As this year approaches its end (yep, about a couple of weeks left), here are a few things that occupied my mind more than once during the past twelve months, regarding training, whether for attributes or for skills. Most of the examples you will see me using are from the context of what is known as ‘fitness training’, but my comments apply in the realm of martial arts training just as well. Please keep in mind that, with my conclusions I do not lay claim over any type of truth – that’s just the way I feel about these things NOW. Here I go then!
IT’S NOT WHAT YOU TRAIN AT, IT’S WHAT YOU TRAIN FOR THAT MATTERS!
It is pretty common nowadays to consider specific training protocols or specific training implements, usually marketed by training brand names or franchises, as an end in their own: “I train Crossfit” or “I train with kettlebells” are comments that people make pretty often, and to be honest with you that doesn’t make much sense to me. Training is (or should be) a goal driven process: the various forms of training stress imposed to an organism cause specific adaptations. You cannot train using power lifting protocols if your goal is to run a Marathon race, right? After all, the word ‘fit’ literally means ‘appropriate’. Well, what do you want to be appropriate FOR?
A specific program or a training implement are tools, means to an end, NOT goals. Using kettlebells, TRXs or various other gizmos without a goal is like driving a car for six hours a week and never actually having a place to go to: you’re waisting precious energy and you’re probably wearing the car down to no purpose. A legitimate goal might be to lose weight, improve your body composition, compete and finish a half-Marathon for the first time, tear a deck of cards with your hands, become a more powerful striker etc. Before you train, you need to set your goal, i.e. conceive the image of a desired future. Then you must examine various training methodologies according to the results they produce, find which ones are useful in your case and combine them in a training program that includes not just training, but rest and recovery too. Is this way too complicated? Well, that’s why there are professional trainers out there. All you have to do is tell them what you want. They will translate your goals into ‘training language’ and design a program for you.
An article with a similar subject was written by my good friend, Serbian strength & conditioning coach Mladen Jovanovic and posted on his blog, almost the exact same date last year. Well worth reading, just like the rest of his training blog – check it out.
So why is it then that people cling to training fads of implements like fanatic football fans to their teams? This brings us to my second thing I learned this year, namely…
It is pretty common nowadays to consider specific training protocols or specific training implements, usually marketed by training brand names or franchises, as an end in their own: “I train Crossfit” or “I train with kettlebells” are comments that people make pretty often, and to be honest with you that doesn’t make much sense to me. Training is (or should be) a goal driven process: the various forms of training stress imposed to an organism cause specific adaptations. You cannot train using power lifting protocols if your goal is to run a Marathon race, right? After all, the word ‘fit’ literally means ‘appropriate’. Well, what do you want to be appropriate FOR?
A specific program or a training implement are tools, means to an end, NOT goals. Using kettlebells, TRXs or various other gizmos without a goal is like driving a car for six hours a week and never actually having a place to go to: you’re waisting precious energy and you’re probably wearing the car down to no purpose. A legitimate goal might be to lose weight, improve your body composition, compete and finish a half-Marathon for the first time, tear a deck of cards with your hands, become a more powerful striker etc. Before you train, you need to set your goal, i.e. conceive the image of a desired future. Then you must examine various training methodologies according to the results they produce, find which ones are useful in your case and combine them in a training program that includes not just training, but rest and recovery too. Is this way too complicated? Well, that’s why there are professional trainers out there. All you have to do is tell them what you want. They will translate your goals into ‘training language’ and design a program for you.
An article with a similar subject was written by my good friend, Serbian strength & conditioning coach Mladen Jovanovic and posted on his blog, almost the exact same date last year. Well worth reading, just like the rest of his training blog – check it out.
So why is it then that people cling to training fads of implements like fanatic football fans to their teams? This brings us to my second thing I learned this year, namely…
REDUCTIONISM: MIGHT BE GOOD FOR THE BUSINESS, BUT NOT AS GOOD FOR THE CUSTOMERS…
In case you haven’t noticed, reductionism is everywhere around us: things have to be always “either… or…”, never “both… and…”. For example, the most popular kettlebells franchises in the market claim that it’s them alone who offer the ‘correct training methodology’ and the others ‘do it wrong’ or even worse, have ‘inferior training goals’! So suddenly, you find yourself having to follow one line only: “are you hard-style or soft-style”? Sorry guys, but I am a trainer, not an erection…
The thing is, in an extremely consumerist environment, marketing has to be aggressive and cut-throat: you have to shout loud enough AND trash-talk your competition to make your voice heard. In this sense, a brand name or franchise has to define itself not just by what it is, but also by what it is NOT. This way we ended up in either-or views such as ‘long slow endurance training is not good, high intensity interval training is the best’. Well, what if I tell you that the first training method increases the volume of your heart and develops your vascular network while the second one makes your heart muscle stronger and more enduring? Why wouldn’t you use a combination of both methods for best results? Unfortunately, if you don’t know the science behind each one of the two training options, you get to listen to the voices of marketing rather than the voice of reason…
In its most extreme version, this ‘either…or…’ mentality, lead the founder and CEO or a very popular fitness franchise to claims such as ‘no achievement in human performance has ever come from exercise science’, or that ‘the therapy for training injuries is STFU’! As I said, in might be good for the business, but is it good for you? Just take a moment to think about it…
In case you haven’t noticed, reductionism is everywhere around us: things have to be always “either… or…”, never “both… and…”. For example, the most popular kettlebells franchises in the market claim that it’s them alone who offer the ‘correct training methodology’ and the others ‘do it wrong’ or even worse, have ‘inferior training goals’! So suddenly, you find yourself having to follow one line only: “are you hard-style or soft-style”? Sorry guys, but I am a trainer, not an erection…
The thing is, in an extremely consumerist environment, marketing has to be aggressive and cut-throat: you have to shout loud enough AND trash-talk your competition to make your voice heard. In this sense, a brand name or franchise has to define itself not just by what it is, but also by what it is NOT. This way we ended up in either-or views such as ‘long slow endurance training is not good, high intensity interval training is the best’. Well, what if I tell you that the first training method increases the volume of your heart and develops your vascular network while the second one makes your heart muscle stronger and more enduring? Why wouldn’t you use a combination of both methods for best results? Unfortunately, if you don’t know the science behind each one of the two training options, you get to listen to the voices of marketing rather than the voice of reason…
In its most extreme version, this ‘either…or…’ mentality, lead the founder and CEO or a very popular fitness franchise to claims such as ‘no achievement in human performance has ever come from exercise science’, or that ‘the therapy for training injuries is STFU’! As I said, in might be good for the business, but is it good for you? Just take a moment to think about it…
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| Another training fad or THE BEST TRAINING METHOD EVER? You be the judge of that... |
THE KNOWLEDGE OF PRINCIPLES CAN SUBSTITUTE FOR THE IGNORANCE OF FACTS
The meaning of this quote by French philosopher Claude Adrien Helvétius exploded into my mind when, while exchanging views on breath training in a social medium, I read someone’s post that “if burst breathing causes respiratory alcalosis, and bust breathing is advocated by the masters of a martial system, then respiratory alcalosis must be good for you”! Well, correct me if I’m wrong here, but I’d rather first know what respiratory alcalosis is and which breathing patterns are causing it, so I can conclude myself whether it is good for me or not. Swallowing a ‘recipe’ whole and then trying to ‘force’ the scientific knowledge that confirms it, while often ignoring that which contradicts it, is a sign of intellectual laziness. The relationship between you and your instructor (martial or other) should of course be built on a basis of trust, but in the end only you are responsible for your training and learning! Know your scientific principles first – in the overwhelming majority of cases, the facts will confirm what you already know, but you will often also be able to prevent training screw-ups, plus you will be able to organize your training yourself if needed.
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| French philosopher Helvetius: did this guy know his training or what? |
A LITTLE COMPETITION CAN CARRY YOU A LONG WAY
2011 was the year I decided to return to some form of competitive activity after eleven years (it was year 2000 when I competed in san shou for the last time and decided to call it quits due to lower back injury). A few months ago, my good friend, Serbian MMA coach Mark Lajhner told me that competitions function more or less as a very efficient time constraint, just like exams for university students – indeed, can you imagine how much more time it would take for a student to get a university degree if there was no exams and tests involved whatsoever? Training is pretty much the same thing – after you set your training goals, it’s good to set a time frame within which you plan to achieve them. But, besides forcing you to drag your lazy bottom to the gym, competitions are good for something even more important: trying out training methods in order to determine their effectiveness and trouble-shooting. In September 2011 I competed in what is known as a Tactical Strength Challenge, which took place in the city where I live. The TSC is a maximum strength/strength-endurance/power-endurance event, and I decided that the training goals in order to compete were not inconsistent with those of a martial artist (since I mostly train martial arts) or the rest of my life, so I went for it. Now, within the two month period I prepared for the challenge, I had the opportunity to learn quite a few things about training programming (thanks to my good friends, coaches Greg Mihovich and Mladen Jovanovich), nutrition and rest/recovery options, PLUS I got to make some training mistakes (yeah, stupid ones too), that hopefully, made me a somewhat wiser athlete and coach. My point is that if you don’t get challenged occasionally, it’s pretty hard to grow, and some form of competition can provide a good incentive. For a number of reasons, I am not very much for professional sports, but amateur competitions are well worth considering, even if you don’t think you’re ‘good enough’. In the TSC I participated, there were quite a few good athletes, but also a number of competitors who could just perform two or three pull-ups (maximum number of bodyweight pull-ups was one of the events). But, you know what? They prepared, they showed up and they gave it their best shot. Plus, they’ll be back in the next TSC and do much better- and that is just awesome!
OK, that’s enough ranting for one blog post. I just hope this year was as productive and full of knowledge for you as it was for me. You might be interested to know that for the moment I am working on writing a document on how classical mechanics can help you understand how to improve our power generation potential for martial arts, but regarding the Dynamo Club blog, I’ll just be back in a few days with a post on the stuff that I got and liked most in 2011. Unill then…
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