MANUAL LABOR for BIG TIME GAINS!

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1 MANUAL LABOR for BIG TIME GAINS! Having my own gym in my 2 car garage along with what ever I can find outdoors always gets me doing some odd lifting. One thing that always comes to my mind when I think of old school training was the mason who created the stairs at my Dad s house back when I was 14 or so. His name was Americo and his biceps and forearms were carved out of stone. Thick, muscular and rugged looking. I was working out for about 2 years by then and I was confused how someone who didn t go to a gym could have arms that looked like steel cords. I remember watching him grab cinder blocks, bricks and pushing the wheel barrow filled with sand up our driveway. It was manual labor all the way and his body showed the results of it!

2 I always remember another story, of my Grandfather. He was working for a factory and he knew how to lay concrete. He built his entire house by hand and worked the night shift at this cement factory. He always tell me how he worked circles around my Dad and Uncle when they worked on the house. He never forgets to remind how he worked on the house AFTER he finished working at the factory, and he was on the night shift. My Dad never defends himself when my Grandpa makes that statement. The moral of the story is that my Grandpa and almost every mason or manual labor worker has the build of a solid rock and their GPP is never ending. Thus, their conditioning kicks ass. Try taking a teenager nowadays to work with a mason and he ll get his ass kicked all over the place in less than 2 hours. Carrying sand bags, pushing wheelbarrows, carrying cinder blocks, carrying rail road ties, lifting this, dragging that, push this, run here and bring that over here. The job never ends! Let me ask you a question, How fit can you really be if you only train 3 days a week for one hour at a time? The rest of the time what are you doing? The body was meant to be used for manual labor so if you want to be strong as an ox and have a physique that looks to be carved from stone I suggest you up the volume!

3 Check out this double sand bag carry. No need to use one at a time, make it heavier and work harder!

4 I watched Americo break down our 30 something stairs using his sledge hammer for the most part and a small dinky jack hammer. Today I always see contractors use huge machines but I can safely assume that Americo was old school. There were piles of concrete broken up all over the place. He grabbed them and tossed them into the back of a work truck, one after another. Rotational throws for endless reps! It was only him and one other worker! Check out all the cinder blocks in the background. I bet you can snag them for pretty dam cheap and load up picnic tables with them. Rotate them up, or carry them and cover the

5 entire picnic table. Once the table is covered, unload the entire table and carry them 50 ft. away. Here are your new tools: Sledge hammer Cinder blocks Wheel barrow Sand bags The manual labor work out program 1. Hit away at a tire for 50 reps in each of the four styles: overhead, across shoulder (left and right), left and right side 2. Carry cinder blocks, pile them up, unload the table, walk them and carry them 3. Load a wheel barrow with sand bags, Olympic plates and cinder blocks. Push it up hill and walk it down hill, repeat a few more times until you think your ass is kicked, then repeat it again 4. Carry two sand bags at a time. Drop one and keep carrying, rest and repeat. Try the above program at least once a week, if not twice. Get even more creative and add other implements as well. Post your comments on the forum so we can hear about your pain!

6 Zach Even Esh is a Strength & Performance Coach located in NJ. To learn more about how you can take your mind and body to the next level visit & receive your free course on Old School Training!