some of the grinding movements (presses etc.)

As of now, I can manage basics like front swings, side swings, front cleans to order, side clean to guard, front clean to park, and side clean to park. I am nowhere near to being able to do any back position stuff yet. For the exercises I can do, I can manage about 5-10 decent reps before my grip begins to tire. My form is OK as of now, but there's obvious room for improvement.

As far as reps go, I have a question regarding how many reps I should do while alternating my grips. For instance, I can manage 10 reps of cleans to park to the right, but I can only manage maybe 6-8 going to the left. Should I stick to doing the same number of reps for both sides (i.e. 6-8 for right and left)? Or should I do what I can for both sides and forget about keeping it equal for each side?

I just need some help designing a program to help me get closer to becoming more sophisticated with the bruiser!

Thanks,
Mike

[Mike]

Here's what I did tonight:

Front Swings

5x8 all done with a right handed grip

Front Clean To Order

2x8 right

2x8 left

Side Clean To Shoulder Park

2x10 right

2x10 left (had some trouble and screwed up the form with the last couple of reps, my hands were sore)

[Mike]

My hands are super sore today and my left shoulder hurts a bit from when I screwed up on the shoulder parks. I'm thinking I may have pushed myself a bit too much for a beginner. I may lower the number of sets a bit and try not to get to close to failure!

[crubio]

Mike,

You are missing out on the full benefits of CST. THe whole point of CST is to strengthen the body in its extreme ranges of motion. Doing swings and cleans is only going to strengthen you in the front. Don't forget about the sides, top and back.

I suggest you move to a lighter cb so you can start doing these movements and enjoying the benifits of CST. You are missing alot by not doing any one arm cb swinging.

[Mike]

Mike,

You are missing out on the full benefits of CST. THe whole point of CST is to strengthen the body in its extreme ranges of motion. Doing swings and cleans is only going to strengthen you in the front. Don't forget about the sides, top and back.

I suggest you move to a lighter Clubbell® so you can start doing these movements and enjoying the benifits of CST. You are missing alot by not doing any one arm Clubbell® swinging.

I know I'm missing out, in hindsight I probably should've gone for a 15 or 20 lber. Getting a lighter club right now is gonna have to wait though, because the bruiser combined with shipping and the exchange rate set me back some major cash. I have been doing side swings as well though, I just didn't do any last night!

[Doug Szolek]

Mike can you do a grinding Hammer Throw / Parry Cast (ABC Style) with your Bruiser?

If so then I want this to become the focus of your training sessions. If not then I'll put together a few assistance exercises to get you performing this uber-important ABC swing.

Let me know and I'll get back as soon as I can.

Also, what you're doing so far is sounding great, that is sticking to the grossest moter movements until you can refine them one step at a time. You're showing good determination in battling against that Bruiser when common sense might try to talk you out of it. Be ready for a crash course in real strength and some huge gains to accomodate the adaptation which you're stimulating by such a work over load.

Also, as specifically as you can, tell me what your goals are for your work with the Bruiser and where you see your life in strength terms.

In Faith,

[Mike]

Thanks Doug. I actually have quite a bit of trouble with the Hammer Throw because I have difficulty having the club behind my head. As for goals, I'd like to be able to do some of the more complicated two handed club movements like the clockwork squat, hammer throw etc. I'm also looking at trying to get more proficient with grinding movements like overhead presses, front presses, "muscling out" etc.

[Doug Szolek]

To work on getting the clubbell behind your back safely check my article Gada Sweat in a recent issue of CST Mag. I give some detail in the Article of using your shoulders as a fulcrum against the length of the handle to assist in "prying" the weight up from behind you and lowering it to Back Position.

Other than that though, work on Inward/Outward Pendulums where you Clean the Bruiser out from one side of your body then catch it in Guard Position on the opposite side of your body. From Guard you then send it back down the way it came and as it arcs back past your center line you repeat the motion on the opposite side.

With the above exercise work on the front pendulums and be sure to alternate grips so that you do say 4 sets total per exercise (2 sets with Right Grip, 2 with Left Grip).

Let me know what kind of time you have to dedicate to this and I'll put this together into a routine that you can follow a bit easier. Also, hold off on the Shoulder Park stuff as you're very new to the Bruiser and the skill of softly landing it on your shoulder will only come with increased control bread through incremental progression.

[Mike]

Doug, thanks a lot, you're really helping me out here.

As for time, I can devote 3-5 days a week to this stuff, I'm using the bruiser exclusively for my resistance training, kind of an experiment to see how well I do. Out of curiosity, I picked up a 45 lb. dumbell and the thing felt REALLY light to me, it's amazing how the displacement of the resistance of clubs makes you stronger!

One question though, do you recommend pushing close to muscular failure or do you try to stay away from it? I've always been into Pavel's books, so I've rarely trained to failure with conventional lifting, is it the same for CST. On some lifts with the bruiser, I could probably push out 12 reps, but I'm keeping in the 3-5 rep range and just doing more sets.

P.S. Who's the smallest person you've ever witnessed using the bruiser?

[Mike]

To work on getting the Clubbell® behind your back safely check my article Gada Sweat in a recent issue of CST Mag. I give some detail in the Article of using your shoulders as a fulcrum against the length of the handle to assist in "prying" the weight up from behind you and lowering it to Back Position.

I gave this a shot, basically when I have the club in the back position it's totally perpendicular to the floor, as I move it from right to left the club kind of drags a bit across my back, then I use my shoulder to help "lift" the club over into the guard. Does that sound right to you Doug?

[Doug Szolek]

Are you using your shoulders against the side of the clubbell to leverage it over to Order Position? If so then that's just the help you may need to get more comfortable with Back Position.

Also, there is little else you can do with the Bruiser in Back Position than let it hang vertically so your job when you get in this position is to keep you trunk out of the way of the clubbell. For now I don't want you switching sides while in Back Position, just use the leveraging "cheat" to put it over one shoulder at a time then pull it over that same shoulder.

Do this for just about 4 sets (2 with Right Grip and 2 with Left Grip) and be sure to alternate the shoulder over which you're leveraging the Bruiser each time you come back to Order Position.

Remember, marry the weight of the Clubbell to you own so that you are always appropriately countering the Bruiser and balancing around your joint center of mass (I know I've heard that somewhere before :wink: ). And of most important be sure that your threading your head through your arms and NOT reaching around your face.

Let me know how this sounds and we'll go from there :D

[Mike]

I was actually doing this but I was switching sides behind my back. I've been focusing on keeping the club away from my back as I move it from right to left and left to right. But when I do use the shoulder to pry the bell over into order positiong, i'm resting the thick part of the bell on the fulcrum NOT the handle like you said before. Is it ok to do it this way?

P.S. What about training to failure, should I stay away from that for now? I'm getting stronger every day, I'm quite comfortable in the order and guard positions with BOTH grips and I can easily do 20 good front swings whereas I could barely do 3 or 4 of them before. My abs, lower back and shoulders feel great. Today my tri's were sore though because of the back position work I did yesterday! :o

[Doug Szolek]

Avoid going to failure, after all we're training to sucess, not failure so why hang out there :wink:

Your method sounds good. Keep working on the Leverage assisted Gama Casts, Inward/Outward Pendulums, and Front Pendulums in sets of 4 for reps that stop about two before failure.

Do this three times a week max and chart your RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) and RT (Rate of Technique) along with your sets and reps over at the Program Logs forum. Be gentle with those triceps also, this type of work will be working them through extreme ranges of motion with huge weight so let your recovery be the determining factor in your sessions.

Overall your workouts should look like this:

Inward/Outward Pendulums
4Sets (2Right Grip, 2Left Grip)

Front Pendulums
4Sets (2Right Grip, 2Left Grip)

Gama Casts (w/ a pivot in Order Position; and a leverage assist)
4Sets (2Right Grip, 2Left Grip)

Reps for each exercise should stop two reps before failure so Pay Attention! Keep alert to your grip because it can be really sneaky when it gives up the ghost on you.

Also, I can identify with your desire to perhaps work this more often, I've been there (and in fact still am :wink: ). I cannot stress highly enough though that you need to allow more time than you think you need to make the progress you want, and make it stick. The ABCs have lead me to some of the fastest and most incredible gains in strength that I've ever enjoyed, but this can only happen if you give yourself the time you need to grow and adapt to the stimulus offered. Enjoy the neurological strength gains that you are experiencing right now and be ready to dig in your heels and show some determination when they slow as you learn better how to control the Bruiser.

Enjoy the growth and let me know if there is anything about this program that you don't feel you'll enjoy enough to continue, or don't have time for or whatever. Just let me know so that if something does need to be changed we can get it done and get you on you path of growth and strength.

In Faith,

[Mike]

Thanks Doug. I'll start my Journal in the other forum tommorrow. One last question though and I'll leave you alone. When I do the inward/outward pendulums, it's extremely difficult for me to extend my arms fully during the end of each swing before finishing in the guard, I sort of have to keep my elbows bent slightly in order to get the club up to the guard position. Should I keep doing it like this until I get more comfortable, or do you suggest another exercise. I currently have NO problems with front pendulums though, my hip snap is pretty good!

Also, do you mean 4 sets of inward pendulums AND 4 sets for outward pendulums or should I focus on one kind?