TRAIN LIKE AN ANIMAL
WHATTODO
PerformSupersetAwithnorestbetweenmovesorsets.Dothreesets.Takea
30-secondbreatherbeforelaunchingintoSupersetB.Dothreesetsofthat,too.
Takeanother30-secondbreatherandfinishwithoneroundofthemedley.MAY 2017^127some b-boying [breakdancing] and as my
brother took me through some moves I
realised I’d lost my range of movement.”
Theculpritswereobvious.Helbergwas
powerlifting at the time, while years of
Aussie Rules and rugby league had left their
mark on his body. “Why I’m so passionate
about all this is that no coach ever taught
me that the longer you do traditional
training, the more it’s robbing you blind of
your freedom of movement,” he says.
Like the ghosts inThe Sixth Sense, a lot
of us walk around as shadows of our
optimum selves –and don’t even know it.
We think stiff, compromised, robotic
movement is normal – the way things have
to be when you’ve been competing
ferociously since the under-12s. Signs of
trouble? “You might have lower-back pain
or referred sciatic pain,” says Helberg. “Or
maybe to get onto the ground you have to
putyourhandsandkneesdownfirst
because your fascia, ligaments and tendons
are so tight.”
Touching my arm, he says: “You didn’t
needmetotellyouthatyouwerestiff.In
otherwords,howmuchrangeofmovement
youwerebornwiththatlife’stakenfrom
you. And I’m telling you here and now, you
cangetitback.”
Helberg looks at me intently: “If you
couldfrog-squatasdeepasIcan,doyou
think you’d have greater quality of life?”
Undoubtedly. But I can’t imagine it.
“Never say never. I didn’t used to move
like this. The takeaway is, you can get it
back. And once you do, you never want to
lose it again.”
ANEWWAY
Former NRL coach Chris Anderson was
among the first to recognise that, in his
sport, the pursuit of mobility had gotten
lost somewhere between the squat rack and
the lat pulldown machine. Footy was full of
guys more interested in breaking the club
bench-press record than developing a
functional strength that could be
transferred to the field.
Hearing all this, Men’s Health senior
designer and fitness fiend Jay Abady is
primed to train ZUU-style. Helberg’s ready
for him with a 10-minute workout that, he
predicts, will smoke the muscular Abady.
It will be classic ZUU rather than Iron
ZUU, in which weights are added to the
mix. Iron ZUU is a concession to the fact
most guys prefer a training system that
dangles the promise of more brawn, even
when you’re offering them something
Helberg would argue is more precious:
cat-like mobility. “The fitness industry has
conditioned people to think they need
equipment to train – treadmills, benches,
kettle bells,” says Helberg. “It’s ridiculous.
I’ve had high-level athletes come to me for
aworkoutandI’vesaid,‘Justdowhatmy
sondoesforthenext10minutes–whatever
he does, copy him’. And within five
minutes they come back exhausted,
because when we’re young we roll, we
move and all the rest of it.”
Helberg has Abady doing frog squats
interspersed with bursts of bear crawling,
forward and reverse. Then comes a combo
of cobra push-ups and rhino walks (see
“TrainLikeABeast”,below).Finally,
there’s a medley of all four. The whole
sessionlasts10minutes.And,asforecast,
Abady is cooked.
“The rhino walks and frog squats caused
aburninmyquadsIhaven’tfeltfromany
other exercise,” reports Abady, “including
heavy squats. Unlike traditional squatting,
there was no reprieve at full extension. The
day after, my legs felt fatigued enough to
know they’d been worked, but without any
crippling stiffness or pain.”ANIMALINSTINCT
While you’d never mistake Helberg for a
bodybuilder, he’s super lean and more
impressively put together than 99 per cent
of gym goers. At his powerlifting peak he
weighed 92kg; he’s now “69 wringing wet”.
“My physique is built off the 200-odd
natural movements of ZUU – that’s it,” he
says. “You end up looking very athletic.”
You won’t ever do burpees in an Iron ZUU
session. Yes, burpees are taxing and work
everything, but they’re also high-impact,
says Helberg. Nor has any wild animal ever
been seen punching them out.
“My opinion on traditional training is
that it serves a purpose, but it shouldn’t be
at the cost of mobility,” Helberg says.
“Movement must come first. Targeting it in
the elite world might bring a 3-5 per cent
improvement. For the average person, it
might be 50 per cent.”
His advice for right now on addressing
the restrictions and limitations that are
blo c k i ng you r p at h to opt i mu m
performance? “Hop down on the ground
and bear-crawl,” he says. “Whatever your
fitness regime, get them in there.”Use this do-anywhere, low-impact workout devised by Iron ZUU founder Nathan
Helberg to torch fat, increase mobility and reconnect with your inner beast*ForyournearestIronZUUaffiliateoffering45-minutegroupworkouts, visit thezuu.com.auMEDLEY
•10 X FROG SQUAT
•10M BEAR CRAWL
(FORWARD THEN
BACKWARDS)
•4 X RHINO STEP
•2 X COBRA PUSH-UPSUPERSET B
COBRA PUSH-UP
Assume a push-up position.
Bend at the elbows to lower yo
chest to the floor, moving your
uppertorsototheleft.Push
back up and then move it dow
totheright.Pushbackupand
do a standard, linear push-up.
That’s1rep.Do3.SUPERSET A
FROG SQUAT
Bend at the hips and lock
your elbows into your
thighs, then drop into a
squat. Keeping your head
up and still, rock your hips
up and d ow n. D o 10 reps.BEAR CRAWL
Hit the deck so your weight
is on your hands and feet.
Crawl forward 10m, using
your glutes as your main
power source. Now reverse
for 10m.RHINO STEPS
Take a wide stance and drop
into a half-squat. You’ll hold
that position for the duration.
Walk out your left leg until
you’ve turned 90 degrees.
N ow to uc h yo ur lef t k ne e to
the floor. Walk back to
square then repeat with your
right leg. Back to square.
T hat ’s 1 rep. D o 4.ourwn05 / 17
FROGSQUAT