32 Thoughts for 32
The older I get, the more training becomes about feeling good - mentally and physically, and about being able to do what I can now, for a long time.
If you train right, your fitness sticks around. After a long running and training hiatus at the start of the pandemic in March and April, I still felt fit enough to take on the Hut Traverse in late June. My longest training run was just 15 miles, half on the road, not even close to the 10 hour mountainous 50k I would I preferred. I charged up a couple mountains in a final scouting mission the week before and decided if the weather was good I would go for it. Although I didn’t make it to the final hut, just 1.5 miles short, it remains one of my most fond and intense experiences, despite the fact that I wasn't as trained up, or as fit I would have preferred. What I had built up mostly stuck around. Key takeaway: Always being ready is more important than being trained specifically for something.
Ability to have a really long, slow controlled movement, tempo in gym vernacular, might be the key to really understanding strength training.
Foam rolling is important, but not that important. I’ve shown countless people how to foam roll. Each time, the experience is hit or miss. “I know it hurts really bad when you do that, and yeah, it kind of makes you want to scream too, but it’s good. I promise!” Doesn’t always create immediate converts. What made it worth it, was when that some people got up, and immediately noticed some physical change. Boom. They’re in. Though the years, I’ve just decided to accept that some people love it, myself included, and some people don’t like it, or don’t need it as bad, or just don’t feel like laying down right before training, myself included, too. I’ve lost many workout attempts to naps on foam rollers “trying to get warmed up.” Bottomline, you need to do some soft tissue work on yourself, but it doesn’t have to be at the gym.
Strength training is totally possible (and necessary?) through an entire pregnancy. Hannah took more rest days than a normal year, but was able to keep up her training consistency by good planning. We keep her movements consistent for longer stretches of time. Changing movements every 6-8 weeks instead of 3-4. This kept the movements familiar, easy to determine load and established a baseline for feel. We did mess around with reps, tempo and volume. Keeping the volume at a manageable level let her keep up the frequency - we never pushed too hard and always did less than possible.
The first time I back squatted was 2004. This year, I finally feel like I’ve figured it out can do it without any discomfort. Without a doubt, one of the most effective exercises around, however, it’s not the only option, or the best option for most due to the high learning curve. Similarly, I feel like I have gotten better at push ups the year. Strength and Conditioning is impossible to master, there’s always more to get better at and refine. Which is the same reason why Peloton and Mirror won’t get you very fit. There’s only more calories to burn, not a way to get “better.” In the gym, we get better through refinement of movement and increasing understanding.
Running has helped me understand hip extension. When I first started, my hip flexors were always so tight they were a limiting factor on my stride. It took a lot of mobility work and patience to get them calm, however, regular exposure to running, aka time with my hips in extension, seems to make the range of motion stick around equally as well as regular mobility work.
Build mobility into your day. Since I don’t formally mobilize as much any more, I do make sure to spend a lot of time sitting on the ground, and finding ways to get in a stretch throughout the day instead of having a dedicated time.
Really long walks are great workouts. Don’t discount them and do them frequently.
Training boiled down to one sentence: pick up things from the floor, push stuff, pull stuff, move fast, go slow.
I love deadlifts. I learned a while back that I don’t need to push the weight on them, the risk became greater than the training effect I would get from heavy loads. This fall I was feeling strong, and recovered from a massive decrease in training volume after Elliot was born. I went for it and set an easy PR. A couple weeks later I set another and a month after that another. It’s been YEARS since I’ve broken a deadlift PR and it feels good. Strength sticks around with proper training. The longer you’ve been lifting, the harder it is to progress.
I always hated the idea of training first thing in the morning. With the baby around though, it made so much sense to just go get it done. After a month of trying to wrap my head around the idea, I finally did it two weeks ago and haven’t looked back since. I’m a convert. For now.
Dinner principles make it easy to make healthy dinner while raising a newborn. We always have some type of protein with at least two veggies. If it was a training day, we’ll add some rice or potatoes. If we’re feeling crazy, we might have a pizza night or make some GF pasta, with added veggies, for a fun shake up. Otherwise, keep it simple to be consistent. Recipes are overrated. Cook with principles.
Balance is trainable, but more often than not it, it seems to relate back to stability, and being able to get organized and display strength.
Home gyms are essential. You need at least a set of dumbbells or a couple kettlebells. Forget the bands, they’re nice, for sure, but not nearly as useful as some good old fashioned iron.
Eat more eggs. You just can’t go wrong. Filling, multiple ways to prepare them, loaded with good protein and micros.
One exercise workouts let you focus on the skill of strength. Complete the movement with focus and intent. Give yourself plenty of time to practice as a warm up and you’ll see strength soar. It’s boring, but effective, like many things in strength and conditioning.
People in back pain should LEARN how to deadlift without pain. It usually takes some time, lots of reps, and maybe a bit of aggravation. Learning to get stiff and rigid, using discomfort as feedback for change, is imperative to dealing with daily life. Deadlifts are one of those movements that do all the good stuff, its importance surpasses much of the other things we do in the gym.
You need discipline. Not motivation. No one ever motivated themselves to a healthier lifestyle. You need discipline to build new habits and stick with stuff long after you no longer feel like doing it. After you grind enough, it becomes automatic and you can’t believe the way you were living before
The best way, beside walking, to get more cardio is to bring some intensity to the gym. It shouldn’t be all the time, but when appropriate, pushing the pace on an AMRAP circuit or RFT combo, gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Muscular endurance, strength endurance, cardiorespiratory demand, and the plain, old fashioned suck factor.
As I’ve written before, I’ve been on the barefoot thing for a minute. To my surprise, my feet are still getting better. Build in more time with no shoes (or slippers!) on your feet. Especially now while we’re all cramming our feet into boots.
I had a blood test and determined I needed some more omega 3’s. Right away I started taking some krill oil. That lasted for two months, and instead we went the real food route and now eat fish once a week.
Trunk rolling; taking a big ball and massaging the area between your hip bone and rib cage is life changing, and my go to protocol whenever I’m stiff and twisted.
What’s the bare minimum? I like training. I like taking my time with it, but with a baby that isn’t always the case. Before training I ask myself, “what’ll be the most efficient way to get a training effect?"
Going heavy, or using a challenging load only once every month or two isn’t a bad way to get and stay strong for a long time.
Habits can be slippery. I started having a beer every night during the initial lockdown, and before I even realized it, it was October and I was still going.
The dumbbell snatch might be the best thing to make people look and feel athletic. Historically an exercise I reserved for athletic population only, this movement has now become a staple in our programming to get people violently extending their hips and getting some weight overhead.
Coffee is a drug, and I’m an addict. I did some genetic testing this year and to no one’s surprise, I’m a fast caffeine metabolizer. That means my body can handle a lot of it without too many ill effects like jitters or staying up all night.
Also to no one’s surprise, my DNA report told me I respond well to endurance training. I have a gene variant the loves to be pushed aerobically, so it responds by adapting quickly. When I stopped playing hockey, I basically only lifted and started to feel slow and sluggish. When I upped the cardiovascular training, my strength went up, I got leaner, I recovered faster between training sessions - everything got better with it. It was then I started to suspect I was an aerobic responder (genetically) and my test confirmed that this year.
On my 30th birthday, I ran 30 miles. Last year, I had a party with my closest friends. This year, I wrote my first listicle. When I was coming up in the strength world, all the coaches I looked up to did this on their birthday, and I remember thinking, will I ever have enough cohesive thoughts to put together a list like that or will gross anatomy just kill me?
A theme that always comes up from successful people in many realms; voluntary suffering makes everything else easy. Change you attitude about those bike sprints. Not only will they make you fit, but you’ll be a better person more ready to take on life.
Write a personal retrospective. When I started writing this blog several days ago, that’s what I was going to do but it turned into this post. It’s a drill I do every year. I write what worked, what didn’t work and how can I fix what didn’t work. It’s hard to start, but usually ends up creating a few goals and action steps for the new year.
Justin Miner
PS: This is the last post of the year, I’m shutting it down until January to recharge. Thanks for reading along with me, I appreciate it!
