Everybody has a name for their particular type of endurance training. Combat Conditioning, Gladiator Conditioning, The Russian Kettlebell Challenge, Clubbell Training, Metabolic Conditioning, etc. I guess I'm no different and that it's really a useful thing to have a name for a particular brand of training so that everyone knows exactly what it refers to. So I call my endurance training, "Alternative Conditioning." Here's why:
In my beginning introduction to this particular brand of endurance training I was focused a great deal on bodyweight exercises, but I think everyone should keep an open mind toward training that is real-world and effective. So I began to look around and experiment with exercises and styles that interested me and that I immediately saw a seriously beneficial training effect from. I also began to broaden my idea on what was effective and truly come away from the "you have to do it just one way," mindset. So the conclusion I came to is that there are certain effective guidelines for good conditioning movements. However they are not tied in to simply one style of training.
So here to me is what Alternative Conditioning is. It is any conditioning movement or routine that creates a muscular and aerobic training effect and can be maintained for a conditioning based time period. The reason that I say that it needs to be maintained for a conditioning based time period is that to me all exercise is both aerobic and muscular (with the possible exception of a pure aerobic movement, i.e., a long walk, etc.). Heavy max single squats create a huge recruitment of muscular strength and a significant aerobic recruitment but they do not maintain it for long enough to get a conditioning effect. Heavy strongman exercise does the same thing, but again it is a burst strength of muscle and endurance that does not create the long term conditioning effect.
Why a muscular and aerobic effect? Why not just do simple aerobics? Because aerobics without a full muscular contraction behind them do not create a real-world endurance that can be applied across multiple situations. Because aerobics without muscular effect teaches the body that it is okay to function without high-level strength and within my idea of the greatest benefit you can get from exercises that is unacceptable. When you build a high-level aerobic base that also has high muscular endurance built in you create less drain on your max strength and still build a superior aerobic base especially when you use a constantly moving interval pattern.
So what specific exercises and styles make up Alternative Conditioning? Well within our original idea put forth in Twisted Conditioning there are several types. Bodyweight exercises, which is inclusive of squats, push-ups, bodyweight abdominal, and pulls of all kind, as well as explosive bodyweight movements. Also within the bodyweight set to me would be complex calisthenics (multiple movement bodyweight exercises), and light gymnastic/tumbling type movements. Light Indian Club swinging (15 to 30 pound clubs, not the turn of the century 2 pound ones), sledgehammer swinging, shovel lifting, cable/expander pulling both with a short and long set, and light barbell and dumbbell exercises done in either complexes or intervals or for high reps. Adding to this now heavy club swinging (two handed short club 40 to 80 pounds), and mace swinging (long relatively heavy club for extended range swings and levering). Light odd object lifting, odd object/strongman implement, isometrics, kettlebell training (which is one of my favorites), heavy bag work/any type of conditioning/martial movement, fighting calisthenics (a complex calisthenic combining strikes and bodyweight exercise), sled pulling, jumping rope, sprints and agility running drills as well as sprints and intervals on cardio equipment. Also any combination of the crazy things listed above.
So why include all of that stuff? Why not make it simpler or pick just one way? Because it is inconsistent with my philosophy to practice only one thing. I want to be as conditioned as possible, while maintaining the greatest strength possible, but I also want to be as good at as many movements as possible in any athletic situation. I could practice just one thing and as long as I'm in good condition have some carry over to other types of conditioning or movements that I don't do. But I believe you get better conditioning by combining multiple styles and have a better quality performance at each individual type of exercise without having to specialize in any particular one. Now if you need to improve a particular type of exercise or your competition is based there then you must specialize in that particular thing. I.e., Kettlebell comp, or club swinging competition, etc. I look at it like this; if I just did bodyweight exercises and got in phenomenal shape I'd be great at bodyweight exercises and okay at the other conditioning styles. Same with kettlebells, clubs, sledgehammers, sleds, whatever. But if I practice many different styles and maintain a consistent level of conditioning across those styles, I may not be a specialist at that one style, but I'll be much better than average at every style.
Instead of being 100% at one thing and 80% at everything else, I prefer to be 90% at everything and still with 100% of the conditioning. By practicing at this style I also work in a multi-angular fashion working basically every muscle and direction that you can. I reduce the probability of overuse injuries, maintain the greatest conditioning levels while having the least drawback in my maximum strength and I never get bored. I won't have the precise groove of each exercise that a specialist would, but I don't believe that is particularly important in a conditioning exercise unless that specific conditioning exercise is your sport. These ideas allow me the utmost flexibility in designing and practicing programs not only for myself, but for the most people. It also allows me to be flexible within specializing on one implement (adding multiple types of workouts for kettlebells, etc.), and allows me the most flexibility for my workouts for anywhere that I am with any possible available equipment and still being able to maintain world class conditioning.
Also consider this; if you take two fighters, each having the same level of maximum strength, each having put in equal amounts of time in technical training and conditioning, but they use different conditioning equipment while still following the guidelines of creating muscular and aerobic endurance together will you be able to tell by their performance what conditioning implement they used? Will their performance be any different or better if they build all the other athletic abilities and the same levels of heart, lung and muscle endurance, but one did it with bodyweight and the other did it with kettlebells? Or clubs, or sledgehammers or sleds or strongman implements, etc. The answers are "no." If you put in the same conditioning effort regardless of your choice of implement as long as you're covering the aerobic and muscle bases it doesn't matter which one you choose. But if you consistently use these exercises your performance across a broad range of endurance activities will be much superior to that of normal training. I have some that I prefer for certain situations and I have reasons for that. I also have reasons behind why I have chosen every one of the exercise types listed above and will put them out in further articles.
Each gives the same major conditioning benefits while at the same time having bonuses and benefits specific to itself. This is why it's been included. They were not chosen at random. There is no magic exercise contrary to what some exercise gurus tell you. There are however some great exercises that can produce great results. So what we've done is take the best from all these styles and put it together to make our own style. To my mind you get the most bang for your buck and the most applicable ability across the most situations with the least drawbacks. In practice it is simple to use in individual workouts and the exercises themselves are almost uniformly not complicated. They're all safe (as safe as an exercise can be), and build flexibility and strength across many ranges. This is why they've been chosen. You get real-world strength and endurance from them. Not the unusable and mechanical types of ability that is built among normal, modern mainstream training. To me the biggest benefit of this is that you get to be the absolute best you can be at the most things. That is what I want from training and that is what I think most people want from training. That's what we're trying to give you.
There's no magic exercise, but there is intelligent planning and there's magic in belief and effort.
Click here to learn more about Twisted Conditioning as well as The Alternative Conditioning Video Series