Ep. 498: Conquer Advanced Calisthenics Skills by Doing THIS 1st
Release Date: 12/08/2025
Ep. 502: How to Train - and GAIN - When Your Job's a Pain
The Hammer Cast
Got a labor-intensive job? Good news: you can still train and make gains. You just have to approach your training correctly. This episode will tell you how. On that note: If you like training that: · Gives you more strength than it takes from you · Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously · Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge. As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current workouts – NOT instead...
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Ep. 501: The Kettlebell World Bids Farewell to a Legend
The Hammer Cast
Today we bid farewell to a legend in the kettlebell world, without whom the entire movement almost certainly would've petered out and faded into fitness obscurity more than two decades ago. I give my thoughts about it on this episode. On that note, if you like training that: · Gives you more strength than it takes from you · Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously · Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge. As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and...
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Ep. 500: Why I’m not the least bit worried about ‘AI coaching’
The Hammer Cast
In this episode I dish on: [0:02:00] Seppuku & Why Machines Can’t Make Poetry [0:03:00] Is AI Going to Replace Coaches? [0:04:30] Why Programming Is More Than an Algorithm [0:05:40] Real-World Coaching Example [0:06:20] Psychology & the “Rationalizing Animal” [0:07:10] AI Coaching Fails: Pistol Squats & Kettlebell Swings [0:08:30] Content “Inbreeding” & Soulless AI Output [0:09:40] Human Connection & Why Clients Choose Coaches [0:11:00] Being “AI-Proof” as a Trainer [0:12:00] Strength Legends & Experience vs. Science [0:14:00] My...
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499: Old Time Strongman Secrets for Eye-Popping Strength (at ANY age!)
The Hammer Cast
Wanna get freakishly strong like the Cirque du Soleil acrobats or old time strongmen? I dish on how to do exactly that in this episode. If you like training that: · Gives you more strength than it takes from you · Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously · Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge. As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current workouts – NOT instead of them. Even cooler: Many find that it actually...
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Ep. 498: Conquer Advanced Calisthenics Skills by Doing THIS 1st
The Hammer Cast
"Eliminate frustration and speed ahead." Who doesn't want this? When it comes to strength training - and calisthenics in particular - many ambitious and well-meaning enthusiasts jump right into a laundry list of progressions... And fall flat on their tushes. If you want to feel like you're positively speeding through the various and sundry progressions that lay at the heart of each and every advanced calisthenics movement, you must first dominate their prerequisite movements. This is the sure-fire path to things such as: One-arm pushups Pistol squats Nigh on effortless...
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Ep. 497: Conquer Kettlebell Ballistics by NOT Doing This 1 Common Thing
The Hammer Cast
If you want to radically speed up your mastery of the ballistic kettlebell lifts - no matter WHERE you are in your training journey - you need to throw conventional training tactics out the window and use a sleek set of little-known drills to amp up your mind-muscle connection almost instantly. My best-selling book, Tamers of the Lost Arc, can show you how. Check it out here => https://a.co/d/a1cNsCl On that note, if you like training that: · Gives you more strength than it takes from you · Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously · Powers-up every nook, cranny,...
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Ep. 496: Get Lean the (Almost) Easy Way
The Hammer Cast
If you're looking to trim up, get lean, and drop some unsightly flab, here are some first steps that will help you toward that end. On that note, if you like training that: · Gives you more strength than it takes from you · Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously · Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge. As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current workouts – NOT instead of them. Even cooler: Many find that it...
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Ep. 495: Will Stretching Before Training KILL Your Gains?!
The Hammer Cast
There seem to be two sides of the proverbial coin in the fitness world when it comes to stretching: Side 1: it is mission critical that you do it. Side 2: you damn well better not even think about it - especially before you lift! The truth - as you might imagine - is somewhere in the middle. I dish on this in this mighty fine episode. Tune in, chill out, and enjoy. On that note, if you like training that: · Gives you more strength than it takes from you · Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously · Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your...
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Ep. 494: Why I Choose Original Strength
The Hammer Cast
There are a great many systems out there promising to deliver movement quality - and probably a lot of them can make good on that promise. Even still, this is why I choose Original Strength... On that note, if you like training that: · Gives you more strength than it takes from you · Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously · Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge. As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current...
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Ep. 493: Kettlebell Superstar Zack Henderson Talks About 'Lift-A-Palooza'
The Hammer Cast
Get your own free copy of my 9 Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge here => I'm joined on this episode once again by none other than kettlebell superstar Zack Henderson to talk about his annual Lift-A-Palooza event held each year during the last week of January. Here's a list of all the fun stuff we talked about (according to the super genius AI cyborg type thing that I politely but firmly demanded to put together a list of topics for you to be able to pick and choose from): [0:00:02] Introduction to the episode and hosts. [0:00:23] Discussion about nicknames and...
info_outline"Eliminate frustration and speed ahead." Who doesn't want this?
When it comes to strength training - and calisthenics in particular - many ambitious and well-meaning enthusiasts jump right into a laundry list of progressions...
And fall flat on their tushes.
If you want to feel like you're positively speeding through the various and sundry progressions that lay at the heart of each and every advanced calisthenics movement, you must first dominate their prerequisite movements.
This is the sure-fire path to things such as:
- One-arm pushups
- Pistol squats
- Nigh on effortless pullups
- much, much more
In this episode I dish on:
[0:00:28] Natural Movement and Standardized Exercises
Discussion about learning basic movement patterns, balancing standardized exercises with natural human movements, and recommendations such as crawling, carries, and gait pattern work.
[0:02:36] Handstand & Prerequisite Example from Social Media
[0:05:00] Personal Anecdote: Prerequisites in Practice
[0:06:27] Progress with Handstands and Sequential vs. Simultaneous Training
[0:09:16] Lunge Program Leading to Improved Pistol Squats
[0:10:32] Embracing the Foundations
Valuing foundational, repetitive practice (particularly of prerequisites) across fitness skills.
[0:11:06] Closing
If you like training that:
· Gives you more strength than it takes from you
· Improves your stamina and resilience simultaneously
· Powers-up every nook, cranny, crevice, and corner of your Soft Machine
Then you just might like my 9-Minute Kettlebell and Bodyweight Challenge.
As the name indicates, it’s just 9 minutes long, and it’s designed to be done WITH your current workouts – NOT instead of them.
Even cooler:
Many find that it actually amplifies their strength in their favorite kettlebell and bodyweight moves, like presses, squats, pullups, and more.
And best of all, it’s free.
How free?
I’m talkin’ freer than the 4th of July, my friend.
Get thee thine own copy here: http://www.9MinuteChallenge.com
Have fun and happy training!
Aleks Salkin