Dan John: Wandering Weights, Our Epic Journey Through All Things Heavy, Issue # 17

I've had a busy few days. It was Finals Week, and I always fear some last-minute issues with my students. I check my phone and email far too often as there's nothing harder to fix than a missed final exam. But, not a single problem found its way to me.
 
At the same time, my next TWO books are both on my screen. When editing something I wrote a year ago, there's always this feeling of “didn’t I say that somewhere else?” And, yes, I said it during twenty workshops, fifteen podcasts, five blogs and 100 emails. That's the modern process of writing.
 
And, while all of this is spinning around, I'm also preparing my Art of Coaching workshops that are kicking off this year. To get by, I rely on a few tricks like intermittent fasting (oddly, it helps me stay focused while writing) and massive intake of coffee. Coffee, from the root “to give strength,” and writing seem to go hand in hand. No wonder I did well in philosophy classes.
 
News articles about diseases are usually pretty tame, with things like “eat veggies” and “sleep eight hours” as part of the prevention program for most things. I thought this article on Alzheimer's had some excellent points. It won’t surprise me to see many diseases defeated in the next few years, but prevention is still part of most cures.
 
I like the Art of Manliness website. I bought jumper cables for the cars after one article—I always seem to get something out of everything on the site. This article got me thinking about how single-limb lifting has risen from the ashes in the past few decades. Originally, there were FIVE Olympic lifts, including the one-arm snatch and the one-arm clean and jerk. And I thought meets went on forever now.
 
My first broken wrist injury led me to write this article on one-arm training. It was my second, maybe third, article on lifting and fitness ever, probably in 1998. I later REALLY broke the wrist into several pieces. That took two surgeries to get back to almost normal. A couple of years later, I wrote this piece the one-arm press. Why no one published this is still a mystery to me.
 
Brooks Kubik wrote a great column, probably in the 1990s, on the single-arm deadlift. I don’t do them at all, but I certainly applaud the effort.
 
I don’t really have an opinion on sandbags one way or another, but this PDF has a great training program from Josh Henkin on the last few pages.
 
Also, this little workout seems to sum one-arm things well.
 
This article from Tan Slacks explains the old Olympic lifts. I can’t recommend doing these save for some fun, but I'm always amazed by the feats of those from that era.
 
Bret Contreras had a great discussion of the “question we all hate,” and his answer is interesting. (Our theme today seems to be “one.”)
 
Finally, a little article to remind us that some of the old advice is still correct.
 
I am off to Dublin, Ireland, this weekend, but I will have another edition ready for you next week. My best to you all.

Dan
DanJohn.net

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