Author: Tom

Tom is a writer from Southwest Georgia. His "day job" is writing for sites like By Spear and Axe, Townhall, and PJ Media. In addition to writing, he enjoys physical training, martial arts, action movies, and food.

Study Looks At Kettlebells And Strength Gains

Kettlebells and strength gains. That’s a really big question and it’s not discussed nearly as much as I think it should be. After all, while we have tons of studies about how dumbbells and barbells can increase strength, there aren’t quite as many dealing with kettlebells.

And, to be fair, some of the kettlebell studies are flawed. I took a look at several studies here, and a look at another one here.

All in all, it looks like one can gain strength with a kettlebell, which stands to reason.

However, the science is far from settled on the matter, which is why a new study from August, 2020 deserves some attention.

Continue reading “Study Looks At Kettlebells And Strength Gains”

My New HEMA Training Plan

As promised yesterday, I kind of have a basic outline for my new HEMA training plan. What I have here are various phases. There’s no set period of time on how long a phase actually is. It takes as long as it needs to take and possibly even longer because, like most people looking at their training, I’m an idiot sometimes.

Remember, this is gearing an individual up for longsword fighting with an eye toward also performing grappling-style combat as well. That said, there are worse ways someone can get in shape than to follow something similar to this.

However, if you’re training for a completely different sport, don’t be surprised if this approach doesn’t work for you at all. Hell, this is something of an experiment anyway, so don’t be surprised if it doesn’t work for you if you compete in longsword.

So, without further ado…

Continue reading “My New HEMA Training Plan”

Planning My Training Part 2: Assessing My Needs

When I wrote Part 1 of this series, I talked rather vaguely about my needs for my training plan. I knew what I wanted from my training in broad strokes. I even talked about my “needs,” but again, those are all discussed in very broad terms.

The thing is, you can’t make a plan with that.

Don’t get me wrong, it helps to know where you’re going, otherwise, how will you know which direction to go?

So, it’s time to honestly assess my needs. This will not be fun in the least.

Continue reading “Planning My Training Part 2: Assessing My Needs”

May Sanity Soon Return

Over the years, I’ve picked up a fair bit of gear for my home gym. See, I like training at home because it allows me to train the way I need to train, not the way some gym owner thinks I should train. I can buy things like axle bars, landmines, farmer’s handles, and so on because I want to use them and not hope that an owner will see the wisdom of this kind of training.

I’ve even talked about just how easy it is to build up a home gym.

That, however, was well before COVID-19 closed every gym in the country and created a run on plates, barbell, dumbbells, and just about everything else fitness related.

I’m really ready for sanity to return.

Continue reading “May Sanity Soon Return”

The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same

We are an affluent society, but that affluence has created certain problems. Namely, much of society is no longer forced to work on farms or in manual labor positions, which makes society much more sedentary than in ages past. This has led to many people gaining weight and other associated health problems that come with living a less vigorous lifestyle.

Now, reading the above, it’s not difficult to determine that I’m talking about this day and age. After all, all of that applies. We now have a society where two-thirds of the American population are classified as overweight or obese. This is a direct result of so much of our lives revolving around not having to exert ourselves.

Yet I wasn’t thinking of today when I wrote that blockquote.

Instead, I was paraphrasing a bygone era. I was actually thinking about the Victoria era, the age of people like Louis Cyr and Eugen Sandow. I was channeling and rephrasing comments made from the golden age of physical culture.

Continue reading “The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same”

Planning My Training Part 1: What I Want From My Plan

So, now it’s time to get into my new training plan. There’s just one little problem. I…uh…haven’t planned it.

See, I know I need to train, and I sorta kinda know where I’m going with a lot of this, but I’m not remotely read to say “here’s the plan.” Why? Because I’m going to have to go a bit beyond my comfort zone.

Continue reading “Planning My Training Part 1: What I Want From My Plan”