Mixing ABC's With One Handed Work?

[Mike]

Got the 25 lber now and am debating as to how to go about training with it. Using 2 hands I can do almost all of the ABC exercises rather comfortably. One handed I can do front swings, front CTO's, and full choke armpit casts with good form. I was able to do some mills and full swipes but I don't think my form is up to par just yet so I'm gonna wait before I tackle those.

Ideally, I'd like to work up to being able to do more one handed work with the 25 but I do enjoy ABC's as well.

My concern is that too much time spent doing two handed work will have adverse effects on my abilities to do one handed work with the same club.

[cbeltrante]

Mike,

I know how you feel. I have a Bruiser and two 25's. I would love to use both of them at the same time. But you're right one could adversely affect the other if you're doing too much at the same time. What I do, as is often mentioned here on the forum is cycle the exercises. If you want to concentrate on 2 handed work do it for a couple of weeks. Try a density cycle with 2 handed work. Than do some single handed work for a couple of weeks. Think about what your immediate needs or goals are and work on them. Prioritize whats important to you and then train accordingly.

Chris

[Cilian McHugh]

I also have a Bruiser and a pair of 25s, what Coach Szolek recommended to me a while ago was ABC parry casts (and reverses) with the Bruiser and single arm swipes with a single 25 in an AM/PM split. His thinking was the swipe with one Clubbell® to acquire the necessary strength before working with two.

[Mike]

I actually meant using the 25 for ABC work, but like I said it seems like that would have negative effects on my overall strength. I think I would become accustomed to using the 25 two handed which would lower my strength using it one handed, know what I mean. I might just be paranoid but since my long term goal is to use the 25 one handed for mills and swipes I may just focus on basic one armed exercises for now and MAYBE throw in the occassional ABC exercise using the 25!

[JasonE]

I actually meant using the 25 for ABC work, but like I said it seems like that would have negative effects on my overall strength. I think I would become accustomed to using the 25 two handed which would lower my strength using it one handed, know what I mean. I might just be paranoid but since my long term goal is to use the 25 one handed for mills and swipes I may just focus on basic one armed exercises for now and MAYBE throw in the occassional ABC exercise using the 25!

Mike -

It sounds like you're a bit worried about how to proceed but have some solid ideas you'd like to try. Rather than suggest a program, here's some concepts to think about as you proceed in your training:

You must be willing to make temporary small sacrifices to realize permanent large gains. It's impossible to make a major transition in your training without coming a bit off your peak, so don't sweat it.

Use the 25 to do the ABC movements you couldn't quite accomplish with the Bruiser, and experiment with higher speeds/reps.

Choke up on the 25 and gradually build up the control to do single-handed movements smoothly before working speed. I'd recommend using less exercises and more reps of each exercise until they are fully grooved. The 25 is more than half as heavy as the 45, and with one hand you will be doing at least twice the work as either arm does when using the Bruiser 2-handed. You've increased your workload rather than decreasing it. :twisted:

Proceed at the pace of your weaker arm. This will help close any strength and/or coordination gaps you may have noticed. If you let your stronger arm do more, the strength gap will increase rather than decrease. I'd to see you become lopsided. :wink:

After 3-4 weeks of getting used to simple single-hand work with the 25, take 2-3 weeks to work the Bruiser two-handed. You should notice a major difference... and I bet you'll be handling the Bruiser much more easily than you do now.