The training is only 10%

Iceberg

I could have said that the ‘workout’ is only 10 percent, but I like how Mark Rippetoe puts it. The legendary barbell coach describes the difference between ‘training’ and ‘working out’ is that training is something you do to achieve an end goal over a period of time, whilst a workout is something you do to ‘feel good in that moment in time’. Whilst I could argue the semantics and words used, I’m totally behind the idea at play.

Many people go to the gym with an idea in their head of what they want to look like, or be like. They don’t really understand the process required to get there and so do what they’ve always done, or been led to believe is the ‘best way to workout’. Read more

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Primal Realities

Twenty years is a long time. Time enough to see a lot of fads come and go, to see ‘the cutting edge’ information recycled every 3 years or so, and to become a jaded grumpy old man. My journey across the years has seen me train, dabble and immerse myself in lots of different things.

On the martial arts side of things I have trained seriously in a large number of martial systems such as Tai Jitsu, Karate, Judo, Aikido, Wing Chun, Muay Thai, Boxing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Kali, Silat, MMA, to name a few.

In the fitness side of things I’ve trained in many modalities in many styles, barbell, kettlebell, bodyweight, group exercise, gym based, outdoors, distance running, sprinting. I’ve trained using bodybuilding methodologies, powerlifting, ‘fat loss’, blood-shunting, etc, etc.

Let’s not forget the low fat, high fat, high carb, low carb, fruit diet, salmon diet, liquid diets, etc.

Over this time I seem to have found myself comfortable with, and teaching, two schools of training. One martial system and one strength and conditioning system. Both of which share a lot in common, which is what I want to share. These two schools of training are Dog Brothers Martial Arts (DBMA) and StrongFirst (SF).

strongfirst-logo (1) DBMA

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Mud Racing

Probably the single biggest sporting event that people seek my help with recently is obstacle course racing, or as I like to call it, mud racing. I seem to have developed a reputation as a ‘performance enhancer’, but not the type you’ve been hearing about in the news over the weekend.

So, with regards to mud racing, what are the ‘big guns’, the things that seem to have the biggest impact on peoples performance?

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