Daily Lifts and Third Spaces
I have hit a seriously busy patch, which coincides with a need to be physically and mentally unstoppable.
Which has me thinking about minimalist training strategies and how we keep our brain from imploding
Let's start with the training.
There is a book I read years ago, that I think should be on every coaches bookshelf and probably most fitness enthusiasts.
It’s called “Squat Every Day” by Matt Perryman
(amazon associates link: https://link.amazon/B020h0IVo)
It delivers concepts that echo a good bit of Pavel Tsatsouline (Kettlebell/StrongFirst dude) work, in particular his excellent “Power to the People” book.
In both texts the idea is high frequency training, with significant loads, but moderating the volume so you can recover.
I prefer Squat Every Day over Power to the People simply for the way it’s written and it’s less prescriptive.
Here’s the basics, as I’m currently using them.
Every day we hit our lift.
The sets and reps are indeterminate, we’re going to figure that out as we lift
We take a piece of advice from the legend that is Dan John, that we only have 10 good reps in use when going for strength/power.
That means we can do:
10 sets of 1 rep
1 set of 10 reps
5 sets of 2 reps
2 sets of 5 reps
3 sets of 3 reps
Descending reps, such as 5/3/1
Ascending “ladder” sets, (1,2,3) x 2
And so on.
The fun part is, you don’t need to think too much.
Your first few reps will inform you.
When I first did this, I simply left a 60kg barbell out. Each day, I’d clean it to the shoulder and front squat it.
Some days I’d clean every rep, other days just to get the first rep.
Some days it’s feel easy and I’d do 2 sets of 5
Other days it felt heavy and I’d do sets of 2 or 3 reps
Some days it felt really easy, so I’d add load to each set.
And over time that bar did get heavier.
I left it always loaded at 60kg and usually did a “warm up” with that, then increased it before I started accumulating my 10 good reps.
Currently I am doing this with my sandbag.
The bag, nicknamed “EC” is 80kg’s of Irish Beach Gravel in a Cerberus Strength Bag.
It’s called “EC” because that's the initials of the service user in the Depaul centre that I am basing my upcoming challenge on.
I’m going to carry his bodyweight for approx 2 miles, from the Bandstand in Dungannon Park (the lowest point in town) to the Hill of the O’Neill (the highest point in town), then to the Depaul centre where he lives.
EC weights around 70ish kg’s.
I am carrying him, figuratively, from low to high.
As it’s a fundraiser, should you wish to help, use this link:
By lifting the sandbag each day, I am attempting to make it feel lighter.
Repeated exposure to the load for 10 good reps 5 days out of 7, is helping me adapt physically to that weight, and technically in handling the bag with its shifting load.
Sets and reps don’t matter.
It’s simply exposure.
And if the load starts to feel light, that means I have gotten stronger.
And that’s a good thing.
The danger with high frequency work is burning out.
With a barbell you can vary the load, my sandbag not so much.
So while when I used the protocol with a bar all those years ago I did so for several months,
This sandbag with this weight, it’s tough.
After the challenge I’ll give it a rest and maybe lift it less frequently, or take some weight out.
I don’t know yet how my winter lifting will go.
So how do we do all this and stop our brain imploding with all the plates we have spinning?
First, the lifting takes under 20 minutes. Sometimes it can be 10 minutes.
And often done while also doing something else, often woodworking in my shed.
My shed, the “Dave Cave” is my third space.
It’s not work or home.
Well, it’s at home, but it’s outside the house and I usually get left alone when in there.
And in there I work creatively with my hands building something or fixing something.
It means between my work with the Depaul charity, my work with you lot, my clients and my family life, I have little place to escape to.
In my past I have escaped to the martial arts class, the mountains, the coffee shop (I miss the Lunch coffee shop round the corner from WG-Fit, that was almost my office for years)
For most of you reading this, it’s probably your gym, be it the kettlebells in your kitchen or the facility you pay to use.
What you choose isn’t as important as the fact that you choose.
A “third space” a place where you do you, maybe with people, maybe on your own, but it’s not for show, not for SocMed, not for profit.
Just for you.
A space where you get to decompress from the word.
Where you look after mind and spirit as much as you look after your physical body.
Simple
Not Easy
Dave Hedges
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