With all of the ‘new’ restorative methods being utilized in the fitness industry these days, it seems that if you aren’t ‘rolling that shit out’ or mashing something or freezing something, you’re not going to make gains (athlete’s term) or gainz (bodybuilder’s term).
What if you were told that you could increase range of motion or ROM, supply fresh nutrients and oxygen to a worked body part, stretch, develop endurance and power, and increase both concentric and eccentric balances in a few short minutes with just one exercise tool – would you use it?
Adding clubwork to your training program is a sure fire way to take a great training session and make it an exceptional one. For over a thousand years, clubs have been used to train warriors to fight with sword, mace, spear, and shield. Using them also promotes restorative qualities that will balance other out forms of training while adding more athleticism to a trainee’s skills.
Powerlifting is a great example to use here – heavy compressing weights pound one’s body leaving it to restore itself possibly with only some cleaned up nutrition, or if the athlete has access to or can afford a massage therapist, or maybe a bit of yoga. Louie Simmons uses clubs to heal and restore his athletes and himself.
Clubwork, targeted specifically to the body area that was just trained, is a sure fire way to get those muscles to recover much faster and it won’t take a lot of time. Just one or two exercises of 3-4 sets of 10 reps with a medium weight club, 5-15lbs depending on skill, will offer benefits that will be felt immediately and gains that will show in the numbers. Plus throw in the advantage of taking the time to bullet-proof injury prone areas such as hip flexors, rotator cuffs, or elbows. How many times has a tight muscle impeded a bench workout only to show up a few days later on squat or deadlift day to become an annoyance again?
Try out this experiment, perform a typical bench workout but leave a few minutes to do some drills afterward. Grab a 2.5 or 5lb plate and perform some strict full length arm circles going in both directions for 3 sets of 10, 5 to the front 5 to the rear on each arm, and continue by changing sides until all are done in one large set. Notice the decompression almost immediately in the shoulder socket, the relaxing of tightness, and the healthy feeling that will come within a few minutes after completion.
So why not just use the plate to do this? Because using a club will offer even more of an effect plus the ability to do specific rehab and more importantly pre-hab exercises. Clubs are fairly pricy tools but so is living on daily doses of Advil, and going to the chiropractor or doctor – which will ultimately cost more than a good quality set of clubs or an Adex Adjustable Club. You now have the knowledge and the choice is yours for your success, health, and budget.
When the club is swung, the weight of itself and the speed at which it is swung will develop a rotational force known as torque. Swinging a dumbbell or a kettlebell also produces torque but not to the effect that the clubs can, due to the club’s handle length. To put it into perspective a 25lb club will generate over 700lbs of torque. That’s more torque than most car engines have.
eal about the torque is the ‘magic’ that is produced while training with clubs. The torque will traction out or open up joints such as wrist, elbow, and let’s not forget the shoulder – the #1 reason for people to begin club training. This
