2010 Year in review

For the past few years I stacked up a video demonstrating my training from Jan to Dec.

This year I will not be doing it.

This year was very different.

In the past I would work on a given program for 3-6 months while juggling my grip training in plus my weirder strongman feats.

I used ever complicating blocks of training, plus correctional work, plus “prehab” and of course “rehab.”

Did I get stronger? Yes.

Here is a question worth asking,

Why was I doing corrections, prehab and rehab type movements?

I was fucking myself up. High tension training, routines, schedules, dedicated plans outlining how things “should be.”

It was obvious not all things were going so well, and yet I did not question my training to find the answer to a simple question.

“What is the cost to my body for doing these things?”

Lets take a quick detour.

Movement is life, life is movement.

I think we can all agree to this at some level.

A general statement is this- gross movement is a good thing. Our bodies are built for and from movement, in thousands and thousands of ways.

The but to that statement is this: while movement is what the body needs, not every specific movement is good for us at a specific time. In fact some movements can be harmful. This is not solely dependent on load and speed either. Contrary to the idea of many correctional movement systems, unloaded movement can be damaging to the body.

There is not simply a universal movement which is automatically “good,” and there is not a movement which is universally ”bad.”

Before this year, I thought differently about that subject.

I had read and been told many times by trusted authorities certain movements were always good- for example the ankle tilting drills so popular within the Z health community, the active straight leg raise correction drills I did from FMS, turkish get ups from the RKC, swipes and mills from CST. I did not question if these things were making me better at the time, I did them because I was told or I thought it was something I should be able to to.

I would like to be clear, the only fingers I am pointing are the ones back at myself. It is no one else’s fault but my own. I was allowing other people to think and plan for me. It is not their fault, it is my responsibility to take care of my body.

Why was 2010 different?

This year I simply tested goal movements daily.

I say simply because while I have expanded my education 10X times farther than last year, I have also gained so much new insight on how simple things can be. I have learned through my own experiments how complicated programs and schemes are not required.

The results?

That is what this post is about.

Before we talk about the training, I want to address an comment and experiment that was directed at me when I first began using the testing model.

“Let’s see what happens in a year.” –  VERY famous guru trainer

The add on was

“Yeah that won’t work very long” – famous guru trainer’s subordinate

Rather than view this as a negative statement or challenge, I have treated it as an experiment.

The experiment has been simple. Every day I come to the gym and test to see if I can PR in my goal movements.

There are some add ons to.

I test to see if I can do more, or do less while moving forward.

I test to see how many of the so called laws of strength/fitness/exercise can withstand the direct questioning with this sample of 1.

I test my movement, my variation, the tool, the load, and perform reps. I stop before elements of effort present themselves.

There are some additional components, but first lets look at some base lines.

Body weight on 1 January 2010 was 236, looking at the photos I will guess 24% body fat. That would be 56 lbs of fat and 180 lbs of lean mass. My waist was 38 inches. Upper arms 15 1/4 inches, shoulder 48 inches. I do not have other measurements from then, I did a PT test that week and did 71 push ups in 60 seconds, 62 sit ups, and a 1.5 mile run in 10:11.

Some of my other numbers in relation to my current.

2″ Vertical bar lift 290 right, 270 left. That was hard.

5 minute KB snatch, 107 reps in 5 minutes. That was my test number, but not the best I had ever done within that time frame. I believe my very best 5 minute test at that time was 122, my best ten minute test 216.

My training volume was low. I believe the average day was around 15,000 lbs moved. My high days would be around 28-30,000. The total volume for 2009 was 3.4 million lbs.

My training frequency was between 2-4 days a week. Looking at my 2009 log I see I trained roughly 55% of the year, it was slightly impaired with some duty related travel.

I typically during this time would train 2-3 big movements often with kettlebells and another 3-5 movements associated to grip and strongman feats. If you are truly curious you can view my 2009 year in review video HERE.

I am not complaining on bit. 2009 was a strong year, without a doubt better then 2008, which was better then 2007.

2010 was better then all three years. I have more training data from this year than all three years combined and the metrics tell the story.

Total training volume for 2010- 7.8 million pounds lifted, hoisted, and moved. That would 2,600 cars worth of weight. My average training day is now 35,000 with some days going up to 80,000 lbs.

Total training frequency- 276 days. That is 75% of the year with the average month being 23 training days.

Body fat on Dec 31 2010 was 11% at 206 lbs. That is 22 lbs of fat and 184 lbs of lean mass. My waist is 33.5 inches. I lost over 30 lbs of fat and added 4 lbs of lean tissue. My upper arms are now 16.50 inches, my shoulders 55 inches. It made a pretty huge difference in how I look.

To compare to the above lifts, my 2″ vertical bar dead lift max is now 355 lbs, and I can lift 300 for over 12 reps nonstop. I easily snatch 125-130 on a 5 minute test even though I rarely do KB snatches with anything heavier than 20kg. 80% of my true KB lifts are done with a 16kg bell and I have made tremendous progress with those movements.

Most of my training this year was centered on two goals- look better and kick butt in grip sport competition. My days were either big movements at speed or competition standard lifts (two hands pinch, grippers, fat bar, one hand deadlifting and a lot of miscellaneous pinching, squeezing, and levering.

I already covered some of the physique changes, I think it is obvious I did ok with that goal. On the performance side I broke a world record, I certified on the COC #3, I finished 11th for Worlds Strongest Hands out of 90 and hit what is considered very advanced numbers in many of the grip lifts.

If you are not happy with what you accomplished, I have a question:

Have been working on the wrong goals?

And to those who raised the question,
yes this still works even now 400 days later.
I guess the magic switch of 365 did not exist.
You were so sure of that…

Are you ready to try it now?

Other areas, many changes

Without a doubt the biggest change this year was exiting the military.

When I enlisted in 2001 I was certain I would stay for at least 20 years.

When I was sent back to Minot, ND in November 2007 I knew my time was shortly up.

My time in Okinawa was in many ways the most interesting years of my life so far, the time in Minot from 2008 to the beginning of 2010 was certainly some of the worst years. It was the most complete disappointment of my life, literally a huge fucking fail in every aspect.

I can’t be certain I would have stayed in had I went anywhere else, but I doubt I would have exited with such a bad taste in my mouth had it been any other assignment.

The adjustment has not been easy, but it is satisfactory for now.

My business’s have been growing in all directions.

Grip and Rip 2.1 sold exceptionally better than anyone would have thought. Hundreds of men and women have sent me stories of how they resolved pain, achieved big goals which have eluded them for years, and how they now make the best progress of their life. They do it their way. They do not have to buy a new book or DVD every month. While each story is unique, they often share the same lines. “This is the best I have ever done,” “I have never felt better,” and “training is fun again!”

Industrial Strength Grip is off to a powerful start. For the first time, a beginners product is now on the market for those who want stronger hands. Grip is a massive range of movements, it can be very confusing and challenging for someone to find out where to start. I believe I have created the product which will do the most good for any beginner. While it has only been a few weeks of sales, the feedback is promising.

I have several new projects coming this way.

Moving to Minneapolis has been an interesting change of pace. It’s really nice to have more options for the simple things in life, where to eat, what to do with some free time, where to go.

I have parted ways with a lot of people this year and never really replaced friendships. I think that was one of the bigger adjustments. I used to teach class to 50-60 people daily while interacting with another dozen or in my unit, plus clients and friends afterwork.

Now for the most part it is the people I train day to day plus conversation with another 4-6 people either face to face to on the phone. Much smaller interactions, somewhat less interesting. I have not found a task or hobby here which I like to use to meet new people who are doing something other than fitness. That is one of my goals for 2011, find some new shit to get in to day to day besides the work/fitness business.

I think I’ve done more writing this year then all of 2008 and 2009 combined. I have had more readers, more emails, more contact. I think some people are confused how this works, I will clear that up now. I write for me.

There are other ideas behind the things I write, but it’s always for my benefit first. In my opinion that is what kills a lot of peoples blogs/sites. They don’t do it for themselves.

I think writing to make money is a path to stagnation, I think a blog to please others is a path to stagnation. Josh told me once 50% of the blogs on the web are dead space, most people can’t even get one post a month done.I have worked on this page now for 3 years, over 1,200 posts. Hundreds of articles.

Dan John said something I like, “sometimes the goal is to keep the goal”

Not done yet.

What is next?

2011 brings new DVDs, a big ass workshop in the mix, more classes with The Movement.

Competitions. I will be competing at Metroflex this month, Michigan Grip in April, Worlds Strongest Hands Series 2011, US Grip Nations, and two other contests which have not been finalized yet.

More of a lot. That is a better summary.

I know this, changing your actions is a lot faster than changing your mind. If you want the outcome to be different you have to do something different. Some people want to take time to think about all kinds of things, consider the fastest path is to do all kinds of things. Right and wrong, every step of the way you learn more.

I have to paraphrase Frankie on this one, because I am not sure what the original quote was,

“You only need to think on the things which you are prepared to act on.”

The more I embrace this idea, the more shit I am able to get done.

The best advice I have for anyone who reads this

Get better in whatever direction you can, for as long as you can, and change directions as soon as you must.

Go make 2011 better.  You were built for it.

ATG