Growing up in Slovenia where there is a lot to do in the outdoors and the fact that I loved training, it was only a matter of time before we started training outside a lot, as there is nothing better than fresh air, the “wild” and lifting heavy stuff, throwing it and sprinting up hills. We started gathering in groups and going to Tivoli, which is a park on the outskirts of the city,  where we would bring our kettlebells, ropes, kegs and we had some heavy logs and stones already there.

Even though we didn’t have the best programming back then, that training produced some of the best gains in strength, speed and resiliency that I have ever got through training. Part of it was the actual environment as it was a group of dedicated athletes that really pushed it, but much of it was also the strongman training and odd object training that we used. More and more people joined the group and the results were always crazy because of the combination of the environemnt, like minded individuals and training methods. (more…)