Dan John’s Wandering Weights: Our Epic Journey Through All Things Heavy, Issue # 1
My travel schedule has to ease up soon. I’m losing my mind. Now, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Every Wednesday, and I have been doing this for two decades, I scratch out a large section of the day to learn. It’s easier now; I can run around the internet and find articles, blogs and discussions that will shine the light for me about different problems or issues.
Laree, my publisher from otpbooks.com, asked if I could share a “what I am reading now” commentary for the fun of it. In the future, I’ll probably discuss books I’m reading, too, but let’s start this off with some short, simple reads off the net.
The longer you stay in the fitness industry, the more you will see the same themes. Now, there is nothing wrong with revisiting these questions. Pavel has a nice blog over on StrongFirst about the cost-to-benefit ratios of elite sports performance. He calls it The Cost of Adaption, and it rings true.
Charles Staley, who introduced me to Pavel at his bootcamp years ago—which changed my career—follows this same trajectory with a bit of wisdom in this T-nation article. Point Four is something I like: Let’s get out of moral theology and stop saying, “this is good and this is bad.” The search for better has rich rewards.
Many of us older lifters grew up during the great war between Weider and Hoffman over bodybuilding and lifting sports. Muscle and Fitness and Strength and Health would often take potshots at each other. There were some excellent ideas from both sides, and I still lament the early exodus of American Athlete from the Weider brand. I found this article in M&F. I was very happy to see the mention of these kinds of lifts…then, I noticed who got the credit!
I had a guest blog recently on danjohn.net from Sgt. Nick Rains. He addressed an interesting way to use these moves — squats and swings and carries — and apply standards to them. You can read it here.
Pat Flynn has a nice, simple workout idea over at his place, Chronicles of Strength. If you want to impress me (ha!) do this workout!
If you know my work from the Movement Lecture series, you might recognize much of this article from Men’s Health. It is the most shared item I have ever had on Facebook.
John Ducane allowed me to preview a new book. Paul Wade’s series, Convict Conditioning, continues with the newest addition, Explosive Calisthenics. I applaud the loss of the convict/prison schtick, and without that distraction, we get to explore what Wade does best: He progresses a movement from the basic and simple to, in this case, its most complex and awesome. The chapter on programming, the sets and reps of things, has a series of rules that you will instantly claim as your own. I can’t believe we abandoned traditional calisthenics in our schools and training programs, but this book is the best argument I know for carrying signs in front of schools proclaiming “No More Dodgeball,” and “Calisthenics Progressions for All!”
I’m not sure when it will be available, but it is pretty good. I will be reviewing Strong Medicine, too, in the near future.
I’m glad to be doing this weekly recap, and happy you signed up for the ride. Pass the sign-up link along to your friends… let’s start a stampede here.
Dan
DanJohn.net
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