OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUD

Back when this show was awesome...which is already me being a grumpy old man

 

* The great irony of training is that time under the bar is invaluable and the lessons we learn are crucial, but through the accumulation of time we out age our bodies past the point where we could best make use of these lessons.  I’m 37 with well over 20 years of lifting under me.  I’m running Super Squats right now, and through it all I’ve contracted RSV that turned into a sinus infection, pulled my quad and tore my hamstring, yet I haven’t missed a single workout because I know EXACTLY how to change with fate and fortune.  I know how to fake a hamstring with a knee wrap, I learned how to swap out squats with good mornings from Bruce Randall, AND I have enough body control that I can literally squat AROUND the injuries and rely on other muscles (which is most likely what transitioned me from a pulled quad to a torn hamstring, but I digress).  20 year old me would have simply STOPPED at the first bit of adversity because he had no idea what to do to overcome it…but at the same time, 20 year old me most likely wouldn’t have run into these problems in the first place.

 

* That’s WHY I write this blog and spend so much time online: I want to pass on my lessons to those that are in a position to make better use of them.  Some things can’t be caught, sure, but even a fraction of this is worth it.

 

* And that is one of the more interesting things I hear in response: if it weren’t for the suffering that produced the lesson, one wouldn’t know how to make use of the lesson.  Maybe so, but perhaps I can at least affect the ratio of suffering to learning in a better direction.

 

* Time under the bar ALSO extends to being able to understand OTHER meatheads as well, because we’ve all “been there/done that”.  People complain about Jim Wendler being difficult to understand, but it’s because they have such a small framework of experience to understand him WITH.  5/3/1 is SO simple once you “get it”, but to get it, you need to forget the stupid things you “know” and remember the worthwhile stuff instead.  And if your “knowledge base” is just social media, you’re screwed.

 

* Speaking of social media, boy and I glad I grew up with fat powerlifters/strongman and Ironmind to guide me.  These kids today want to be photoshoot ready year round and are squandering their primary growing years.  I was fine being “fat” for a few years if it meant getting huge in the long run. 

When THIS was the ideal body image

 

* Science has been a hindrance as well.  And I should really write “science”, and from there I should write “people attempting to understand science”, but again: I digress.  I love “Super Squats” as a book because it “cites” everything in a manner that would NEVER pass today’s internet critics’ stringent standards, yet it was MORE than adequate for us meatheads back in the day.

 

* People are so backward thinking something has to be proven before it can work.  It’s the other way around!  It has to work and THEN we go prove HOW!  Science is CATCHING UP with reality: not dictating it.

 

* My go to is this: we had TWO 600lb benchers in the 1960s: Pat Casey and Billy Graham.  They accomplished these benches in t-shirts, on a bench press that looks like something you wouldn’t pick up off the curb with a “free” sign on it these days, using primitive drug protocols and nutrition.  50+ years later, the record has moved up 170lbs for ONE individual, and otherwise a handful of dudes have added about 120ish pounds, despite ALL the advances we’ve had in training, nutrition, and drugs, alongside a MUCH wider talent-tool to draw from.  Training and eating is NOT that complicated.

 

* When you have to “prove” you are right with a study versus a literal body of evidence, that’s a pretty good sign you are out of your depth.

 

* Kids will pump all sorts of pre-workout into their bodies, mainline processed foods and mass gainers, seek out SARM sources, and then balk at a dozen eggs a day for being “unhealthy”.  No one was telling Rocky to get his cholesterol checked!

Meanwhile some kid is having their 4th "Serious Mass" shake of the day

* Not everything we do needs to make sense, but it SHOULD be intentional. 

 

* Dan John talks about building a habit of success.  Set up small success to build the habit and, eventually, we make succeeding in and of itself the habit.  Making our bed every morning for a week eventually turns into running a full marathon.  This actually pairs VERY well with Nietzsche’s “Will to Power” concept, in that we can make a habit of consistently overcoming such that overcoming BECOMES the habit.  To me, adversity rarely gives me pause, as I am so accustomed to frequently overcoming that I am typically able to develop a solution in the midst of encountering the adversity.  When I tore my teres minor and tricep on a set of deadlifts during BBB Beefcake, within minutes I had the SSB set up to do BBB Beefcake good mornings.  With my current run of Super Squats, “Super Good Mornings” became a solution way too easily, as did wrapping my hamstring to fake one through squat workouts.  It’s hard for me to NOT overcome at this point.

 

* There is so much value to be had in being too stupid to know that something won’t work.

 

* Fear of injury is more injurious than the injury itself.

 

* The primary benefit of trying a new program is learning from the experience.  We deny ourselves this benefit if we try to “fix” the program before we try it.

 

* I get lean when I travel.  People wonder how.  The answer is: I don’t eat garbage just because I am traveling.  Plan ahead!  Don’t spend $14 on an airport cheeseburger when you could have had a $1 protein bar from home.  And if you didn’t plan, it’s an excellent time to try out fasting.  You won’t “lose muscle”, and you might learn something.

* On the above, not every meals needs to be a celebration, especially when simply TRAVELING rather than vacationing. 

 

* It’s amazing how people focus on form vs effort.  My squats look awful, they’re above powerlifting legal…and they CLEARLY work.  But people either critique them or want to know why I don’t do them “the right way”.

 

* Order is foreign to the body: it craves a return to chaos.

You thought it was over!

 

* A daily 4-5 minute workout is one of the greatest recent additions I’ve made to my training.  It’s so obvious!  We all have that time.  That extra volume and conditioning adds up!

 

* If I were to design a curriculum of reading for a new trainee, I’d start them with Super Squats, then move on to either Powerlifting Basics Texas Style OR Brawn, depending on their interests, then 5/3/1 Forever, then Deep Water.  Start them off learning the basics, alongside what hard work and hard eating looks like.  Get them to understand training with a purpose.  Get them to understand how to structure training over the long haul.  Then get them to be completely reborn.

 

* When it has more carbs than protein, it is NOT a protein shake.

 

* “Softening up” is legit.  Stuart McRobert, Pavel, Kelso, McCallum, Drapper, Arnold, ec.  There’s no montage without a starting point.

 

* “Floor to overhead” and “level change”.  Use those 2 tools and you’ll have everything else figured out.

 

* Supply chain issues and a pandemic have taught us all valuable lessons on what REALLY matters as far as results are concerned…and a similar lesson regarding who really wants those results.

But I'm sure it was awful only having a rack and plates

 

* “No dessert until you eat your veggies” was a great lesson.  Have a bare minimum of healthy food first and you most likely won’t want to eat junk…but the “clean plate club” is stupid.

 

* On the above, ever observe someone given a pre-packaged meal?  Like on an airplane or at an office luncheon?  Ever notice how they will eat EVERY last time?  Even if they’re not hungry for that much food, they eat it because its there.  The meal ends when the food is gone.  This is why measuring/weighing food is so popular.  Instead, we could simply NOT eat all the food.  That offends the capitalist in us but keeps the cardiologist happy.

 

* Kettlebell swings are weird.  I feel fine when I do them, but as soon as I set the bell down, I want to die.

 

* You really can’t expect me to believe you can run conjugate when you screwed up “Super Squats”.

 

* “5/3/1 is too complicated!”  No: it lives up to its claim.  It IS the most simple program: it’s just not a ROUTINE.

 

* 1 year looking fat and 3 years looking awesome sounds better than 4 years of looking average to me.

 

* You can eat back 60 minutes of cardio with 30 seconds of eating.  That information works both ways.

These guys might wanna eat for 60 seconds

 

* Eat what big animals eat and eat those big animals and you’ll have a solid diet for becoming big yourself.

 

* Life is too convenient these days to have any excuses.  You didn’t make breakfast so you got an egg McMuffin?  They sell yogurt and hardboiled eggs at the gas station!  Be real: you WANTED a McMuffin.

 

* On the above, with inflation these days, you can’t even say you got the fast food because it was cheaper!

 

* My rule these days when eating out is I won’t order something I can’t make better at home.  Why grab a burger when I can make a better one?  Why would I ever buy a sandwich?  Chinese food?  NOW you have my attention.

"Chinese" with a HEAVY asterisk 

 

* Low footprint gym?  Power tower, dip belt, adjustable KBs.  Front squat and belt squat the KBs for leg work, weighted dips and chins for upper body, swings/snatches for hinge, all sorts of carrying opportunities. 

 

* Low footprint diet?  Eggs/whites, avocados, spinach.  If you need carbs, add potatoes.