Strength Mob Workouts

Return of the Mob

After a 5-year hiatus, Strength Mob is back! New workouts will drop weekly, so round up your crew and get ready to become fit-nasty.

Some background notes:

  • One goal of any fitness program is to help you be as active as you can, for as long as possible. As a result, you’ll see that much of Strength Mob is focused “basic” strength development. You won’t find any Olympic lifting in here, because, frankly, I’ve had two shoulder surgeries and I’m not convinced that everybody needs to be throwing that much weight overhead. Consistency and injury-prevention are the foundation for an active life. With the Strength Mob know that you’ll get a few warm-up activities, a whole-body weight lifting circuit, and then a “cool-down”. It might be simple, but it won’t be boring.
  • Next, you need to know a little about me: I am a 40-year-old, non-pro athlete living in the epic-center of the Pacific Northwest. I skate, snowboard, and surf—at least when the water isn’t too cold. You can find me trail running, or sometimes bike touring over a mountain pass. If it’s raining sideways, I might be indoors bouldering or at a parkour gym. Strength Mob reflects a desire to be strong enough to pursue these activities without getting hurt. The workouts that you’ll find here are replicas of how I train in our tiny garage in North Portland.
  • With Strength Mob there is no weight to Rx. Instead of a one-size-fits-none approach, you alone will be in charge of how much weight to use. Go too hard for too long and you’ll suffer from over-training. Under load your workouts too often and your GAINZ will be negligible. By definition weight lifting should be challenging, so lets leave it at that.
  • What if your home isn’t stacked to modern #garagegym standards? Don’t sweat it. Substitute with what is available. If you don’t have a barbell, load up a duffle bag for your deadlifts and squats. If you don’t have a pull-up bar or gymnastics rings handy, jam over the closest jungle gym. Use the Strength Mob as your low-cost fitness launch point.

Other reminders:

  • If an exercise doesn’t feel right to you, adjust or move along. Your body has its own quirks and oddities, so swap movements as much as you need. Pay attention and avoid anything that causes direct joint pain.
  • Use exercise regressions when appropriate. If one of the skills suggested in Strength Mob is out of your league, find a simpler alternative. Instead of using one leg, do it with two. Instead of moving in two planes, stick to one-dimension.
  • For additional training concepts check out the 2nd edition of the Mad Skills Exercise Encyclopedia.

Enough said. Now, turn up the sound system and start slaying!

For reference: When I did this workout, I used 90 lbs total for the single leg Romanian deadlifts (holding a 40 and 50 lb kettlebell).

After you complete the workout, please let me know what you think of it in the comments below. Too easy? Too challenging? Thanks in advance!

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