Herb Brooks, head coach of the 1980 USA hockey team, shocked the world when his team knocked off the USSR for the gold medal in the 1980 Olympics.
One of Brooks’ favorite sayings was, “the legs feed the wolf.”
This was more than a catchy saying for Brooks. He proved he meant it by having the team run what we (wrestlers) used to call “rat races.” In other sports you’ll hear them called “gassers,” or “suicides.”
Whichever name you prefer, what you do is sprint 10-15 yards, immediately spin around and sprint back to the start… turn around again and sprint 20-25 yards… spin around again and haul ass to the start… and even though you’re now gasping for oxygen, you spin around yet again and gallop 30-40 yards… then you make one final spin… and finish strong.
After you’ve completed the first “rat race” you rest long enough to catch your breath, then you do another round, and another, until your workout is finished.
Note: The distances listed above are relative. If you don’t have 30-40 yards to play with, you can shorten the distances to 5, 10 and 15 yards.
When you do this sort of workout, you’ll EXPERIENCE the idea of what “the legs feed the wolf” truly means.
Your legs are often considered your “second heart.” And you’ll find out that they are from workouts such as “rat races,” because within four-to-six weeks, you will get into mighty fine condition.
But what about the upper body?
Is there an equivalent, or perhaps an even better exercise, for feeding the wolf?
Indeed there is. In fact, there are two that I would classify as, “the arms feed the grizzly.”
Although a grizzly bear is much larger than a wolf, it, too, can run fast. A grizzly can also keep going, for long periods of time, sometimes traveling hundreds of miles in search of food. This means the bear is not only big, strong and fast, it also has tremendous endurance.
If you get down on all fours and do bear crawls, especially as a “rat race,” you will quickly discover why I say, “the arms feed the grizzly.” Moreover, you’ll also realize that it isn’t just your arms that are getting worked; it’s your whole damn body.
The second exercise that feeds the grizzly would be the one I made famous over 20 years ago, in my international best-selling book and DVDs, Combat Conditioning. It’s an ancient exercise done by Indian wrestlers, that my teacher, Karl Gotch called Hindu Pushups.
You could say that Hindu squats, “feed the wolf” and Hindu pushups, “feed the grizzly.”
You are challenged in my book and DVDs to work up to 500-straight Hindu squats in a row, and at least 50 Hindu pushups (100 is even better).
When you can do both, rest assured that your cardiovascular system is kicking butt. You’re no longer a human being coach potato when you can do so.
You’ve transformed yourself into a human-animal – one that is part wolf, part grizzly, in terms of strength-endurance.
How about that?
Here’s the link to click to get involved in this best-selling program: Combat Conditioning book and DVDs.
Matt Furey
P.S. If you already have my book and DVDs and want to go to the next level, I suggest you become part of my online coaching program by visiting the Furey Faithful.
