I grew up on military installations in the U.S. and Europe. My step father was a Staff sergeant in the Army. So, it wasn’t uncommon for me to see soldiers being put through the rigors of boot camp. I would often see large groups of soldiers being led on a run through the base. You could hear them all yelling in cadence as their drill sergeant shouted instructions. I would see them climbing walls and running through obstacle courses. You could see drill sergeants punishing their soldiers by making them assume the “front leading rest position” for long periods of time. This is the same position we call a plank. So for the most part I saw a lot of push ups, sit ups, chin ups and a whole lot of running. This more or less made up for the bulk of the Army’s conditioning. It wasn’t until I came across my coach, Frank Cucci, that I was first introduced to the 8-count bodybuilder exercise.
By Joey Alvarado
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