The Hammer Cast

The Hammer Cast

Real strength. No fluff. 514 episodes.

514 episodes and counting. Every week, Aleks sits down with some of the strongest, most experienced coaches and athletes on the planet to bring you no-nonsense training knowledge you can use today.

Ep. 296: A Cruel-But-Kind 'Strength Capacity' Workout

November 13, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com Recently in my articles I've talked about a couple of important things you must know for your own long-term strength and health. For best results for life-long strength gains, over the long run you need: 1) 'General physical preparedness' a la an intelligent variety of…

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

Recently in my articles I’ve talked about a couple of important things you must know for your own long-term strength and health.

For best results for life-long strength gains, over the long run you need:

1) ‘General physical preparedness’ a la an intelligent variety of strength exercises

2) Various rep ranges for the exercises in your program

While it’s natural that we gravitate toward the exercises that we’re best at and that we like (same with certain rep and set ranges), if that’s all you ever do, you’ll work yourself into a corner and will find mainly plateaus, tweaks/injuries, and frustrations waiting for you.

This episode will give you some ideas on how you can steer your way toward your goals and away from the frustration of plateaus.

Ep. 295: The #2 Kettlebell Pressing Variation You've (Probably) Never Tried

November 12, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com In the world of kettlebell training, the undisputed king of lifts is the overhead press. In fact, in the "olden days", long before the bench press was the apple of any gym rat's eye, the clean and press was THE measure of upper body strength….

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

In the world of kettlebell training, the undisputed king of lifts is the overhead press.

In fact, in the “olden days”, long before the bench press was the apple of any gym rat’s eye, the clean and press was THE measure of upper body strength. Still is, as far as I’m concerned.

However!

There is another contender that at LEAST deserves consideration for the #2 spot. I dish on that in this episode (which you won’t wanna miss)

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Ep. 294: 3 and 1/2 Simple, Proven Tips to Get Stronger with Kettlebells & Bodyweight

November 11, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com There are a few things people often tell me they want: 1) To get stronger with kettlebells and bodyweight exercises 2) To have a routine that fits their time budget (usually around 20–30 minutes 4–5 times per week) And let's be honest, this is most…

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

There are a few things people often tell me they want:

1) To get stronger with kettlebells and bodyweight exercises

2) To have a routine that fits their time budget (usually around 20–30 minutes 4–5 times per week)

And let’s be honest, this is most of us.

So how can we get at least closer to this goal when we have sub-optimal issues to deal with like our sleep, eating, etc?

This episode will reveal 3 1/2 ways (that’s right, 3 1/2) of doing just that.

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Ep. 293: Build a Barn-Door Back with This Little-Known Kettlebell Move

November 10, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com I've talked recently about several of the key things you need to turn your workouts from sucky to spectacular. Among them were things like training odd angles, getting generally strong before specifically strong, your exercise selection, etc. But just like how you need your vegetables…

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

I’ve talked recently about several of the key things you need to turn your workouts from sucky to spectacular. Among them were things like training odd angles, getting generally strong before specifically strong, your exercise selection, etc.

But just like how you need your vegetables in addition to your steak, you also need exercises you typically ignore or don’t excel at as much in order to get truly strong and fit.

I dish on how to do that in this fine episode.

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Ep. 292: 5 Sure-Fire Ways to Revive Your Sucky Workouts

November 9, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com Let's talk about your workouts and how to make them less sucky (unless you're getting the results you want, that is; in which case, keep up the good work). There are usually two primary culprits that lead to you having sucky workouts: 1) Too much…

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

Let’s talk about your workouts and how to make them less sucky (unless you’re getting the results you want, that is; in which case, keep up the good work).

There are usually two primary culprits that lead to you having sucky workouts:

1) Too much variety

2) Not enough variety

A paradox, you say? Not quite. As former senior kettlebell instructor Rob Lawrence has said:

“I need specificity to get me strong and variety to keep me sane.”

In other words, you need a balance, of sorts.

I dish on how to get to that semblance of balance in this fine episode…

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Ep. 291: An 'Old School' Gymnastics Technique for a Freakishly Strong Core

November 8, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com One of the most unsung ways of building strength is isometric strength and static strength, and one of the best ways to build it is with calisthenics training. In this episode I dish on exactly how to get that process kickstarted in no time flat.

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

One of the most unsung ways of building strength is isometric strength and static strength, and one of the best ways to build it is with calisthenics training. In this episode I dish on exactly how to get that process kickstarted in no time flat.

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Ep. 290: How to Get 30% Stronger (or More) in 28 Days

November 7, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com A long time ago in a European country far, far away, I got a great testimonial from Fran Perez — a member of my Inner Circle (my monthly training newsletter). He had started a few issues prior and started making some really impressive gains in…

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

A long time ago in a European country far, far away, I got a great testimonial from Fran Perez — a member of my Inner Circle (my monthly training newsletter).

He had started a few issues prior and started making some really impressive gains in strength from the word “go”. I could go into more detail, of course, but I’ll let him tell you a little bit about the major leaps forward he made in his strength and conditioning over the course of a short 4 weeks (which, of course, you can hear in this episode)

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Ep. 289: God Save the Clean

November 6, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com Wanna clean up your clean? This video will show you how: https://youtu.be/Z6Mf8jMioE0

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

Wanna clean up your clean? This video will show you how: https://youtu.be/Z6Mf8jMioE0

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Ep. 288: How to Build 'All-Around' Strength with Bodyweight + KBs

November 5, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com One of the things that strength trainees often overlook is the importance of building 'all around' strength. This is the type of strength you can use for what we might call "everyday carry". You know the type: the strength that you can pull out of…

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

One of the things that strength trainees often overlook is the importance of building ‘all around’ strength.

This is the type of strength you can use for what we might call “everyday carry”. You know the type: the strength that you can pull out of your back pocket and astound your friends with when you help someone move and you’re able to carry heavy pieces of furniture with little or no help, whisk your spouse off of his/her feet (literally), or rough house with your kids or grandkids. Or, if you feel so inclined, walk on railings and do various other goofy stunts you haven’t specifically trained for.

For me, that’s what strength is all about: the ability to do what you want, when you want.

I dish on how to do just that in this jam-packed episode.

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Ep. 287: #1 Pullup Progression to (Maybe) Help You Hit Your 1st Rep

November 4, 2022

Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com On the topic of bodyweight training for strength, there's one axiom that I hold to be self-evident: "In order to be bodyweight strong, you must be able to do pullups" However, there are 2 major problems that I hear from a great many people looking…

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Get my 9-Minute Kettlebell & Bodyweight Challenge FREE here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com

On the topic of bodyweight training for strength, there’s one axiom that I hold to be self-evident:

In order to be bodyweight strong, you must be able to do pullups”

However, there are 2 major problems that I hear from a great many people looking to get stronger with bodyweight training:

I can’t do any pullups yet”

Or:

I can only do 1–2 pullups”

Well, pardner, this episode will get you started off on the right foot (as will this demo video) https://youtu.be/IG9qHQfoWNM

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