The ultimate training at home?

[tditmar]

I have been doing this exercise 1-3x per week for sometime. It is a killer, but works wonders. It is a variation of the same thing.

http://www.dolfzine.com/page475.htm

[Carl Henrik]

Thanks for the post, tditmar. I liked the way he pitched that - "The Bear" I should think of a good name for mine.

As it turns out a lot of people have tried doing a combination of a few known complex motions as one. I talked to a member at my rowing club and he had also done another combo that worked about the same muscles in what could seem like a similar workout.

However! I want to bring into the light the differences between all of these exercises. For example, we don't consider erging 4 sets of 10 max hard half slide strokes at 12 SPM to be similar to 3x1000m @2k -1 pace full slide. There is a good reason why we consider these completely different workouts even though the movements may look the same, at least to someone who hasn't done them. It's because they are different. If you have tried both types of erg sessions you know that. They are stimulating very different training responses.

The Bear is presented as something that will develop your strength to a large extent (4x5reps), among other things as it is also quite complete.

The exercise that the member at my rowing club had done included an overhead squat. Just like too heavy weights, this detracts from the power output achievable. Instead it will further increase balance/stability/flexibility, it serves another purpose.

The exercise I described (..."The Stallion!" ) will help you develop a wicked CV system, like a horse's, while also being "complete".

There is also not only the excercise in itself that differs, but the theoretical tools and structure presented next to them to help develop your body.

I don't want to say "it's in the details", because if you have certain goal with what you do, these aren't details at all IMHO.

[tditmar]

You reminded me of a workout I once saw in a 1981 or 1982 GQ magazine article. It was the brainchild of some elite rower who wrote a book called "Agony of the Oar," or may have even been part of the book (my recollection back that far is a bit fuzzy). I have since tried to find it, but can find no record of either.

I remember trying the workout from the magazine, because in the article they suggested you start with something like 35 lbs for 20 min., and suggested if you could complete the workout with 70 lbs for 30 mins. you should start thinking about the Olympics. We knew little to nothing of rowing back then, but we liked the sound of it as well as the challenge.

All I can recall was a series of about 7 different exercises that I believe you could do with either dumbbells or a barbell, ending with crunches. You were to do the exercises in order without stopping for the determined time limit. I just cannot remember all the exercises or the sequence.

[Carl Henrik]

tditmar,

Sounds like it might have been a great exercise. Now why doesn't the general public catch on to these things, seems they've been around a while. Maybe they are hard, oh yeah, they are But maybe it's because they are too efficient economincally that it's hard to make money out of it. Noone will market it for there product or service sake. And if you're doing it at home noone else will see it, so it won't spread.

[Carl Henrik]

John,

Have you tried the exercise? If so did you think anything of it?