Most people have an age that they fear. Often, you hear women claim to be 39 for decades, as if somehow that year makes everything go south. Fifty sits there with its own Roman numeral, “L,” and also has the phrase “Half-Century” tossed in with it.

I have always found solace in the phrase: “It’s not the years, it’s the miles.” Research from Germany in the 1950s taught us that strength, if trained, remains long into the early fifties. But, after that, things happen. Joseph Campbell described aging like the pieces of an old car suddenly falling off: first, the side mirror; now, the bumper.

Aging is inevitable. Every calendar year, your age will increase by a factor of one, and you can look that up if you don’t believe me. But, aging doesn’t have to be given the victory. With a little thinking and some reasonable training, you can keep the side mirror and bumper on for a long time.

Set a positive example for the younger generation.

A Two-Phase Training Approach

John Powell, former world record holder in the discus, once gave me some advice for older athletes at breakfast in Orlando, Florida. He noted older athletes need to rediscover two things: “muscle” and passion. He envisioned that we should train in two phases:

• Phase One: Hypertrophy and rediscovering the joy of movement
• Phase Two: Reigniting passion

For phase two, “Passion” comes from the root, “to suffer.” Whenever we speak about passion, we tend to jump right into the bedroom, but we also have to learn to suffer for what we love. It could be as simple as sore body parts after training or cutting checks for trips to championships.

For phase one, there are movements that are the fountain of youth. I break lifting into six global categories, the fundamental human movements:

1. Push
2. Pull
3. Hinge
4. Squat
5. Loaded Carries
6. The Sixth Movement (which is basically everything else)

Hypertrophy is easy. Just focus on the push, pull, and squat. These are the best movements for piling on muscle.

• Push: The press family: bench, incline, overhead, decline, push ups, and tons more
• Pull: The pull and row family. Any time you seem to be embracing something, that’s a pull.
• Squat: Maximum knee bend with maximum hip bend. Front, back, Zercher, goblet, and overhead squats.

One caveat: I insist that your total reps in these three moves be all the same. So, if your workout has 50 pushes, you had better have 50 squats and at least 50 pulls. It’s okay for most American males to pull more. Our throwing sports tend to lead to some issues that pulling seems to help.

If the over-fifty athlete can only do one thing, I would recommend three days a week of push, pull, and squat. You will look good, which tends to lead to feeling good, which seems to help you keep moving good (well).

Beyond that basic requirement, older athletes would be well-served to follow these pieces of additional advice.

Start Today

Maintaining an active lifestyle from youth to fifty and beyond is probably the best thing you can do. There is no surprise here. This year is the 51st year I have lifted weights. I have lifted weights, competed in many sports, climbed mountains, swam in all Seven Seas, walked a few different dogs, and played throughout all my years. It seems to help.

Now, if you or your client has chosen to take a multi-decade break from physical activity, there is an old truth: “The best day to plant a fruit tree was ten years ago. The next is today.” Like the anti-smoking ads promise, within minutes, days, weeks, and months of beginning to move and exercise again, good things begin to happen. Exercise works miracles for the aging population, even for those who are just starting out.

Starting today is better than starting tomorrow.

Protect the Investment

This is where the sixth movement comes in – other human movements. Since I don’t commute, the most dangerous thing I do, statistically, every day is take a shower. In my age group, 28,000 Americans die in falls and fall-related injuries. So, I take getting in and out of the shower seriously. I pause, hold the wall, and make sure I have solid footing. But, wait, there is more!

I also work on the ground a lot: Turkish get ups, bear crawls, a variety of up/downs, and some mild tumbling and gymnastics. I spend time getting up and down off the floor. It is like the “TV Rule” we use for older clients: watch all the TV you want, but you must lie on the floor when you do it. Watching TV in the normal way burns less calories than sleeping. On the floor, you will twist, turn, roll, and self-correct many times during an awful TV comedy. (Although frankly, that is redundant. TV comedy hasn’t been funny in decades.)

Practice falling so you won’t be helpless when it happens to you.

Keep the Spring With Hinges and Carries

So you have begun to rebuild muscle tissue and are practicing surviving things, such as showering. Now it’s time to add the hinges and loaded carries. Terry Todd once mentioned that the loss of fast twitch muscle fibers is the surest sign of old age. I agree.

Keep the “spring” by finding safe movements that can allow you to throw, swing, and leap your way back to youth. If you’re training hypertrophy and you want to slow down and “feel the burn,” fine. But to leap out of the starting blocks or run down a rabbit, you need some fast twitch. The loaded carry family, plus hinges, are the moves that build athletes.

“Beyond work capacity, loaded carries often lead to improvements in performance that make us wonder, ‘What the hell just happened?'”

Hinges are the Olympic lifts, the deadlift, and the kettlebell swing. A hinge is the most powerful thing a human can do. It is the engine of explosion, and I measure it simply with the standing long jump (SLJ). Almost universally, when the SLJ improves, you can be sure that training is on the right track.

In addition, athletes need to do loaded carries. These include farmer walks, sleds, and prowlers. All these movements teach “integrity under load.” Just make sure you maintain body posture while surging and driving ahead with the load. Some argue that these build work capacity, and I won’t disagree. But beyond work capacity, loaded carries often lead to improvements in performance that make us wonder, “What the hell just happened?”

When in doubt: kettlebell swings and farmer’s walks.

Stop Whining About Food

You’re all grown up now, so it’s time to eat like an adult. From my book, Mass Made Simple:

“Honestly, seriously, you don’t know what to do about food? Here is an idea: Eat like an adult. Stop eating fast food, stop eating kid’s cereal, knock it off with all the sweets and comfort foods whenever your favorite show is not on when you want it on, ease up on the snacking and – don’t act like you don’t know this – eat vegetables and fruits more. Really, how difficult is this? Stop with the whining. Stop with the excuses. Act like an adult and stop eating like a television commercial. Grow up.”

Act your age and eat like an adult.

Stop Stressing About Testosterone (and Everything Else)

I fly a lot and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is all the rage on airline magazines. HRT probably has its place, but like all drugs, once you start adding things, it is really hard to go back.

Lack of sleep, overstress, overtraining, and lack of proper fat intake all seem to lower testosterone levels. Wouldn’t it be simpler to darken the room, turn off the TV, meditate, soak in a hot tub or sauna, eat an avocado or sip some olive oil, and train intelligently as opposed to buying needles every month?

Personally, I am tired of reading how wonderful X or Y’s training program is and then later discovering, “Oops, I forgot to mention my injections.” Adding coconut oil to coffee or getting eight plus hours of sleep a night seems a better route. Instead of stressing about low testosterone levels, raise them by de-stressing.

Fix the fixable first.

Build a Team

Employ a team. I have an eye doctor, a dentist, and a medical doctor who all know me on a first name basis. I make the appointments and show up. I have several nutritionists who I can call, a great “bones” guy, and a fine masseuse. I have friends and family who can coach me into being better at my sports.

Build the team. Reward them when you can. Embrace them.

Zercher carries will challenge you mentally and physically.

Open Your Checkbook

I learned something from John Price when I first entered Masters competition. He told me, “Open your checkbook.” If you decide to get into a sport, buy the equipment, hire a coach, and travel to destinations.

I have thirty kettlebells, two Olympic bars, four suspension trainers, racks, ropes, rings, and everything else you can imagine to train at home. I fly away and compete, train, and take workshops. I might not have many years ahead of me, but I have cash.

Recently, I summarized the advantages of Masters training with two words: “cash and clarity.” Now you have the money and the focus to compete and play wherever and whenever you like. Do it. Just do it.

The upside of maturation is money. Spend it.

Find a Critic

Have someone find your gaps. Wives are amazing at this.

In Can You Go?, I wrote this:

“If you’re training yourself, you’ll tend to know everything you decide to do. You’ll always push yourself exactly as hard as you feel like pushing yourself. You won’t have any gaps in your training because you have no idea what you’re lacking. Finally, you’ll be able to progress and regress easily in your system since your single follower – you – will know what you want, even if it isn’t something you need to do. I hope I painted a picture of mediocrity here.”

Keep quality people around to point out your flaws in programming, execution, and exercise precision.

Find a community to help you push past mediocrity.

Live Long, Die Fast

Time goes on, as do we. Since age eleven, I have accepted the fact that I am going to die. Robb Wolf once told me: “Live long, die fast.” I can’t disagree.

I have my wills, living wills, and DNRs already written, signed, and co-signed. Death will come knocking one day, but I hope I have left early to compete, laugh, and dance at a Highland Games.

I expect Death to share a toast or two before we do a Challenge Sprint into the next life.

 More Advice for Mature Athletes:

• The Simple Path to Being Your Fittest at Any Age
• Sit Less and Prioritize Movement for Long-Term Fitness
• Banish Pain Permanently: Basic Drills to Repair Posture
• New on Breaking Muscle Right Now

Photos 1, 2, and headline courtesy of CrossFit Impulse.

Photo 3 courtesy of CrossFit, Inc.

The post It’s Not the Years, It’s the Miles: Training After 50 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

You can also listen to these excerpts read by Dan John:

The following are excerpts from Chapters 8 and 9 of Dan John’s book “Intervention: Course Corrections for the Athlete and Trainer,” available in print, ebook, and audio book.

You can also listen to these excerpts read by Dan John:

I was recently asked what I consider my greatest contribution to the philosophy of strength and conditioning. I think I could offer the goblet squat, the Bulgarian goat-bag swing, the introduction of the slosh pipe, or even some of my more bizarre training ideas, like the One Lift a Day program.

But for philosophy, there’s no question: the Quadrants.

And, the truth behind the Quadrants­ – most of us live in QIII.

From Chapter 8: Fourth Question, Which Quadrant is Your Goal In?

Quadrant One

The person in this quadrant is learning a lot of qualities at a low level, like a high school physical education class. Most people only get one shot in life for this quadrant. This is why the impor­tance of a quality PE program can’t be overemphasized. Here we learn the rules, the skills and the appreciation of games, sports and movement.

Quadrant Two

This quadrant houses the collision sports and occupations. A lot of qualities are needed, and the level of these qualities is quite high…amazingly high. This is football, rugby and Special Forces work. Sadly, most people plan to train in this quadrant, yet few actually should train in this manner.

Quadrant Three

This will sound odd, but here there’s a need for few qualities at a low level. Most people fit in quadrant three, but elite athletes are most often found here, too. An elite track athlete needs technique and strength. The strength levels are amazing, but not high when compared to someone who just lifts like an elite Olympic lifter. In this quadrant a person may need the absolute strength to deadlift 600 pounds. That’s a pretty big number, but let’s remember the world record is approaching twice that. In Quadrant Three, it’s all relative.

Quadrant Four

Here in quadrant four, we find the rarest of athletes. These are people who need very few qualities, but at the highest levels of human performance. Think 100-meter sprinters and Olympic lifters. Unless you are thinking of deadlifting 1,000 pounds or sprinting a 9.8 100-meter, you might not be here.

From Chapter 9: Quadrant Three – Where Most of Us Live

Managing Options

The problem with the quadrants grid is the interesting fact that nearly everyone thinks they are elite, collision-living quadrant twos. How do I know this? By far, the most common question I answer is, “Am I in Quadrant Two?”

These are questions from people who want to learn the Olympic lifts, but only do them once every two weeks and the other 13 days are filled with cardio-busting workouts, bodybuilding and circuit training. Trust me, putting the bar overhead with 400 is nothing like doing 95 pounds for 50 reps. I know, if you do the math (!!!), you will find that 400 for one is only 400 pounds of total work and 95 for 50 is like, well, a lot more, but, somehow, 400 still feels heavier.

I get email messages from people who want to lose some fat but spend time doing leaps onto boxes. I just don’t get that.

But then, I also get messages from people who watch a one-minute clip from my DVDs on YouTube and ask if I can just send the rest to them. I always wonder if they want me to cook and clean for them, too, because they think I am their mother.

Here, however, is the inescapable truth –

Most of us move from Quadrant One to Quadrant Three and stay there.

Sure, like me, you may have played a few years of football, Quadrant Two, but the bulk of life is spent here in Quadrant Three.

It’s my fault Quadrant Three is thought to be feeble. I often joke that in Quadrant Three “we don’t do much and we don’t do it very well.”

But I love Quadrant Three! I embrace it. Really, I love it. The greatest moment of clarity in my life came a few years ago when I had two full-time jobs – high school teacher and college instruc­tor – two little girls at home, Kelly and Lindsay, and a wife always on the road. When I discovered at best all I could squeeze in was an hour of training each day, my lifting career exploded. Oddly, it is the same advice I gave my athletes, but there is no way I can possibly hear my own sound advice.

When you only have an hour to train, you have an opportunity to scrape away the excess and decide (remember, from the Latin root “to cut”) what is important to you. This is life-changing, and in my case was a life-illuminating moment. When I went through this exercise, I discovered that life in Quadrant Three is not about managing compromises. I was not in Quadrant Two trying to decide which of the hundreds of athletic qualities I should favor in order to gain a competitive advantage.

My life was not that complex. I only needed a handful of quali­ties to excel in my sport. My life was simple and I needed balance.

Quadrant Three is a wonderful place where balance means more than in any other quadrant. And this is where the confusion comes in. I use the yin and yang symbol to explain the dynamic relationship between the role of absolute strength and techni­cal mastery, but this symbol is not perfect because it misses the dynamic nature of this relationship.

There is strength and technique. But it’s not 50/50 and the relationship is not static. Like a baby, you can’t unlink the DNA from the father or the mother. The genes are so integral that the child is truly 100/100 percent of each parent.

With Quadrant Three athletes, you must understand this: Technical work is strength work; strength is technical. The two qualities flow into and build on each other. Mastery in the weightroom carries over to the ring, which brings knowledge that carries back into the weightroom and then back out to the ring. A strong person you teach to throw the discus or a good thrower you make strong will never throw as far as the thrower who seeks to master both aspects as complements to the other.

This dynamic balance is why I love Quadrant Three.

For a fat loss client, the same holds true: The diet or food program must be linked tightly to the exercise program. (I argue strength here, of course.) In the same way, the strength program should inform the diet.

A good personal trainer should spend as much time review­ing the food journal as it takes for the client to learn that the food journal is the essential key to success. Without the food journal and the peek into the reality of the week ahead, training is a half-way measure. The food journal informs the training; the training will impact the food journal, and mastery of the two will lead to a lifetime of easy weight management.

The longer I spend in this game, the more I realize that Quadrant Three is not an “either…or” proposition. Oh, certainly, we know people who move from fad diet to fad diet and get some improvements. But the improvements rarely stick. And, we all know the modern cliché, you can’t outrun a bagel/doughnut/Twinkie/whatever.

It has to be “both…and.”

The problem with the strength, conditioning and fitness community today is that we have all fallen in love with the videos of NFL guys or ultimate fighters doing this and that and this in prepping for something. And I understand the appeal. Quadrant Two athletes are truly amazing spectacles of mastery and grace. Sometimes even I want to be that guy.

For most of us who are trying to scrub a few pounds of fat that has frowned over the belt or compete in a sport with a just a few qualities, we can get caught up in all of this fantastic stuff. And that’s the problem. As I have noted endlessly: “Everything works…for about six weeks!”

Then what?

One of my favorite articles sheds a light on how we can quickly go from simple to complex:

“Brian Oldfield, Al Feuerbach, Bruce Wilhelm and Sam Walker favored the quick lifts, while George Woods and Randy Matson leaned toward the strength lifts. … If there was any real consensus among the champion shot-putters, it was that a mix­ture of quick and strength lifts is effective.” ~Dave Davis, Track Technique, March and June 1974

The formula for success with these shot-putters is fairly simple, but you rarely see this recipe today. Here is the issue for any athlete, and in a moment I will expand this out to most people: One can achieve the highest levels of strength for throwing or sprinting or whatever through several routes.

These include:

• Olympic lifting
• Powerlifting
• Strongman Training
• Highland Games
• Power Bodybuilding

Frankly, they all work I’m sure blending these plans somehow would work better than just doing one, but that would be a tough experiment and probably would involve a time machine like the one I’m working on.

We can all agree that the quality the shot-putter needs is absolute strength. And now you see, these schools of strength training Davis was referring to are simply options. If there’s a key to understanding Quadrant Three, it is these two words: Everything works.

“Intervention: Course Corrections for the Athlete and Trainer” is available in print, ebook, and audio book.

You can also listen to these excerpts read by Dan John:

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Intervention: Course Corrections for the Athlete and Trainer (Book Excerpt) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Three new workouts from Dan are posted each week, starting on Monday. They can be done on any day you have available.

To learn more about Dan, read our feature interview:

Part 1: The State of the Fitness Union

Part 2: Lineage and Longevity

Part 3: Quadrants and Clients

Week Three – Consisting of Three Days of Lifting

Daily Warm Up:

I suggest you use a Kettlebell or a Dumbbell when you warm up. I start off with a series of walks, easy squats, some planks, and then move up to some lifting movements like the Row and Push Up. If you need to do additional mobility work, do it here, but reserve things like Static Stretching and Foam rolling until after the workout.

• Waiter Walks/Suitcase Walks
• Light Goblet Squats / Hip Flexor Stretch “Make Space”
• Plank (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Windmill Movements (Get Up Series)
• Pushup Position Planks (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Scap or Horizontal Shrugs “Relax into Stretch”
• Three Point One Arm Rows
• Alligator Push Ups Tic-tock-tic-tock…(Do a Push Up, move a hand forward, Push Up, Move other hand forward…a walking Push Up)
• Half Turkish Get ups using the elbow as a lever

Workout:

5-10 x 4 (Increase weight after each cluster)
Front Squats
Bench Press
Hurdle Walkover

Deadlift

This is a high volume day. Now, the Deadlift is going to be much lighter than you think and the sheer number of Front Squats is going to take its toll. This is a hypertrophy workout, but it also seems to set the athlete up for a pretty good strength test in the upcoming weeks.

Remember: most people don’t do nearly enough reps to learn how to do movements. I know it takes 10,000 hours to master the violin and 10,000 discus turns a year to master the discus, so I don’t mind thinking that it might take a few reps to master the Front Squat.

Note: For Hurdle Walkovers use a flight of ten hurdles, and just march “High Knee style” over them each minute; it is a hip mobility drill and a bit of a rest. You can sub in High Knees Marching as a variation, if you don’t have all the hurdles.

Post loads to comments below.

The post Strength & Conditioning – Dan John: Week 3, Day 3 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Three new workouts from Dan are posted each week, starting on Monday. They can be done on any day you have available.

To learn more about Dan, read our feature interview:

Part 1: The State of the Fitness Union

Part 2: Lineage and Longevity

Part 3: Quadrants and Clients

Week Three – Consisting of Three Days of Lifting

Daily Warm Up:

I suggest you use a Kettlebell or a Dumbbell when you warm up. I start off with a series of walks, easy squats, some planks, and then move up to some lifting movements like the Row and Push Up. If you need to do additional mobility work, do it here, but reserve things like Static Stretching and Foam rolling until after the workout.

• Waiter Walks/Suitcase Walks
• Light Goblet Squats / Hip Flexor Stretch “Make Space”
• Plank (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Windmill Movements (Get Up Series)
• Pushup Position Planks (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Scap or Horizontal Shrugs “Relax into Stretch”
• Three Point One Arm Rows
• Alligator Push Ups Tic-tock-tic-tock…(Do a Push Up, move a hand forward, Push Up, Move other hand forward…a walking Push Up)
• Half Turkish Get ups using the elbow as a lever

Workout:

“The Three Amigos”

1-2-3 x 5
Front Squats
Bench Press
Power Curl

Add Weight at every cluster. So, after a first set of one rep, short rest, two reps, short rest, then three reps, add more weight to the bar.

This workout really works well for “Greasing the Groove” with strength. The last sets of each lift is going to be pretty heavy. Note that this is the “opposite” of Day One (Week Three): what is odd is that the triples seem easier that the singles.

Post loads to comments below.

The post Strength & Conditioning – Dan John: Week 3, Day 2 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Three new workouts from Dan are posted each week, starting on Monday. They can be done on any day you have available.

To learn more about Dan, read our feature interview:

Part 1: The State of the Fitness Union

Part 2: Lineage and Longevity

Part 3: Quadrants and Clients

Week Three – Consisting of Three Days of Lifting

Daily Warm Up:

I suggest you use a Kettlebell or a Dumbbell when you warm up. I start off with a series of walks, easy squats, some planks, and then move up to some lifting movements like the Row and Push Up. If you need to do additional mobility work, do it here, but reserve things like Static Stretching and Foam rolling until after the workout.

• Waiter Walks/Suitcase Walks
• Light Goblet Squats / Hip Flexor Stretch “Make Space”
• Plank (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Windmill Movements (Get Up Series)
• Pushup Position Planks (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Scap or Horizontal Shrugs “Relax into Stretch”
• Three Point One Arm Rows
• Alligator Push Ups Tic-tock-tic-tock…(Do a Push Up, move a hand forward, Push Up, Move other hand forward…a walking Push Up)
• Half Turkish Get ups using the elbow as a lever

Workout:

3-2-1 3-2-1 3-2-1 3-2-1
Front Squat
Bench Press

Deadlift
Farmers Walk (Strive for Four Rounds of Walking)

Add Weight at every cluster. So, after a first set of three reps, short rest, two reps, short rest, then a single, add more weight to the bar. The bar will fly off on those singles.

Post loads to comments below.

The post Strength & Conditioning – Dan John: Week 3, Day 1 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Three new workouts from Dan will be posted each week, starting on Monday. They can be done on any day you have available.

To learn more about Dan, read our feature interview:

Part 1: The State of the Fitness Union

Part 2: Lineage and Longevity

Part 3: Quadrants and Clients

Week Two – Consisting of Two Days Lifting & One Tumbling Workout

Daily Warm Up:

I suggest you use a Kettlebell or a Dumbbell when you warm up. I start off with a series of walks, easy squats, some planks, and then move up to some lifting movements like the Row and Push Up. If you need to do additional mobility work, do it here, but reserve things like Static Stretching and Foam rolling until after the workout.

• Waiter Walks/Suitcase Walks
• Light Goblet Squats / Hip Flexor Stretch “Make Space”
• Plank (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Windmill Movements (Get Up Series)
• Pushup Position Planks (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Scap or Horizontal Shrugs “Relax into Stretch”
• Three Point One Arm Rows
• Alligator Push Ups Tic-tock-tic-tock…(Do a Push Up, move a hand forward, Push Up, Move other hand forward…a walking Push Up)
• Half Turkish Get ups using the elbow as a lever

Workout:

5-4-3-2-1
Front squat
Bench Press
Hurdles Walkovers
Power Snatch/Clean/Curl (Pick one)
Deadlift

This rep scheme means 5 reps of each exercise, following by 4 reps of each, etc, down to 1.

Increase the weight on every set. Again, we are striving for having a lot of time with weights in the hand.

Post loads to comments below.

The post Strength & Conditioning – Dan John: Week 2, Day 3 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Three new workouts from Dan will be posted each week, starting on Monday. They can be done on any day you have available.

To learn more about Dan, read our feature interview:

Part 1: The State of the Fitness Union

Part 2: Lineage and Longevity

Part 3: Quadrants and Clients

Week Two – Consisting of Two Days Lifting & One Tumbling Workout

Tumbling IS the single hardest conditioner I know. Doing five rolls in a row is going to put most people in a state of tired and loopiness that has to be experienced to appreciate. Obviously, use a good mat and spend some quality time learning to protect the head. These are some of the basics I use, but certainly add or subtract as you wish.

Forward roll

• From stand
• With legs crossed
• Forward roll to a stand
• Cross-legged roll to cross-legged stand
• Roll into leap, turn, repeat

Shoulder roll

• Alternate shoulders in a series
• Shoulder rolls without arms

Dive rolls

• Walk into a dive roll
• Run into a dive roll
• Dive rolls over obstacles (crouched people, mats)
• Dive rolls for height (within reason)

Side rolls

• Monkey rolls

Leapfrogs

Wheelbarrows

Squat hand balance

• Head and elbow handstand
• Forward roll to squat hand balance
• Walk on hands

Head and hand balance

Hand balance

• Cartwheels
• Round-offs

Note: Keep a bucket handy.

The post Strength & Conditioning – Dan John: Week 2, Day 2 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Three new workouts from Dan will be posted each week, starting on Monday. They can be done on any day you have available.

To learn more about Dan, read our feature interview:

Part 1: The State of the Fitness Union

Part 2: Lineage and Longevity

Part 3: Quadrants and Clients

Week Two – Consisting of Two Days Lifting & One Tumbling Workout

Daily Warm Up:

I suggest you use a Kettlebell or a Dumbbell when you warm up. I start off with a series of walks, easy squats, some planks, and then move up to some lifting movements like the Row and Push Up. If you need to do additional mobility work, do it here, but reserve things like Static Stretching and Foam rolling until after the workout.

• Waiter Walks/Suitcase Walks
• Light Goblet Squats / Hip Flexor Stretch “Make Space”
• Plank (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Windmill Movements (Get Up Series)
• Pushup Position Planks (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Scap or Horizontal Shrugs “Relax into Stretch”
• Three Point One Arm Rows
• Alligator Push Ups Tic-tock-tic-tock…(Do a Push Up, move a hand forward, Push Up, Move other hand forward…a walking Push Up)
• Half Turkish Get ups using the elbow as a lever

Workout:

“Big Five 55”

All lifts are except Chicken Thieves are done in 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1. Meaning 10 reps of each exercise, following by 9 reps of each, etc, down to 1.

• Front squat
• Bench
• Chicken thieves (Farmer Walks OVER Hurdles with light Kbells in your hands)
• Power Curls (or Power Cleans)
• Pull Ups

Don’t add weight!!! Do this really light the first time you try it…really light! Tap out at 23 minutes or so. If you can’t finish in under 23 minutes, you went too heavy (and I warned you!).

Post loads and time to comments below.

The post Strength & Conditioning – Dan John: Week 2, Day 1 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Three new workouts from Dan will be posted each week, starting on Monday. They can be done on any day you have available.

To learn more about Dan, read our feature interview:

Part 1: The State of the Fitness Union

Part 2: Lineage and Longevity

Part 3: Quadrants and Clients

Week One – Consisting of Three Lifting Workouts

Daily Warm Up:

I suggest you use a Kettlebell or a Dumbbell when you warm up. I start off with a series of walks, easy squats, some planks, and then move up to some lifting movements like the Row and Push Up. If you need to do additional mobility work, do it here, but reserve things like Static Stretching and Foam rolling until after the workout.

• Waiter Walks/Suitcase Walks
• Light Goblet Squats / Hip Flexor Stretch “Make Space”
• Plank (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Windmill Movements (Get Up Series)
• Pushup Position Planks (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Scap or Horizontal Shrugs “Relax into Stretch”
• Three Point One Arm Rows
• Alligator Push Ups Tic-tock-tic-tock…(Do a Push Up, move a hand forward, Push Up, Move other hand forward…a walking Push Up)
• Half Turkish Get ups using the elbow as a lever

Workout:

“On the Minute” – Eight Sets of Five

Start a clock and at the top of each minute perform a set of five reps of the following exercises. Perform eight sets of five before moving to the next exercise. Add weight each set, as is appropriate.

• Front Squats
• Bench Press
• Hurdle Walkovers
• Deadlifts

If you can finish with some Bleacher Runs or Hill Sprints, this is the best way to go.

Note: For Hurdle Walkovers use a flight of ten hurdles, and just march “High Knee style” over them each minute; it is a hip mobility drill and a bit of a rest. You can sub in High Knees Marching as a variation, if you don’t have all the hurdles.

Post loads to comments below.

The post Strength & Conditioning – Dan John: Week 1, Day 3 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

You see, I think “lifting heavier” is the answer to most problem. It will short-circuit my political ambitions, “Mr. John, what is your plan for lowering taxes?” “Lift heavier?” So, perhaps it is not a perfect solution. But, from my time in the gym, most trainees are WOEFULLY too weak to meet their body composition and performance goals.

For years, I have argued that you need to have a bodyweight bench press and a double bodyweight deadlift to begin to understand the importance of strength. The issue is obvious to me: everyone and their brother has a bench press plan. I have seen pretty elaborate programs to tweak someone’s training up on the lift and they all work. Ask somebody about the deadlift and they will quote their mom: “Don’t lift with your back.” If you believe that, by the way, show me how you get your shoes off the ground without involving your back.

I think the first key (always!) in thinking about any lift, movement, supplement or idea before adding them to a program is this: what’s the least I can do to utilize this “new” thing. In other words, avoid the problem most people have with any new groovy idea: if a little helps, a lot will be better. When Creatine first snuck out of the quiet confines of some track and field guys and hit the greater world, I was always astounded to find out how many guys got massive cramps and diarrhea. I then found out that guys would triple (and more) the recommended serving. The same is true for fat loss supplements and some people have had to check themselves into the hospital to slow down a raging heartbeat.

Please don’t ask me to repeat what Doctor Brunetti told me about a patient who got some Viagra and took four times the right dose. Don’t let me even think about it again, please.

So, I think that the deadlift is a crucial human movement. I believe it is part of a typical strength athlete’s program. In fact, I think everyone can benefit from some pulling from the floor.

Now, before you ask about the Viagra overdose, think about the deadlift overdose: it is a great lift, it does wonders, now, stop it. Don’t go there. And where is “there?” “There” is this idea, this notion, that if a little is good a massive amount is better.

Back to the premise: the deadlift is a basic human movement and deserves to be in everyone’s training regimen.

But now I am often asked: why do your athletes deadlift so much? So much what? Are we talking volume, intensity, or load? We do a lot of deadlifts, but we never go heavy, save every so often!

You may still ask, “Why do your athletes deadlift so much?” Ah, you mean the numbers on the wall. You are referring to those staggering max numbers that amaze some people and scare some parents. You are discussing the deadlift max.

I need to be clear about deadlift maxs here: I don’t think one necessarily EVER has to attempt. I never have. Not even one time! In Junior College, the Pacifica Barbell Club record in my weight class for the deadlift was 550. So, one day, Dick Notmeyer and I decided to break it. I went to 555 and made the lift and I owned the record.

A year or so later, Bob Arello challenged me to deadlift 600. In the gym, we didn’t have many small plates (they break easy under lots of use) so I pulled 605. A few years later, in the wee small hours of the morning (3 a.m.), I was the last guy deadlifting at a contest and just told the guy to put on five more pounds (2.5 kilos actually) to the amount the guy just missed and I pulled a 628 deadlift.

My students follow my exact plan!

I can see some hands going up, so let me save you some energy, “What plan?”

You can drive your deadlift up to amazing numbers by NEVER deadlifting heavy. In fact, sometimes I think it is actually counterproductive to pull heavy deadlifts. But, you need to hear this:

You need to lift hard in a wide range of movements to have a massive deadlift without deadlifting! My athletes front squat every workout. We do lots of hip mobility work. We snatch and clean and jerk all the time. We swing, snatch, and move kettlebells every session. We deadlift, clean curl (power curl) and do pull-ups as part of a normal day. Most of my athletes train at 50% of their max deadlift BUT mix them with other lifts and keep the reps fairly high on the movement.

And then, just a few times a year, and for many just once a year, we go after a number. Personally, I see no value in adding ten pounds to your max deadlift. If you pull 400, I would love to see you attack your quick lifts, grind out some squats, do some hurdle work, jump on a few boxes, pull some sleds, carry some farmer bars, and swing some kettlebells for a long time before you max again. And, when you do, jump right up to 450 or 500 instead of tossing on a few puny plates. Attack your max!

Have a friendly competition or enter a meet, but don’t just wander in by yourself, load the bar and go, “Ooooh, that FEELS heavy.” Pretend your kid is under the plates and wedge it off of them. If you have no kids, pretend it is me!

So, here is a typical training circuit. It is called “On the Minute” and it works well with large groups. To me, a large group is thirty to eighty athletes at once. We set up our stations at “on the minute,” and the athletes perform the reps, let say three in this example. Athlete one goes first and his partner spots and then they switch. You can get up to four a station, but it gets crowded. Then, we add some weight. It takes a time or two to nail down the weight increases to manage the number of sets. I have found in large groups that eight sets are ideal. Many will argue with me on that large number, but the first sets are light warm ups and the speed of the rest period keeps the load down.

“One the Minute” – Eight Sets of Three

• Front Squats
• Bench Press
• Hurdle Walkovers (Flight of ten hurdles, just marches “High Knee style” over them each minute; it is a hip mobility drill and a bit of a rest)
• Backward Sled Pulls (In this case, a 20m sled pull, hand the reins over to your partner and just do one a minute)
• Deadlifts

In big groups, you will have athletes start at every lift and they will move to the next exercise after the eight sets (logically, this will take eight minutes, but it really more like ten with transitions) are finished.

For eight sets of three on the minute for deadlifts, a strong athlete will still just start with 135 and probably not even sneak up on much past 255 for the workout. With all the movements, this is not the time to crank up a big pull. But, the lifter will be greasing the movement with 24 repetitions all done under the extra load of time, partner issues and the aggregate work down through the workout. (This is true for all the movements) Moreover, the lifter is also stressing the body in so many ways that super-compensation is just around the corner with some rest and food.

When it is time to max, be sure you have nothing crucial for about three weeks. Now, in other words, don’t max deadlift the day before the Olympic Trials. You are simply trying to get a measure of your absolute strength. Honestly, a couple of standing long jumps a few times a year would be as good, but I have the same issues: I like to move heavy iron.

For the record, I have no interest in “what you could have made.” Please no failures on max deadlifts – make the lifts! For whatever reasons, max deadlifts seem to take a ton out of your central nervous system and it doesn’t come back easily. Max deadlift misses seem to take even more of the body. So, make the damn lift!

I don’t suggest more than two max attempts and most people are only good for six deadlifts in a heavy workout. So, I consider that warm up with 135 for a single part of the six. If you don’t know how to deadlift perfectly, or at least properly, don’t use a max as a teaching unit. Please, know what you are doing when you grip the bar and leave it all on the table for these few attempts.

Does it work? Oh, absolutely. I love to tease men who are using an exaggerated vocabulary about some minute fitness detail and tell them that they are “almost” as strong as my Homecoming Queen with a 355 deadlift.

So, save those max efforts for max efforts!

Can a powerlifter use this approach? Well, there are a few issues: first, not so much the grip, but I worry about the skin of the hands. Maximal deadlifts tend to rip the hands in a way that is honestly hard to mimic. The hand toughness needed to yank a huge weight off the ground is hard to train outside of yanking huge plates off the ground. Second, there is a need for rooting, wedging, and synchronizing everything that is hard to practice outside of deadlifts.

But, for pure absolute strength gains, I think it is still possible to harvest benefits from non-deadlifting activities. I think a good deadlift coach probably has a number of arrows in his deadlifting quiver and can pick and choose elements to focus on, and to ignore, over the course of a career. There are some who will flourish on more pure deadlift work and others who can just step up to the bar at a meet and pull the bar off the floor. So, with great clarity I would argue that a powerlifter’s deadlift training would come under the banner: it depends!

You can learn more about Dan John’s strength training philosophy in his new book, co-written with Pavel Tsatsouline – Easy Strength.

To learn more about Dan read our feature interview:

Featured Coach: Dan John, Part 1 – The State of the Fitness Union

To follow Dan’s workouts here on Breaking Muscle follow this link:

Strength & Conditioning Workouts from Dan John

The post Increasing the Deadlift for the Collision Sport Athlete appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Three new workouts from Dan will be posted each week, starting on Monday. They can be done on any day you have available.

To learn more about Dan, read our feature interview:

Part 1: The State of the Fitness Union

Part 2: Lineage and Longevity

Part 3: Quadrants and Clients

Week One – Consisting of Three Lifting Workouts

Daily Warm Up:

I suggest you use a Kettlebell or a Dumbbell when you warm up. I start off with a series of walks, easy squats, some planks, and then move up to some lifting movements like the Row and Push Up. If you need to do additional mobility work, do it here, but reserve things like Static Stretching and Foam rolling until after the workout.

• Waiter Walks/Suitcase Walks
• Light Goblet Squats / Hip Flexor Stretch “Make Space”
• Plank (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Windmill Movements (Get Up Series)
• Pushup Position Planks (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Scap or Horizontal Shrugs “Relax into Stretch”
• Three Point One Arm Rows
• Alligator Push Ups Tic-tock-tic-tock…(Do a Push Up, move a hand forward, Push Up, Move other hand forward…a walking Push Up)
• Half Turkish Get ups using the elbow as a lever

Workout:

“On the Minute” – Eight Sets of Five

Start a clock and at the top of each minute perform a set of five reps of the following exercises. Perform eight sets of five before moving to the next exercise. Add weight each set, as is appropriate.

• Front Squats
• Bench Press
• Hurdle Walkovers
• Deadlifts
• Farmers Walks

Note: For Farmers Walks just get two heavy bells and go for a walk. Turn around come back LONG before you think you need to!

Note: For Hurdle Walkovers use a flight of ten hurdles, and just march “High Knee style” over them each minute; it is a hip mobility drill and a bit of a rest. You can sub in High Knees Marching as a variation, if you don’t have all the hurdles.

Post loads to comments below.

The post Strength & Conditioning – Dan John: Week 1, Day 2 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

Three new workouts from Dan will be posted each week, starting on Monday. They can be done on any day you have available.

To learn more about Dan, read our feature interview:

Part 1: The State of the Fitness Union

Part 2: Lineage and Longevity

Part 3: Quadrants and Clients

Week One – Consisting of Three Lifting Workouts

Daily Warm Up:

I suggest you use a Kettlebell or a Dumbbell when you warm up. I start off with a series of walks, easy squats, some planks, and then move up to some lifting movements like the Row and Push Up. If you need to do additional mobility work, do it here, but reserve things like Static Stretching and Foam rolling until after the workout.

• Waiter Walks/Suitcase Walks
• Light Goblet Squats / Hip Flexor Stretch “Make Space”
• Plank (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Windmill Movements (Get Up Series)
• Pushup Position Planks (Superman and One Leg Variations)
• Scap or Horizontal Shrugs “Relax into Stretch”
• Three Point One Arm Rows
• Alligator Push Ups Tic-tock-tic-tock…(Do a Push Up, move a hand forward, Push Up, Move other hand forward…a walking Push Up)
• Half Turkish Get ups using the elbow as a lever

Workout:

“On the Minute” – Eight Sets of Five

Start a clock and at the top of each minute perform a set of five reps of the following exercises. Perform eight sets of five before moving to the next exercise. Add weight each set, as is appropriate.

• Front Squats
• Bench Press
• Hurdle Walkovers
• Backward Sled Pulls (20m sled pull, just do one a minute)
• Deadlifts

Note: For Hurdle Walkovers use a flight of ten hurdles, and just march “High Knee style” over them each minute; it is a hip mobility drill and a bit of a rest. You can sub in High Knees Marching as a variation, if you don’t have all the hurdles.

This is FORTY reps per movement. Start light and don’t add much from set to set.

Post loads to comments below.

The post Strength & Conditioning – Dan John: Week 1, Day 1 appeared first on Breaking Muscle.