Many people stick to their traditional gym workouts; cardio machines, nautilus machines, abdominal machines. Do you see a pattern developing?
Machines are ineffective tools for building muscle and losing body fat. They only move you in one plane of motion, they do not activate a large amount of muscle area, and they do not promote overall strength and power.
If you really want to step out of your comfort zone and train hard, efficient, and have some fun while doing it; try lifting and pushing some odd objects.
With odd shaped objects you recruit every muscle in your body to do the work, you burn a huge amount of calories due to that recruitment, you elevate your metabolism to levels you have never known and that can continue up to 36 hours post workout, and you test yourself mentally by moving with unstable circumstances that are not always perfectly placed like a machine or even a barbell.
Here are several ways to perform odd object lifting and to get the best training session of your life.
Kettlebells (Swings, Cleans, Snatches, Push Presses)
Can you tell that I love Lance or what?
Prowler Sprints
Ring Exercises (Rows, Dips, Push Ups)
Keg (filled with water or sand) Throws, Presses, Cleans
One of the best exercises around
Medicine Ball Throws (overhead, rotations, presses) Find a heavy ball and utilize a strong wall or go outside for some throws for power and conditioning
Sandbag (presses, lunges, cleans, squats, throws) This unstable element creates a huge workload no matter what the exercise. Throw that on your shoulders or hold it overhead for some squats, lunges, or farmer carries.
Farmers Carries (farmers walk implements, kettlebells, sandbags)
Scott showing how it's done
Tire Flips
Sledgehammer- use the tire that you just flipped for some rotation or overhead swings with this baby and your core will be on fire
Stone Lifts and Carries- This is a great method but most people do not have access to stones. If you don’t, you can always find some heavy and odd shaped ones in your yard and have some fun with that.
Give these exercises a try and you will see a huge gain in strength, lean muscle development, overall conditioning, and an elevated metabolism for ultimate fat loss.
Ultimate Athletic Fitness 