The Zercher

I'm willing to bet that most of you have no idea what the hell a Zercher carry(or squat) is. That's OK. It's not often that you see people, gyms or workout programs implement the Zercher carry, which is kind of sad really. The Zercher carry(or squat) has an incredibly potent ability to build a strong back and legs - and most importantly, a strong mind.

Dr. Love

There's a very simple and logical explanation for the Zercher carry's endangered status.....IT SUCKS! It's quite honestly one of the most uncomfortable ways to hold/carry anything. But as is the case with most things....If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. And there is a massive pay out for those willing to deal with the shittiness.

Brian 

I can hear it now. You're saying to yourself that, "That doesn't look so hard..."

Minto

The following are just some factors that you may not be taking into consideration:

• Your arms are not designed to be the barer of relatively large loads....That job is for your legs, hips and back.
• Notice the placement of the sandbag(above). If it looks like it's somewhere between your chest and stomach - it is. This lovely position drastically decreases your ability to take in a full, deep breath. To make things even spicier, with some smart programming, complete a "breath-heavy-type" activity just prior to placing the Zercher carry object in that magical pocket'o'death. And Enjoy!
• Due to the load being out in front of your body's mid-line, the posterior chain and abs are forced to double their efforts so that you don't fold up like a lawn chair. This has some obvious benefits.
• Lastly, when your arms are burning, you can't breath, and your posterior chain is screaming, you are forced to put all of that aside and just keep moving. This develops mental toughness. Arguably the most important beneficial characteristic of the Zercher carry/squat.

So there ya go! A quick introduction to a under-utilized, highly effective, simple way to build some serious strength and increase your ability to deal with shittiness. Because we all know the shit will hit the fan in one way or another......What are you doing to prepare yourself for when it does? Will you quit when it gets hard? Or will you fight to hold on?

G

New Toys! And Why.

As things develop here at Travis County Strength, one thing that you'll notice is all the new stuff we have to do "fun activities" with!  The methods that we use to develop mental and physical strength require a wide range of tools.  

We do NOT specialize.  
We do NOT periodize.  
We simply WORK.

For some of you out there, the idea of not having a 12-month training plan with mirco-cycles and transition phases is blasphemy.  I get it.  The notion that each and every day that you enter TCS your one and only job is to work hard is crazy.  That's OK.....we are kinda crazy....  

You see, every single day that you and I walk this earth, we face new stimuli in unique combinations.  To simplify: Every day is completely different and unique.  The same can be said for the demands that are placed on you.

So, if you agree....which I think you probably do...Why would you then schedule, plan, set-up, complicate something so simple as WORK?  The only answer I'll accept is that you are a specialist, in which case, continue on your way.  Otherwise, you have been mislead.

Of course, all of this is my opinion, which you can agree with or completely discount - either is fine, really.  I bring this up only to present some compelling questions that (hopefully) get you thinking about what you're doing and why you're doing it.

In the mean time, we'll be having one helluva time working hard and challenging ourselves in as many unique scenarios as we can possibly think of - Just so we're ready for whatever tomorrow brings our way. 

Besides showing off our super sweet new farmers handles, I wanted to share this as an example of the "Train by Braille" mentality that we base our work on.  This was completely impromptu....and one helluva good workout!

Friday Night SWOD - Results

It's taken us a while to come back down off of the high that we had after this most recent Friday Night SWOD, but now that we're here, we wanted to share the results.

Before we do that, though, I wanted to extend a massive THANK YOU to all of the athletes, volunteers, judges and spectators that showed up and created an incredible environment for the event.  It goes without saying, but without all of the support - shown in all capacities - the event would not have been the success that it was.  So, again....Thank You!

For anyone that didn't get to make it out to see what this whole Friday Night SWOD thing is all about -- you're in luck!  We will undoubtedly be doing another FNS in the coming months.  This time we will have some new toys to play with, so it should be very interesting. 

Also, if you missed us last Friday, we had one of our very own LIFT ladies, Maggie G., do a brief report on her experience that you will find extremely entertaining should you take the time to read it - which we highly recommend.  It's hilarious! GAME FACE

Ok.  Enough jibber-jabber.  The results.

RESULTS

Rx'd Female:

1. Allison
2. Taylor
3. Iris/Meghan
4. Franki
5. Dani
6. Stacey/Jenny
7. Genny/Maria
8. Nichole

Rx'd Male:

1. Brian
2. Mike L
3. Joey
4. Josh
5. Wyatt
6. Stephen
7. Elliot
8. Jordan
9. Nathan
10. James
11. Chris
12. Dominic
13. Billy

Scaled Female:

1. Iona
2. Jen
3. Savannah
4. Erin
5. Norah
6. Maggie
7. Suzanne

Scaled Male:

1. Jeff H.
2. Orlando