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.
