Thursday, 7 June 2012

Todays Workout - The Milo Experiment

Starting today, I'd love for you to join me as I embark on a new project at Sandbag Fitness.

Milo of Croton was a Greek wrestler who lived in the 6th century BC. Famous for his immense strength, he once performed a feat where he lifted a young calf everyday. He did this until it reached maturity; then able to lift a fully grown bull.





The Sandbag Fitness Milo Experiment involves the following:

  • Take a handleless sandbag or duffel bag and fill it with around 25% of your bodyweight in sand
  • Perform a single lift from the ground-to-overhead, then add a small amount of sand (around 1kg)
  • The following day, complete another single lift from the ground-to-overhead
  • Repeat this process daily until you can no longer lift the sandbag overhead

The target is to lift a sandbag equal to your own bodyweight (or more!) overhead.

I think it's pretty easy to get bogged down in various systems, programmes and protocols so this is a nice, straightforward way to build strength through linear progression.

Since you are only completing a single lift each day you should be able to train as normal alongside this experiment. 

Please feel free to add pictures, video or feedback to the comments below.

Train hard!



4 comments:

  1. I love this idea! It's a linear progression, training daily and starting with a light weigth!

    I had a rotator cuff infury a few months ago, that's why i'm not confortable yet doing vertical pushing. As soon as i totally recover, i'll start the experiment and i'll let you know how it works for me. I guess i'll be able to lift 100 kg overhead... Lol, that's what i'd like!!

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  2. Matthew Palfrey8 June 2012 at 15:07

    Hi Gabriel - I'd love to hear how you get on, both with the injury and the experiment! All the best, Matt

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  3. Looks like a great daily challenge / endeavor / feat of strength (notice the progression!)

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  4. Thanks Mike! I find the simplest things can be the best sometimes. How is your training going?

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