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There’s a dead whale on the beach

What’s the best way to dispose of 8 stinking tonnes of rotting whale carcass?

I’ve no idea either.

But I know it’s not the way that Oregon’s highway division decided to do it.

Back in November 1970 they had a 15m long, 8-tonne humpback whale wash up on a beach.

And nobody could think of the best way to deal with it.

Bury it on the beach?

Nope, it’ll eventually resurface.

Chop it up?

They couldn’t get any volunteers.

Blow it up?

Yeah, let’s blow it up.

I mean, I get it, it’d be quick and easy.

Plus, who doesn’t like an excuse to play with dynamite?

And that’s what they did.

They planted a metric shit tonne of TNT around the carcass and blew it up thinking it’d all go out to sea.

Wrong.

They ended up with 8-tonnes of putrifying whale flesh raining down across half a mile of beach…

And the film crew who were there to report on it for the evening news.

And the “let’s blow it up” approach is what a lot of people do with their training.

Goong for the big bang approach with Metcons everyday…

HIIT as their only conditioning…
And maxing out the big lifts every session.

It makes sense in some ways, less time commitment…

No getting bored cruising through an easy zone 2 cardio sessions…

Max singles are cool.

But as the video shows, it’s doesn’t always work out well.

Now, none of these approaches are gonna leave you covered with rotting whale guts…

But you don’t need to knock your pan in every session to make progress.

If you limit the “blow the whale up” approach for a couple of sessions a week you’ll do way better.

Filling in the other days with easier sessions.

Ones that allow you to work on other aspects of your fitness…

Like zone 2 conditioning or lighter hypertrophy work in the gym.

Both of which support the big sexy max effort sessions.

They might be the kind of sessions that don’t get like when you post them on the ‘gram but they are the cornerstones of your success.

Limit going crazy to a couple of times a week and in 6 months time you’ll be emailing me about the mad PBs you’ve been setting.

I nearly forgot. Here’s the video
https://youtu.be/V6CLumsir34

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The Quest for Being (Slightly Better Than) Average …

 

To be better than average.

It sounds like a bit of a low bar to aim for, doesn’t it?

The thing is it doesn’t take long before being better than average is actually pretty damn good.

I’ve never been particularly great at anything.

And whilst when I was younger the idea of being great at something was definitely appealing…

When I played rugby I definitely dreamed, as most boys did, of playing for Scotland. But, whilst I was a good enough player but I was never going to get paid to play.

Because there’s a lot of extra stress that comes with being really good.

I had a friend who played high-level rugby tell me he couldn’t sleep the night before a game.

I mean who needs that…getting stressed about something that’s really a hobby?

Definitely not me.

And as I’ve gotten older I’ve become much more interested in being good at lots of things.

Having less of a specialist focus allows you to have fun and enjoy all the health benefits from different activities.

Powerlifting for the over 40’s is great. 

But the lack of cardiovascular work will bite you on the arse eventually if it’s all you do.

With runners, this flips around…

Yes, you ain all the health benefits from running but lose out on valuable upper body strength.

But given that there really isn’t any need to specialise as we get older why should you?

Especially as you can be both fit and strong…

That they aren’t mutually exclusive.

My 5K time is 8 minutes faster than the average for a UK male…

I could rock up at a powerlifting meet and not get embarrassed…

And my 5K row time on rowinglevel.com is in the advanced category.

No, I’d much rather be a jack of all trades.

Easily able to run to the school pick up when I’m late without sounding like a dying donkey…

Able to comfortable maneuver 3 by 2 slabs around the garden without thinking my back might explode…

Or carry boxes up and down stairs all day when we moved from our top floor flat.

But the funny thing is that if you decide to get good at a number of the different aspects of fitness.

Then you will stand out.

Not just in your age group but in any gym you care to go into.

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The “Warren Buffet” Training Method

Warren Buffet is a boring old man.

With all the wealth he has he still lives in the same house he bought in 1958…

He’s driven the same Cadillac XTS for the last 7 years…

And he didn’t own an iPhone until 2020.

In fact, he’s even pretty boring when it comes to the very thing he’s famous for.

Not one to go for the “get rich quick” he invests in companies with his eye on the long term.

Because it’s a strategy that works.

Ignoring the new, bright and shiny thing he invests in companies with solid foundations. 

Foundations that will allow them to ride out the upheavals in the stock market. Providing a return for their investors over the longer term.

And that’s exactly how you should view your training.

It doesn’t matter what you do.

You want to ignore the Instagram Influencers and stick to tried and tested methods.

Because you want to invest your time and energy into the things that will have the biggest long term payoff…

Not what’s “on trend” today.

It doesn’t matter what you do.

You want to invest your time and energy into the things that will have the biggest long term payoff.

Things like easy, zone 2 runs.

Or lifting in the 70%-80% range.

This builds your durability. 

Meaning you can tackle your training with greater confidence.

This less intense work is a bit like compound interest; it can take a while to see the benefits. 

You can still sprinkle your training with faster, harder, heavier work.

But keeping the more intense work to a minimum makes it easier to recover.

Which in turn means you can train more…

You’ll pick up fewer injuries…

And you’ll build the foundations for future success.

Take the long term view and watch how effortless it all becomes.

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Rocky Road Rehab

General aches and pains are part and parcel of life but they come and go. It would be unrealistic to expect to be able to avoid them if we are honest given the many different ways that they can come about.

From getting so busy at work that getting sufficient rest is an issue to stumbling whilst running for the bus. These tend to come and go. Work calms down, you get more rest and don’t notice the minor niggles anymore.

When they do persist what can be done about it?

Continue reading “Rocky Road Rehab”

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New Year Resolutions – the goal is to keep the goal

New year resolutions can be great things to have or they can be bad based on, IMO, if you have put a bit of thought into them and made realistic choices or not. I’m going to run a sub 20 min 5k when your current best is 25 min is a big ask. Similarly, I’m going to add 50kg to my squat as just asking for trouble. Both of these goals are do-able depending on your experience but they are at the far end of what you can possibly expect to achieve and really on everything going to plan, and nothing ever goes completely to plan.

New year resolutions

 

Continue reading “New Year Resolutions – the goal is to keep the goal”