“Everyone has talent. What’s rare is the courage to follow it to the dark places where it leads.” – Erica Jong Danger: insight into the workings of a dangerous mind follow. A recent conversation with Jim Keen, of our ARX sales force, led me to the following analogy of athletic power generation. In essence we… [More…]
Dodging the Accommodation Bullet
It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters. -Paul “Bear” Bryant Accommodation? Not here, bro. Staying one step ahead of a stingy posterior chain… So, what is “accommodation”, and why should you avoid it like the friggin’ plague (or like any performance by Justin… [More…]
ARXFit Technology, and the French Contrast Method
“There is always an easy solution to every human problem — neat, plausible, and wrong.” – H.L. Mencken Yet another application of the multi-versatile ARXFit technology that I employ at Efficient Exercise is to use it as the go-to, heavy force production movement when utilizing the Complex, Contrast, and (my favorite) the French Contrast methods. Wait…… [More…]
Sore Quads, Swole Necks, and Sport Specificity
“Chaos is what we’ve lost touch with. This is why it is given a bad name. It is feared by the dominant archetype of our world, which is Ego, which clenches because its existence is defined in terms of control.” ― Terence McKenna Being fully immersed in a particular subject — in my case, S&C and… [More…]
The Activity / Exercise / Training Continuum
“Many are stubborn in pursuit of the path they have chosen, few in pursuit of the goal.” – Nietzsche Mark Rippetoe recently posted a fantastic “Crossfit analysis” article over T-Nation. This is a very honest, non-sensationalized critique of the behemoth that is Crossfit. It’s an excellent read, and I highly recommend that you check… [More…]
Watching the Pendulum Swing
“The world is not yet exhausted; let me see something tomorrow which I never saw before.” – Samuel Johnson I find it curious how the popularly accepted “legitimate” emphasis of “weight training” has shifted over the years. In other words, if we were to group together all people who “weight train”, what would be the… [More…]
Of Sprinting, and Leptin Signaling Mimetics
My good friend Chris Highcock, of Conditioning Research, (and he by way of Andrew Badenoch, of Evolvify) clued me into the recent Journal of Applied Physiology article, Is sprint exercise a leptin signaling mimetic in human skeletal muscle? I won’t delve into the interesting details of this paper, as Chris has already done a wonderful job of… [More…]
Questions? Answers! Strength & Conditining for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
“We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” – Stephen Hawking What follows is a question from the mail bin. I’ve reached the point now where I’m forced to choose representative questions in lieu… [More…]
Of Tiger, Mere Mortals, and Travel
“Cynicism is the intellectual cripple’s substitute for intelligence. It is the dishonest businessman’s sub writer, for self-respect.” – Russell Lynes Malcolm Gladwell, in his very interesting book, Outliers (if you haven’t yet read it, I highly recommend you do), posits the notion that the combination of inherent talent, timing (luck of circumstance), and persistent skills… [More…]
A Peek Inside “The Graveyard”
“Just as those who practice the same profession recognize each other instinctively, so do those who practice the same vice.” – Marcel Proust Note 1: This subject may seem over and above what any “normal trainee” need worry himself with, and to some extent, that’s true enough. However, the take away message here — Know… [More…]