Why should you integrate steel mace into your training regime?

Before we begin, you guys must first understand the history of where this all started:

HISTORY OF THE MACE

Mace training dates back to 13th century Persia, where the elite warriors and wrestlers of the day would train with the heavy Gada to condition their muscles for battle. The first Gada used in training was only a stone attached to a bamboo staff. However, when made for war, the Gada were often made of iron or bronze. Mace training continued into modern-day India, which began to trickle down into mainstream strongman training at the start of the 20th century. A recent resurgence in unconventional and functional training by elite athletes has put this ancient technique back on the forefront of cutting-edge performance exercise.

So now that you know the history of steel mace, let’s talk about how it benefits our line of work (Military, Fire, police, and first responders).

1. OVERHEAD ROTATIONAL STRENGTH AND EFFICIENCY

During a struggle with an offender, you need powerful rotational force to take an offender down who, of course, is resisting being taken down.

2. EXCELLENT FOR INCREASING STRENGTH THROUGH A WIDE RANGE OF MOTION

The steel mace is an excellent implement for increasing strength and mobility in the upper body, especially the core, and shoulders.

Military, Fire, and police are often in uncomfortable positions, and they need to remain strong in those positions. Steel mace exercises access multiple ranges of motion in the shoulder girdles and rib cage, which not only builds strength in these positions but also helps reduce the chance of injury. 

3. GRIP STRENGTH

One of the significant benefits of steel mace training is that it develops incredible strength in the fingers, hands, wrist, and forearms. All the areas needed for bone-crushing grip strength.

This is important considering the grip on the pistol, rifle, Chicago bar, or ram, holding an offender so they can’t resist escaping or placing them under arrest.

The steel mace is tough on the grip because it has a long lever and an offset weight that displaces the weight from the palm of your hand, requiring you to stabilize the mace, which in turn works your grip strength like no other.

4. FANTASTIC CONDITIONING TOOL

Regarding conditioning tools, the steel mace is one of the best. Steel mace circuits and complexes will get you into incredible shape.

Try doing steel mace complexes/HIIT workouts for cardio-type training. It's great because it combines cardio with muscle endurance and strength, especially for the upper body, which is essential in our line of work.

5. CORE STRENGTH & CORE STABILITY

Your core connects your upper body to your lower body. It works as one unit, tightening up to protect your body, and it transfers force from your lower body to your upper body during movements like breaching a door. A strong core is one of the most critical factors for transferring explosive power. And explosive power is essential in a physical altercation with an offender, breaching a door with a ram, transferring energy from a Chicago bar to pry open doors during a fire, etc.

So, if you are looking to take your performance to the next level, the steel mace is an implement that doesn’t waste any time. We highly recommend learning how to incorporate it into your training.

Note: As many benefits as the steel mace can provide, if you do not perform the exercises correctly, you can potentially do more harm than good. So make sure you learn the movements correctly. Start with hand placements, grip orientation, starting positions, and hand switches, then move into learning the exercises. Work from the ground up. Build a solid foundation for steel mace training, as this tool has a learning curve.