Putting the Time In

When you train for the long stuff, it's about getting time in on your feet.  Anything you can do to increase that time, no matter how small, helps.

I was once told by a veteran adventure racer (Eco Challenge, Raid Gauloises...) that the trick to going long is to spend as much time on your feet as possible.  Get your body adapted to it.  Stand whenever you can, walk whenever you can and simply adapt to being on the move.

Today's run is a small one, but it's part of a larger puzzle, the one that will take me through what will most likely be the longest run I've ever done.

Mix It Up

You can't always do the same thing over and over and expect things to dramatically get better.  Of course if you're constantly changing your pattern, progress is slowed as well.  What's the best way to keep getting better but still keep your sanity?

Build in a variety day.

If you're training 4 days a week, dedicate one day to doing something completely different.  Try a new sport, run with a weight vest, do a stone workout, do nothing but bodyweight...  you get the idea.

Why do this?  Why NOT do this?

My personal philosophy is that we should not be single-note people.  Try new things, put yourself in different situations, train at different times of the day, different temperatures.  Attempt to keep yourself from getting fragile/brittle.

Things to try that you might not be doing that are really good for you:

• Turkish Getups
• Windmills
• Good Mornings
• Atlas Stone Workouts
• Sandbag Carries
• Farmer Walks
• Sled Drags

This is not a comprehensive list.  I might also recommend mobility work (i.e. yoga, foam rolling..) You should see a pattern here though.

Not every workout needs to be a max effort or more of the same (although if you do the "Easy Strength" workout, that does work).

Have fun with training, give your mind a reprieve and then come back to your goals with a fresh perspective and more adaptable, ready-to-go body.

Hit Your Weak Spots

 If you're a dad, and depending on the age of your kids, you might already have been informed that you simply don't know what you're talking about, that you simply "Don't KNOW". In this case your weak spot, according to your kids is about your inability to KNOW.

 Well that's not what I'm talking about today. Weak spots when it comes to lifting reveal themselves in different ways. Usually it's by what ISN'T progressing.  Say when you first started lifting and all your lifts were going up.  Then when 2 out of your three lifts continue to go up while one stays behind, you can safely say that the lagging lift is now your weak spot.

How do you get that weak spot to improve?

It depends.

If you're like me, I generally don't like accessory work.  But I should.  My lifts would go up.

Let's say your deadlift is really stuck.

Are you doing good mornings?  Rows?  Do you know WHERE in the deadlift pull you fail most often?  Are you doing only one deadlift version?

The WestSide Barbell approach is a great way to develop all-around strength while indirectly benefiting your target lifts. Cycle different deadlift styles to help strengthen the areas that need help.

Here are a few that I've been using with a modicum of success:

• conventional
• sumo
• deficit
• snatch grip
• rack pulls

Swap these out on a weekly basis and build in your speed days and max effort days.

Here's a sample week:

• Sunday: speed press (bench or shoulder) 2 reps, 12 sets bands or chains (initial weight is 50 to 65% one rep max)
• Monday rest or run Maffetone
• Tuesday: Max Effort Deadlift Conventional
• Wednesday: rest
• Thursday: Max Effort Press (bench or shoulder)
• Friday: rest
• Saturday: Speed Squats or speed deadlift (50 to 60%)
• Sunday: rest

Train hard this week!

Strength as a Practice

Little efforts, stacked back to back will add up to a large return.  If you are a musician, the time you spend practicing pays off.  First you get the basic notes down, then you get the timing, then you work on the expression.

Lifting can be very similar to practicing an instrument.  Neglect the practice and you will not sound very good.  Or in this case, strength would be the music you are playing and your weakness (or not) simply a sign of how much work you have put into the practice.

Pick 3 to 5 movements and learn them over the next few months.  Practice them.  Look at your training session as a way to move the weight more efficiently.  Treat your strength and conditioning sessions as practice sessions.  Wave load the weights (lift moderately heavy), and don't worry about a specific number.  Some workouts will be tougher than others, and some you will wonder where your strength came from.

I would recommend the following 5 movements types:

• Deadlift (any variant)
• Squat (any variant)
• Press (bench, log, shoulder)
• Explosive movement (kettlebell snatch, power clean, atlas stone)
• Bodyweight movement (pull-up, leg raise)

Practice these movements at every workout.  Do 2 sets of 5 reps for each movement.  That's it.  Do this for 2 to 3 months and come back playing some awesome strength music.  

This approach is directly inspired by the "Easy Strength" book written by Pavel and Dan John.  Well worth the read.  I've done the program and saw a huge jump in my weighted pull-up strength.  Might be time to do it again!

So practice.  Make noise.  Clang weights.  Get strong.

It's Just What Dad Does

Some things are really hard to do.

Snatch grip deadlifts qualify.  Working the upper back and shoulders in a way I was not expecting.

Make your training a recon mission to find the areas you suck at.  Highlight your weaknesses then work them until they're not.  My deadlift is my weakest area right now.  It's why I've been cycling different motor patterns and using similar weights, reps and sets to get work in.

Here's what the pattern has been for deadlifts:

• Week 1:
• Conventional Deadlift 6 sets of 5 with the last set a max rep
• Week 2
• Deficit Deadlit - 6 sets of 5 with the same weight from last week
• Week 4
• Snatch Grip Deadlift - 6 sets of 5 with the same weight as the first week.
• Week 5
• TBD

Remember to bring your kids out to train with you whenever you can.  They won't be small forever and they won't want to hang out with you forever.  Instill a habit of training that they will carry on and one that will allow you to join in with them when you're trying to find common ground.  (You know it's going to happen)

When they're old enough, have them read this: The Iron Never Lies