Last updated 14:49, Thursday, 21 August 2008

DURING my search for hardcore fitness a few years ago, I stumbled across a chap called Ross Enamait, writes David Little

He is an ex-amateur boxer turned training philosopher, and one of the best sources for strength and conditioning. In fact his outlook on strength and conditioning has revolutionised the world of health and fitness basically because it’s different and hard.

His website is simply one of the best on the internet. One noticeable factor will hit you straight away: Ross is a dedicated athlete as well as trainer. He isn’t someone who just sits there and tells you this is good, he actually performs the most extreme workouts.

I’m going to say something controversial again: Ross isn’t a strong believer in gyms and proves that you don’t necessary need a gym to develop results. He has produced a book called Never Gymless that provides you with exercises that you probably didn’t think existed.

The website (www.rosstraining.com) is well structured and you gain access to some extraordinary videos which certainly make you sit back in awe. Here is a review of some of his best strength and conditioning videos:

HARDCORE TRAINING

HOW many times have you heard this terminology only to watch the video and be disappointed? Not this one however, the term hardcore delivers in this video.

Key Points: There are many key points in this video but the overruling one is Ross using the methodology that to build muscle mass you don’t have to overcome speed and agility. It is a common rule of thumb that muscle mass can slow you down and if you stick to the isolated movements like dumbbell curl and shoulder press then yes it will be the case.

However muscle mass can be developed through strength and conditioning techniques like the clean and press and snatch. A point that all teenagers should adhere to.

The Exercises : A great range of exercises that can be used by anyone. The dumbbell snatch is in my opinion a lot harder than the barbell snatch, simply because it tests your balance and strength more.

This builds head-to-toe strength and if you want the ultimate mass builder then this is it. Rope climbing is another strength tester.

Don’t be put off: if you haven’t got a rope, crossfit has come up with a good little invention: put a towel around a pull-up bar and grab each end and move the towel up and down. This gives the same kind of motion as climbing a rope.

A touch of boxing conditioning is thrown in the mix but for me the best exercise of the whole lot is the last one: a clean and press with a keg. Who would have thought of that? As Ross explains, though, the water sloshes back and forth so the stabilisers work overtime to control the load.

LOW-TECH HIGH EFFECT

Key Points: Just another way of showing you what can be done with simple pieces of equipment.

The Exercises: Skipping, if done right, is a great cardio workout and if you throw some intervals into the mix it can provide you with the kind of intensity treadmills only dream of. Ross advocates skipping because of his boxing background and to be fair who is going to argue with a boxer?

Ross then demonstrates sandbag shouldering: the Americans haven’t quite cottoned onto powerbags yet. The powerbag is the substitute here and this exercise utilises every muscle group, a true strength and conditioning exercise.

One exercise I never considered was the dumbbell shot put. Hey, let’s give everything a try. This will generate explosive power in the shoulder and core. Next is the knee tuck a powerful plyometric exercise that generates strength in the legs and hip flexors. Hip flexors are very important because generally all strength and conditioning needs strong hip flexors.

The power overs are a plyomtric press-up in layman terms and also work on hand-eye coordination.

These are two of his best although if I could quite easily name all of the video demonstrations.

Each one offers something different and variety is key to any training regime.

Ross recommends the ab roller throughout his website, and to be honest I doubted its use until last year. This really is the ultimate in core strength, however Ross stands and does this; I tried and nearly broke my nose. Build up gradually and use your knees to start with.

So here is his web address www.rosstraining.com – check it out and, trust me, you won’t be disappointed.