Embrace the suck
cya comfort zone
Don’t go through the motions, you have to push yourself out of your comfort zones if you are going to see change. Our training programs are hard, but hard is good for you. The best workouts sometimes suck the most while you’re in them, but that makes them all the more satisfying.
Before we get into how you can become better at embracing the suck in your workouts, let’s go over what embracing the suck is.
TREAT YOUR HARDSHIP LIKE A FRIEND.
Have you ever finished a triple Bulgarian Split Squat drop set and been absolutely dead but later say.. “ well, that was fun!”. Congratulations, you have embraced the suck.
Training sessions are supposed to be hard; that’s what will create adaptation and ultimately make you stronger.
And it’s not only about training; sometimes the obstacles are mental. Like not eating a donut, sitting in the office meeting, or not going to bed on time because you are doom scrolling social media, or watching a movie you’ve already seen 3 times. Embracing the suck is having the discipline to make the difficult decision now, knowing that it will pay off in the future.
Embracing the suck is making friends with that difficult obstacle in front of you, knowing that you will come out better on the other side.
What embracing the suck can look like:
• Waking up an hour early so that you can hit the gym
• Still taking your daily walk even though it’s raining
• Hitting a 20RM squat
Now, of course, you can also get carried away with this idea in your training and blindly just do difficult workouts, but there is more to it than that. Your training session should be well thought out and planned, with every movement having an intention. Not every movement and training session can be balls to the wall and tell you when it’s time to hit the gas pedal in our programs.
Workouts that Suck
Here are some of the workouts we have used for our own training and on LSN programs that can push you to “Embrace the Suck” a little more.
Farmer Suicides
Yes, it's just like high school PE class, but with weight in hand! This is all about time under tension and getting through the pain. Your grip strength will be so much stronger once you can peel your fingers away from the handles.
📝 Carry “light” weight (about 50% of your max 50ft farmers)
Carry 25 ft then drop and carry back
Carry 50 ft then drop and carry back
Carry 75-100ft then drop and carry back
If you do not have enough space to carry 75-100 ft then do 50ft again and 25ft again (kind of reversing your suicide)
This is all in 1 go ^^^^
Rest as needed then repeat again
We use farmer carries in many LSN programs. Why don’t you try them out on “The Standard”?
Sled Way to Heaven
Want to test your mental fortitude and improve how much lactic acid you can handle? Say a little prayer because this is the sledway to heaven.
Using sled or prowler…
Add a plate after each set of 100ft down and back
rest 60s between plate jumps (or wait until your partner completes the 100ft)
Go until you can't.
This would be a perfect addition on a day you want to spice up your sled work on the “Strength” program’s conditioning day!
Quads in the Air Fryer
Air Fryers are all the rage! This is a really good “finisher” that you can use on leg day to guarantee you gave it 100%. You can confidently say that you don’t skip leg day.
Sit deep with these and try to keep your torso as vertical as possible.
Sit all the way into the hole and pause, explosively come up and barely lock your legs out before you go back down. If you have to rest at all, do it at the bottom, with no standing up.
Drop the weight in 3 sets, 10 reps with weight, and get as many more reps as you can get before your quads want to quit.
We are currently using these and other leg finishers in the Summer Stacked cycle with LSN Elite!
Push-Ups of DOOM
This is just one of the four suckfest push-up finishers from the Strongest at the Beach program that is guaranteed to give you a pump of a lifetime.
As fast as possible:
10 Pushups, stand back up.
Back on the floor for 9. Stand back up.
8...
7...
6...
5...
4...
3...
2...
1. Finito!
Birthday Squats
Who needs candles? You know that you enjoy pain when you subject yourself to “Bday squats” to celebrate your arrival onto earth! We have started a tradition that we also make our friends partake in (aren’t we so loving!). On your Birthday, you take your body weight (or more!) and do as many reps as you are in years old in ONE set. Every year is a PR!
Our Birthday squats inspired us to write one set of 20-rep squats in our Elite program during our “Even Stronger” cycle. If you add these to your program, you can technically celebrate your 20th Birthday every week!!
Thanks for daring to read this blog! If you try out one of these workouts please let us know how it goes and tag us on IG or message the LSN chat!