I had a conversation with a guy who scheduled a coaching call.
The first few minutes were the normal fluffing of Hi, who are you, hi, this is me…
As soon as we got in to the call, something curious happened. I began to address his questions he emailed in advance, and his response to nearly every suggestion I made started with “what I have always done….”
As you may have guessed, I was some what surprised. Why call me to tell me what you have always done. I’m here to talk about the now, and the soon to be now.
After a few rounds of this I asked him “Are you pleased with your results?”
“No I’m not”
“Ok then please do not tell me what you used to do again. I do not need a running tally of what doesn’t work from 1995. Let’s keep this all centered on what you are doing right now or not doing right now”
This all brings to my mind a most interesting habit we cling to- traditions.
I think I am pretty accurate to describe a tradition as ”some shit we used to do, shit we no longer do because it doesn’t work that way…but for some reason we hang on to it”
Most of the time describing something as “traditional” means it is not “normal” or not standard.
If something is standard, it’s not traditional. It’s routine.
Some of these ideas I am about to share are things I have touched on in the part. Some of them I have wrote about a whole bunch of times, for some reason it’s not sticking.
Here is the most logical starting point in my mind- When have you made the best progress? If it’s not right now, then why are you not doing what helped you make the best progress in the past?
I am amazed at the number of times I have read in an email “When I was making my best progress I did X” as someone describes there current practice.
Dude if you made the best progress you can remember bench pressing twice a week and squatting twice a week, why are you doing Cross Fit WODs right now?
If you body felt best when you trained 4 times a week, why are you training once a week or less now?
The second part of that is this- if something is not working, why are you still doing it?
“that’s just what I always did…” is a terrible reason to continue.
Babies shit all over themselves the first 2 years of their life. 2 years is a long time to do something everyday. Would you continue shitting all over yourself just because that is what you always did?
That’t not an abstract example either.
If you traditionally do a run every fall, and every time you fuck your knee up so badly you have to take a month off training, than you are shitting all over yourself.
If every attempt for you to get back to a routine fitness schedule involves “21′s” style burn out curl sets which flare up your elbow tendinitis, derailing the whole fucking program, you’re shitting all over yourself.
Here’s a new plan
Ok, rather than doing shit just because you have always done it…I want you to test it. See if it actually helps (or hurts) you and your gains.
I spoke with a women, who is currently struggling to get her fat loss program in motion. I asked why she feels her fat loss has been problematic. She said she hates the gym. I asked her why she hates the gym. She said it takes too long. I said why does it take so long?
She said “well first I have to stretch for 15 minutes, than I have to get on the elliptical for 45 minutes, than I have to do machines for 30 minutes, than I have to stretch for 15 more minutes to cool down”
Yeah I guess that would make it hard to get in to the gym if you think you need two hours per day to train.
So I make her an offer: How about we do a 20 minute circuit of 3 exercises? If she needs to stop before the full 20 minutes are up she can at any point. If she needs to sit down at any point she can. If she needs to drop down the weights she can at any point.
Short story shorter, she made it 9 minutes in a circuit of box squats, one arm push presses, and one arm rows. With a 12 lbs dumbbell. I asked her if she wanted to continue, she said no.
I asked her if that helps her change her mind about what is possible in a short period of time. She said that type of training wouldn’t work without the 45 minutes of cardio, or the stretching.
Now here is the part for you non-trainers to understand. The client is always right. This is not some new age “everyone is ok”" shit. This is factual reality. If a client doesn’t believe something will work for them, I will not ask them to do it. I’m some what lazy too, the path of least resistance is to allow them to do whatever they do, continue to demonstrate the science (AKA Science Taming) and see if the numbers help them change their mind.
So take that nugget of wisdom (wisdom taming) and go back to my new friend up here. I will absolutely train her in the model she thinks she must do. I will also show her everyone else’s fat loss assessment, their PR charts from the Adaptifier software, and how fast they are in and out of the gym.
At some point one of two things will happen.
She will quit.
Or
She will become experimental, and try something new.
You are limited by time more than any other factor. One day you will die. It maybe today, it maybe in 20 years, or 90 years. At some point your ass is worm food. With that said, you can only get better in the span of time you have to get better.
How much time are you wasting by sticking to the old traditions of what you used to do?
How many times have you came up short on the improvement pay check with old tried and true traditional fitness solutions…which gave you little to nothing to show for it?
You know what I love hearing?
Every time I go out “that dude is big” “that dude must workout a lot” “what are you some kind of personal trainer?”
When you see me, you know I invest a good chunk of my life to lifting iron and getting better.
Do people know that about you when they meet you?
Do you want to change that answer?
What if all it takes is you questioning your own beliefs and being willing to try new things?
What if all you have to do is stop doing the things which aren’t working for you, to have the time to do things which do?
I believe the answer can truly be that easy.
Interested in learning some new stuff? I am going to be offering an E-Class this fall. Registration will begin shortly. It will be a 5 week course, of videos, conference calls, and exclusive contest in articles. I am going to take a group of men and teach them to coach themselves, better than anyone else could. My plan is take them and render my profession obsolete to them. How does that sound to you? Traditional? I should hope not.
ATG
{ 16 comments }
Hey Adam,
My wife is currently in that belief-zone of “must do cardio in order to lose weight”.
She gets it from countless “experts and scientists” who constantly spew the crap about having to be in the correct heart rate zone in order to burn fat, i.e.,sit on a stationary bike for an hour while watching soaps.
I’ve convinced her to give me 3 months to prove to her that there is a better way.
Wish me luck…
Measure her up, have her try her way for 4 weeks. Measure again, then 4 weeks of the idea you have. Measure again, ask her which is better based on numbers and interest.
Outstanding post Adam.
Really great stuff from you lately, keep it up.
Adam, spot on. Traditions and current beliefs will hold back progress for so many people. I honestly believe that it doesn’t get much simpler than what you are showing in ways of health and strength.
I appreciate that you offer people ways to get better. Take it or leave it. Sadly most people want to be told what works for them instead of finding out for themselves.
Ryan, you know the deal on this. It’s all about every man taking responsibility for his own shit. I was raised in a family where that was a measure of character- to be able to handle your business.
The good news for all the ones who are looking for a guru to run their shit- hey they are out there. Its not me, its not my people. We are not interested in anyone who needs someone to hold their hand.
I only want to be around people who like me, share a common bond of self reliance. That is in many ways what the Movement is all about.
Adam, you’re a scholar AND a gentleman. I love old school training, but not everything that we did “back in the day” was all that affective, and should be left to the history buffs. Good stuff, my man!
Todd
There is A LOT of good advice to be picked up from the old school BUT it’s not for everyone. My training for example- how many people are ready for 6 days a week at high volume? Some times I’m not LOL.
Do not what others do, but maybe HOW they do. I want everyone to be experimental and prepared to drop anything which is not working. Faith can better be used in other places than fitness and exercise, we have science for this arena
if you are serious about traing in the long term , invest your money in adam he will help you go faster and make bigger gains than any of the jokers he is the best trainer in the world , his knowledge is lit years ahead of everyone out there spend money and sign with him treadmills are use to hang laundry on , i never seen one in motion
Thanks Mike I appreciate it
Adam,
It has taken me awhile to get to this point, but I have finally stopped overtraining and have really been listening to my body. Old motto : “One more set.” New motto: “When in doubt, take a day off.” I’ve seen improvements in strength and mass gains accompanied by dramatically less joint pain. Due to my lifestyle, I normally only have 30 minutes a day to lift. That has forced me to get efficient with my lifts and keeps me from getting burned out mentally. This change from the traditional 2 hours in the gym to 30 minutes a day has truly been a paradigm shift, and I’m consequently looking for new exercises to experiment with improving both strength and efficiency.
Charles, I have clients who are making massive improvements on a 3 day a week- 20 minute per day schedule. If the attention is moved to doing that which works best for the individual one can make exceptional gains doing a fairly small amount of invested labor. In my opinion all it takes is the willingness to subtract things which are holding you back, to make room for the things that will launch you forward.
Over training is very real. I know it’s a popular dogma for these online fitness coaches to tell people “no over training, only under eating” or some other horse shit. Those of you with real lives and real commitments are not going to make it living in a gym or trying to live up to the macho mans reality of training.
the only metric that matters is what makes you better. Not me, not anyone else. Only you. That is my belief system
Adam, I loaned my piece of Grip ‘n’ Rip 2.1 to Juha Harju. Let’s see what he thinks about the content.
I dont give a shit what anyone THINKS about it, I only care if they APPLY it for themselves. If Juha applies it, he will quickly move to the very front of the pack in all of Europe for grip
I agree.
Great post and some of the same idea’s I have been trying to push to the friends and the family, they see what i do and the result I get from it. They are just still locked in the mind set of the experts say this way of lifting will get me results. I say screw what the experts say if it does not work for you lets try something new.
Since Nov I have been doing nothing but kb stuff mbodystrength.com has some great free programs, I have also thrown in some grip stuff after following Mr Glass’ site I test, I PR and I wont go back to the globo gym norm ever again.
great post keep them coming
Adam, I didn’t get as much of a chance to pick your brain during my visit, but it was a pleasure to see how you act and think. I’ve heard you described as either intimidating or inspirational, I personally found you inspirational and a “straight-shooter”. I was surprised that you were as personable as you were, I thought you might be abrasive and condescending, but in retrospect the only people I’ve seen you treat in that manner are trainers you think are “breaking” their clients . This post is rather long, but long overdue as I have a lot on my mind. I’ve shared some of these thoughts with Frankie, but have added a lot of new information.
I’ve started doing testing for exercise selection and will keep doing it and expanding how I us it as my understanding improves. The test-retest reliability is the part that shocks me the most. Also, sometimes I’m dying to do something, but it it tests poorly I don’t do it because I’ve learned it is counterproductive by trying to do just that. It’s awesome to have a tool that helps me hone my instincts. I no longer feel like a man looking for a black cat in a dark basement, you sir are a genius and so are Frankie and the other innovators/ early adapters who have continued to apply the testing, etc.
I initially learned about testing from reading Adam’s blog and was stuck between thinking “it was brilliant” vs. “it is a form of self-hypnosis and Adam is a snake oil salesman”. I guess even if it is a form of self-hypnosis, it still is a way of telling you what your nervous system embraces that day and what it fears if I “grok” it correctly. I read the freely available info about “The Movement” and “testing” on the web and after trying it over a few months on a few basic things, decided it had validity and purchased Grip and Rip 2.1.
Normally, for me to even consider purchasing any type of personal training is a rather galling affront to my sense of self-reliance in this area, as one of the things that attracts me to grip/weight training is the time I spend by myself in my backyard working out and the challenge of trying to figure things out. I’d normally rather read for hours to try to learn how to improve my training than pay a personal trainer. In fact, my general disdain for being coached is such that despite being sickly, asthmatic, 6′ and ~125 lbs. in high school, I was asked to join both the wrestling team and football team because the coaches saw something in me, but declined because the idea of having a coach present and telling me what to do took all the fun away. I much preferred playing tackle w/ no pads and no helmet for as long as I felt like with my friends. However what sold me with Adam and The Movement was learning how to train myself without the routine, ongoing need for a trainer. I think you could give away Grip and Rip for free and an extremely high percentage of people would not apply the knowledge at all, because they’d rather have a trainer or simply do what they’ve always done.
I look forward to reaching a whole new level of strength and hopefully the ability to DL heavy one day while remaining in one piece (may need some 1:1 feedback on this for my piece of mind even though the video specifies exactly how to test what works for you in the DL; I can do various 1HDLs until the cows come home but used to “break” myself w/ any form of two-handed DL DL). I am not ashamed however, that despite having pretty good grip strength that feats like phone book & card tearing escape me and I will likely need a lot of 1:1 help (seem to have some type of motor apraxia).
I have already noticed an improvement in my intuition re: movement. My intuition with people has improved a lot as a result of the type of work I do (help run a drug tx program), but I don’t easily grasp movement on my own, not at all, so the biofeedback tool is an enormous help. One thing I noticed already is that my baseline toe touch has already improved over four inches-I had no improvement in this area after doing Yoga at least 1-2x weekly for five years-so this must mean I am moving better. I just need to expand my use of biofeedback, learn to listen to my body better and I expect to continue to grow.
So if you think Adam is a “snake oil salesman”, think again. There is enough free info on this site and the rest of the web to “test” for yourself, give it a sincere try and tell me it is “snake oil”.
{ 1 trackback }