30/01/2019 Herschel Walker and Bodyweight Beast Building - Juggernaut Training Systems

Training
Herschel Walker and Bodyweight Beast Building

Herschel Walker powered his muscular, 6-1 225 frame to

World Class times of 10.23 in the 100m and 6.23 in the 55m
in 1982.
A few nights ago, I watched a special on ESPN about Herschel
Walker. If you are my age or younger, you probably haven’t had
much exposure to Herschel Walker. If that is the case, you are
missing out, not only is the 1982 Heisman Trophy winner one of
the all-time great College Football players, he is also one of the
all time greatest physical specimens to walk this earth.
Commonly listed at 6’1” 225 pounds, Walker is the owner of a
physique chiseled from granite. Walker’s speed was (and possibly
still is) world class. In addition to his 5,259 career rushing yards
and 49 rushing touchdowns (in 3 seasons) at Georgia he also
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30/01/2019 Herschel Walker and Bodyweight Beast Building - Juggernaut Training Systems

A strong back is the foundation of a strong

body and there is no better exercises to
build one than pullups/chinups. They are
simple and have endless variations.
There are four movement groups that must be addressed in any training
program, including a bodyweight one, Upper Body Push, Upper Body
Pull, Squat, Posterior Chain and Abdominals. Since Herschel would load
his sprints with a tire, I will also introduce loaded upper body movements
for this program but will stay away from any
barbells/dumbbells/kettlebells/etc.

Progressive overload is an essential component of any training program,

including one rooted in bodyweight movments. The most simple ways to
progressively overload movements is to add more weight or more reps,
but when you are dealing with bodyweight movements you need to be a
bit more creative. Overloading a bodyweight movement is simple you just
need to make it harder and doing a movement explosively is a simple way
to increase the challenge of the movement and the amount of muscle
fibers being recruited during it.

Here are some of our favorite bodyweight training movements we use at

Juggernaut to build muscle and improve explosive power…

Upper Body Push-Incline Pushup, Band Assisted Pushups, Board

Pushups, Pushups, Closegrip Pushups, Stagger Pushups, MB
Pushups, Feet Up Pushups, Clapping Pushups, Pushups onto Box,
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Drop Pushups, Rebound Pushups, Handstand Pushups, Chain
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Posterior Chain-Back Raises, GHRs, Reverse Hypers-these can be

manually resisted by a partner to increase resistance. Sprinting-The higher
velocity that sprints are happening at/longer distances being run will lead
to greater stress on the hamstrings. Hill sprints or sled resisted sprints will
provide a great muscular effort but due to the limited output capabilities
(ie. You can’t run as fast because of the weight/incline) they are not as
demanding to the hamstrings as longer distance unweighted runs.

Abdominals-Moving Front Plank, Moving Side Plank, McGill Situps, In

and Outs, V Ups, Scissors, Hanging Leg Raises, Ab Wheel, Gymnastics
Movements-Front Lever, Planche

Gymnasts are the athlete’s with the highest relative strength levels in the
world. While some of their movement’s like a front lever and planche
require great shoulder and lat strength, they will also develop tremendous
abdominal, hip and lower back strength and stability.

Front Lever Progression

Planche Progression

Now that we have established a pool of exercises to use to help

turn you into a beast, let’s look at some sample 3 week training
programs for a beginner, intermediate and advanced athlete
looking to enhance their relative strength, physique and power.
Beginner Program-This program is designed to increase the athletes
work capacity, add muscle (remember you can’t flex bone) and introduce
basic bodyweight movements. This would be an excellent GPP block for
a young athlete to utilize or someone with a very low training age.

[ismember]

Week Day 1 Day 3 Day 5

1 Hill High Knees- Hill High Knees- Hill High Knees-

3x5x20 ydsSquat 3x5x20 ydsSquat 3x5x20 ydsSquat
Jumps-3x5Incline Jumps-3x5Band Jumps-3×53-4 Board
Pushups-3x20BW Assisted Pushups-
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Squats-3x20Inverted 3x20Walking Step Ups 3×10 each
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patterns.

As the athlete progresses in their relative strength levels and improves

their speed and power, they will require more advanced exercise and
greater variety to continue improving their abilities. Also as an athlete is
capable of higher outputs their volume must be reduced from week to
week at intensity increases.

Intermediate Program-This program is designed to continue adding

muscle to the athlete’s frames while improving their body awareness and
explosive power in both the upper and lower bodies.

Week Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

1 Hill Sprints- Hill Sprints- Hill Sprints-

10×10/20/30ydsSquat 10×10/20/30ydsBox 10×10/20/30ydsLong
Jumps-4×3Clapping Jumps-4×3Pushups Jumps-4×3Explosive
Pushups-4×3Lunges- onto Box-4×3Rear Stagger Pushups-
3×16 StepsBW Foot Elevated Split 4×3/3Step Ups-3×10
Pullups (Palms Squats-3×12 each each legBW Chinups
Away)-3×6-8 legInverted Rows- (Palms
3×8-10 Towards)-3×6-8
Back Extensions w/
Weight-3×12-15 Reverse Hypers- GHRs-3×12-15
3×12-15
Feet Up Pushups- Dips-3×8-10
3×8-10 Incline Band
Resisted Pushups- V Ups-3×8-10
Ab Wheel-3×8-10 3×8-10

Hanging Leg
Raises-3×8-10

2 Hill Sprints- Hill Sprints- Hill Sprints-

3x6x20ydsSquat 3x6x20ydsBox 3x6x20ydsLong
Jumps-5×3Clapping Jumps-5×3Pushups Jumps-5×3Explosive
Pushups-5×3Lunges- onto Box-5×3Rear Stagger Pushups-
3×14 StepsBW Foot Elevated Split 5×3/3Step Ups-3×8
Pullups (Palms Squats-3×10 each each legBW Chinups
Away)-3×8-10 legInverted Rows- (Palms
3×10-12 Towards)-3×8-10
Back
Extensions w/
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Weight-3×10-12 Reverse Hypers- GHRs-3×10-12
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The Ab Wheel is a very challenging exercise that will build great strength and stability
throughout the torso. If you don’t have an ab wheel device, the same exercise can be
accomplished by using a barbell loaded with 25-45 pound plates.
Advanced Program-This program is designed to elicit great responses in
explosive and reactive strength for the athlete, as well as body awareness
and relative strength with the gymnastic maneuvers.

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30/01/2019 Herschel Walker and Bodyweight Beast Building - Juggernaut Training Systems
5 5 eet Up C app g Stagge us ups We g t 3 8
Pushups-10×6 10x6Split Squat 10Weighted Incline
Jumps-10×6 Pushups-3×8-10

Reactive Box Jumps- Back Extension w/ BW Abs-30 seconds

10×6 Weight-3×8-10 on/30 seconds off
x14 rounds
Clapping Pullups-10×6 Inverted Rows w/
Vest-3×8-10
Ab Wheel w/ Vest-3×10
Hanging Leg
Raises-3×30

The advanced program features a high volume of explosive drills and

needs to be performed in a particular manner. In between the drills where
10 sets of work are being performed, rest only 10-15 seconds between
exercises, this will develop great alactic capcity and would make this
program (plus a basic weight lifting program) a great option for a
grappling athlete to use in their final weeks of preparation before a fight.
All of the sprints must be done at the highest intensity possible after a full
dynamic warmup. One day 1 rest 30 seconds for every 10 yds of work
you have performed between reps and 3-5 minutes between sets . Day 3
Sprints are to develop speed endurance and will require 5 minutes rest
between the 100m runs, 7-8 minutes between the 200m and 10 minutes
between the 300m. You should aim to replicate the same time in every
repetition.

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