6 Hours West of Any Bullshit
Henry Rollings may have had the purest take on “the iron.” Movies like the classic Pumping Iron and Bigger, Stronger, Faster painted an equally impactful picture of what fitness culture is in its most raw and uncut form. Growing up in the 1990’s also had a way of informing one’s perspective on these subjects much differently than it might in our current area of social media and soft fitness whores.
I don’t use the “fitness whore” label lightly or without good measure. But think about it. Better yet, log into Instagram and take a gander at what we’ve become. Everyone seems to have the answer to solve all of the worlds problems and will do just that if you agree to send them $10.99 a month for life.
If you couldn’t tell, this is an alternative take on the state of gym culture from the observations of a lunatic who’s sat on the periphery of “the industry” for 20+ years. I don’t have a CSCS certification, I could give a fuck less about what the latest lab results say, and I last logged into Instagram in 2020. Better yet, I live in South Dakota and at least 6 hours north, east, south, or west of any bullshit.
Having fallen into all the traps of fitness lore and all the shiny doorways that promise “results,” a renewed focus on the basic tenants of strength and movement may garner the outcomes which we hope to achieve through our efforts. While counterintuitive, the most effective prescription we can get from a doctor may be one that encourages the full spectrum of movement in all directions. Without much of a profit to be made in that regard, many are relegated to standing in line for pills, injections, and the next thing that someone wants to sell them. These temporary and often detrimental approaches are short-sighted at best. But we are all aware of that. And to be honest, one sitting on the outskirts of the true lunatic fringe of fitness may not be concerned with either side of the coin.
Lately, 90% of my training has taken place outdoors.
The Approach
With all the early morning routines, motivational bullshit, and apps that are available to help keep us between the lines, the best training often doesn’t involve any of that at all. The best days of training comes on the heels of no preparation at all. The routine becomes ingrained and a natural and intuitive part of life. In South Dakota, we walk outside and put weight on the bar. Sometimes breakfast is in the cards. If the turf is too hot, we put on shoes. Other than that, there is no prep list, special formula of powders, or apps to check in on. No pictures are sent, we don’t weigh ourselves, and the music is only the heaviest.
Once the weight is on the bar or on our back, we lift it. And then we keep lifting it. Percentages, monthly maximums, and accounting for volume and fatigue aren’t considered.
We do, however, use chalk when things get slick and heavy. The 45 lb plate pinch is a time when that does tend to happen, but not until we get as far as we can without it. When the chalk does start to fly and the nose takes on that familiar dryness associated with the mist coursing through the ether.
The beauty, timelessness, and intensity surrounding a movement like the plate pinch is something that will always be a part of the protocol. While true in any setting, the affect of this classic standard of raw strength is totally ramped up when we are training outside.
The movement is completed by taking two 45 lb plates, flat side out, and squeezing them together as long as possible. The clamp-like effect that our hand has during a proper plate-pinch can blow up the forearms and striate everything from head to toe when the right type of bracing is used for a true full body experience. Easy to brush off in the heat of the effort, the mind-muscle connection and our intent may be just as important as anything else when completing this type of static hold. I feel similarly about the static barbell hold that may be more common in old school lifting circles.
Static holds are something that I see missing from a lot of programming these days, especially within the commercialized apps and prescribed paths to failure that so many of us find online. What ever happened to just holding onto shit and moving it through space and then getting better at that over time?
As I’ve experienced more modalities as time has gone on, training has seemingly inevitably taken on a “strongman” lean. While I pride myself on the simplicity of the classics, various carries, pushes, pulls, and static holds have become as relevant to my progress as anything else. So has Yoga. Pilates is also a staple for us these days.
Outdoor training has proven to be most effective and relevant. It could be the rays of sun, the fresh air, the cold air, the chopping wind, or any other aspect which provides the perception of a different or better training effect. The visceral experience in practice is undeniable. I feel more human and more free when I get outside to move more often.
Earlier this morning I took a little time to break the process down in some type of observational meditation as I was going through the motions of the reps of my last set of barbell curls.
As I unracked the moderately loaded bar, I prepped my mind and “pulled the slack” out of my arms at the full eccentric capacity of my starting point. As the weight crept up and elevated above my elbows and to chest level, I homed in on the sensation of the blood and neurotransmitter soup that my biceps would soon become as I focused on how the movement and relationship between flexion and extension felt. No English was added as I worked to ground into and against the bar. My body cooperated, my mind stayed attuned to the task at hand, and everything felt a little more connected on subsequent sets even if I wasn’t as intensely tuned into every peak and valley of the movement.
Like training, most things in life become automatic and “grooved out” in ways that might make it seem easier to stop paying attention to the importance and weight of the tasks and mechanisms of action at hand.
Training
We are headed down to the track today. Here is what I have in mind:
20x100 yard sprints w/various plyo sets between reps
10 sets calves
10 minute squat
1 hour of Yoga later on….I understand how odd this sounds…but I think it may have as much if not more carryover to performance as any other modality I’ve tried. More on that in another write up.