Intervention: Course Corrections for the Athlete and Trainer by John Dan

Author:John, Dan [John, Dan]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: On Target Publications
Published: 2012-11-21T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

What’s the Order of Learning?

LET’S REVIEW the order of learning—

Patterning

Grinding

Symmetry

Dynamic

Driving someone too quickly through this progression is fraught with issues. I begin with the farmer walk because it quickly teaches patterning.

I used to correct students for looking over their shoulders and talking to each other, but I realized the bars teach that at a far deeper level. The hair on the top of your head should reach to zenith and your eyes should look just over the cheekbones.

Ideally, I find walking the line, like Johnny Cash did, has a real value in teaching a person posture with a quiet upper body. Honestly, a long and happy career can be had from just doing this walk.

I find walking the line to be a wonderful and easy way to show imbalances. Now, what causes them is certainly an issue, but I find there’s a moment of insight (“Oh, I see!”) provided quickly by a person struggling to stay on-line. Again, there may never need to be an issue about moving on from here, as these asymmetrical moves will do wonders for the bulk of the population.

Bear-hug walks with heavy bags can be done at the basic level, too. It’s a step more advanced than the farmer walk, but this kind of carry really seems to teach pressurized breathing better than any single thing I know.

Once the farmer walk is established, we load up a push. Pushing a car is not a bad start, although today we have plenty of gym toys that don’t require a driver and a safe place to push.

Then, for our symmetry work, the waiter walk and suitcase carry quickly expose technical or anatomical issues.

These movements at high speeds, like sprinting with sleds or sprinting up hills, can be incredible for any athlete. I discovered as a high school track coach, we were getting better throwing by having two weekly focused hill-sprint workouts. The volume was low, often only two sprints, but the carryover was obvious. You can think of these as explosive one-legged squats if the hill is steep enough.

I often tell people, if all you can do is farmer walks and hill sprints, you’re doing pretty well.

Many people can farmer walk bodyweight, half-bodyweight in each hand, during their first carry workout. There are no perfect standards for loaded carries, as the variations and options seem about endless, but certainly a double bodyweight carry—bodyweight in each hand—is worthy indicator of high levels of strength.

Now, the next issue—

How much and how often?

I’ve had high school sophomores use 85 pounds per hand in the farmer walk, and my backyard group has worked with up to 155 pounds per hand. I’ve done more in competition with the farmer bars and wouldn’t suggest you do it. Whatever you have at hand is a good start.

A bag of salt or sand weighing 50 pounds is an amazing eye-opener in carries. Go to a warehouse home supply place and get a wheelbarrow shell (just that green part that holds stuff), string a rope

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