This is going to be a long one. Bear with the tangents and the digressions. Here we go.
It’s time we talk. I have a lot on my mind. I hear chatter and I hear opinions and I welcome them. I love knowing how the people I work with think, their interests and concerns, likes and dislikes, etc. Something that I always come back to is the issue of strength. I’m not talking about mental strength or anything like that. I’m talking straight up strength. Sadly, since Arnold made it big and won Mr. Olympia 7 times in his life, people began running rampant with the idea that strength equals this and only this type of frame. This stigma has grown and brought us to where our world is today. If you lift weights, you’re automatically a meathead and are trying to look like Arnold. This ignorance is the direct cause of the slanted view of human physique today. Praising those that eat tissues and starve themselves so they can fit in pencil thin clothing has become status quo. Our appearances have become focus. The main populace is more concerned if someone famous gains weight or worked off that baby fat than the countless numbers of people dying from preventable health diseases usually brought upon themselves. Over the years has grown a path of two: The bulky meatheaded jock, or the paper thin starving “health nut”. Many in our country see these two extremes and choose something far worse: Doing nothing. If I hypothetically created my own country and the only, literally the only requirement was to jump over a 12 in barrier with both feet at the same time, I’m willing to bet over 70-80% of the United States could not enter my new country.
“I just want to get skinny”, “I just want to explode and become massive”, “I wanted to be shredded like [Insert famous person here]“.
Why? I’m guilty of saying one or two of those in my lifetime. In retrospect I sit here and wonder… Why?
It’s time to talk about strength. This is one of my favourite words. It has many different meanings to many different people. When I say strength, who do you imagine? Many could think of someone big and hulk-like, because obviously big is strong. Or… Could strength be someone who was deathly afraid of working out and is becoming comfortable with the idea of a challenge? Someone overcoming an injury, a mental barrier? Strength has so many different applications it’s amazing. So from here on out when someone speaks of strength, remember it’s different forms and presence.
One other form of strength I like to discuss is the actual ability to build physical strength. It’s no mystery that you know when I write a workout up or something because it’s a “strength” day. If you take it for face value, you don’t get much out of it. Dig a little deeper. Why would I focus so much of my energy on writing up strength days? Because everyone needs to be strong. Strength and mobility are the two attributes of fitness that will never take away from any of the others. Becoming stronger with transform your body, mind, and spirit if you’re willing. Let’s look at it for someone who wants to be “good at Crossfit”. Take a look at all your superhero WOD stars. Yes they do specific workouts extremely fast. Do you know how they get better at them? They don’t do them over and over. They Squat, Deadlift, Push Press, etc. training absolute strength (increasing their 1RM) So instead of that sub-maximal weight (135/95# or whatever) being 70% of their 1RM, it can be 40-50%. So doing 30 clean and presses at 135# becomes easier when your Front Squat goes from 225 to 315, and when your Push Press goes from 155 to 200. Stresses on the body decrease when your body can handle more weight. Your body is forced to transform and become solid, lean, and I would imagine exactly what you’re imagining in terms of your “body image”. Let’s look at the opposite end of the spectrum. You want to be an amazing half marathon runner. Each stride you take propels you forward let’s say… 3 feet. What if I increased your leg/back strength and hip power/mobility to produce a 6 foot stride? How much time does that save in the scheme of traveling a little over 69,000 feet? Not to mention you strengthening your muscles/tendons/ligaments to keep your body healthy and safe after such a laborious event.
Strength days are not easy. We throw them at you in order to test your limits. It’s mental to go from lax and casual to turning it all on and handling your heavy set. It’s physical because you ask your body to come together as one unit to fulfil a complex and heavy movement, usually more than once. running around and doing crazy moves is fun. Everyone wants to do muscle ups and climb ropes, everyone wants to flip tires and do butterfly pull ups. Crossfit as an idea is a wonderful tool, but the Crossfit community was essentially given a ferrari and they treat it like a shitty lawn mower. Flash is key. People again are so focused on appearance rather than capability. You know why those fancy ass cars are so amazing? Yeah they look cool but what’s under the hood is a high performance machine with all the bells and whistles in tune, tires balanced, chassis rock solid, etc etc. Not all “Crossfitters” are like what I’m describing, but many only want to do muscle ups and all the crazy shit that looks cool to show your friends. You must crawl before you can walk. Want to do a muscle up? How is your Squat/Snatch/Clean? Do you have the leg strength and the hip power to propel yourself upwards? Can you comfortably Snatch a significant amount in relation to your body weight? The hip power plus the shoulder stability to fulfil that movement translates well to such a conditioning move as the muscle up. Flipping tires? People are so focused on trying to do that, but how’s your Deadlift? Flipping a 500# tire is no joke but can you Deadlift that much as well? You want to know why the fitness world outside of Crossfit sees it as a cult following? Because people are so focused on being a Crossfit Star that they forget the sole purpose of it to begin with: to become functional. I am a firm believer of strengthening the core movements in order to be ready for whatever life or anything may throw at you. I am not at all bashing any of your goals/hopes/dreams. Please see that what I’m trying to say is we all (myself included) must focus on strengthening our roots to considerable measure in order for our branches (the fun stuff) to grow safely without harm. I am not blind. I understand that some level of conditioning is adequate for what most people want in their lives, hence why there is a level of functional conditioning in most days. Just keep in mind: You don’t need to throw up or pass out everyday to get better at life. There are some days that are shorter and allow for more mobility/stretching afterwards. Don’t just take off. Give your body the care it needs in order to grow and heal.
The bottom line: If you want to go to the Crossfit Games, if you want to run a marathon, if you want to be an athlete legend… Strength will never hurt you. You do not get “big and bulky” from lifting heavy weights. Shift your perspective on how people look and more towards what people can do. If you judge everything by its cover, who knows what you’ll be missing out on.
Next week you’re going to be thrown into exactly what I’m speaking of today. Be ready. Give it your all, take your rest days and be mentally prepped for what may come your way. Remember why you’re doing this and hang on to that when times get tough and when times are amazing. If you’d like to talk to me more about strength and it’s purpose or any other questions when it comes to this stuff, don’t hesitate. I love talking about the world of fitness and all it’s components. The more we can learn from one another, the better world we have. See you all soon, I hope you have a wonderful day!
-Mike