goergen1
12-27-2007, 11:46 AM
A young man walks into a gym wanting to gain strength and size, he has trained before, but never really gotten the results he wants. So he goes and talks to the resident strength expert.
“Sit down, lets have a chat.” Says the lean, tattooed, Vin Diesel lookin’ trainer.
“I really need to get stronger, I want big arms, shoulders, and everything that goes with it.” the young man states.
“So what do you need from me?”
“I am looking for a good program, something more advanced, that will get me bigger.”
“You don’t look advanced to me. Have you been training?”
“Yea, 3 days a week.”
“What do you do?”
“I do a full body workout, focusing on squats, benching, and rows the first day, single leg stuff, overhead pressing, and pull-ups the second day, and deadlifts and other pulling exercises the third day.”
“Hhhmmmm...... Sounds to me like the program is not the problem. You are.”
“What???” says the young man, clearly offended. “How can I be the problem?”
“You don’t know how to work hard.”
“I work really hard. I do all I can!!” The young man said, clearly getting angry.
“Good. Now that you are in the proper frame of mind. Follow me. We’ll see how hard you work.” The trainer gets up and starts walking towards the back of the gym.
Despite his questioning, the young man gets no answers out of the impressively built trainer. They walk right out the back door.
The young man finds himself standing in the ally behind the gym. The only thing there is a metal plate attached to a rope with a large pile of weights stacked on it.
“Here’s the deal.” says the trainer, “You are going to drag this weight, however you want to hang onto it, down this ally, around the corner at the end, up that little hill. Where you see that clump of trees.”
“I’m not doing that. Do you see how far that is, this is crazy!!!” the protests fell upon deaf ears.
“Once you reach that clump of trees you will see a tire. Flip it, end over end, back to this point.”
“NO!! I need a program, not punishment!!!” Screams this young man.
“You want my help. Get the work done, then we will talk. If you don’t do it. No dice.” And the trainer walks back into the gym without looking back.
About 40 minutes later the trainer walks out back to see the young man finishing his last few flips before the tire was in the spot the sled had been not long ago.
The young man sits on the tire, breathing deep breaths, looks up at the trainer.
“How did that go?” Asked the trainer, between bites of tuna he was eating out of a pouch.
“That was tough.” Says the young man.
“Good. Now take the tire back to the trees and bring the sled back to this spot.”
“WHAT! NO! I can’t do that. I am exhausted. I can barley move my arms as it is.”
“You have to put things back where you got them. Right. See you when you get back.” Says the trainer as he finishes the tuna and throws the pouch into the dumpster as he walks back into the gym.
The time was over an hour before the young man got the sled back to its rightful location.
“You feel like you got some work done?” Says the trainer, talking around bites of a triple decker PB&J.
“That was really hard.” Puffed the young man as he lay on the floor in the back of the gym. “My whole body hurts, everything, my back, arms, legs, you name it.”
“Did you think you were going to make it?”
“No. Most of the last half hour I thought I would not be able to take another step.”
“Yet you made it?”
“Yea, I am really surprised.”
“Why? Because you pushed yourself beyond what you thought you could do? You can accomplish a lot more than you think.”
“I guess so. This can carry over into a workout?”
“Yup.” Said the trainer as he polished off his sandwich, “It will. Take 2 days rest and meet me back here. We will get you training hard before you know it.”
This topic has been a long time coming for me. A conversation I had with some friends at the Chinese Buffet the other day really brought all my thoughts to the forefront. Our conversation brought about a couple of things to mind. I will address each of my thoughts in turn.
1. There are a lot of smart people out there who know a lot about training, science, and nutrition. Yet they do not understand the most important aspect of training. I like to call this “Get-It-Done-Nossity” or the ability to get things done.
To me these people pose a large problem. These are the 170lb guys with a 250lb squat who know tons of training systems and science, they think they understand what it is to train. They do understand the concept of training. They do not understand what makes these concepts work well. I have had conversations with these people.
“I have tried conjugated periodization.” They say
“You train like my little sister.” I answer
“I do my speed work at 50%. I do not know if it is working that well for me.”
“Maybe you should try getting stronger”
“I have had some strength gains. Just not as much as I would like. I am eating 500 calories over my maintenance level.”
“I think the problem is that your grandma uses more weight when she picks up her walker”
All these conversations end the same. A smart person does not understand why great training systems are not working for them. Then they try to tell me how to get stronger....... And I want t go on a murderous rampage.
The issue with these people is that they are mentally weak. Sometimes they just need a swift kick in the A$$.
Which leads me to my next thought.
2. What do you do when someone is a punk, a wuss, so mentally weak that they barley even realize that they are not trying to get better?
Well. Conventional wisdom tells us to tie these people to a lamp post and beat them with a bag of door knobs.
Though that would be effective, and a lot of fun. I can see some legal problems rising.
We have all seen these people. They have potential, talent, everything they need except the basic ability to push themselves hard enough to get the best results. They are full of excuses, and think they are trying -
“I have bad genetics” “I can’t do any more” “I feel sick” “I was out late last night”
They have a general unwillingness to truly push themselves. It is this that separates people who have good results from people who do not get good results.
I believe that some people do not even know that they are mentally weak and that is why they do not get the results they want. It is this group of people who have never had to do anything hard in their lives. They have never experienced true challenge. The issue is that they think they have.
So, I am plowing through my third helping from the buffet, and we start throwing out ideas. The main answer is that people need to learn what it is to push themselves. We needed to find a way to make them understand what pushing themselves really is.
Putting yourself in a situation where you question your ability to complete a task, where there is a mental battle taking place over you can even finish the next step, much less the entire task, is a very important thing that will lead to better results than any fancy training system out there.
This reminded me of a few different interesting things I have seen and heard.
A unique gym in California has a very simple principal. The door takes 500lbs of force to open. If you can’t open the door. You can’t train.
I knew a trainer who was great at training people for weight gain. Someone would come to him and ask for help, he would take their name, phone number, and body weight. Then he would say,
“Show me you are serous. Come back when you have gained 10lbs.”
I used to think that this was harsh. Now I think it is a good idea. It weeds out all the sissies, this trainer ends up with clients that are truly motivated.
20 rep squats. I know there are mixed feelings about them, but taking a heavy weight and leaving it on your back until 20 reps are done is very useful for understanding what it means to push yourself.
I have had some crazy conversations with myself during a set of 20 rep squats.
The above two examples are cool.
The real necessity is a hazing process. A challenge that has to be met before the “official” training begins. Something that takes a lot to be completed, that will show the “mettle” and commitment level of an interested party, like the story at the beginning of this article.
So get creative, and the next time someone wants to be your training partner just say -
“We’ll see. There is something you have to do before we can talk about it!!!” :D
“Sit down, lets have a chat.” Says the lean, tattooed, Vin Diesel lookin’ trainer.
“I really need to get stronger, I want big arms, shoulders, and everything that goes with it.” the young man states.
“So what do you need from me?”
“I am looking for a good program, something more advanced, that will get me bigger.”
“You don’t look advanced to me. Have you been training?”
“Yea, 3 days a week.”
“What do you do?”
“I do a full body workout, focusing on squats, benching, and rows the first day, single leg stuff, overhead pressing, and pull-ups the second day, and deadlifts and other pulling exercises the third day.”
“Hhhmmmm...... Sounds to me like the program is not the problem. You are.”
“What???” says the young man, clearly offended. “How can I be the problem?”
“You don’t know how to work hard.”
“I work really hard. I do all I can!!” The young man said, clearly getting angry.
“Good. Now that you are in the proper frame of mind. Follow me. We’ll see how hard you work.” The trainer gets up and starts walking towards the back of the gym.
Despite his questioning, the young man gets no answers out of the impressively built trainer. They walk right out the back door.
The young man finds himself standing in the ally behind the gym. The only thing there is a metal plate attached to a rope with a large pile of weights stacked on it.
“Here’s the deal.” says the trainer, “You are going to drag this weight, however you want to hang onto it, down this ally, around the corner at the end, up that little hill. Where you see that clump of trees.”
“I’m not doing that. Do you see how far that is, this is crazy!!!” the protests fell upon deaf ears.
“Once you reach that clump of trees you will see a tire. Flip it, end over end, back to this point.”
“NO!! I need a program, not punishment!!!” Screams this young man.
“You want my help. Get the work done, then we will talk. If you don’t do it. No dice.” And the trainer walks back into the gym without looking back.
About 40 minutes later the trainer walks out back to see the young man finishing his last few flips before the tire was in the spot the sled had been not long ago.
The young man sits on the tire, breathing deep breaths, looks up at the trainer.
“How did that go?” Asked the trainer, between bites of tuna he was eating out of a pouch.
“That was tough.” Says the young man.
“Good. Now take the tire back to the trees and bring the sled back to this spot.”
“WHAT! NO! I can’t do that. I am exhausted. I can barley move my arms as it is.”
“You have to put things back where you got them. Right. See you when you get back.” Says the trainer as he finishes the tuna and throws the pouch into the dumpster as he walks back into the gym.
The time was over an hour before the young man got the sled back to its rightful location.
“You feel like you got some work done?” Says the trainer, talking around bites of a triple decker PB&J.
“That was really hard.” Puffed the young man as he lay on the floor in the back of the gym. “My whole body hurts, everything, my back, arms, legs, you name it.”
“Did you think you were going to make it?”
“No. Most of the last half hour I thought I would not be able to take another step.”
“Yet you made it?”
“Yea, I am really surprised.”
“Why? Because you pushed yourself beyond what you thought you could do? You can accomplish a lot more than you think.”
“I guess so. This can carry over into a workout?”
“Yup.” Said the trainer as he polished off his sandwich, “It will. Take 2 days rest and meet me back here. We will get you training hard before you know it.”
This topic has been a long time coming for me. A conversation I had with some friends at the Chinese Buffet the other day really brought all my thoughts to the forefront. Our conversation brought about a couple of things to mind. I will address each of my thoughts in turn.
1. There are a lot of smart people out there who know a lot about training, science, and nutrition. Yet they do not understand the most important aspect of training. I like to call this “Get-It-Done-Nossity” or the ability to get things done.
To me these people pose a large problem. These are the 170lb guys with a 250lb squat who know tons of training systems and science, they think they understand what it is to train. They do understand the concept of training. They do not understand what makes these concepts work well. I have had conversations with these people.
“I have tried conjugated periodization.” They say
“You train like my little sister.” I answer
“I do my speed work at 50%. I do not know if it is working that well for me.”
“Maybe you should try getting stronger”
“I have had some strength gains. Just not as much as I would like. I am eating 500 calories over my maintenance level.”
“I think the problem is that your grandma uses more weight when she picks up her walker”
All these conversations end the same. A smart person does not understand why great training systems are not working for them. Then they try to tell me how to get stronger....... And I want t go on a murderous rampage.
The issue with these people is that they are mentally weak. Sometimes they just need a swift kick in the A$$.
Which leads me to my next thought.
2. What do you do when someone is a punk, a wuss, so mentally weak that they barley even realize that they are not trying to get better?
Well. Conventional wisdom tells us to tie these people to a lamp post and beat them with a bag of door knobs.
Though that would be effective, and a lot of fun. I can see some legal problems rising.
We have all seen these people. They have potential, talent, everything they need except the basic ability to push themselves hard enough to get the best results. They are full of excuses, and think they are trying -
“I have bad genetics” “I can’t do any more” “I feel sick” “I was out late last night”
They have a general unwillingness to truly push themselves. It is this that separates people who have good results from people who do not get good results.
I believe that some people do not even know that they are mentally weak and that is why they do not get the results they want. It is this group of people who have never had to do anything hard in their lives. They have never experienced true challenge. The issue is that they think they have.
So, I am plowing through my third helping from the buffet, and we start throwing out ideas. The main answer is that people need to learn what it is to push themselves. We needed to find a way to make them understand what pushing themselves really is.
Putting yourself in a situation where you question your ability to complete a task, where there is a mental battle taking place over you can even finish the next step, much less the entire task, is a very important thing that will lead to better results than any fancy training system out there.
This reminded me of a few different interesting things I have seen and heard.
A unique gym in California has a very simple principal. The door takes 500lbs of force to open. If you can’t open the door. You can’t train.
I knew a trainer who was great at training people for weight gain. Someone would come to him and ask for help, he would take their name, phone number, and body weight. Then he would say,
“Show me you are serous. Come back when you have gained 10lbs.”
I used to think that this was harsh. Now I think it is a good idea. It weeds out all the sissies, this trainer ends up with clients that are truly motivated.
20 rep squats. I know there are mixed feelings about them, but taking a heavy weight and leaving it on your back until 20 reps are done is very useful for understanding what it means to push yourself.
I have had some crazy conversations with myself during a set of 20 rep squats.
The above two examples are cool.
The real necessity is a hazing process. A challenge that has to be met before the “official” training begins. Something that takes a lot to be completed, that will show the “mettle” and commitment level of an interested party, like the story at the beginning of this article.
So get creative, and the next time someone wants to be your training partner just say -
“We’ll see. There is something you have to do before we can talk about it!!!” :D