Description

My name is Doug Szolek and I am the author of Anabolic Bruiser Conditioning™. My entire life I’ve been attracted to strength. I remember when I was very young, I would stubbornly refuse help as I attempted to drag logs larger than me out the woods and to the truck to be hauled away. The appeal has never left me even to this day.As years went on I began to make tests of strength out of the otherwise mundane tasks of yard work and chores. In my high school years when my peers chose football or baseball for recreation, I jumped head-long into the iron game getting a job at a local gym to gain free access the facilities I needed.Just out of high school an interesting course of events lead me to the study of the ROSS Training system under Scott Sonnon. For the first time in my life I learned how to put my passion for strength to efficient use. As years went by my study deepened and I became an active participant in the ROSS Instructor Development Program which I pursued to the end – becoming the first American to be Licensed as an Instructor of the ROSS Training System in USA. I have even had the extreme honor of appearing in several martial art videos assisting Coach Sonnon in sharing Russian Martial Art with the world.With my active study of ROSS I had the privilege of watching Scott use his vast knowledge of human movement potential to create the Circular Strength Training™ System, patent his world famous Clubbells® and unleash them on a Physical Culture that had nearly forgotten functional strength.Soon designs were finished and the Clubbell became available in a wide variety of weights. Giving in to my roots as a meat-head, I gravitated instantly to the Bruiser Class Clubbell® (45lbs. of steel on a 2′ handle). As I took my practice of Circular Strength Training™ deeper daily, I used the creative energy spawned in the gym to write many articles for RMAX.tv and Coach Sonnon’s Circular Strength Training™ Magazine.I answered the strength challenge made by RMAX.tv Productions to be the first person to Power Clean the Bruiser to Order Position and hold it for a 4 seconds count early in 2003. While my strength continued to increase as I practiced my Bruiser lifts in a one-handed manner, I felt an idea growing within me that the Bruiser Class Clubbell would be better served as a whole different animal.I became so enamored with the heavy steel that I recently I wrote the training manual for Olympic Clubbell® Sport to address the needs of this grueling strength endurance sport. Coach Sonnon revitalized the former Olympic Games event which lived from 1904-1932, and asked me to compose the handbook for optimizing preparation for the event.This February I’m planning to attend the first OCS championships in Washington State as a heavy weight competitor. I hope to win my category as a Master of Sport, but only time and my training determine that victory.With this in mind I began to research through the books which Coach Sonnon used to write Clubbell Training for Circular Strength. In particular I was looking for information on the heaviest clubs of old and how they were used.Through my study I discovered that for the heaviest of clubs (Gadas) two hands were used and the ranges of motion that the practitioner moved the club through were different from the one handed exercises.I had found something but still wasn’t sure what I had discovered. Continued research and hours in the gym, drenched in the sweat of experimentation, lead me to the compilation of what is now presented as Anabolic Bruiser Conditioning™ – two-handed training with the most intense addition to the CST armory, the 45lbs. Clubbell aptly named the Bruiser.