Barrel lifting is just brutal and hard training. You don’t get tougher. Everybody should do at least one barrel lifting course in their life, because like a foreign object it teaches you all those things that are so important to real strength. Balance, coordination, the body as one piece, lifting things that weren’t meant to be lifted. In this exercise, you’re only going to clean and press with a barrel that you can handle for reps.
I like using a barrel because it’s a good size to work with and allows you to do a lot of moves that give you that kind of foreign object force without being so unwieldy or big that you can’t get your arms around it. In this workout I want you to do one set of each type of clean and press for as many reps as you can in a minute, then rest for a minute and move on to the next type of clean and press.
Here are the variations: (Remember to use good body mechanics as much as possible. Bend your legs, tighten your abs and back, pressurize your air, and lift. Also do this outside or somewhere you can drop the weight.)
1. Parallel grip. Grab the barrel by the chin with both hands on the same side. Clean it up to the shoulders and press it. This is the hardest way to do it and why we put it first. It is extremely difficult to balance.
2. Double bottom handle. Grab the barrel by the chin with both hands under the bottom. Clean it up to the shoulders, then readjust your hands to a split or parallel grip and press.
3. Split grip. Grab the barrel with one hand under the bottom and one hand on the top chin. This is the most efficient way to lift a barrel and it will balance better, especially if it is only partially full of water. Take it to the shoulders and press. It will be overhead, but at a steep angle. This helps you balance.
4. Knee kick. Buy it as you like. Pick him up and as you start to shoulder him, push one leg under him and help him up with your knee as if you were going to kick a pair of dumbbells to bench press. Then adjust your grip and press.
5. Sit clean and press. Take a bench that is relatively high or something you can sit on that takes your legs out of the movement. Then grab the barrel with a split grip and clean and press it. This makes the movement dependent solely on the arm and shoulder of the weight movement. It’s also very heavy for the abs to stabilize as you press.
6. Crooked arm below. Tilt the barrel, wrap one arm under it like you’re holding a baby, grab the bottom by the chin with the other hand. Clean to the shoulder, readjust your grip and press.
7. Clean the barrel once as you like. Then depending on whether you’ve been strictly pressing or pushing for the first six sets, do the opposite for this set and then do as many reps as you can.
This should keep you busy and really work your shoulders, your grip, and everything else from head to toe. For even more, be sure to check out my barrel-lifting DVD.