Category: learning and living
Driving a nail through a frying pan – Feats of Strength Friday
So here’s the deal, in addition to being a Personal Trainer in Boonton (my personal training studio is on Main Street, the one with all the frying pans in the window) I’m also a modern day performing strongman which basically means I perform feats of strength as part of a live show.
Well last week I was on my way to help my brother in law pick up an armoir (they had just moved) and as we were chatting he was asking me how I pivoted my strongman business. I had told him that the only thing I’m doing is a different feat of strength each week until life returns to normal and posting it on youtube.
As I was talking about it, I had said I’m starting to run out of ideas for things to do which means I have to start combining ideas to keep it new.
This one is sort of a hybrid between two of my most popular feats of strength. Driving a nail through a wooden board, and rolling up a frying pan.
Enjoy!
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and doubles as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strongmen more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a live show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey, is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville and Parsippany New Jersey.
Isometrics for Strength
In addition to being a personal trainer in Boonton New Jersey (my personal training studio is on Main Street), I’m also a modern-day performing strongman.
Being a performing strongman I have to be strong enough to perform the feats of strength that make up my show at a reasonably high level, which means I have to train specifically for them in addition to being all-around strong.
One of the most effective ways to train them, is to perform isometrics, more specifically overcoming isometrics.
Isometrics is when the muscle fibers don’t move. A plank could be considered an isometric. Overcoming isometrics is essentially pushing or pulling against an immovable object with as much force as you can generate.
As an example, if you lift 200lbs off the floor you’re only going to be using the approximately the number of motor units as is needed to lift that 200lbs. When you put everything you have access to into it, well you are training everything you have access to.
When you do this, you train all the available motor units you currently have access to, making it highly effective. Training sessions are very short because a little bit goes a long way and it can be very easy to overdo it if it isn’t dosed correctly.
Some of the drawbacks are that the greatest gains in strength tend to be very specific to the joint angle (15 degrees either direction of the joint angle). That doesn’t necessarily mean that it only gains strength there, just that most of it is.
In a study (Thepault-Mathieu et al, 1988) in one of their groups there was an increase of 54% at the joint angle, and 25% over the rest of the range. Those are massive increases in strength for just 5 weeks worth of training.
Those big increases specifically at the joint angle are what make them especially effective at training the feats of strength in my show since they are short ranges of motion.
For all around strength development, very effective though I don’t think that’s the only thing you should use. With myself and with my personal training clients I use a mixture of isometric, dynamic and explosive movements. Whatever the best tool for the task is and programmed effectively.
If you would like to get started in an all inclusive strength and fitness program and would like my help, I have a 1 week trial membership where you can test drive it first to see if you like it. Send me a text at 973 476 5328 to get started. My personal training studio is located at 620 Main Street, Boonton.
Eric Moss is a personal trainer in Boonton and doubles as a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, and motivational speaker. In the tradition of the strongmen more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey, is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville and Parsippany New Jersey.
The Snowman of Steel – Christmas Art
I’ve moved my personal training studio a few times over the years. One of the reasons I had decided to move it onto Main Street in Boonton was because it was a bit of an artsy town with lots of different fitness facilities and figured that my unique form of art plus personal training would fit in perfectly.
My unique artistic method is making sculptures out of steel that I had bent without heat or tools. Something I like to call “scrollptures”.
And since it’s the holiday season I wanted to make one to keep my personal training studio festive. If you are walking on Main Street in Boonton, and happen to walk by my personal training studio while I’m in there I’ll have it on display outside when weather appropriate.
The snowman was made of steel that was bent by hand without heat or tools, mounted on a wooden board with presents, and next to a Christmas tree lit up with LED’s to be Christmas lights.
You can see how I did the steel bending in this video.
Through the holiday season, this will be on display outside my personal training studio on Main Street while I’m in session (when weather appropriate). When not in session it will be visible from the door.
And of course if you are interested in the 1 week personal training free trial membership send me a text at 973 476 5328 and let me know when you want to get started.
Eric Moss is a world-record-holding modern-day professional performing strongman, author, motivational speaker, and personal trainer. In the tradition of the strongmen more common during the turn of the century, he performs feats of strength such as bending steel and breaking chains as part of a show and speaks on goal achievement for corporations, nonprofits, government as well as for schools and universities. His exclusive personal training studio is located on Main Street in Boonton New Jersey, is close to Mountain Lakes, Denville, Montville and Parsippany New Jersey.