5 Different Kinds of Rope Training

You know, they say that 'marketing' is simply the spread of a good idea which is one reason why the interest in our climbing ropes has recently skyrocketed.

All of a sudden lots of people realized just how fun and useful rope training might be to their program and it just took off from there.

In fact, check out the latest issue of Scholastic Coach for a full article by Michigan State Strength Coach, Ken Mannie on how he trains his players with manila climbing ropes.

The thing is, 'climbing', while useful, is only one way to train with climbing ropes which I'm sure will be of a lot of interest to those folks without the room to hang one.

Heres a few simple ideas:

1. Hooked to a pulling sled for one-arm, two-arm, backwards or sideways pulling.

2. Arm-over-arm pulling - which should be done standing, not like you see on the 'truck pull' on tv

3. Attached to a high or low pulley

4. Tug-o-war

5. Timed hangs, pullups, hanging leg raises etc

Those are a few that I have used just off the top of my head. I could probably list many more if I sat down to think about it. Regardless, the lesson here is to open your eyes to things besides the obvious.

Train hard
John Wood

P.S. In Need a climbing rope? You can get the best right here:
Top Quality Climbing Ropes

Hermann Goerner's Secret Revealed At Last

The time is NOW to find out Hermann Goerners Secret - go to this page and
follow the link at the bottom:

Hermann Goerner's Secret

Train hard,
John Wood

The First Step and The Next Step

"Regrets, Ive had a few..." sang Frank Sinatra back in '68 when he recorded a little ditty called 'My Way.' And the truth is everyone will have a few regrets as they travel along the road of life.

It's easy to look back in retrospect at the choices that we 'should' have made at certain points in the past. Since we never know where the chips may fall in the
future all we can do is do what we think is best at any given point in time and go from there.

Of course, not everything in life is up to a roll of the dice, there are lots of things that are (or at least, can be )very predictable - and one of those things is physical training.

It is very simple:

The first step is to begin -- and build from there: bit-by-bit, rep-by-rep,
pound-by-pound until you have achieved something great. Every Successful person in every discipline has followed this very same path.

But physical training is also one of those things that unfortunately is also the reason for some of the biggest regrets in Life and that reason is that few people 'begin' in the first place.

Sure, a lot of people are right at that threshold, right at that moment when they are so close to that first step -- but they don't take it.

Is it because of fear, doubt, hesitation, who knows? Regardless of the reasons, Days, months, even years go by, and so do all those opportunities to improve.

And when all is said and done, and that time had passed, all thats left is the pain of regret 'If only I would have started when I had a chance' might be the saddest words ever uttered.

Thing is, its ok to feel sorry for yourself. You can even whine, complain, scream and shout, or whatever else if it makes you feel better

-- But --

You also have the opportunity to do the most important thing: Begin.

No, you cant get back what has already been lost, but you can get started, and take that first and most important step immediately.

Not tomorrow, not next week, not next year but right now today - you can begin to do the things necessary to get whatever it is that you want.

And five years from now instead of living with the pain of 'If only I would have...' you will be able to proudly say 'Look how far Ive come'

If you are already on that path, keep it up and stay the course. However, if you have not yet gotten started, why not make today the day.

Train hard.
John Wood

New Functional Hand Strength Updates

Looks like I spoke too soon about the weather - its snowed every day for the last week here in Ann Arbor. Oh well, looks like Mother Nature has her own ideas.

Anyhow, here are a few things going on around the FHS clubhouse that you should be aware of:

1. We have had an overwhelming response to Brad Johnsons bodyweight training book 'Bodyweight Exercises for Extraordinary Strength'

So much so that we went through our first case within the first hour last week. As a result we have had a few people waiting for a few days longer than usual as we awaited our next shipment.

No worries, they arrived late yesterday and Bill stayed in the office until after 10 pm last night filling orders to make sure everyone gets their books as soon as possible. If you ordered recently, your book is, as of this morning, now in the mail on its way to you.

If you havent had a chance to check out Brads book for yourself, here's a link:

Bodyweight Exercises for Extraordinary Strength by Brad Johnson

2. Another big surprise for us has been the incredible response to our Bulgarian Training Bags.

In addition to the two MMA world champs who have already grabbed a set, last week we had yet another MMA fighter get on board. He's a 3x UFC competitor and 2x Bodog fight competitor. I'm sure we will have more info from him soon.

Ivan is currently at a tournament out in Las Vegas so I have not had a chance to sit down and interview him about how he trains his athletes with the bags yet but will do so upon his return.

If you are one of the smart ones who grabbed a Bulgarian Training bag from Us to add to your program, and have a question on training that you would like to ask Ivan, please send it our way and I will be sure to do so.

We are also looking into several different shipping options both overseas and abroad in an effort to find the best rates we can.

For 'real combat strength' nothing beats the bags, plus they are a lot of fun to train with, you can find out more information right here:

Ivan Ivanov's Bulgarian Training Bags

Look for the Bulgarian Bags to start taking over MMA and football training programs in a big way.

3. We are less than a week a way for revealing Hermann Goerners Secret. Heres the spot to watch for more updates on that: Hermann Goerner's Secret

4. We currently have over a dozen new products of all kinds slated for release in the coming weeks, including several training courses, unusual pieces of equipment and we are even in the pre-planning stages for several FHS training dvds.

Yes, thats right, if you want to find out how we train around here, very soon you will be able to see with your own eyes. I know those are going to make a big splash when they are ready.

Stay tuned.

Thats all for now, keep an eye on FHS for the Latest, Greatest and Best in the Strength World.

If you are training today, have a great one - I know I will.

Train hard,
John Wood

More on Goerner's Secret...

Go here for more information:

What Was Hermann Goerner's Secret?

Wrestlemania Pics

This is the line for the riser seats on the field. It was over a block long and we had to wait for over an hour before we finally got in.


Ford Field was packed, it was a new record crowd 80,000+ which was even bigger than the Super Bowl.


The Titan Tron was huge, even bigger than it looks on TV.


The Undertaker makes his entrance. Yes, we could feel the heat from the fireballs from our seats which were about a hundred yards away.


The indoor pyrotechnics were amazing and amazingly loud.


The "Donald" made his enterance with the former Miss Nevada.


Yes, Vince did really get his head shaved.


Me at the big show. It was a great time.


Only the big timers get to carry this much gold.