Effectiveness of Dead Ball Training

By Derek Boyer – Undefeated winner for 15 years at Australia’s Strongest Man competition

I'd like to introduce to you the underground revolution that is fast-becoming the big ticket training tool to elite performance. In my opinion, the sheer effectiveness of Dead Ball training will surpass all other training systems. the reason why I personally endorse, exhibit, lecture and present to audiences like Richmond FC and Melbourne Rebels is because they are examples of elite athletes that get it.

I personally use Dead Balls in my own training to get stronger! My personal record is to shoulder an 85kg Dead Ball for 16 repetitions in one minute. I use a variety of different weighted DB's to train explosive repetition in a number of specialised exercises and high-performance training routines that I have devised to increase my overall "Real World Strength". My routines are deceptively short, taking between 5 to 10 minutes, but are so brutally intense they would bring the best athletes to their knees.

What makes Dead Ball training so effective - and necessary - is that unlike the normal well-balanced and symmetrically loaded gym training systems you may have become very good at, Dead Balls present as a pliable, shape-changing and awkward training tool that shifts the weight and load around your body to misload your lifting. It makes your job harder, but is far more effective for developing Real World Strength.

Effective Dead Ball training represents what I deliver as a "Non-Symmetrical Training Environment", as opposed to the common gym-oriented training systems that are largely "Symmetrical Training Environments / Systems" that use nicely balanced bars and machines that don’t require much balancing to be effective.

I know, because over the years I have become very strong at conventional squatting, dead lifting and benching. However, I realised quite some time ago that when you misload any exercise you lose all your strength if you are not used to it. I learnt this lesson the hard way competing on the World Strongest Man Circuit when I first had to flip cars and carry awkward objects - none of which are symmetrical. The lesson I learnt was that if you are not prepared, you will fail badly.

The real world is no different. The real world is a nonsymmetrical, unyielding bitch of a place that doesn't care for your comfort. So you may ask yourself, ‘Why am I still persisting with second-rate strength training systems that do not cross-over that well?’

Here's a challenge for you right now!
I’m guessing you are a strong guy, so squat with good form as many full depth repetitions as you can with a bar loaded with 100kg. Most strong guys I do this with will comfortably manage 20 to 30 repetitions. Now rest completely until you can do it again.

Now lift and shoulder the smaller weighted 85kg Dead Ball and perform as many full depth squat repetitions as you can manage!

What you will notice straight away is just how much you suck at Dead Ball Squats. Most guys will struggle with 1 or 2 repetitions before they fail. Welcome to Non Symmetrical training!

Elite trainers should acquire an 85kg Challenge Ball, 55kg Body conditioning Ball and a 35kg explosive Throwing Ball.

Then go to my website and download the definitive "How To" on effective Dead Ball Training called “Dead Ball Master Class”. It will show you graphically all the specialised exercises you will need to become effectively stronger and clearly illustrate the specific training programs that you should perform to increase performance. At the end of the book you will be challenged with a specific strength & performance test that you should perform straight away then revisit 6 weeks later.