The WOW: “The Randle Workout”

The WOW – Week of 11/5/18

Hello Friends! The WOW post is a little late this week. I enjoyed a few days of “true vacation” last week and weekend so I didn’t do ANY work on the blog or any real work for a few days. That didn’t stop this dude from getting the workouts in though! Oh no, we aren’t taking breaks here, friends!

The workout this week was inspired by this awesome T-shirt (pictured above), which I got from SotaStickco.com – Please check out their gear!

The shirt is the face of my all time favorite Football player, “The Craziest Man in the NFL”, The HOF D-tackle, John Randle. Randle is an amazing “rags-to-riches” type story, but deeper than that, he is the story of a guy who came from humble begining, grew up dirt poor without a father, had limitted ambition at times, but ultimately became an amazing success story. More about Randle later… Now let’s get into the workout! 

Mon,Wed, Fri: Morning

For Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, in the morning I am working out right along with an awesome workout video from Nate Bower Fitness. Nate’s YouTube Channel is a go-to spot for me. He has countless workout videos for beginners and beyond Please check out all of the content from this awesome workout coach! This week’s “urban savage” shadow boxing workout is AWESOME! 

I just got some new weighted gloves that I will be using. These Meister brand weighted gloves fit perfect. My Ringside brand gloves are about six months old and starting to tear, and never fit all that great – although super-effective, so I thought it would be a good time to upgrade. I got these gloves on amazon for about $20. 

Mon, Wed, Fri: Afternoon

The afternoon workout for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is a “tabata-flow” spin. I talked about the “tabata-flow” idea last week. Basically instead of maxing out like you normally would in tabata intervals, I am doing more of an FTP ride. 

Set your interval timers for 40 intervals of 20X10. This will be a total of 5 rounds of tabata sets. If you are new to tabata intervals you might want to set your timer for 8 intervals and take a minute break between the 5 rounds. If you are more conditioned to tabata, try to run through it with no breaks!  Remember this is the “flow-tabata” concept so don’t max out, work at a sustainable but difficult pace. 

Tuesday and Thursday: Morning

Tuesday mornings I am doing a “free-style” workout. I am turning the lastest ASOT and doing shadow-boxing type moves. Kicks, knees, punch combos, and in honor of my NFL hero John Randle who inspired this workout, I will be doing a few “Jab Oles” and spin moves! Those were Randle’s signature moves! 

We will be using our interval timers again. The workout will be 15 sets of 60 seconds on and 30 seconds off. I want to continue in the “flow” workout concept. I covered the “flow” idea more in last weeks Flow Workout so check out that post if you missed it. The basic idea is I am training everyday and want to workout in a way that allows me to do that without being sore. 

Tuesday and Thursday: Night

After work on Tuesday and Thursday I will be doing some  light-resistance intervals on the spin bike. This is more of a recovery and “just stretch the legs” type of workout. 

I am using the same interval settings as the morning – 15 sets of 60 seconds on and 30 seconds off. Keep the resistance light, but add a little on during the 60 seconds, and take a little off during the 30 seconds. We should work up a light sweat, but this is a recovery more than a tough workout. 

This Week’s Inspiration: John Randle 

Early Life

John Randle is an amazing story. Check out more about John here in this film made about his life. He started from very humble beginings. John and his two older brothers grew up in a 20X20 shack in a little town of under 200 people. Their father had another family, only a few miles away, that he lived with all the time. The father claimed the other family as his own, while leaving the Randle’s to just survive with their mom. The Randle boys had half brothers, the same age as them, growing up a few miles away from them that they never really knew and were not claimed as family. 

Motivation Needed 

John needed some encouragement along his path. At one time his only ambition was to be a city garbage man. He saw his older brother Ervin play football, which took him to college and then the NFL. Ervin played Linebacker for the Buccaneers. Watching his brother succeed by playing football got John more motivated to make something of himself. That, along with some pushing from his mother, kept him playing football when he wanted to quit. 

Dude, You Are Too Small For D-Line

John was a D-lineman, but considered too small for the NFL. Ervin got him a try-out with the Bucs. They wanted him to play line-backer because of his size. John was determined to play d-line and didn’t change positions. The Bucs cut him. Other NFL teams looked at him, but all thought he was too small. 

Go North!

Finally, Randle visited the Minnesota Vikings. When he first reported to Vikings workouts he was only about 240lbs. The Coaches told him to take a month and come back; if he got to 250lbs they would give him a short. 

Whatever it Takes

Randle took a month and then reported back. He was about 5lbs under the needed weight. Fearful he would miss his shot, Randle rushed out to a local hardware store and purchased a large chain and padlock. He wrapped the chain around his waist and hid it under his sweats. When the d-line coach saw Randle, he told John “well, jump on the scale, let’s see if you hit 250lbs…”. John weighed in at 251lbs with the hidden padlock and chain, made the team, and eventually turned that into the one-time highest paid defensive player in the NFL, and a Hall Of Fame career. 

I Wanted To Play Like Randle

When I played football in Highschool, I played some d-line. That was my favorite position. My freshman line coach told me to study guys like John Randle, and  I did. Randle kind of became my hero. I tried to do his moves, like the “Jab Ole”, bull rush, and spin move. He was always yelling, “barking”, and trying to get into peoples’ head; his mechanism to cope with his small size. I became a bit of a “trash talker” on the football field. Like Randle, I was always smaller than the linemen I played against, being only about 5’6 and, at that time around 175-185lbs. Most highschool lineman playing varsity football were at least 5’10 and 200lbs; I played with and against many who were bigger than that. I took some whoopings, but handed some out too. The bull rush move was easy for me because I had leverage on almost anyone, being so short, but with strong, stout legs. I think I won more battles than I lost. I never made splashy plays, but I beat my guy most of the time. I was never going to play football beyond highschool, but studying Randle was key to me starting all four years of high school football.

Ok, wrap it up Man! 

If you couldn’t tell, John Randle is my all time favorite Viking, and NFL Player. I love his story. He came from nothing and created a HOF career. He might have talked trash on the football field but he is not like that off the field. He does a yearly golf tourney that donates all the money to a childrens developmental center. I believe he is truly a good person. 

And there you have it my friends; The WOW!, Workout of the week, “The Randle Workout”. Thank you SO MUCH for reading! Thanks to all the awsome content providers, please check out their links and support the awesomeness that they do! Until next time, be happy and healthy my friends. And don’t forget, be the hero of your own story!