My Rules for Training, Part I

This article ismy statement on what my principles are when it comes to physical training.  These are the principles that I will follow until I come to the end of my mortal coil.  You won’t find much technical jargon on exercise selection, set and rep schemes, and macro- and mesocycles and all that other stuff that comes really comes down to mental masturbation when writing or discussing them.  

Those things are details.  

This is about the overarching guidelines I use to make decisions when it comes to those details.  I could write a 12 week program for someone and they would look at it and see a list of exercises and set and rep schemes and maybe weights or percentages to use.  But someone who understands what those details represent would see these rules. 

I’m going to use three examples throughout this article, myself, Crossfit, and marathon running.  I’m using myself because I know myself better than I know anyone else or anyone knows me.  I also don’t do Crossfit or run marathons.  I’m using Crossfit and marathon running because they are both very popular, very polarizing to people in the fitness industry, and represent seemingly opposite ends of the training spectrum.

I will preface this by saying that while I am familiar with both styles of training I am by no means an expert.  I won’t be hashing through technical details of said training styles but if I get something wrong and you know more than I do then lively, respectful, and intelligent discussion is encouraged.

Enough talk.  Let’s go.

1A. DO WHAT YOU LIKE TO DO…

A good test to see if someone is confident and mature in their beliefs is to outwardly question them.   You see it all the time in religion and politics and the fitness industry is no different.  It seems almost impossible to have discussions on Persons A and B training philosophies without it degrading into ad hominem attacks. 

People like to do Crossfit, people like to run marathons, people like to take karate, people like to play Shirling.  The world would be boring as hell if we all had the same likes and dislikes.

You need people that are very focused on one particular niche because they are the ones who are going to be able to best help the casual participant.  You need people that know a clean and jerk inside and out because they are going to help the Crossfit competitor get better.  You need the marathoners because they are going to help the couch potato train for their first 5k. 

And what it really comes down to is this: A POORLY DONE OR VERY MISGUIDED EXERCISE REGIMINE IS INFINITELY BETTER THAN SITTING ON YOUR ASS.

1B. …BUT BE GOOD AT IT

When you boil down all the arguments against any particular training program you see a few commonalities. 

It doesn’t get results

            or

It injures people

The results portion is a different subject for a different day.  It’s a details post.

So, in an essence all of the vitriol that gets thrown at Crossfit and marathon running is more or less misguided or thinly veiled concern for safety.  This is where being good at what you do comes into play.

A big part of Crossfit is the implementation of Olympic movements (i.e. the clean, snatch, jerk and variations of them).  Many, MANY people perform them poorly.  When done poorly Olympic movements can be extremely injurious.  When done correctly they are a lot safer than many popular sports.

This is how do you say, "Not good."

Many who pick up marathon running, or running in general, think that running is one of those intrinsic things that you just know how to do.  It should be, but it isn’t.  The types of shoes you wear, your mobility and strength levels and how active you have been since you learned to walk and run play a big role in the biomechanics of how you run.  If you’ve worn big heavy shoes with big heels and haven’t done anything active since high school then you are probably going to have problems.

The solution to being a neophyte in something is to get a coach who specializes in and has gotten results in what you want to do.  Or, at the very least, training partners who know what they are doing.

I’m a bit biased in that regard because I am a coach, but I’ve seen enough things done ass backwards to know the value.

2. HAVE BALANCE

Balance comes in many forms.  There’s balance in terms of exercise selection.  Balance in terms of volume on antagonistic muscle groups (i.e. quads and hamstrings).  But again, those are details.  It’s important to have balance when it comes to the entirety of your program.  Balance between your strength work, conditioning, recovery, and overall health. 

Obviously people are going to specialize and focus more efforts on one aspect of the other.  But when you tip too far towards one or the other, things get out of whack.

Focus too much on strength work and your conditioning and recovery suffers.  Focus too much on your recovery work and conditioning and your strength gains tank.

This rule is the most important in the fringe athletes.  People that focus on pure strength like power lifters and weight lifters and distance athletes like swimmer, cyclists, runners, and triathletes are the ones that benefit the most from adding balance. 

I know I feel better when I adding conditioning back in to my lifting training.  I’ve trained distance athletes that have gotten better at their discipline by adding in simple mobility and strength work.  Don’t strive for balance at the expense of your main goal, but a little cross training is only going to help.

3. BE STRONG

Strength is never a weakness.

Question: At what point did this become the ideal and something to strive for? 

Answer: It never should have.

I think I was born in the wrong decade.  Call me crazy but men are more useful when they are strong and women are much sexier with curves.  And I enjoy myself much more when people eat real foods like steak and potatoes instead of wimpy salads or nother.  Also, whiskey was handed down from on high and should be enjoyed by all who can handle her thunder and lightning while light beer should be used strictly for fussy babies who are teething.  But back to my point.

Why would anyone want to be weak?  Why would anyone want to be the weak little asshat that has to carry the middle of the couch because he or she can’t handle one of the ends? 

We’ve made it far too easy to be weak.  Everything is convenient.  There is no more nobility in working hard, physical labor.  The weak call those that till the earth with their hands Neanderthals.  I would say those that don’t know the beauty and the utility that they can create with their own two hands are ones that are disconnected from their fellow man.

Crossfit has an outward appearance of taking this seriously.  I've never sampled Crossfit's full menu of offering but I do know that some of Crossfits best competitors take their strength very seriously.  More so than having great WOD times.

Distance athletes need more strength.  I don't often make blanket statements, but that is one of them.  Adding body weight is not ideal for distance athletes but getting stronger at your body weight is a must.  You're more efficient and can do the same amount of work at a lower intensity when you are stronger.

Do whatever you like, but being weak should never be an option.

Part two, Rules 4-6, will be coming at you tomorrow.