Expanding On Intervention

Expanding on Intervention
Dan John
Health and Fitness: The Play/Pray/Work/Rest Spiral
At first, most people who listen to the following brush it off like a wisp of hair on a windy day. Do that at your
peril. Be sure you KNOW whether your goal tilts towards the health side or the fitness side before you get too far
along. Robb Wolf noted we should also keep an eye on longevity, because it’s probably not worth dying over a goal
like winning Mr. Greater Midvale Bodybuilding Contest or the World’s Thinnest Woman Prize if they give one out.
Not long ago, a woman asked me about losing five pounds of bodyweight. I was kind and courteous and told
her she probably wanted to lose five pounds of body fat, as five pounds of bodyweight is easy: chop off part of a
limb.
My advice was safe and sane. It’s the same basics I tell everyone: lower your carbs, add some fish oil, drink more
water and lift a few weights. It’s not sexy and it certainly isn’t anything that gets the blood pumping. I admit it, I’m
boring.
She hooked up with a personal trainer who had one of these one-day certifications for about a thousand dollars
and promised her “elite” training and used all the terms like “hardcore” and “bad ass.” Within a few months, she
left her family, started dating the trainer and lost her house. Later, he dumped her and moved on to another gym
girl. The good news? She lost the five pounds.
At about the same time, another young man called me. We were getting ready to defend and win our second
state football championship and this young man, newly certified with a thousand-dollar piece of paper, wanted
to introduce my guys to some “advanced techniques.” Rather than asking, “do you know who I am?” I let him go
on and tell me about how he trained the Olympic lifts, something that “no one is doing.” Well, except for me, my
athletes and most of the world. Later, I would bump into him again and he had his arm in a sling after blowing his
pec off doing a combination of swinging pullups followed by max bench presses.
Why? Why do people continue to fall into this trap of smashing their heads against a wall only to discover
later that it hurts to smash your head against a wall? What is this insanity we continue to see in the strength, con-
ditioning and fitness world where people will trade their future of chasing great-grandchildren around a park for
a temporary fix on a bodypart?
I can only help with part of the madness, but I am willing to step up here. Really, the bulk of my rantings, not
only live, but online and in articles, centers around this lunatic idea that somehow putting yourself next to death’s
door is good for you. Oh, I know the t-shirts.
Pain is weakness leaving the body.
That which doesn’t kill me makes me strong.
Tippecanoe and Tyler, too.
Well, maybe not the last one, but why did simple questions like “I want to feel better, can you help me?” or “I
would like to lose a few pounds, what should I do?” turn into battlefield tactics?
I’m going to tell you. It’s going to take a while, but let’s get through the first issue, the idea that “health” and “fit-
ness” are the same thing. They are not and when you confuse them, you really start down the wrong road. I have
been using Philip Maffetone’s definition for health for a long time now—
Health is the optimal interplay of the organs.
~1~
This is part of the Extras material from Dan John’s Intervention DVD set. If you’ve received this material, do not own the DVD
and would like to learn about it, see www.otpbooks.com. For more from Dan, visit his website at www.danjohn.net.
Health is something that can always get a little better. Health is something measured by blood tests, longevity
and the lack of bad health. Health is not illness. Tumors and high blood pressure and fainting are not signs of good
health. Health is something you probably take for granted until you don’t have it. In fact, I remind myself often to
breathe in deeply, smile and enjoy a moment of good health. It is a gift.
So, isn’t that fitness? No. Fitness is simply the ability to do a task. Years ago, a guy I know jumped into the shal-
low end of a swimming pool, drunk, and broke his neck. He can’t move well, but he fathered two sons. He is “fit”
for the task of procreation, although he can’t walk. If you throw the discus 244 feet, then need a nap for an hour,
you are the new world record holder and no one is going to remember anything else about this story.
If you can do 100 pullups or run a marathon, but you have a major cancer lurking inside your body, you are fit
for a task but not healthy.
People often comment on the way I train athletes—my throwers throw. For the record, my jumpers jump and
my sprinters sprint, but I don’t want to give away my trade secrets too soon. Here is the thing: My throwers don’t
run. My throwers don’t do agilities or jumping or, really, just about anything else besides throw and lift. Why? I
want them to be fit to throw. Our mantra is two-fold—
Smooth goes far.
Fit goes far.
The more a thrower throws, the smoother the technique and the farther the implement goes. The more a
thrower throws, the “fitter” the thrower. Sure, your athlete might jog more than mine, but there is nothing in the
rulebook that rewards jogging for throwers.
For health, I will have my throwers floss their teeth twice day, insist on wearing seatbelts and helmets on bikes
or motorcycles, and encourage a generous use of fish oil. Moreover, I will encourage my throwers to find a life
partner willing to remain active physically, optimize rest and recovery and discover a spiritual life. But jogging?
Insane cardio workouts? Nope, that’s an issue of fitness.
Achieving clarity on the role of health and fitness was the single biggest hurdle in my coaching career. All too
often I, like almost everyone else in the field, would find myself trying to do this and that and this and that for
myself and my athletes and finding that we got ourselves not only farther and farther from our goal, but sick and
injured too.
Let me spell this out for you even clearer. I have had the opportunity—the gift—of doing the Heimlich Manu-
veur twice. Once was on a family member and another time it was a teenage girl in a cafeteria whose friends
thought she was joking around grabbing her throat. I am “two for two” and, without any bragidosio on my part,
I feel blessed I was in the right place at the right time with my basic level first aid skills. For your own longevity, I
suggest that you get everyone you know to learn the basics of CPR, the Heimlich and the use of a defibrillator. You
might ask, “Well, shouldn’t I learn it, too?” Well, certainly, but when YOU need it, you can insure your longevity
by having people around you who know how to save YOU. There I said it. For selfish reasons, keep a lot of quality,
well-trained people around you!
So, keep in mind that health and longevity are different than losing “this” around your midsection or running
five miles in a fundraiser. When people confuse and mix up these two, real issues appear.
I think my first glimpse into the art of lifelong fitness happened in the second grade. The fact that I can remem-
ber a talk from the early 1960s, literally decades and miles ago, is enough to thank the memory of Sister Maria
Assumpta and her few minutes at the chalkboard.
A brief aside: Not long ago, I found myself explaining to a student who honestly didn’t know what I was talk-
ing about when wearing a black jacket or black pants while teaching with a chalkboard—you end up with odd
~2~
white patches in any place you can’t see. The student had never seen this staple of American education and its cor-
responding punishment: banging the erasers clean! I was a master at it, which may give some insights about my
youth.
Back to my story about the second grade (the best three years of my life): Sister walked up to the board and put
up a basic compass shape. Rather than North, South, East and West, she replaced them with Work, Rest, Play and
Pray. Very simple she told us, “Your lives should always live in a balance with these four things.”
If you work too much, you will ignore important things and, although the phrase was to be formed years later
in a different economic time, you would “burn out.”
If you rest too much, you will become slothful and ignore real living.
If you play too much, you will be like the grasshopper from Aesop’s tale.
One summer’s day a Grasshopper was hopping about when an Ant passed by carrying a large ear of corn.
“Come play with me,” said the Grasshopper.
“I am saving food for winter,” said the Ant, “and you better to do the same.”
“Why worry about winter?” said the Grasshopper.“We have plenty now.” But the Ant just moved along. When
the winter came, the Grasshopper had no food and was dying. As he looked up from the cold ground, he saw
the Ant feeding himself and the other Ants with plenty of food. Then, the Grasshopper knew the Ant was right.
Sister never went into praying too much—she did have a vocation—but like the joke with the lottery ticket, I
am sure she would have suggested buying the lottery ticket, too. I have often pointed out at workshops that “pray”
could easily be alone time for some (several moms have come up to me up after my workshops and told me their
lives and their kids’ lives were saved by having someone take the kids away for few hours of quiet), or an appre-
ciation of goodness or beauty. There is something restful about just watching a waterfall or a plane land at night.
Breathe in and breathe out and enjoy it.
Like natural fractals, objects that seem to display a self-repeating structure when looked at from a great dis-
tance or up close (think snow flakes, mountains, rivers, broccoli and the blood system), one’s life from birth to
death can be looked at by the Balance Compass. As a first step, look back over your life and find times where you
seemed whole and your life was full. Usually, you can probably see that you were also holding Work, Rest, Play and
Pray in balance. You took care of business, but also took your shoes off and played in the sand. You probably had
good friends, worthy of the name, and some alone time to take care of your personal and spiritual needs.
Narrowing this down from the fractals model, and if you don’t remember where you learned fractals think
about Jurassic Park, can give you some insights about how these four compass points can illuminate a successful
venture. One’s day, one’s workout and perhaps even one’s morning coffee could be seen in this same way.
Let’s use a training day.
Too much “working out” can lead to soreness, injuries and fatigue. What is worse is that the workouts that
work you out (literally) tend to only be short-term and tend to burn one out for the long haul (life!).
Too much rest in a workout can be fairly broad. I have had people ask me for all kinds of help and suggestions
who never actually train. Or, you may even have to warm up again to deal with an excessive rest time. Few people
honestly have this issue in training—they tend to rest, sit, sleep and watch TV so much that their rest reserve is
well in hand.
Too much play is something I just don’t see much any more. I am convinced most of us would never need
workout DVDs or personal trainers if we all just met in the field after work and played some games. The game of
~3~
tag is an under-realized workout modality. I figured if I used a few big words, people might be willing to go play
some more. Now, it is possible to have too much socializing during a workout. A lot of gym rats, and I am as bad
as anyone, would rather talk about great workouts than have one!
Too much alone time is something I have had to undo in my training. I trained in my garage for years, but
found a lot missing. Inviting friends over or popping by a gym every so often really helps me push myself harder
than when I train alone. It is a small thing, but it makes a real difference for my intensity.
So, the “answer” to all of this is to insist that you take some time and energy and think about how you balance
a workout.
I learned this lesson again recently. I went to a workshop and was exposed to some very insightful new techni-
cal ideas on traditional movements like the windmill and the bent press. Everyone seemed willing to help, so much
so that with this bit of advice and that bit of help, I became locked up. My brain was in overdrive. Later, when I
got home and only had one voice in my head (hold the jokes for later), I could use all the advice I was given, but
one piece at a time. I needed BOTH the camaraderie of the group and the intensity of the work to learn the move-
ments, but I needed some time away and some quiet to master them. It is a point worthy of consideration. I have
discovered this small insight about the way I learn, and many people have told me the same is true for them. We
need both community and solitude to master a movement or a concept.
This might be the genius of homework for students. An honest attempt at working out a geometry proof can
allow the flash of insight later in the classroom during a review. I think that is why many people get good ideas in
the shower or driving around in a car. Once the interior noise abates a bit, the answer or clarity seems to arise. I
decided years ago to consciously harvest this skill in my life.
It is worth your time to make the effort to fill in the following chart.
Work
Health
Fitness/Performance
Longevity
Rest
Health
Fitness/Performance
Longevity
Play
Health
Fitness/Performance
Longevity
Pray
Health
Fitness/Performance
Longevity
~4~
A note on the additions: My good friend and one of the brightest writers in the field of nutrition, Robb Wolf,
mentioned to me not long ago that I should add “Longevity” to this Life Balance Compass. It is worth thinking, as
early as you can in life, about living as well as you can as long as you can. In other words, when considering some-
thing that may be unsafe, unhealthy or dangerous, at least take a second to toss it through the longevity question.
Sure, petting a Great White Shark might be your idea of an epic moment, but consider a shark cage.
Also note that I include performance in the worksheet. For whatever reason, no matter how many times I de-
fine fitness in groups, most people still don’t hear “ability to do a task.” So, I added performance as many people
seem to hear that as completing a marathon or going dancing again.
Although any unit of time—lifetime, decade, year, month, week, day or hour—will work, think a bit globally
on the chart the first time you use it. Let’s use the next year as your first attempt. Simply, in each area, add a short
note about how you will use your full mind, body and spirit to engage all four points and all three “pillars,” Robb
Wolf ’s term, to balance yourself this next year. For example—
Work
Health
I will keep a supply of dental floss, fish oil capsules and water at work. I will also lift weights twice a week.
Fitness/Performance
I will finish the 5K Walk for Life.
Longevity
I will walk or bike or swim at least five days a week. Since the store is only a mile away, I will get all single
item shops by walking.
Rest
Health
I will turn off the television at nine every evening, unless there is a show that I “must see.” Otherwise, I
will spend the time from nine to ten every night preparing for sleep.
Fitness/Performance
I will stand up from my desk every half an hour, walk around for a few minutes to relax and recharge.
Longevity
Either through audiotapes or DVDs or lessons, I will learn to put myself into a relaxed, meditative state
within minutes several days a week.
Play
Health
I will learn to laugh more at work. I will post “Dilbert” and “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strips as appro-
priate to situations that arise! I will laugh every day—I’m going to start putting comedy CDs in the car
for the commute.
Fitness/Performance
I’m going to say “yes” to every chance to play in a game, no matter what the game.
Longevity
I will add at least one gathering a month to my schedule to just “hang and graze” with friends.
~5~
Pray
Health
I will take some time each day just to be alone for a few minutes.
Fitness/Performance
I am going to master (fill in a difficult task: the Splits, a Pistol, another lift, a yoga move…mastery is a
path, not a goal, but get on the path!)
Longevity
People who go to church live longer. I should consider where I am with this.
The key here is the next step: looking at all these “I wills” and looking at the connections. For this example, and
it is just an example, the stress of the workplace is obviously a factor, as well as time. Little things, like less television
and changing the commute into what many call “the mobile university” might make a huge difference. Everybody
has the same amount of time in a day, a week, and a year, but how one spends it is a different thing.
Generally, when you make a small, easy change for the better in one area of your life, something as simple as
having floss sticks (yes, I keep repeating it) in your car and desk, seems to carry over into the other areas. Once
you start flossing, you seem more in tune with other things you put in your mouth and maybe you will skip that
birthday cake at the office party. Skipping the cake often gives you the courage to get home and get a little workout
in. Working out invigorates you enough to not click on the TV and slump into the couch.
Yes, it is that simple and, yes, it works that well. When you have it all dialed in, you probably will laugh at the
simplicity of this chart. It is when you struggle that you need to wake up and reassess this focused attempt to have
balance in your life.
But, what do you do if you see (or are told) you are spinning out of balance?
~6~
The Lights System
Recently, at a workshop by Dr. Paul Hammer, I saw an interesting way to spread the concept of health and fit-
ness across a continuum. For the record, I love continuums and, well, for total candor, just get used to it. If you
will, the health and fitness continuum starts on the far left with a green light. Imagine the standard traffic light to
understand the point here, green is go, yellow is caution and red means stop. As we move across this continuum,
we move from green to yellow to red.
Very simply, if you are on the green light side of the continuum, congratulations, you have it dialed in. My goal
is to be in the green area for every area of my life—
My relationships with my family are fine.
There is no real insanity in our financial areas.
I have time to help out in the community.
I’m enjoying life, keeping in decent shape and sleeping well.
For me, life in the green side is all about having some reserves. I have enough in the bank to cover a minor trag-
edy of life like a broken water heater and I have enough time to help a buddy move a couch. I have enough energy
to train and enough energy after I train to still enjoy some entertainment with my family.
In other words, in green, nobody puts an arm around you and says “Hey, I’m a little worried about this or that
with you.” By the way, if there is nobody in your life to warn you about excess, that is a sign you aren’t in green.
Yellow, caution of course, is not as bad as one may think, but it is important to remember “caution” from
driver’s education class. It is not a time to speed up! In some of the most productive times of my life, I have also felt
myself spinning out of balance. At these times, I often just look at the calendar. If I can see relief in sight, I don’t
worry too much.
You may remember hearing about this week I had—
Friday and Saturday: State track meet (I was the head coach and my daughter won the State in the shot)
Sunday: Packing for our move across several states
Monday: Full day of work AND finishing finals for my online courses.
Tuesday: Full day of work AND Baccalaureate for my daughter (I was a teacher so I had to be there early)
Wednesday: Track and Field Banquet (again, as head coach, I had to run it)
Thursday and Friday: Packing
Saturday: Graduation and graduation parties
Sunday: Graduation party for daughter
Monday: Movers show up to move us
Basically, in one week I had enough work and labor and pressure and emotions to fill several years. This was a
“yellow light” time, but I knew I had at least two quiet weeks after unpacking before anything else would come up.
Knowing the pressure would ease eased the pressure. I was “lucky” in that I had friends, family, community and a
schedule that supported my stressful time. Like I always tell people, I really had to work hard to be so lucky.
Red lights mean interventions. That’s something like a DUI, an arrest, a serious injury or other traumatic is-
~7~
sues. This is not the area for friends. This is a time for professional help. Like the old joke about knowing you are
going to have a bad day at the office when you see the 60 Minutes crew in the waiting room, the red light stage is
a “bad day.” It is far beyond the scope of this material to discuss these issues, but if you find yourself in the yellow
light situation long enough, address it now! Don’t wait for the red light.
But, don’t focus on the negative here. The great insight I came across in the mid-1990s about the Balance Com-
pass is that these four great “truths” of Work, Rest, Play and Pray tend to spiral out. If I decide to work harder, I find
it natural now to literally increase my play. I play harder when I work harder. My vacations, perhaps reflecting the
increase in money from working harder, are “bigger.” There is a tremendous synergy when I look at consciously
increasing my other compass points when I take on a task.
There is a wonderful chapter in Parkinson’s Law about asking a busy man to write a letter. It will be done in a
minute. The author contrasts this with someone who has almost nothing to do and this person sweats over what
kind of envelope to pick out. Busy people tend to get more things done. So, if you look for ways to expand yourself
in all four directions, you will get more things accomplished. And, the quality of these goals really steps up, too.
It also begins to affect how you go about your goals. In Utah, I had become famous for hosting very hard
workouts in the backyard along the river. We sometimes had over two dozen people show up, but around 10 or so
is the typical number. We had all kinds of equipment and gear and we took turns pulling and tugging and sprint-
ing and running and carrying various odds and ends. It is a fun, playful workout and we kept the grill going the
whole workout. After training hard, we would hang and graze for hours on the deck, laughing and enjoying life. Of
course, I always balance this with some workouts where I train alone and try to figure ways of besting my friends
next time and thinking of even more devious ways to exhaust them when they come back over to the yard.
When you are approaching a decision to expand yourself, take a few minutes to expand all four compass points
and I bet you find the road to success a lot easier and, odd but true, more fun. For anyone wondering, the following
is my Ten Rules list that I give literally everyone I work with in health or fitness. The first eight are health-related
and the last two are universally true for any fitness goal.
1. Don’t smoke
2. Wear your seat belt and use a helmet when appropriate
3. Learn to fall…and recover!
4. Eat more protein
5. Eat more fiber
6. Drink more water
7. Take fish oil capsules
8. Floss your teeth
9. Keep your joints healthy
10. Build some muscle
A small note about Number Two above: It’s hard to explain this to some people, including me—When I was
young, we didn’t need no new fangled helmets on my bike/skis/fill in the blank. True. Technology has changed the
rules here a bit. When I first skied, I rented two pieces of wood that were called “skis.” Getting down the Bunny
Hill was labor-intensive, and turning was hard work. Contrast that with rentals today where you can easily rent
parabolic skis that literally will have you flying down the slopes the first day, perhaps as fast as racers raced when
I first attempted the slopes.
~8~
But, just because you can go that fast, doesn’t mean you should. Hence, today with tricked-out bikes, skis,
rollerblades (try to go fast with the ancient roller skates of my youth!) and all the rest can lead a novice to way
overextend the ability to stop. Remember, the issue isn’t with speed, the issue is with how you stop. And, if you use
trees, sidewalks, walls or any other solid object to stop, you need a helmet. Technology and metallurgy have made
some sports certainly better in terms of speed and learning curves, but they also make the sports far more danger-
ous during the learning curve.
Again, like teaching everyone you know the Heimlich maneuver, err on the side of caution for your long-term
health.
~9~
Two Easy Keys to Improving Everything Every Time
For every issue every time—
Depending on how one looks at life, you could argue that we fight the constant fight against gravity our entire
lives and it is inevitable that we will end up crushed and flattened. Or, like I advise, we can look at a more beautiful
and simple approach to life. If you are truly interested in “lifelong” fitness, re-adjust your thinking to the beautiful
and simple.
Something’s missing. I think you will know what I am talking about when you start watching sports, especially
at the Olympic level. The day after watching the Winter Olympics in any sport, go out to a local rink or park and
watch people attempt the same sport.
Or, watch an NBA game and then watch your neighbors play a pick-up game. Watch a master chef cut carrots
and you won’t see the same thing when you flail away with the knife. Keep your fingers out the soup, please.
Well, what is it? It’s Grace. It’s Elegance. It is Beauty. It might sound odd, but if I were forced to talk about only
one issue for those interested in fitness, it would simply be grace.
I missed a great revolution in Track and Field. While I was competing, athletes focused on two things: getting
stronger and improving technique. Honestly, this is still pretty good advice. Today, a typical track athlete will spend
huge amounts of time focusing on posture, position and the spotting of the eyes. Track practice and ballet work at
the barre have more in common than the brutal efforts of my career. And, to be honest, I am jealous of this new
generation.
Art DeVany brought this to my attention when I first logged on the internet. He noted that the X look for men
was a sign of health. Men, he said, should have broad shoulders, a thin waist, powerful buttocks and thighs and
not worry about their showy arms. Women, on the other hand, would show fertility by an hour-glass figure with
a narrow waist bordered by a rounder top and bottom. Images of Raquel Welch in One Million, BC can still fire an
immediate response in most men. And, it still works for me.
The X Look and the Hour-Glass Figure also have a subtle aspect many people will miss. For years, as I added
more and more bulk to compete at the higher levels of my sport, an interesting thing began to happen: I began to
sway.
Actually, I walked like an ape.
And I did not walk like one of those elegant apes. My swaying led to some hip problems that led to a knee
injury. To undo those years of damage, and this is not hyperbole as literally we are talking here about decades of
poor exercise choices and poor posture, I learned the two keys to a better physique, better performance and happy,
pain-free joints.
You may well ask, what are the two keys? Grace and Compression. Now, grace might be apparent to most people
and because of that, sadly ignored, but compression is another issue altogether.
Not long ago, I had one of those twin moments that provided clarity for life. I attended a late-night Bikram
Yoga session and discovered that the harder I pulled myself into a position, the more my body responded by ex-
panding in the rest period. Literally, what we compress, expands.
The next morning, a young teacher noted that having uniforms at school “made no sense.” Rather than give her
the standard answer that rather than clothes making the person (I was the one person who could see the fine silk
when the Emperor wore his new clothes), and which Martin Luther King, Jr, said far better than I ever will be able
to: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the
color of their skin but by the content of their character.” No, rather than discussing character, I simply said, “What
~10~
we compress, expands,” and I walked away. Later that day, this young teacher sought me out, thanked me and told
me that single line was the most logical insight into teaching she had ever heard. And, as true as it is for my poor
students cramped in tie and jacket, it is even truer for the body.
Certain areas of the body seem to work best after compression. There have been some new axioms in the fitness
industry in the past few years with certain joints and areas needing flexibility and others mobility. It does seem,
too, that compression helps some areas “open up” to flexibility and mobility. Steve Ilg’s vent sequence of sitting
or driving the feet and wrists open is one example, as are the scap pushups we see some do in training (a pushup
where the arms never bend, but the upper body relaxes through the shoulder and drops. That refreshing “crack”
in the upper back usually indicates you got it right). The bottom position and the various moves like curls in the
bottom postion of the goblet squat literally is opening the body up by pushing (compressing) it apart.
It’s funny, but often in training after we do a series of compressions, I will notice people standing up with what I
either call the Yul Brenner or the Peter Pan stance. Think of Yul in the King and I or the cocky hands on hips stance
of Peter when he deals with Captain Hook for the mental image. You might be finding yourself doing it!
Grace and Compression should live in a Yin Yang relationship in your fitness goals. When standing for long
periods, walking and sprinting any time, and for the movements of your training, be sure to make sure grace is
the key quality you are striving for in movement. In restorative and mobility work, let yourself dance through the
“Compression and Expansion” feeling and be sure not to let either partner lead.
Grace is a remarkable thing. (I was going to say amazing, but, well…) If you make the conscious decision to sit
more gracefully, you tend to rise more gracefully. On an odd note, if you decide to throw the discus more grace-
fully, with a calm elongated head and quiet movements, the discus will thank you by flying farther. There is an
elegance in superior sport and artistic movements wherein even someone completely unfamiliar with the perfor-
mance will usually figure who is the best without having to resort to the box scores.
Grace: a primer for the fitness enthusiast
Let’s start with standing. Two tricks that will carry over to life and training are worth leaping up and trying
immediately. In powerlifting, there is a simple trick to enable one to squat better. Simply, steal this trick by actively
trying to spread the earth apart with your feet as you stand. Note how all the weight slides towards the outsides of
the feet and the arch of the foot naturally builds back up. Feel the knees “track” open and the hips relax and the
body drops naturally between the hips. This is active standing and, honestly, this position will do as much for most
people as time in the gym. Almost.
The other trick comes from Esther Gockhale’s presentation to a computer company that you can find online.
Rather than the old military posture of the upper body, instead focus on a simple shoulder move. Bring the shoul-
ders forward a little. Bring the shoulders up a little. Bring the shoulders back all the way. Now, relax and drop the
shoulders down. Hold that position. Most people I work with naturally raise their heads a bit taller doing this
simple drill. Master it.
By the way, it shouldn’t be a surprise to discover that these two simple keys are also perfect for training, too,
but more on that later.
For walking and sprinting, utilize Gockhale’s shoulder idea, but try these two very good ideas. Dr. Mark Cheng
and I talked a few years ago at a Russian Kettlebell Certification about throwing stuff. I’m an “expert” in the throws,
but Mark is well-versed in Martial Arts, Chinese Medicine and basic cool stuff. Mark noted there was a lack of
“heel snap” in throwing. Sadly, because of all the other things going on in throwing, it doesn’t work.
And, luckily, as with most good ideas, it didn’t die there. I knew Mark was onto something so I kept working
~11~
on it on my walks in the morning. One morning, I noted my walking gait improved as I focused on heel snap. My
hips felt better, I had a full contraction of my buttocks and I moved quite quickly. Also, the psoas muscle, the big
hip flexor on the front of the leg, began to feel like it was stretching. It is the walk of youth!
An easier way to do this is to try to leave the heel on the ground longer as you walk. It will seem odd at first, but
try it. Yes, this is walking. We are discussing walking as a way to improve fitness. It works better than you think! I
have often noted that most people’s fitness and health goals could be addressed simply by having a forced march on
sand for 600 miles with food and water stops every five miles. I’m waiting to sign the contract on this idea to host
a television show, so don’t steal the idea.
I suggest adding a few things to your life that can get you on the road to elegance.
1. Before addressing the physical, I would suggest that you simply decide to make the effort to be more
elegant. Try to sit, stand and move smoother with less jerks, pops and waddles.
2. When standing (and by the way it is a great clue while sitting), “spread the floor” and try to open the hips.
3. Try Gockhale’s shoulder drop. No matter what, try to keep your head tall whenever possible, and length-
en through the whole body.
4. Use Dr. Mark Cheng’s heel snap idea while walking. It provides the feeling of skating down the corridor.
I found it worked wonders for my hips and also made me think about walking technique for the first time
since Eisenhower was president.
To get the benefits of compression, you can take a yoga class, join a mobility group, or take a deep study
into flexibility. My good friend, Pavel Tsatsouline, has a wonderful book, Relax into Stretch, in which he outlines
techniques such as “waiting out the stretch,” “proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation,” “isometric stretching,”
“contrast breathing,” “forced relaxation,” and, my favorite, “The Clasped Knife Technique.” Somehow, comparing
stretching to the use of a switchblade seems to waken something up in my interest in learning to stretch at a higher
level. Traditional stretching movements are very important to understand the role of compression. Literally, we
squeeze ourselves into positions, then relax and expand.
How much time and effort should you spend in these efforts? As I tell people time and again, as you age, be-
sides not getting into a serious traumatic accident (wear your seat belt, learn to fall and, really, don’t smoke), there
are two things to focus upon: hypertrophy (increasing lean body mass) and joint mobility. Mobility is not exactly
flexibility, rather, it’s the easy movement of the body around each joint.
So, how much time should you spend on hypertrophy and joint mobility? The answer is simple: all the time you
can spare! If the goal is to live well enough as long as you can, don’t overlook either.
As I type this, I notice as I tire from sitting, there is an urge for me to get up, stretch my arms backwards in this
magnificent yawn that makes me look like the “Y” in the song, YMCA. I need to stretch my hips (psoas), my pecs,
my biceps—in fact, I need to stretch the whole core of my bent-over body.
~12~
That Bent-Over Body
Years ago, Dr. Vladimir Janda, a Czechoslovakian neurologist and exercise physiologist, began discussing the
muscles necessary for posture. To simplify, and that is always a slippery slope, Janda separated muscles into two
groups: tonic, which tend to shorten when tired (or old!) and, phasic, which tend to weaken under stress (or age,
I dare say).
A simple chart—
Muscles That Get Tighter (Tonic) Muscles That Get Weaker (Phasic)
Upper Trapezius Rhomboids
Pectoralis Major (Chest) Mid-back
Biceps Triceps
Pectoralis Minor(deep chest muscle) Gluteus Maximus
Psoas (those hip flexors that get bad press) Deep Abs
Piriformis External Obliques
Hamstrings Deltoids
Calf Muscles
I usually explain it this way. If you were chased by a tiger up a tree, the muscles you use to hang on to the
branch for a long time are tonic muscles. If you decided to chase a deer and throw rocks, you would use your phasic
muscles. Sadly, most trainers have this backwards—they tend to emphasize the mirror muscles like the pecs and
biceps (bench press and curls), and ignore the muscles that really are the muscles of youth.
When I first came on to the worldwide web, I had this wonderful conversation with these women in the “100
Pound Club.” To be a member, one needed to simply lose 100 pounds. Most of them had figured out all they need-
ed for the biggest bang for the buck in terms of weightlifting was the standing press and the squat. Looking at the
list above, you can see they intuitively understood the need for strengthening the phasic muscles.
Lifting weights can be a way to gain more lean body mass AND provide some additional joint mobility. There is
a basic assumption I make before training an athlete (or really anyone) and it comes in two parts. First, movements
tend to trump muscles. I do not believe in an “arm day” nor a “leg day.” Instead, there are basic human movements
that must be glided through each workout. Basically, these are: Push, Pull, Walk, Squat, Hinge (deadlift or wwing
motion), an explosive full body movement and the various rotary movements.
Sure, they break down from here intp vertical and horizontal and single-limb and probably many more, but,
generally, I think we need to deal with these each day and certainly in each training session. It should come as no
surprise that this will be the key to the Intervention program!
Second, I think if something is important, it should be done every day. My warm-up progressions reflect this
insight. Although there is a lot of “work” here, one can add or subtract the intensity very simply by changing the
load or shortening the distance, time or repetitions.
Please don’t worry about the terms, as often names have little meaning save in context (Ludwig Wittgenstein, I
owe you that one!). The other day, I was told that the Tactical Frog is also called the Lion Pose, but then someone
else said that “this” is the Lion Pose and did a number of odd facial movements. Don’t worry about the name, focus
on the concept. There are several movements that can do both and I train my people with a simple progression
that applies both.
~13~
Recently, I have taken on a weekly free workout at a local park. The most important reason for doing this is to
keep my coaching skills sharp. You’ll find a full pdf of our workouts on Disc One of the Intervention DVD.
We do this warmup in the open air with just one kettlebell each.
• Waiter walk with the weaker, non-dominant hand, then turn and walk backwards with it
• Repeat with the dominant hand
• Bottoms-up press walk as far as you can. (with the 24k, I go nowhere!)—again, switch hands
• Goblet squat, get into the bottom position and add a few curls, too
• RKC hip flexor stretch, followed by a cross-body lower back stretch, then a variation of the windmill,
pushing the heart to the sky
• Goblet squat
• RKC hip flexor stretch followed by a cross-body lower back stretch, then a variation of the windmill,
pushing the heart to the sky.
• Vents—Steve Ilg stretch for the toes
• Various wrist mobility moves
• Can-opener stretch (for the piriformus and the QLs)
• Tactical Frog stretch
• Scap pushups, or horizontal shrugs
• Downward dog pose (and move through it)
• Dolphin pose (and move through it)
To make everything “harder,” if you wish, do a set of 10 swings after each movement. And, if you want to go
even harder, make it 20!
The idea on this “warmup” is to move people through all the basic human movements, to lube the joints with
both strength exercises and mobility/flexibility movements and to challenge the cardiovascular system a little bit.
It is a method that addresses the “lean” in lean body mass, and it provides a simple way to work joint mobility.
And that, my friends, is the overriding focus of the strength coach.
~14~
The Four Steps
In terms of popularity, the five basic human movements from the strength coach’s perspective are in this order:
1. Push
2. Pull
3. Hinge
4. Squat
5. Loaded carry
However, in terms of impact, the ability to be a game-changer to an athlete, this is the order—
1. Loaded carry
2. Squat
3. Hinge
4. Pull
5. Push
The five movements have an interesting relationship when one wants to move into the area of metabolic con-
ditioning.
I first heard this term in the late 1970s or early 1980s from the work of Ellington Darden. Essentially, metabolic
conditioning is that odd feeling when one moves from one movement, say squats, to another movement like a pull
up and even though the heart rate is within reason (cardiovascular conditioning, so to speak) and the muscles
about to be used are fresh (so strength endurance isn’t an issue), the athlete can’t gear up enough “whatever” to do
the job.
Don’t go crazy with metabolic conditioning. Yes, it has a value. Yes, it is a “finisher” or a “gasser,” but it can
also lead to a variety of issues from joint issues or crappy reps to some serious medical conditions that seem to be
sweeping some facilities.
The important thing is the mix. Patterning movements work well for metabolic conditioning because the
amount of movement error is going to be minimal. Mixing them with the other movement is the issue. Very sim-
ply, I believe that there are four natural combinations and they move naturally through this system. The key has
always been what to mix with it (the basic patterning movement)?
A few years ago, I discovered the simple combo called “The Eagle.” Our school mascot was the Soaring Eagle,
so the name was a natural. It combined the simplest of the loaded carries, the patterning movement called farmer
walks, with a basic grinding squat, the double-kettlebell front squat. I am going to say “simply” here, but the
workload is incredible. Simply, we had the athlete do eight double-kettlebell front squats, then drop the weight to
thesides and farmer walk for 20 meters, then another eight squats and repeat until completing eight circuits. That
goal is often not met.
There are some hidden benefits to this combo. The athlete needs two kettlebells and never puts them down.
The metabolic hit is accelerated by the grip work, the wrestling with the bells and the sheer volume of carrying the
load. It was this Eagle that made me think about the “ideal” combos.
~15~
Patterning movements work well with grinds. However, they all don’t work well together! Oh, sure, you can
slap together anything, but the Four Steps are ideal for most people.
As you look up the Intervention chart, it is easy to see that the patterning movement of loaded carries (farmer
walks) was simply mixed with the grinding movement of squats (double-kettlebell front wquats). For whatever
reason, those two kettlebells also were a sign from heaven that this was going to be a hard workout.
Moving up the chart, note that the patterning movement for the squat (goblet wquat) works extraordinarily
well with the grinding movement of the hinge (Bulgarian goatbag swings). This single kettlebell workout can really
stoke your fires. It doesn’t have to be complex in numbers or structure, but try it.
The next movement has actually changed the way I teach both the hinge and the rowing motions for pulls.
Using the wall RDL mixed with a row seems to really protect the lower back (an issue for many lifters who row,
including me) and seems to light up the whole back from an inch below the knee through the neck. That’s a lot of
muscles.
The fourth and final combo as we walk the ladder up the lifts is combining the patterning movement of the pull
(bat wings) with the grinding push (bench press or pushups). It becomes similar to the classic bodybuilding su-
perset, but the athlete is deeply protecting his shoulders. Many trainees tend to do far too many horizontal presses
and totally neglect the opposite pull. That’s also why many trainees have shoulder issues.
The clever ones who have looked at these four have added,“Why don’t you mix planks with car pushing?” Now,
that is funny at least at one level, but one better be fully planked when push a car or a prowler.
These four combos—
1. Farmer walks and double-kettlebell front squats
2. Goblet squats and Bulgarian goatbag swings
3. Wall RDLs and rows
4. Bat wings and pushups
…can be a training program in themselves. The first two are clearly the best simple workouts I have ever used.
The second two are more traditional bodybuilding movements, but work well with even the newest of trainees.
~16~
The Intervention Tool Kit
1. Traffic Light
2. Spiral
3. The Glass
4. Quadrants
5. Age
6. Listen to the List
7. Test
8. Realistic Reps
9. Rewards & Correctives
10. Seamless Warmups
The toolkit is evolving. Whereas the basics will remain unchanged, keep in touch via my blog at
www.danjohn.net for fresh updates and field-tested ideas.
Become part of the journey—log in at http://www.davedraper.com/url/dan.php and get involved.
~17~

Expanding On Intervention

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Expanding On Intervention

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Expanding on Intervention

6. Listen to the List

9. Rewards & Correctives

10. Seamless Warmups

Become part of the journey—log in at http://www.davedraper.com/url/dan.php and get involved.

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