The Chained Patriot's Training (Karelin)

This workout is from Grappler Baki and is patterned after the training of the fictional Andre Arlov Garland from the anime and the real-life Alexander Karelin, one of the baddest men of his day... and probably ever-- alright, I don't know that, but still-- he's pretty badass. He was completely dominate as a Greco-Roman wrestler and has more gold medals than he could possibly know what do to with. He's quoted as saying, "I train every day of my life as they have never trained a day in theirs."

Sounds like my kind of guy. So, here's the Chained Patriot workout-- the ball-busting, full force, unrelenting training of a world-class, powerhouse athlete. There's only so much known about his training, so I'm going off what is known and what is put in the anime for Garland. This is also set up slightly different than other workouts.

The Chained Patriot's Training

Morning

• 6 Mile Run (as hilly as possible)
• 100 Sledgehammer Swings (each side)

4-6 Hours Later

• 50 Pull-ups
• 100 Push-ups
• Pulling/Throwing w/Bands 5 x 5 Minute Rounds
• Chest Expander w/Bands 3 x 20 Reps
• Rowing- 30 Minutes
• Grappling (see notes)
• Land Clearing (see notes)

Notes:

• On your run, you need to find very hilly areas.
• On the sledge work, you can hit a tire or a downed tree or something.
• Do all 50 Pull-ups and 100 Push-ups before moving on to the rest of the workout.
• For Pulling/Throwing Bands, if you have any kind of workout bands (I recommend ones used for powerlifting), loop them over something very sturdy and pull on them in different directions, practice throwing movements with tension on the bands, and just generally work them in different angles.
• LifeLineUSA's Chest Expander is a great product for the Chest Expander exercise. It's a series of three bands with a handle at each end. You hold it out in front of you and spread your arms as wide as you can. It can be really tough.
• You'll need a rowing machine... or a rowboat, I suppose, to do the rowing. Go as hard as you can for 30 minutes. I realize that can be a long time, so I realize you will have to pace yourself.
• There is no time limit for Grappling and no restriction as far as only doing Greco-Roman, just so it can give you a little more freedom in practice. Essentially, you practice grappling until you or your partner is done for the day.
• Land Clearing is a little tough to pin down. Ideally, if you had an axe, a pick-axe, a shovel, wheelbarrow, and a stretch of land with a large number of trees you could legally and safely chop down, chop up, and haul off, you'd be in business. However, if you do not have that luxury, you may attempt to do these movements with bands, cables, or what have you. You can carry weights to mimic moving logs, you can dig a hole and move the dirt in a wheelbarrow and fill the hole back up, and you can chop on any tree that needs chopping that you can get to. In general, there are no restrictions to this part of the training-- the main idea is, "Do hard physical labor revolving around explosive movements or heavy lifts for long periods of time."  So, if you have a patch of land to clear-- you've got a hell of a workout ready for the taking.
• In general, this workout is open toward the end, allowing you to gear it toward your level of fitness. I'm not telling you to bust your ass on everything up to the Land Clearing and then work 8 hours doing that kind of labor-- unless of course you are at that level of fitness. Use common sense. You train to stimulate growth by tearing your body down... not by annihilating yourself every time you train and not recovering properly. That's how injuries happen.

This workout is a little different. I wanted to give you guys something that wasn't just a remix of some of the things we've already done, so hopefully this is slightly refreshing... and maybe terrifying. Until next time, good luck and train hard!