Bucket Brigade -- Death Race Style



Filling the buckets with water... it was such
a lovely shade of brown


So Monday I met Brett Delucca at the Boat House on Cooper River.  Prior to arriving I stopped at the local hardware store and bought 2x 5 gallon buckets.  I had my smaller trail pack loaded up with some water, webbing and TRX strap.  Brett brought 2x 5 gallon buckets as well.  We loaded a vitamin water of his and some more webbing into my bag before setting out to the waters edge where we filled all 4x buckets up with water.  So each 5 gallon bucket was weighing in at roughly 40 lbs (roughly 8 lbs per gallon of water x 5 gallons).
 

160 lbs of pure forearm madness



The end of the peninsula... "What the fuck!"



We set out, headed east towards Cuthbert Blvd.  We made it about 5 minutes of straight carrying before we had to stop and give our arms a break.  We then cranked out 20 push-ups.  We continued on, stopping sooner and sooner as the fatigue set in.  All the while performing some short exercise upon each stop (flutter kicks, tricep push-ups  decline push-ups, squats, lunges, bear crawls up and down a hill, rock tosses, etc.)  About 20 minutes in we realized that by following the coastline we had inadvertently ended up out on a peninsula.  This required us to back track and continue on through the fuck up (totally Death Race style).



KIA - 1x bucket down for the count despite
Brett's resuscitation efforts



Just prior to reaching Cuthbert, Brett suffered a mishap with one of his buckets snapping at the handle.  He quickly repaired it but another 1/2 mile later and we had to surrender and toss the bucket.  We then took turns managing 2x buckets while the other managed 1x.  At first the single bucket sounded nice but you quickly found out that you were slowed down by the fact that your balance was thrown off and you were forced to lean to the side as you carried the single bucket.



Catch your breath before some decline push-ups
"No Stopping or Standing"


Several times throughout the walk we did Tabatta style movements with 20 seconds of quick paced walking and 10 seconds of rest.  We made some good progress with this style of movement but the Cooper River Death March still seemed to go on forever in the May sun.  At one point we did Tabatta along a set of river rock ledges, performing some 1 - 2 ft. step ups.  Brain Kane did this same workout the week before by himself and it took around 1.5 hours.









Step Ups - Doesn't Look to Hard



All in all several lessons were learned:

1. Bring plenty of water
2. Webbing / Lifting Straps are a must
3. Always balance the weight of the loads you are carrying
4. Stop listening to Reed's bright ideas!



Finished 2.5 hours later / Missing 1x Bucket... good luck
driving home.



Today's Jiu Jitsu Style Workout

Today we mixed it up a little with some workout ideas out of a great book, Training for Warriors: The Ultimate Mixed Martial Arts Workout, by Martin Rooney.  We added in some work in between with the fire truck tires and dead lifts.  After all that we finished it up inside with a killer 3 set rotation (4 minutes per set).  Oh yeah and we experienced some lovely training weather today; a nice steady rain. The workout went as follows:


Exercise 1:


Alternating Partner Should Carry - Carry your partner across your shoulders the length of the yard, set him down have him switch sides (shifting the heavy portion of his body to the other side) and carry him back


Dead Lifts of a fire truck tire until the carries are finished



Peform each exercise twice resulting in everyone being carried, carrying and lifting the tire twice.


Exercise 2:


One partner holds a fighter's stance w/ hands on top of his head while the other partner rotates around his torso 5 times in one direction and then 5 times in the other direction.  This requires core strength on both individuals parts along with grip and arm strength.


The third partner dead lifts a tire off of another tire and stacks it by itself.  He then returns to the other tire and dead lifts it / shuffles to the side and stacks it on top of the other tire.  He repeats this until the other two are finished.


Rotate until all 3 have completed all 3 positions.


Exercise 3:


One partner mounts the other in a Jiu Jitsu back mount while the other alternates between  rotating from side to side trying to throw him off his back.  The rep count was 10 per side


The third partner hops between two fire truck tires doing dead lifts combined with shoulder shrugs until the other two finish 10 reps.



Rotate positions so that all 3 complete all 3 stations.


Exercise 4:


Two partners carry the third partner above their head in a shoulder press position the length of the yard and repeat until all 3 have been carried





Exercise 5:


One partner wearing a 50 lb weight vest does a burpee push up on a large tire and then stands up / straight leg dead lifts the tire and tosses it forward.  He then runs to the tire and repeats this for a total of 20 reps


2nd partner continuously swings a 6 lb maul at a tire.  He swings the maul over his right shoulder using his right hand as the primary hand.


3rd partner continuously swings an 8 lb maul at a tire. He swings the maul over his left shoulder using his left hand as the primary hand.



When the 1st partner reaches the rep count everyone rotates to the other station and continues until all 3 have completed all 3 stations.


Finishing Set:  3 x 4 Minute Rounds


Station 1: Continuously alternating between 5 Pull Ups (using rock climbing finger grips hanging by chains) and 5 leg raises and leg tucks


Station 2: Heavy Bag lift over the shoulder / squat and then slam  (repeat until time is up)


Station 3:  Inch Worm Variation (using a bar bell) - roll the bar bell out and then inch the legs back to vertical keeping the knees from bending.  Repeat this the whole length of the driveway. At the end of the driveway clean and press the bar bell over your shoulders and lower it onto your shoulders.  Now lunge all the way back up the driveway and repeat until the time is up.




Say what you want but lets see you try it!

Some Old Videos of Chopping Wood after Lifting for an hour or two

So any time I go to the gym (Royal Fitness) I always finish up with chopping wood in my back yard.  I figure since I will be pretty fatigued when I do have to chop wood I better practice chopping after I am totally gassed.

Oh yeah check out my little asshole dog Charlie and what he thinks of my log chopping at the end of the 2nd video.

"I better have a headache and be sweating when I'm done!" - Tim Houck

Timmy gearing up for 6 Minutes of Station 1

So here is a couple videos of a finishing set after an hour workout.  The workout run down went like this:

Mind you the title are the exact words my brother Tim said to me as we arrived to start the workout; I think I made a believer out of him.

6 Minute Rounds:

• Station 1:  Alternating Lunges across the yard while wearing a 50 lb weighted vest / dragging a big ass tire behind you / and holding a 75 lb bar bell on your shoulders  (This Sucks)
• Station 2:  35 lb Kettle Bell Swing x 10 Reps / 45lb Kettle Bell Press x 10 Reps / Big Ass Tire Flip & Spins down the drive way / Big Ass Tire Drags back (all while keeping tension on a stupid ass rubber band around your ankles) oh yea repeat!
• Station 3: Throw Logs and Chop Them (this also sucks)

Station 3

2nd Set of 6 Minute Rounds:

• Station 1:  1 Minute of Boxing / 5 Minutes of alternating between Max Push ups & Pull Ups & Leg Ups
• Station 2:  Yard Sprints while wearing the 50lb weighted vest and dragging that stupid ass tire
• Station 3:  More Log Chops / Alternating Arms... what else

Finishing Set:  Shoulder Blast

• Inch Worms w/ Push Ups (only pussies don't do Push Ups)
• Side Shuffles on all fours