By CJ Murphy, MFS for EliteFTS.com

The Strongman Log is a versatile piece of equipment that can do more than just be used for an event. Logs can be used for a wide variety of exercises and goals.

In this article, we will look at three different exercises you can do with it: (1) Floor Presses, (2) Training Complexes, and (3) Front Squats.

Floor Presses

Why Floor Presses with the log? One great reason is the position of your hands. The neutral grip takes a great deal of stress off of the wrists and shoulders. The tri’s get a beating with these as well. If your shoulders a bit beat up or you’ve got weak triceps, try these out for a change. Floor Pressing with a log is done just like a barbell press, but you’ll need two spotters to use any real weight, unless you have special attachments for your power rack to hold the log . Your spotters will have to hand the log off to you and then take it when you are done as you really can’t wrestle a 400 pound log onto your chest safely.

We’ve tried these for both max effort as well as for our second exercises and we prefer them better for our second exercise for 5-8 reps, heavy.

Training Complexes

This really isn’t an exercise but more like a workout. Complexes are like circuits, using one piece of equipment for a variety of exercises with no rest in between. These are usually done with a barbell but a log will kick your ass and increase your GPP.

Try this circuit out: Overhead Press: 8 reps Front Squat: 8 reps Row: 8 reps Keystone/Romanian Deadlift: 8 reps Clean & Press: 8 reps Rest 35-60 seconds, go again for 2-3 more sets. Use light weight to get used to things the first time out.

Front Squats

Front Squats with the log are pretty tough. They are nothing like Front Squats with a barbell if you watch people do them. The log really stuffs a stick in your Front Squat spokes. The key to doing these is once you have cleaned the log to your chest, you really need to focus on keeping your elbows up during the whole lift. The more your elbows drop, the more likely the log will fall and you will fail. Front Squats with the log is best used for reps. I don’t recommend it for max effort work – training heavy for events beats you up enough and going really heavy on these will just add to it. Try them out for sets of 8-15 reps. Well, there you have it, a couple of different exercise you can do with the log. If you don’t have a log, EliteFTS.com has some very high-quality ones available on the site. Get one and get training.

Train like a lumberjack, use a log,

CJ Murphy MFS