The Sacred Cow of Strength Training – Does It Matter What We Call it? I Say Yes.

For most of the last decade, I have used a singular definition:

“Strength is the ability to produce force under given conditions.”

I believe I first read that in one of Pavel’s books.

Most of my training was suited to this wording – pressing weights, pulling weights, bending, levering, and tearing.

To this end, I identified “strong” people as those who could use the most resistance for those patterns. If you could deadlift 2.5BW you were strong. If you can bend a red nail you are strong, so on and so forth.

In the last year, I have met a lot of people who do some pretty incredible things which did not match that definition.

Rather than debate these people are “strong,” I have changed how I define strength.

Why mention that? I remembered a quote from Tony Blauer

“the clarity with which you define a term determines its usefulness.”

If strength is only the ability to generate force, how can I explain what I am seeing when I watch a parkour athlete jump off a 20 ft wall, hit the ground, roll, and sprint off without a scratch?

What about the kettlebell sport competitors who are lifting between 60-100% of their body weight overhead for sets up to over 100 reps without setting the bells down? Endurance sport? Have you ever lifted two 32kg bells for reps overhead without setting them down? Not exactly like a 3 mile jog…

Obviously I was missing something in my understanding.

Lets go back to the turning point which really got my mind on this topic.

In February my friend Marty Lotspeich did a body flow demonstration at a fitness summit. Marty can throw himself in to the floor and catch himself without using his hands or making a sound. Looks like he is about to face plant, then nothing. I was unable to do this in the same way from a 6″ off the floor start. Extremely impressive. That is only one piece of his demo, in short he did a lot of stuff I could not do. When I see things like this happen, I ask some questions.

Later that weekend, Frankie and Marty did a jiu-jitsu demonstration to show how differently Marty grapples. Marty played a very different game from what I have seen. Nearly zero force used to move and transition, which makes it really hard to feel him when he shifted weight. Because Marty produces so little force, he is extremely hard to predict when on the move, meanwhile he is sensing every move you make. I out weighed Marty by 50lbs, and I knew watching that demo that he would be extremely hard to work against because I was producing so much force all the time. Excessive force production has a cost in all endeavors.

In March we worked on athletic movements and footwork drills. The speed drills we worked on originated from Lee Tafts speed work which has been ripped by a bunch of people over the last few years. The foundation of the speed work is production AND redirection of force. We get hurt changing angles, speed plus change of direction at end range of motion is the recipe for torn up knees and ankles. I watched Chuck, who is nearly 50 years old with at that time a gout inflammation, turn and cut with the agility of a 20 year old soccer star. Clearly, I have missed something in my training…

This year I have invested work in learning the kettlebell long cycle clean and jerk. When I first learned to do it, it was super high power clean, hard jump in to the jerk…with little ass weights. I was getting smoked too fast, and that did not translate in to more strength or better movement.

Even 48kg bells is still light compared to what most men use for the BB jerk. As I took more and more time to learn about GS, I have learned to produce, redirect, and decelerate the force of the bells. Use the minimal effective amount of force to move the weights. This has allowed me to increase my rep numbers to a massive degree. Best of all, this pattern of movements at speed for high repetitions has given me greater yields in mobility than 6 months of joint mobility or functional movement corrections. That time I got one right…

So what do I now call strength?

“The ability to produce, redirect, sustain and/or reduce force under given conditions”

So is this important to you? Well maybe, maybe not.

I have heard people say things like,

“If you have never put 300lbs overhead you don’t know anything about strength.”

Well there are some problems here…#1 to my knowledge only a handful of the worlds most respected trainers and coaches and authorities can do that. I have met a lot of very successful trainers in the KB world and only a few of them could do that right now. Bad belief system. In fact the last person who quoted it to me is unable to lift that overhead at this time right now. So that’s a really bad belief system if I have ever heard one, considering at the time I was being told how qualified the person was to comment.

#2 We get in to all kinds of problems with these absolute poundage comments- If a 350lbs man lifts 300lbs overhead, is that more impressive than a 140lbs man who can lift 240lbs over head? Is one strong and one weak? I say a man lifting BW+100lbs overhead is strong. A lot of people would point out lifting under your BW is not strong…so whatever. Since nearly every strength sport has turned to weight classes, we all seem to be on the same page that weight lifted to body weight ratio is important.

“If you can’t sqaut X, deadlift X, bench press X, you’re not strong”

Well this is a fine statement, except of course that power lifting is not the only sport in the world where power and strength is employed.

Does this mean we are supposed to wave off the Olympic lifters out there Snatching 1.7 to 2X BW off the floor overhead? What about arm wrestlers? I know some guys who can break your arm faster than you than you will be able to hear the go commend, and they don’t ever squat in the gym.

I can list examples all day for this one…the bottom line is simple:

There are a thousand ways to be strong, and that means there is no absolute measurement.

“The deadlift is the ultimate strength lift.”

Well is every person able to deadlift? Is it the best plan for every man and woman in the world? No, its not. There are a number of conditions which can make the deadlift a big no-no. Back pain affects 60% of adult Americans and deadlifting is not a universal cure all.

Besides, if pulling weight off the floor is the measure of strength, what about cleans and snatches? Oh wait, those are not appropriate for every man and women either.

“If you don’t do X, you will never be strong.”

I hope by now you have caught what I am throwing here. Every time we say something is an absolute, we find a counter to it.

Still- these examples would not take in to account other factors in my definition of strength.

So what is my final answer?

There may not be an ultimate example of strength. There is most likely no single thing I can think of which would leave an undisputed title of “Strong.”

No one man today can dominate all strength sports. There maybe a few who could come pretty close, but there is simply no way as of right now to have a man (or women of course) of rules PL, OL, WSM, GS, Highland Games, Arm Wrestling, stone lifting, hand sport, the list goes on and on.

So where will I leave you?

Pick a goal. Follow your biofeedback and achieve your potential. Define your strength in your own way. Borrow my mantra for those who wish to bother you- “piss off and worry about yourself.”

If you do not know what you want to work on, think about this new statement- Maybe force production is not your best suit, what about redirection or reduction? Marty and I have found we are paired in opposition in many ways. I would not advocate he tries to emulate me, especially since he has survived several crashes on his bike which would have left me seriously injured because of his talents of reduction. Our interactions have left me inspired to learn new skills which have already paid off for my global fitness pursuit.

I suggest you count the beans against yourself, and only yourself. Where you are now compared to where you were in the past, and finally on to what you will become in the future. That maybe the closest to the ultimate which I can find. I believe the individual is the center, so is that individual better than before? If so than they are getting stronger.

I say the best are not defined by a single act, but by a continued display of excellence.

If this is true, than let us all examine our averages, not fixate on the highs or the lows.

As for me, I will continue to move in my own direction. If lifting 500lbs with your middle finger is not strong…well I suppose I may win the title over when I pull 600 sooner than later. And if that fails to impress…well go fuck yourself buddy

My name is Adam T Glass, and I am The Movement. My question for you, Are You The Movement?

If you liked this post, pleas Subscribe to my RSS feed.

And if you really think you’re cool, Subscribe to my Newsletter.

Ready to make the best progress of your life? Buy Grip and Rip 2010 the DVD HERE and learn to set personal records daily while eliminating pain and changing your physique.