B.A.M.F Athletics

Welcome to the next BAMF Athletics Science Sunday Sermon.

This one is little science and more rant. It comes from a rather more broad-based complete misunderstanding of the concept of fitness by my standards. Something we’ll get into at a later date. The definition of fitness is one that CrossFit made all the more clear to me. My introduction to CrossFit showed me a way in which I could develop a “broad general fitness” at the expense of nothing – to the layperson. What I mean is, I would become elite at nothing, but certainly capable of a great deal more than my peers. What I found with CrossFit was that though I developed strength, I could always do with more. The same applies to you. You need to get stronger. Now and forever.

What is Strength?

Lets cover the basics first. Weight training is not bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is very specifically about developing large, well-defined, symmetrical muscles. Any kind of strength a bodybuilder develops is incidental in their goal to develop ‘the perfect physique’. There are a million misconceptions about weight training: holding your breath will kill you. Going below parallel will destroy your knees, the clean & jerk is a dangerous exercise. Isolating muscles allows them to perform better. All of this is common knowledge in the fitness industry and all of this is complete nonsense.

Getting stronger builds muscle. This is called hypertrophy. There are two types of muscular hypertrophy – sarcoplasmic and myofibrillar. It really pisses me of that the ‘good’ one is hard to pronounce. Sarcoplasmic develops a bodybuilder type musculature.  Swollen muscles with very little relative strength gain. Note this. Just because someone has gigantic muscles, does not necessarily make them strong (relatively speaking). There are a great deal of big weak people walking around.

Now onto the good one. Myofibrillar. This type of development is badassed. Muscles get a little bigger, but you get a whole lot stronger. I consider myself to be a novice in terms of strength and can lift twice my own bodyweight. This is just the beginning for me. I expect, someday, to be able to lift three times my bodyweight. All without becoming the size of a house.

Why Stronger?

Now the juice. You have to get strong. You have to maintain this strength throughout your life. If you don’t you will become old and frail. You know how old people use handrails to get up stairs? Armchairs to ease getting up? Handles to get into the bath? It’s because they didn’t spend their life maintaining strength. They grew weak. They got osteoporosis from a life of net acidic food, they stopped having an active life at 19. By choice. You have to choose not to do this.

When you perform strength training exercises, like the squat, deadlift, press and clean & jerk, you will cause a massive hormonal response. Your bones will increase in density. Every sinew in your body will become thicker, healthier, more robust. Your joints will move freely. Your flexibility will increase. You will develop a strong physique without doing a single ‘isolation’ exercise. You need only battle with Mean Ol’ Mr. Gravity.

A novice will reap massive reward from a simple program of heavy lifting and nutrition for months without having to change a thing. Every unit by which you can be physically measured will improve. If you continue to do this, you will find that all of your peers, by the time you reach 60 are a shadow of their former selves. If they fall, someone calls an ambulance and rushes to assist. If you fall, you get up and laugh it off.

Strength is a more important commodity than anything else you can develop. It will protect you in your dotage, when all others are bound to the wheelchair. You can retain mobility when others rely on the help of younger, ‘fitter’ members of society. I am currently observing first hand a someone disappearing before my eyes. A 67-year-old pensioner, with a life filled with high energy food and a sedentary lifestyle means that when disease reared its head, there is no protection. This pensioner, disease is finding easy to kill. It most certainly doesn’t have to be this way. If you make yourself a hard target for decrepitude and disease, you minimise the chance it will attack you. If it does, you will have a fighting chance.

Why are you not doing this?

Is this Fit & Healthy?

It is not fashionable to be strong. It is fashionable to be able to run far or cycle fast or have sharp abs. These things are great, but will not protect you in old age as well as would the maintenance of a strong body. Endurance athletes push themselves to incredible feats of human performance. It will not last. The combination of hours spent training, combined with horrific diet most will consume to replenish those depleted glycogen stores will cause them to age quicker than someone who is economical with their training and much stronger. In the real world, there is no comparison. It is not essential that you are able to run 26.2 miles in 3 hours. It is essential that you are able to interact with your environment with less fear of injury or disease. Spin class will not save you. Bicep curls will not save you. Running for two hours a day will not save you. A strong body just might.

What About This?

What if you were to become strong and pursue all that other stuff? If you could develop a body that could withstand the rigours of life into old age, but were also able to run, jump, climb, bike as long as you want too? Now we’re talking. The funny thing is there is nothing to this. All you have to do is build a strength base, maintain it and spend the rest of your time concentrating on your chosen sporting hobby. Don’t have one? Fine. Make it strength training then. Chase numbers for as long as you are able.

Built to Last.

I realise there is little data to back up my argument. This is planned. It is your responsibility to put yourself in everyday life situations and decide what type of physical prowess would serve you best. I hypothesise you will decide on the ability to lift heavy things, sprint fast and be self reliant is of greater importance than the ability to run a 3 hour marathon. This is a noble goal, don’t get me wrong, but it comes at a price. That price is your ability to become future proof in relative terms. The exertion levels are too great for little reward. There is a reason why Grecian statues looked the way they did.

Below is a video of a mentor of mine, Mark Rippetoe, aged 49 squatting 142kg at a bodyweight of 97kg for 10 reps. Note the depth of these squats. They are legitimate. They are not the 140kg squats I see in my gym, performed by large roaring men who seem to lower themselves six inches and stand back up again three times in a row.

Look again at the picture of Paula. Add 18 years onto her. Now throw her and Rip down the stairs. Which one will get up?

It is your duty to protect yourself  by becoming and staying strong. The good news is it’s easy and I can show you how. All you need to do is ask.

Stay Badassed™