I don’t really need an engaging intro today because I already know that talking about conditioning gets you wet and bothered. Strength is a little more abstract, something you have to follow for a while to get gains. Gaining and losing strength is a slower process. Gaining and losing conditioning happens within days. And you fucking love talking about it.
My friend Johnny Pain from Strength Villain knows you fucking love it, so he put together an e-book that contains 50 conditioning workouts that are Greyskull approved. Interestingly enough it’s called “50 Greyskull Approved Conditioning Workouts for the Modern Viking“.
There isn’t any fartin’ around in this book. You get a quick intro on some fundamentals, and then it jumps right into the 50 workouts in no particular order. Each workout has a description and pictures that help explain what is going on or what movement is being done. The fan-favorite Bony makes a self-deprecating appearance throughout the workouts. There are plenty of interesting captions such as this one that references Bony doing a tuck jump: “Bony could teach Buffalo Bill a thing or two about ‘the tuck’.”
The workouts aren’t difficult, and that’s the point. In order to be Greyskull approved they need to be simple (after all, Bony is doing them) yet hard hitting. One example is the 400m run, 100 kettlebell swings, followed by another 400m run. Simple. Tough. Efficient. Testicle building.
You can buy the book HERE from StrengthVillain.com.
11 thoughts on “Greyskull Approved Conditioning”
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So these workouts would be perfect for the “conditioning” portion of the S&C Program?
You mean the program I created? Yeah, these are acceptable.
–Justin
Good post yesterday! I had a bout with the norwalk virus last week – lost 5 days at the gym! Better to heal before getting back at it – for the reasons posted, and I’ll throuw another one out there. If you are sick, you could be communicable – and sweating and coughing your sickness all over barbells that others will use is grade A douche-baggary right there!
This is a good point that I didn’t communicate enough. Don’t fuck someone else up with your stupidity.
–Justin
Also – just ordered my “Adult Males>200lbs” T. Cant wait to be the first guy in Calgary rockin that sexy beast!
Justin, I’ve got a question. You said a while back that to maintain conditioning, you only need to program one day per week, and to gain conditioning, two is generally plenty sufficient (unless what you are conditioning for needs you to be in like peak cardio shape). How is this possible if, according to this post, you lose conditioning in a matter of days (or were you saying that just for effect–if so, sorry I missed the sarcasm haha)?
Thanks.
There isn’t any fartin’ around in this book… except for the title :D .
A few things;
-I like to run HIIT sprint for conditioning. Done with a 30sec/30sec sprint/jog split, done for 20 reps, totalling 20 minutes.
You said that you don’t like this.
What sort of split do you like, and how many reps?
-I liked your Texas Method post, I can’t wait for the 3rd installment, because i am pretty much stalling every 3 weeks, so i think the volume is getting hard.
I would like to know how to modify it to keep the stalls at bay.
-How did you manage to get so much weight out of your LP and TM. I remember Rip saying that the average person can end up squatting around 140kg on LP, but you managed to get well over 200kg.
Is this just because you are very tall and weigh a lot? or just very genetically gifted?
I mean i love to finish my TM on 200kg for 5 reps.
many thanks!
Regarding my LP and TM, it’s more of a relevant thing. My first day of squatting on the LP was 325x5x3. I’ve squatted consistently (with the exception of a few months of CrossFit in 2008) since I was about 14. Before CrossFit when I was doing bodybuilding-ish training, I’d squat 405×6 as a top set (around 285×6 on front squat). So I wasn’t completely new to squatting, although I transitioned from high bar to low bar. Additionally my body is built for squatting: long torso, short femurs, and long tibias. On top of that, both my parents are of Czech decent, so I am slightly better than average regarding genetics and how I carry muscle, yet I’ve trained hard and consistently since I was younger (e.g. I’m not accidentally stronger, I’ve had to work at it my whole life intensely).
–Justin
My current conditioning program is digging my car out of the snow.
Randle,
I don’t think being tall would allow one to progress farther than average on the back squat while linearly progressing. I only say this because being tall hasn’t helped my squat any. Quite the opposite I’d say…
Being taller would actually be worse. Lever arms don’t work as well and thus you have to fill out substantially more to have efficient levers. Sucks for you, Ryan.
–Justin
Good timing. I was planning on reintroducing some conditioning work.
Also, I took a crack at the “70s Big” chili. I tweaked it a tad… and documented it if anyone wants to take a look.
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Justin,
What heck does you being Czech have to do carrying muscle? I hope you are right so that my two 1/2 Slovak offspring have a future in the Iron game.
Fuck if I know man, those eastern European people can get fucking yoked, though. All I know is that my dad was naturally muscular without much training back in the day, and the same could be said about my mom. My brother doesn’t train, but he’s still a well built guy that is bigger than most of the people on this site without being fat, so there must be something we’re getting out of the Slovak background.
–Justin