You’re Only as Strong as Your Foundation…

It’s funny how you can use a principle in other parts of your life and then COMPLETELY ignore it in an area where it can make a BIG difference. I guess that’s the folly of being human at times – a classic case of missing the forest for the trees. A lot of you know I’m a HUGE fan of Seth Godin. I think Seth is one of – if not THE – greatest mind of our time. Something he says over and over again is that you have to choose ONE THING that you’re going to be the best in the world at and then do that. As he puts it, you need to be a “meaningful specific” and not a “wandering generality.”

I’ve worked on making this blog a “meaningful specific.” I write on a small handful of topics and in a particular style. I’m working at being the best in the world at being ME and writing the particular type of stuff that I write. I’ve also given up or passed on a lot of other opportunities. I know I can’t do everything and I don’t even try anymore. I’ve passed on jobs and other opportunities because I don’t want to spread my energy too thin – and become a mediocre blogger while I’m being mediocre at all the other stuff I do. You have to choose your “one thing.”

The place I wasn’t applying this philosophy, as silly as it seems now, is in my training. I have a serious case of “Training ADD” and am into pretty much everything – weightlifting, running, kettlebells, martial arts, yoga… In fact, what initially attracted me to CrossFit back in 2008 was how interdisciplinary it was. Finally, I could train all the diverse stuff I wanted to and just call it “CrossFit.”

Then I Became a Wandering Generality…

What happened though, is I found it really hard to make progress. A large part of this, I suspect, was that I really didn’t have a solid idea of what “progress” was. Not too long ago I wrote about setting smaller goals and getting my days right. I guess that’s what got me thinking about needing a core, foundational training mode to build on. It was hard because I love EVERYTHING. Running and yoga are probably the only two physical things I do that I’m not terribly concerned about being world class at. Everything else I obsess about and want to make better. But, trying to be better at everything pretty much guarantees you’ll be good at nothing…

Westside Barbell and Louie Simmons…

 

Last summer I was lucky enough to meet Louie Simmons and some of the Westside guys at CrossFit Relentless in West Hartford, CT. My friend Merle McKenzie managed to get Louie out for a Power Lifting cert in CT. And that seminar ROCKED! I blogged about Louie Simmons and the Westside Barbell seminar here. I left that seminar totally inspired and totally psyched. In fact, it was at that seminar, on Sunday, that I made the firm decision to drop A LOT of things from my life and make some drastic changes so I could pursue my training and writing passions. I seriously considered asking Louie if I could go back to Ohio with them and train with them indefinitely. I think the only reason I didn’t is because I suspected he’d have said yes and I’d have been figuring out how to up and move to Ohio! I can hear it now: “Hi, mom, I’m in Ohio. Do you mind taking care of the dog, the snake and all the cats forever?”

The Westside system had a lot that I liked and Louie was awesome. At the time, though, it was ANOTHER collection of techniques and methods that I was adding to my already overflowing bunch of knowledge and information. So, I had some great advice from arguably THE BEST mind in powerlifting, but I wasn’t able to act on it because it was competing with 20 other methodologies and training modes. I WAS smart enough to buy both of Louie’s books at the seminar and have him autograph my copy of “The Westside Barbell Book of Methods.” This was fortuitous, because I had that book and my seminar notes to refer back to when I finally pulled my head out of my ass almost a year later…

And, The Wisdom Of Dan John…

I’ve also been reading Dan John’s excellent book “Never Let Go.” There’s so much GREAT stuff in that book. One little gem of advice from Dan was this:

“When things go wrong, simplify.”

Again, something I “know” but not something I was applying to training. I’m sure at one point I would have argued: “But, I’m training EVERYTHING. See, that’s simple…” Maybe my training wasn’t going “wrong,” but it really wasn’t going right either. After reading that section in Dan John’s book I started thinking: “What if I took ONE basic training mode and trained it for a few YEARS?” Yeah, YEARS. Scary thought, right? It sounds so… Permanent…

What do you have to NOT do so you can do something else?

Here again, the basic principle that I KNOW works is this:

You MUST decide what you want to be great at and then drop the things that will keep you from excelling at it. Yes, you can have other “peripheral” interests, but I believe you have to have FOCUS that guides you and allows you to evaluate the other modes you work with.

In my particular case, CrossFit, Kettlbells, yoga, Jiu Jitsu, etc. can add to my Powerlifting training – Louie and the Westside guys are BIG on GPP (General Physical Preparedness). But without a firm hierarchy of importance, it’s too easy to chase after the “ADD Goal Du Jour.”

Choose Your Foundation Wisely…

 

So, here’s why I chose Powerlifting and Westside specifically as my training. If you follow along with my reasoning, you just might be able to figure out a good foundational training mode for YOURSELF too. If you’ve been stuck spinning your wheels in your training for a while, this might really help you break out of the rut…

Here’s why I think Westside is a great method for me to base my training on:

• I have HUGE respect for Louie and the achievements of the Westside guys
• Westside is about barbells and heavy basic movements – Deadlift, Bench and Squat – and their conjugates (box squats, dumbell bench, etc.). I really enjoy these movements and my home gym is pretty much designed to train them…
• There’s enough variation in Westside that my “Training ADD” can be accommodated and indulged WHILE firmly sticking to the program
• Westside trains specific movements, in specific styles, on specific days. This bit of scheduling and accountability is actually working out VERY WELL for me so far
• Westside uses fun toys! I’ve already got a drag sled that I love, I’m impatiently waiting for my weighted vest to get here and I’m getting some chains soon. I really like the toys…
• Training heavy seems to suit me. Big weight is something that I’ve always enjoyed, suits my body well and – I think – is something I can continue to maintain and progress in as I get older
• All my peripheral stuff will enhance the Westside training – kettlebells, yoga, CrossFit, running, etc…
• This type of training will likely support the hormonal changes I want to make in my metabolism. Incidentally, when I talked to Robb Wolf last year in a phone consult, he recommended a drastic decrease in CrossFit-style Met Con training and an increase in heavy barbell work. He even mentioned Westside Methods specifically.

What about CrossFit?

With CrossFit, the goal is to increase fitness by becoming GOOD at just about everything. If you’re really good at everything they do in CrossFit, you’ll be GREAT at CrossFit. As Coach Glassman has said, CrossFitters specialize in NOT specializing. If this suits YOUR personality and YOUR goals that’s great! DO THAT! For me, I was going in too many different directions because I wanted to be GREAT at just about everything in CrossFit. That’s not the point of CrossFit though…

So, yeah, CrossFit ROCKS. For many, it might even be a good foundation for training. For me, specializing in not specializing wasn’t… well.. specialized enough… 😛

BTW, there was a GREAT article by Tom Seryak in Crossfit Journal about incorporating Westside Methods into a CrossFit program not too long ago. I highly recommend reading it if that’s your goal.

Are you Horizontal or Vertical?

There’s a business concept that applies in a lot of other places. The concept is Horizontal vs. Vertical. I’m a Vertical person – I thrive when I specialize, focus and pursue the infinite little nuances in a body of knowledge or area of skill. This is a “depth of knowledge” thing. I’ve always been that way. My mind and personality thrive when they focus on just a few things…

Other people are Horizontal types. They like to know a little bit about a lot of things. These are the people who can go to a mountain once or twice a year in the winter, rent some skis, spend the weekend skiing and go home. And they consider the weekend a “success” because they got away, had some fun and spent some time outside being active. Next weekend these same people might do something different. This kind of stuff makes me NUTS personally – I want to be GREAT at something or there’s no point in doing it…

What’s your DIET foundation?

It’s the same thing with diet and nutrition. In my book “The Paleo Dieter’s Missing Link,” I worked hard to connect Paleo and it’s foundational principles to other diets and nutritional philosophies. Paleo is my nutritional foundation and I use principles and techniques from other disciplines to make Paleo work FOR ME and reach my specific goals.

So, there it is…

I forget where I first heard this, but it makes a lot of sense (I’m sure I’m paraphrasing): Find the people who are the best in the world at what you want to be the best at and do what they freakin’ tell you!

Sounds sensible to me. Why reinvent the wheel right? With all that said, I’m going to settle in for a LONG stretch of training with the Westside methods and organize my other training around it.

And, if YOU have Training ADD and aren’t getting the results you want, you might try deciding on a foundational training mode and philosophy and giving it a good, long and honest try.

ttys

Adam

 

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