Memories of Arthur Jones

Don't know if you heard but Arthur Jones passed away today. The world is most often changed by people who ask the right questions, and that is exactly what Arthur did. He approached "training" as simply a series of problems that needed to be solved by common sense, self-evident truth and what is (or at least should be) obvious, he was able to break training down into clear, concise and rational steps - something that had never been done before. -- And something that sent shockwaves through the whole strength World. Arthur made training a lot simpler than a lot of people ever thought it could be. Keep in mind, it wasn't necessarily his ideas, Arthur just pointed out what should have been straightforward from the start. Roughly 25 years later his writings made a heck of a lot of sense to me as I began my own training career. Regardless of your training goal, Arthur was able to outline the fundamental building blocks of what makes training work.

Arthur Jones

Things that everyone interested in serious training should at least have a working knowledge of, even if they don't necessarily agree with them.

Arthur's material was, by design, simple, because in reality, training is simple.

Of course, a lot of people would tell you "yeah, I already know that" when in fact, they just glanced over Arthur's articles without truly reading them.

But that's another story for another time.

A lot of people are getting all weepy about Arthur's death; about what a great man he was, about what a great contributor he was, about his impact on exercise...

Certainly all that was true but the Arthur Jones that I knew would tell people to get over it and just go train so that's what I'll be doing.

Train hard,
John Wood

First Workout in The New Gym

You may have noticed that things have been a bit quiet on the email front. - it's with good reason.

I just moved into a new house, and we are also moving the FHS clubhouse -- a new office space opened up across the street which was too good to pass up so we are movin on up just like the Jeffersons.

No worries, essentially nothing will change as far as the ordering and contact info, including the phone number -- We have all that covered so everything will be smooth sailing.

Oh, we also just welcomed a new member to the FHS family, please welcome Chris who will be starting up next week.

Anyhow, back to my new place - so it's got something that my last apartment obviously did not have - a garage, or for me, my brand new weight room.

The house and the garage were built back in the 1920s and the garage obviously hadn't been cleaned since then so it required some work to get in usable shape. It took a while, and I'll go into that little adventure later, but finally last night it was ready to roll for the first workout.

Im still deciding exactly what I'm going to do with the space, and have some very interesting ideas on where things are going.

Last night though, I just wanted to get started -- and get started on the right foot.

Some stuff was still packed up so what I did was very simple:

1. Overhead Press
2. Curl
3. Push-press
4. Cheat Curl
5. Trap Bar Shrug
6. Super Gripper
7. Sledge Hammer Lever
8. Situps
9. Bridging

One set per exercise and taken to the limit.

I didn't waste any time, and according to my watch, this workout took exactly 17 minutes and 34 seconds, including a few stops for a drink of water.

All in all, it was a great workout, and a great one to start with.

People get caught up with exercises and techniques and complex theorems, but what often makes a workout "great" is what you put into it.

When you're mind is right, you should be able to get a great workout with any piece of equipment, anytime and any where.

I'm still in the setup phase but the new gym will end up being fantastic.
More details and even a few pics of the new gym coming soon.

Train hard,
John Wood

For Navy SEALs Only

We have been getting a lot more recent interest about our manila climbing ropes from various branches of the armed forces. (Did you know our manila ropes are currently being used by our troops in Fort Falluja over in Iraq? - pretty cool if you ask me.)

Rope climbing has always been part of the "curriculum" for military training going all the way back and it is with very good reason, rope climbing is a simple and very effective method for developing strength and endurance throughout the entire body and builds the kind of strength that comes in handy for a variety of military maneuvers.

While normal 1.5 inch manila climbing rope is more that enough of a challenge for most people, but something we have found interesting thing is that all the Naval bases have ordered the same thing from us: 2" climbing rope.

Only 2" diameter and nothing but 2" diameter...

I know where they are coming from, if you can climb a 2" rope without using your legs you will be strong enough to handle pretty much anything.

Heres a look at why:

Navy SEALs and Grip Strength

Train hard,
John Wood

Do You Have a Question?

We've been getting a lot of questions recently about certain products, though the bulk of them have been concerning the Gerard Trap Bar.

In either case, let me point your attention toward the Q & A sections on our various websites which should help to clear up anything you may have been wondering about.

If you have a question about the Gerard Trap Bar, you can find the answer here:

Trap Bar Q & A

Our Old Time Strongman Q & A section can be found here:

Oldtime Strongman Products Q & A

And finally our FHS Q & A can be found here:

Functional Hand Strength Products Q & A

We try to include as many relevent topics as we can and also add any others questions as they come up.

If you are located overseas, please pay particular attention to our overseas ordering instructions outlined on those sites.

And, if you have a question that you need answered, please don't hesitate to send it our way, we would be very glad to include it.

Train hard,
John Wood

Another One From KW

3. We're developing a "personal regimen"... and the trick is not just to work hard but to learn to "motivate your self." We want to do the right things...but we want to do them for the right reasons.

The right reason here is to do it for your self. Working to gain the approval of others ain't a part of this process. This process involves challenging your self and stepping up to meet that challenge by working hard...and doing it...and doing it for YOU... When you face your self there is no room for cheating... no goofing-off... no hiding.

You are up against it...and "it" is you. Getting the most out of your body becomes extremely important when you have this mind-set... and "improvement" gains great personal meaning.

Kim Wood

About Ironmind Captains of Crush Hand Grippers

Ironmind Hand Grippers

We have had some requests for some more info on the Ironmind Captains of Crush Hand Grippers so that's what will be covered here.

Levels:

The Guide - 60 lbs. - Roughly twice as hard as the average sporting goods store gripper

The Sport - 80 lbs. - The perfect introduction to heavy duty hand gripper training

The Trainer - 100 lbs. - Our most popular gripper

#1 - 140 lbs. - Most Strongmen still have trouble with this one

#1.5 - 167.5 lbs. - A midpoint between levels

#2 - 195 lbs. - Close a #2 and you have a grip to be proud of

#2.5 - 237.5 lbs. - Now you're knocking on the door of world class

#3 - 280 lbs. - The Benchmark feat - time to get your name on the list

#3.5 - 322.5 lbs. - A level where few can tread

#4 - 365 lbs. - No man's land, only room for a couple at the top of this mountain

Training:
Ideally you should have a complete set of hand grippers becasue it makes progression that much easier. However, for the most effective training, you will need at least three of them and here's why:

A Gripper that you can close for a number of reps - For high-rep endurance work, hand toughening and "warm-ups"

A Gripper that you can close for a moderate number of reps (8-10) - The gripper you will be doing your "Working" sets with

A Gripper that you can just barely close or can't quite close yet - Your "Goal" gripper

For more information and gripper recommendations, please see our Hand Gripper Buying Guide

Where to Begin:

We generally recommend starting with the Trainer or Sport grippers. The reason is that these levels will allow you to gauge your strength most effectively as well as use for actual "training" grippers becasue you will be able to close them. As a rule of thumb is is better to start out at a level "too easy" rather than a level too hard.

Return of the Legend - The Gerard Trap Bar is Back!

We are proud to announce that we have brought back back one of the all-time greatest pieces of training equipment.

One that has been gone for nearly a decade, just waiting to make its return. We are talking a simple but revolutionary piece of training equipment that has helped build some of the strongest legs and backs around.

Now it will help you too. Find out here:

Gerard Trap Bar

...and thus History is made.

Train hard,
John Wood

P.S. If you previously joined our mailing list you received this special link yesterday so you know whats at the end of it. Regardless, this one's a classic and deserves another look: Gerard Trap Bar