Chad Belding is almost as passionate about his training in the weight room as he is about hunting ducks and big game. So when he's out in the wilderness with no training facility in sight, he brings the gym with him. It's not quite the spread he's used to from Sierra Strength & Speed in Sparks, NV, where he works with his trainer Robert Conatser, but it gets the job done.
"We call it 'tailgate training' and are out and about a lot in the forest," says Belding, who plays in the reality show "The Fowl Life" on the Outdoor Channel and moderates The Fowl Life Podcast. “We are on dirt roads. We have followers with us. We have trucks with camper shells. We have tailgates. We have cool boxes and cool boxes and we have our TRX tapes. And I always travel with training shorts and shoes. "
Translation: t being there is no excuse for missing workouts. When Belding is out on the hunt or otherwise not in a commercial gym, he is still squeezing his weight training exercises. Below are five of his favorite Do-Anywhere moves.
Courtesy Chad Belding
1) Tailgate cracks
Equipment: Pickup with closed tailgate
This is just an “in the wild” version of a box jump. If you're hunting, fishing, or camping and have a truck, lower the tailgate and you have an instant stable platform to jump onto.
"I'm a big fan of strength and explosivity training - but controlled strength and explosiveness because I'm 47 years old now," says Belding. “I have a 5-inch lift on my truck, so my tailgate is a little higher. This is an explosive exercise where I like to step back, explode and do standing box jumps on my tailgate. "
How it goes
- Stand a foot or two in front of the tailgate (in the lowered position) of a pickup truck. Assume an athletic position with feet hip width apart and knees slightly bent.
- Dive down at your hips and knees, then explode up to jump onto the tailgate. If you have to, take a step back with one foot before jumping to give yourself extra strength.
- Land gently on the tailgate, "like there's an egg on it and you're not trying to break it," says Belding. When you finish the repetition, get down on the floor (do not jump) and move on to the next repetition. Do not rush. Gather between each repetition.
- Do two to four sets of 10 to 12 repetitions.
Belding's training tip: "If you can't reach your tailgate - because it can be dangerous if it's too high and you can slam your shins - use a cooler. I like to use something that is stable on the floor so I can explode with my abs, legs, quads, thighs and calves. "
2) full body sandbag slams
Equipment: 20 to 40 pounds of sandbag
A typical medicine ball slam is a great functional exercise for developing upper body and core explosiveness. The sandbag version from Belding differs in two main points:
First, he prefers a heavier load (40 pound sandbag) than is normally prescribed for this movement, as most gyms use 20 pound medicine balls.
Second, his slams are a full body exercise with a full squat at the bottom of each rep (a standard ball slam doesn't require this), plus the fact that the heavier sandbag makes for a more challenging overhead lift.
"I tend to walk a little heavier, and I believe in a full (elbow) extension over my head and a full squat," says Belding. “It really opens up the chest cavity and lungs, and you use the diaphragm to breathe well and maintain good posture. You will also loosen the entire core, upper chest, upper back, and shoulders. I love this exercise. "
How it goes
- From a standing position with the face open in front of you, hold the sides of a sandbag in front of your shoulders with your arms bent.
- Keeping your core tight, your back flat, and the weight on the center of your feet, crouch until your thighs are parallel to the floor.
- Extend your hips and knees to drive to a standing position, and when you reach the top, push the sandbag over your head.
- When your arms reach full extension, explosively toss the sandbag on the floor in front of your feet.
- Pick up the sandbag and go on to the next rep.
- Do 3 sets of 12 reps.
Belding's training tip: "If 40 pounds is too heavy, use 25 or 30 pounds and make sure you stick it above your head. "
Courtesy Chad Belding
3) Cooler Bulgarian Split Dumbbell Squats
Equipment: GATR cooler (or any other high performance cooler)
Travel squats. You can do them anywhere and use any number of machines to increase resistance - a heavy band, a barbell or dumbbell in a hotel gym, a 40 pound stone that you find lying around.
For Belding, it's worth throwing a dumbbell or two in the back of his truck on a hunting trip, but that may not be hard enough for a regular two-legged squat. The solution: Bulgarian split squats with dumbbells and a raised rear foot on a GATR cooler that he has to hand either way. One leg squat at a time requires far less external resistance and still provides a great strength and muscle building stimulus.
“I love Bulgarian split squats,” he says. “It's a great way to stretch and hit your buttocks, quads, and groin. You also get a really good squat shape that works the entire front leg. "
How it goes
- Stand up and hold a dumbbell by one side with a cooler (or bench, step, or chair) a few feet behind you.
- Start with one foot on the floor below you and the other on the radiator behind you - only the toes of your hind leg should be touching the radiator.
- Keep your torso erect and bend your front leg to lower your body straight down. Your back knee will bend too; Once it's only inches off the floor, contract the glutes and quadriceps of the foreleg to stand up and return to the starting position.
- Repeat for reps, then switch legs.
- Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions on each leg.
Belding's training tip: “Keep your shoulders high in good posture and without bending over. Go as low as you can, but not too deep, to cause knee pain. "
Courtesy Chad Belding
4) Inverted TRX rows
Equipment: TRX suspension trainer
Some may view a body weight series as an isolation exercise for the back muscles (lats, rhomboids, middle traps), but Belding views it as more of a full-body exercise. As with pretty much all TRX movements, the core is stressed and other key muscle groups are also involved.
"You train your core and you train your legs because you are balancing on your calves," he says. "But you really train those forearms, your grip and your biceps and deltoids."
How it goes
- Attach a TRX to a sturdy structure above your head (a tree, jungle gym, etc.) and adjust the handles so that they dangle several feet off the ground.
- Grab the handles and start with your body up, arms fully extended, and your body in a straight line from head to feet. Only the backs of the heels should be in contact with the ground and your body should be in a rigid, upward-facing plank.
- Contract your back muscles to pull yourself up in a rowing motion, and keep your elbows close to your body. Go up until your hands reach your torso, then slowly lower your body back down.
- Do 3 sets of 12 to 15 repetitions.
Belding's training tip: “Everyone forgets the negative and they lose their shape because the core collapses and they fail to hold the tension on the way down. I like to pull up, hold up, and then bring the negative all the way down for four, five, six, maybe seven seconds. I expand completely, stretch myself well and then exhale and fill my diaphragm as I pull my body back up. "
5) TRX pushups
Equipment: TRX suspension trainer
If you are used to doing push-ups with your hands firmly on the floor, you will experience something. With your hands hanging in the air with the TRX straps, you are constantly battling instability as you try to hit your push-ups. Pecs, arms, deltoids, core, even legs - all of these areas work.
“It gets shaky if you're not used to a TRX,” says Belding. “You use your abs, shoulders, and everything to keep all those muscles busy so your arm doesn't just fly out and you fall flat on your face. I am a big fan of the TRX. It's convenient, it's easy to get to. As long as you're confident about it and have something that you know will support you, it's a great way to get a full body workout quickly. "
How it goes
- Using the same TRX setup that you used for rowing, grab the handles with your body towards the floor. Start in a push-up position with your arms outstretched and your body straight.
- Bend your elbows to slowly move your body down while stabilizing yourself so your arms don't fly to the side.
- With your hands just outside your chest, push yourself back to the position with your arms outstretched.
- Do 5 sets of 10 reps.
Belding's training tip: “Don't try to do this exercise quickly like you could with regular push-ups. Make it a controlled movement, even if that means doing less than 10 repetitions per set. "
