Building Bull Strength!

October 15, 2008 on 1:12 am | In Muscle Building Articles, Strength Training | No Comments

I remember back in the high school football days some of the players were naturally strong. The coaches used to call this “bull strength” and claimed some players had it and others didn’t. After thinking about the topic for awhile, I definately agree with the concept of bull strength, but not that it is 100 percent genetic. The kids that the coaches claimed possessed the gift of this strength actually had history of doing some serious manual labor. Whether it was cutting lumber, helping with their dad’s moving business, or moving furnaces in and out of basements. The last example was how we grew up. My father was a “heating and air conditioning specialist” which meant some hard labor. Although my older brother did not hit the weights in school he was one of the strongest kids around from years of pipe fitting, hauling boilers, etc.

Bull strength cannot be forgotten about in any successful training program. I recall shaking the hands of some of my father’s friends and being amazed at the size of their hands and the strength they posessed without ever stepping foot into a gym. With a cousin playing on the NY Jets, I was able to meet some of the players when I was younger. I recall thinking that they had the exact same strong hands, one developed primarily through the gym, and the other developed through real world work.

Now to the point! These training styles can be blended together in fun and productive way. The athletes I’ve trained enjoy swinging the sledgehammer, carrying cinder blocks, throwing around car tires, etc. Over the next few months I hope to post some of these training sessions to see how simple and effective it is. Training that bull strength is a welcome change to always being in the gym. Most kids think training has to do with benching and squating all day. That doesn’t have to be the way. I will provide some examples, but open up eyes and get yourself strong like a bull!

- J. HASHEY, CSCS –