Made it Up- Mace Training

It's been a hot minute since I picked up my mace. I've used it here and there doing Maasverse workouts when I didn't have a Bala beam to use, and 10lbs on the Mace felt good. But I haven't trained an actual Mace workout in a while.

I know I can handle "jumping in" so to speak, because of the intensity of the workouts I've been completing more recently. Especially that last week of Maasverse- that ish was hard, and I sweat through all of it just fine. So I know I can handle some Mace work.

But I didn't want to do Onnit 6's Steel Mace workout. Yes, that's where I initially learned, but I've also come to realize how adaptable the Mace can be to other exercise moves. The off balance weight demands controlled compensation from the opposite side of the body, and it can make for a really great workout.

I've also moved my hand a small distance away from the Mace Bell itself these days. When I started, my hand was gripping right at the Mace Bell. Now, I'm a hand or two away from the Mace Bell depending on the move.

Here's what I did today:

Shoulder mobility- Shrugs for 1 minute

Standing T twists for 1 minute.

Over the Shoulder Grabs with a water bottle 1 minute

Shoulder Rolls 1 minute each direction

Hip Mobility- Standing High Knees

Standing Quad stretch

Upright Hip Cars

Good mornings

The Mace Workout

Mace Curls- like a bicep curl. but with the mace.

Flag Press- But Mace Press.

Over the Shoulder Mace- Prep for the next move, Gripping the Mace about 3 hands away from the Bell, I pick it up with one hand and put it over my shoulder behind me, until I reach the end of my ROM. Like I'm putting a sword back in the sheath down my back. Then Back up and over my shoulder (carefully) and down to my side where I started. that's 1 rep. Keep going for 1 minute and switch sides.

Over the Shoulder Mace Swings- Or mace tick tocks. I can't decide which is better sounding. This involves holding your mace in one hand, while reaching over your shoulder, and using your wrist and forearm to carefully swing the mace from side to side behind you. This is prep work for Mace 360s.

Mace Deadlifts- Self explanatory really, dead lifts, but with Mace.

Mace Dead Bugs- Holding the mace directly above my chest with my arms outstretched above me while I lay on my back, knees elevated and calves parallel to the floor- using the hips to gently lower one leg at a time and keeping the core tight and engaged, until my toe touches the ground, and then back to start. Switch which side the Mace bell is on about halfway through the minute of work.

Plank Mace Drags- Ew, I can't believe I made myself do these. I detest planks like everyone else does, but I can't deny the good work they do. I paid extra attention to where My shoulders were and made sure to really hold tight between my shoulder blades and not let my traps take over and push me out of center. It was hard. I was swearing as heavily as I was sweating.

Low Lunge Chops- So, low lunge, one knee on the floor while the other is bent at 90 degrees, ankle under the knee anchoring you into the floor. Mace in both hands, starting low beside that knee pressing into the floor, swing up in a slow controlled motion across the front of the body so that the mace is now up in the air on the opposite side you started from. Swing back down to start, slow controlled movement. repeat for 1 minute and switch sides.

And then I stretched and guzzled water and decided it was a good workout worth writing down. So here, have a free one! I call myself a solid beginner for Mace but some of these might be harder for a total noob so if you've never picked up a Mace before, this probably isn't a great place to start. Make sure you're safe!

The versatility of the Mace is something I'm still playing with. The offset weight makes me want to try using it with a multitude of exercises to see how it feels to move with it more. That offset however is also exactly what is so exhausting about working with it, because it ups the ante quite a bit. It's more intense than you realize until after you've done a few moves.

How do you feel about the idea of using a Mace to train? Would you ever pick one up? If you tried out my workout, what do you think?