Friday Thoughts 145
Welcome to this week’s edition of Friday Thoughts, where I share what’s been on my mind. Let’s get into it.
Labor Day
GAIN will be closed on Labor Day, Monday September 7th.
Sports Specificity Doesn’t Belong in the Gym
General strength and conditioning meets most peoples’ needs. Get stronger, load your tissues and bones, expand your ranges of motion, move fast, move controlled. Train in a broad and general way improve. Runners need to train like this, just like everyone else.
Mark Dowdel is an ultra runner who has been making in the headlines recently. He’s had several impressive performances in backyard ultras, where you run 4ish miles every 60 minutes until there’s no one left. Recently he ran 395 miles at the Last Soul Backyard Ultra - 4 miles every hour for 83ish hours. Insane.
Mark, unlike most elite runners-whom I do not think we should try to emulate-trains like a regular gym going person. Strength and conditioning, like an athlete. He lifts heavy, runs fast, sprints, jumps and crawls. It’s been cool to see, and his strength and conditioning coach explains in the video above. It’s not about training a runner, it’s about training someone to be strong, athletic and durable.
Here’s another of my favorite Instagram coaches talking about how there’s no need for ultra specific training for jujitsu athletes and how it can be counterproductive.
If you’re starting to wonder, I’m not an ultra runner or a jujitsu athlete what’s this sport specific gym talk have to do with me?
There’s a Greg Glassman quote: “the needs of our grandparents and olympians differ by degree not kind.”
My point being, you probably don’t need a special program to do x, y or z. There is so much to be made from owning the basics, and continuing to do them over and over again. Get to work!
Most Powerful Movements in Sports
I had been trying to remember this fun fact I learned at my USA Weightlifting seminar a few years ago and here is the explanation. The olympic lifts have the highest power to weight ratio is all of sports—specifically the second pull of the Olympic lifts (bar moving from knees to thighs). The most powerful thing a human can do. Legit.
C’s Get Degrees
Remember that saying? I do. It works in real life too.
More Sports Talk
Private equity controlling youth sports isn’t good. Shocking. The parents knowing it’s bad/unproductive/too expensive but shrugging it off because their kids are into it? I don’t know, I haven’t been there yet, but I’m scared of that conversation. Sports are about having fun and learning - not trying to go pro.
That’s it for today, see you in the gym!
—Justin Miner