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Better Training Manifesto PDF
Better Training Manifesto PDF
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I was still pedaling on the bike trying to concentrate on the fact that I still
needed to keep moving, even though the test was over. I felt a pain creeping
up into my neck and the back of my head…great, an excise induced
headache (EIH)…I’d experienced an EIH only one other time, and they are
awful.
Trying not to focus on the pain, I couldn’t help but look up at the research
assistants staring blankly at me. They turned, pressed a few more buttons on
their computer and glanced at a “leaderboard” they had created for all of
their physical fitness tests.
One of my good friends and training partners was there for the test and just
started laughing.
I was sitting at Chilis with about a dozen special operations airmen, I had just
ordered an avocado bacon burger when I realized the cold hard fact that I
had just committed to running a marathon in less than 72 hours…and I hadn’t
run more than one mile at a time in the last year…was this a good idea?
Three days later, there I was running a marathon on a quarter mile track. It
was lap 82 of 105 when I decided it would be a good idea to try and run
backwards for a quarter mile to try and ease a little bit of the pain in my hips
and knees.
Yep, this was a bad idea. But I couldn’t quit, I was on track to run the
marathon a full hour faster than I had expected.
Fast forward months past the human performance testing and it was…
I was on a ridiculous quest to lift one million pounds only counting the
volume in three lifts: squat, press and deadlift.
I was standing at the bar ready to attempt a triple bodyweight deadlift. I had
just maxed out on squat and press and set new PRs. I even failed terribly
twice at two other heavier squat attempts. Before I addressed the bar I was
simply thinking of how lucky I was that I didn’t get crushed by the bar on my
failed squat attempt.
As my mind started to wonder, my buddy clapped his hands and said, “Let’s
go!”
Hey, there!
I wrote it to help you, and as a review for myself. See, I know I am not the
fittest man in the world. I will probably never complete an Ironman Triathlon
and I won’t be trying to make it to the CrossFit Games…I’m not a
professional athlete.
I have a full-time job, a family, and a lot of other interests, goals and hobbies
which do not permit me to spend 4 hours a day in the gym, nor would I want
to if I could.
But I don’t like to use my family or busy life as a crutch to never achieving my
goals. I prefer to keep training time short, time with family long and the rest of
my time focused on the goals for my business.