I’ve spoke about in many past blog posts about how important being STRONG and having a good amount of strength is.

STRENGTH is everything.

Now I want to take it a bit further…

As one of my old football coach’s used say, “Strength ain’t worth sh*t if you’re too tired to do anything with it.”

He would be referring to our team when we were fatigued late in the game or in a practice.

He would then add in the statement, “The team that’s the strongest and has the most heart will prevail in the end.  It never hurts to be highly conditioned on top of that.”

He would then say, “get your asses back on the line!” as he would make us run another handful of sprints.

My old ball coach was right.

Being strong when you’re fresh is one thing, but what about when you’re a bit tired?

How strong can YOU be in the fourth quarter, the last round, or the final period?

How about overtime?

Would you be ready?

Things change just a bit when you’re fatigued.

In the real world, life is chaotic.

Being prepared for the unknown and the unexpected is what my overall goals have now recently turned to.

What I’ve had to do to prepare for the UNKNOWN is throw out the science a bit and “Embrace the Chaos.” so to speak.

Life isn’t always going to give you a clear path from A to Z as there’s going to be a lot of rough sh*t in the middle and in order to be prepared for this, you’ve got to train that way.

Something I’ve been toying around with for the last couple of months that’;s really been gong well has been mixing in strength work while I’m in a highly fatigued state.

Yeah I can handle 400+ lbs on a deadlift, but what about after a 1 mile run, some 400’s or a barrage of 40 yard sprints or prowler work?

That’s the type of STRENGTH I’m looking to build…

Anytime Strength.

Most strength programs have you train strength when you’re fresh which is what makes the most sense.

I agree with this 110%, but it’s like I said, life isn’t always going to set things up for you on a silver platter.

I say building up a good amount of “Anytime Strength” is paramount.

This is especially true for YOU if your goal is to turn yourself into an all around BEAST.

Something that really resonated with me was what I heard from Rob Orlando, who’s a past Crossfit games athletes and plain overall FREAK.

In an interview I heard he was talking about how he leaves a heavy barbell always loaded up with 400+ lbs at his gym.  When ever he walks by it, he does 1 deadlift.

Doesn’t matter if he’s cold or if he just finished a workout.

He feels that he should be strong enough to lift that amount of weight at anytime.

That’s a great example of REAL “Anytime Strength”.

Of course, you don’t have to have a barbell loaded up with 400+ lbs like Rob Orlando does, but I hope you understand my point.

I agree with what he was getting at with that.

Now, what are some ways that YOU can start building up a better level of “Anytime Strength”?

Before anything, make sure that you’re experience enough to train with heavy loads while you’re a bit fatigued.  If you’re some what of a beginner and you haven’t trained for many years with heavy weights yet, I would focus on building strength the old school way.

Next step, start incorporating E.M.O.T.M. intervals with your heavy lifting.

For example, throw 85-90% of your best back squat on the bar and hit 1 rep Every Min on the Min for 5-7 mins.

The first few reps will be rather easy, but as you get a bit fatigued, that’s when it gets “REAL”.

Another way to train “Anytime Strength” is to start adding in heavier lifting in at the END of your training sessions.

Here’s a few examples of what I’ve been doing with great success…

Give yourself 5 mins at the end of a session to build yourself up your HEAVIEST front squat, back squat, or deadlift.

***Stop if you reach technical failure (your form becomes complete sh*t) or if you can’t go any heavier.

Another option I like using is to blend or superset a HEAVY strength movement in with bodyweight movement.

Some of my favorite combos:

-HEAVY Deadlifts + Push Ups

-Front Squats + Recline Rows

-HEAVY Strict Military Presses + Single Leg Squats / Pistols

***When I say “HEAVY”, I mean your 3 rep max or heavier

All in all, the bottom line of what I’m trying to do is become STRONGER, FASTER, and more BADASS across the board.

Being strong, but out of shape is NO good.

In this day and age, you’ve got to have ANYTIME STRENGTH.

They say “Only The Strong Shall Survive?

I say it’ll come down to who can be STRONGEST the LONGEST.

Live and Train Aggressive!