One of my first workshops was on…
This idea that there are like two models of training people: one, the industrial revolution and, two, the more intuitive (or “Irish,” as I am starting to think of it more and more). The IR model, or “Maxine” named after a lady I used to work with, is the idea that we will train like this:
Middle Back:
A1: Locked Down Bat Wings with a 0-1-10 Tempo with 12 Kilo Kettlebells
A2: Horizonal Rows at a 1-1-3 Tempo for 16 reps
Repeat six times, with 14 seconds rest between A1 and A2. 84 Seconds rest between supersets.
That’s fine for some. I can’t do it. My boredom and focus level simply can’t handle it. When my life is crazy, I certainly benefit for structured training, but I am only good for my Transformation Workout. For clarity: if your life is crazy, train more like a worker from a factory. Punch in, do the exact warmup, do the lifts, do the whatever. If you work somewhere where you have a break at 10:15 and Noon and 3:00 and you are on the tram at 5:17…you might need some craziness to your workouts.
For me, I find that even though I have journals back to 1971, I train best when my journals talk about my life and note that today “I did Front Squats, a couple of sets, some presses, nailed a good pullup, played catch.” A few months of that and I am feeling great. When I start to follow some printed model, I make great progress, then BOOM.
I’m not even sure what I am saying. Am I saying that you make progress by following a program exactly? Yes, that is true. Am I saying that you make progress just by showing up and getting some work and play in? Yes, no question. So, what is it?
Yes.
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Dan John
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January 26, 2010
This is going to sound like sacrelige, but while I’ve been good with structured programs and have followed them to a T, I can never keep up with a journal. I think that training for competitions helps, but I’ll try again this month.
January 26, 2010
Great point, be more Irish in your training!! IR is helpful when learning new concepts or trying to see what works best about a routine, but my best is achieved when I adopt a more instinctive and natural approach.
To be honest, I get bored to death counting reps and writing down set schemes and the minutae of what I did….same with calories and macronutrient ratios.
Coming from Ireland, I guess I have a head start and I’m sure it’s still fresh in your memory too Dan!!
Cheers!
January 28, 2010
Being in a weight room for a lot of my life, I had started to forget how training in the ‘real world’ really began. Until my father in law, a cattle and sheep farmer in Donegal came to visit several years ago. I showed him a basic standing cable row (he having never stepped into a gym). He pulled, and said “any more weight?” I of course put the pin on the bottom of the stack, and he began to pull. Then said, “Aye, it’s a bit heavy so it is, but not like pulling a calf out of the bog, you know.”
That day made me remember to be “more Irish” in my training, just in a different way than what you are recalling here. Though it could be more intuitive, to figure out how to get a calf out of the bog!
Nice post…thanks.