One of my favorite exercises

Today I saw a video of the Hurricanes using an exercise that I taught head coach Mark "Hammer" Hammet and strength and conditioning coach Davie Grey when I was last in Wellington back in February. In fact I talked about this exercise with Hammer way back in 2006 when I was visiting the Crusaders.  Ben Franks and I have spoken several times about the exercise. 

However, the story with this brutal exercise and how it became one of my favorites goes way back to the mid-1970's!!  It starts with me pushing my sisters up the hill by our house in their wagon. One day I was messing around in the parking lot of the local grocery store and decided to take a shopping cart to the park and push my buddies up the hill at Huron Park....to my mom's surprise I took that cart to Rogers City when we moved up there (thanks to my step-dad hiding it in the moving truck). I had seen the huge hill in front of our new home.  Man, I'd load that thing up with my weights and get to pushing, then walking it back down backwards...don't know why I just did!!!  

I have continued to use the exercise for so many years and it has been good to me!! I've pushed heavy loaded grocery carts up so many parking garages and hills...too many to count in far more places than I can remember.

Watch the video of the Hurricanes pushing the loaded carts up the hill outside of the weightroom and ask yourself...   Will I be welcomed back when I make my visit in January?  I wonder myself!! It sure is cool to see some of the greatest rugby players in the world using your training ideas!!   

Play Hard...Train Harder...NO EXCUSES