Description

Dawn of the Deadbug

“Everything popular is wrong”

-Oscar Wilde

I like to think of myself as a champion of the underdog – especially when it comes to training.

And while I don’t have a big superhero logo emblazoned upon my chest (yet), I’d like to think that one day my reputation will precede me enough that some fine, enterprising citizen will be happy to gift me a totally sweet logo I can put on a shirt or maybe a superhero costume that will allow me to go out and fight all the ‘exercise crimes’ I see on a regular basis.

One such crime, as far as I’m concerned, is overlooking epic moves.

While a lot of folks are antsy to simply jump onto the Next Big Thing and do that until they get bored, I’m always looking to find ‘hidden gold’ in movements, drills, and exercises that people are either too impatient to spend much time on or simply don’t know they exist.

Example: the dead bug

I’ve been harping on my students for years to do these, and those who heed my heroic words are also those who start to see incredible results in their training.

–More explosive swings, cleans, and snatches

-Easier (and heavier) squats, overhead presses, pushups, rows, and pullups

-Happier low backs, deeper squats, and even toe touches (some people go on to do their first toe touches ever after racking up loads of dead bugs)

And even though none of these students have yet taken it upon themselves to come up with a super sick superhero logo for me, I forgive them.  For now.

Given my penchant for shining a spotlight on lesser-appreciated but highly potent movements, I decided to distill and organize all the notes I’ve compiled on my and my students’ deadbug training over the last 8+ years and put it into one concise, potent source.

And thus Dawn of the Deadbug was born!

It’s a 28-day challenge of 100 total dead bugs per day designed to take you by the hand and lead you toward new and exciting peaks of kettlebell and bodyweight strength.

In this challenge you will learn:

• Why traditional core exercises have failed you – and why deadbugs ‘fill the gap’ that even the best classic ab exercises leave behind
• The #1 ‘hidden’ muscle group you need to train for a stronger core and bulletproof body(hint: almost no one trains it, but do this well and you’ll notice major improvements in your pistol squats, one-arm pushups, and other bodyweight feats – in some cases within a few minutes)
• My sure-fire “3x3x3” method – 3 key dead bug variations, 3 tweaks to HOW to perform them, and 3 rarely-seen, “secret twists” on the move that ratchet up the impact progressively each week – WITHOUT adding reps, switching to different variations, or changing routines!
• Hammer out the muscle instabilities in your core that are hamstringing your progress – both in your upper AND lower body kettlebell + calisthenics moves – in short, concise “blitzkrieg” routines that will have you in, out, and stronger in mere minutes a day
• Make even your heaviest kettlebells float overhead in presses and snatches, and knock out heavier swings, front squats, rows, and pullups with ease
• Fortify the weak links in your crawling, marching, and loaded carries and lay the foundation for a stronger, more powerful gait pattern – guaranteed
• Raw beginner? No worries: this dead-simple, no-fuss progression sequence will take you from humble beginner to human wrecking ball in short order – all while protecting your low back and hips in the process
• 1 super-simple dead bug modification that few trainers mention and even FEWER know about that make your low back and midsection ‘anti-fragile’ – so you actually PROFIT off of the challenges and stressors that life throws at you – making your forward progress a near certainty
• How to apply dead bugs into your existing program to support it rather than drag you down
• Much, much more

Plus, because this is the triumphant ‘maiden voyage’ of this program, I’m tossing in this bountiful bevvy of valuable bonuses:

• The Ultimate Deadbug variety guide: What do you do once you’ve mastered the foundational deadbug variations but want to keep the gains rolling in? This concise and complete guide to my favorite advanced deadbug variations for next-level core strength will show you the way, including variations that hammer the obliques, shore up weaknesses in the hips, and even weighted variations (a $27 value)
• Original Strength for Brute Strength: my soon-to-be official guide to how I use the classic OS moves to help my students reliably and repeatedly smash their plateaus and boost their full-body strength by pairing certain resets with complementary traditional exercises to maximize your strength-building potential ($29 value)
• Dawn of the Deadbug Modification Guide – several different ways to apply this program to your existing workouts, as well as my official recommendations for how to keep the ‘gain train’ rolling into the station even after the 28-day program is all over ($25 value)

Go forth and rock!

-Aleks Salkin