Back To The Beginnings

Using a lighter club to feel the movement

 Forging ahead in any modality of exercise is a great accomplishment. Adding weight to a squat or sprinting in a faster time for a new personal record is exciting. This fosters the initiative to keep on training. Then there are the times when the program fails and the scheduled weight, or time, or number of reps falls drastically short of what was to be expected. Now what?

 If the reason for the failure isn't injury or exhaustion, the cause for failure may be the athlete's technique. Many times, when the focus is on a determined goal, little nuances that were learned to get to that particular point fell by the wayside. Too much emphasis may be placed on the goal of heavier, faster, or more, and the attention to detail is forgotten thus creating a vacuum in the athlete's programming.

 For those who aren't familiar with my training, I use clubs exclusively (which I will detail why in another post) in my personal training program. Some of the exercises are complex movements which require not only strength but a certain degree of skill to execute properly. One of these exercises - the inside mill or just the 'mill' is the club trainer's bench press. Club fanatics always compare mill weight or reps. Since I have been experimenting with the heavier clubs I sometimes fall short of an expected P/R or training goal. My answer to that is go back to the beginning. Lighten that load up for the workout and get in some volume training with a manageable weight. For example, if I completed Monday's mill workout of 10X10 with a 35lb club and Friday's mill workout calls for 5X6 with a 40lb club but my form fails on the first set or maybe the first rep, I'll revert back to a 25lb club for a 10X10 light conditioning set but feel each part of the movement relearning small subtleties that make heavier weights possible. The next mill workout will open with that same 25lb club as a warm up for one set to coordinate the feeling throughout my body before attempting the 40lb club again. Then go on the the 40lb 5X6 workout progressing to ultimately the 10X10 workout with that weight.

 I had learned this type of 'assistance' training way back in the 70's from an old school guy who was built like a bodybuilder but moved weight like a powerlifter. This method was used by the older set of strength trainers, the guys that were before me. Here, on this page I can share some of what they left that may have been forgotten or discarded due to style or ego. Apply it to any of your training, being sure to feel the movement, perform some volume then back to your regular programming. It'll work.

Clubwork Inside Mill To Outside Mill Transfer

A simple move to develop coordination. Easy to do, just perform an inside mill as normal and at the bottom of the swing pass the club to the opposite hand to begin performing an outside mill. Try it a few times to get the feel. You can see in the video that my first few swings are 'clunky' but by the 3rd one the smoothness comes out.

Building A Suit Of Armor

July 18, 2014 at 11:36am

 Science and medicine have proven beyond a doubt that regular exercise increases our longevity. Citing different excerpts and texts would border redundant. So what is your training goal for the long term? Do you know where all this blood, sweat, and tears is taking you? I re-evaluated my regiment a few years ago and here is what I am planning for the future, and I'm not talking 12 weeks to a better deadlift. Let's begin way back when I got my first weight set. All I wanted to do was be able to lift that bar with all the weights on it. Great goal for a 12 year old, but follow my trail to 38 years later.

 After a few months of training, I walked into a health food store, this was pre-GNC, and asked the hippy lady at the counter for steroids. I knew nothing of steroids and had heard that the pro wrestlers took them. She gave me an informative lecture that I shouldn't use them unless a doctor was administering them to me. Then came my first ever nutrition lecture I walked away from that store with a can of Hoffman's protein powder, a recipe for a weight gainer shake, the book Weightlifting by Bob Hoffman and a bottle of orchic. My goals as an adolescent were clear-get bigger, stronger, and more intimidating. I have to admit that the hippy lady did know her stuff, plus I had the added bonus of being in puberty. Goal accomplished.

 Now at 50, I have never been so far from my uninitiated beginnings yet just a stone's throw close at the same time. I still have goals, the goals now are a bit different. The goal now is to set up my body so that I can do the things I do now but for the next 30 years. The optimum goal for trainees over 40 should be longevity, not only in the gym, but in life. A revised weight training plan, different dietary design, movement based exercise and the top dog daddy for us "masters", restorative practices. I have to note that I need to learn to relax, but that's another story.

 Weight training, though I love it, became my nemesis. The very practice that I loved gave me injuries not severe enough for immediate surgery but well on my way to ruining a perfectly good body. Frequent low back spasms, chronic shoulder pain, poor ROM of my elbows, wrists, and shoulders, countless trips to the chiropractor and yo-yo dieting. Half the year I trained like a powerlifter, the other half like a partially insane crossfitter with no guidance. Poor form, crappy workout plans, and eat what I want attitude did not give the results for what I was after. But what was I after?

 Most people don't see the future as 30 years from now, 3 months is a more common view because it is almost tangible. I challenge you to look 30 years into your future. What do you see? A person who is actively enjoying every minute here or someone who is in a chair with the TV on or something worse? You can change that image, you can be headed toward that active super senior lifestyle. I've decided to start building my suit of armor, my own protection against degeneration and stagnation that I wish to share.

 The first factor is your body composition. Get your head out of your ass, get naked in front of a mirror and be honest with yourself-fluffy 'fake it till you make it' cliches need to take a flying leap right here! Do you need to lose that fat, rehab poorly moving joints, gain muscle? I am focusing on gaining 30 solid pounds of muscle and maintaining it before I turn 60, but that entails losing a percentage of body fat too. The added muscle going into my senior years will benefit greatly but the most important may be the cushioning effect during a fall. Three words here-avoid hip replacement-get it? Find a program that will work for you, weight training is by far the most plentiful and accessible. Bodyweight gyms are an awesome change from the norm. Clubwork and kettlebells are great for strength and movement. Choose your weapon, learn or, as in my case, re-learn proper form and practice the hell out of it! Form is now the king of your training not pounds or reps.

 Second factor is your nutrition, eat to help reach the goal. Learn to cook at home, this is a must! If you are too proud, lazy, or feel you can't buck up, it isn't rocket science-do not rely on restaurants to feed you properly. I worked in the food industry for years, restaurant suppliers can mutilate the most wholesome looking foods! Set up a good diet, avoid the bad food, because you are ultimately going for longevity here, so make sure its nutrient dense. Micro nutrition is vital for homeostasis, a healthy immune system, joint flexibility, and cognitive function (thinking) because what is the purpose of a sound body without a sound mind? Macro nutrition will be adaptable to what your final goal is. Good bye Mickey D's! If you are traveling pack your own food period. I also believe that anyone who is over 40 years old that is able to take creatine should be using it in their supplementation. If you're vegetarian or vegan please note that a bag of popcorn or chips are NOT a meal! Nor are they food. Eating right is easy, it just takes a few minutes to change your life for the better.

 The next factor is movement based exercise and restorative techniques. Yoga, a REAL daily stretching program, tai chi, qi gong, flow training, or Indian club exercises. Add something of this nature to your program. I laugh at the guys who bounce through their hamstring stretches in the gym like they think that a few motions gets them warmed up-they are warming up alright-for a cramp or worse yet a tear. Learn to stretch, take yoga etc, use Adex Clubs - they repaired my shoulder. Loss of movement and joint pain should be nearly zero if you begin and stay practicing this into your later years. And the stretching will keep muscles strong and supple even if it is the only physical activity you can do when older.

 I cannot say enough about the seriousness of exercise and nutrition and the benefits it has in the general population. A life with little or no medication is possible. A life when the time is available to go places and experience new things is waiting, a life of fulfillment and increasing chances for new adventures well into the golden years. If anyone who reads this still has the attitude that wouldn't know what to do if they retire, take a comprehension class because I just set you up to have a door open to a great journey that few follow. Growing old isn't for pussies. don't take it lying down!