The Cave

A good kind of crazy

There a lot of crazy people in this world, and not all crazy is bad.

I want to talk about the people I love being around, the ones that are a “good kind of crazy”.

They are crazy enough go against the lazy, wimpy culture that surrounds us.
They get up early or stay up late to lift heavy stuff.
They love the feel of being under a heavy barbell
They climb, jump, run, ruck,swim, spar, or throw
They are already busy, but find a way to train anyhow
They live in a world full of sweat and chalk
They have their own language others don’t under stand
They understand why they are sore
They know what giving 100% means
They could care less about “fitting in”
They are strong and fit

If you are this good kind of crazy, you already understand.

Do you have an immunity to learning?

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Once you stop learning, you are done.

When you think you have arrived, you are fooling yourself.

Any time you think you can’t be knocked out of first place, you are doomed.

You get the point, I hope.

One thing I find to be very prevalent in the fitness world is a refusal to venture beyond what is commonly done in most gyms.

While I definitely believe in the importance of basic exercises with barbells, dumbbells, etc.

There is a small percentage of coaches/trainers who will seek out and experiment “hands on” with things most people aren’t even aware of. These are the ones that are not handcuffed by what others think is cool or effective. They go find out for themselves.

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This young man came all the way from Lighthouse Point (near Fort Lauderdale) to learn today, while people 10 minutes from our gym did not.

Why?

Because he is hungry to learn!

People with very demanding schedules, like this Firefighter and others, made the time to come and learn.

If you have shackled yourself with the immunity to learn, remember you hold the key to unlock them.

Don’t limit your self to the status quo, the familiar, or the comfort zone!

Building your foundation

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Your training program, and of course your home, should be built on a solid foundation.

Every truly strong person I have ever met has built just that.

So how does a person do that?

Basics, basics, basics, and more basics!

squats
deadlifts
presses
rows
pull overs
cleans
snatches
carries
sleds
bodyweight

Does that mean a person should never do other types of training?

No, go for it after you have built your foundation.

However, one word of caution, don’t change too often or for too long.

Avoid frivolous nonsense and fads like the plague!

Always make sure you check your foundation for cracks periodically.

Just squat!

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No matter what training tool you use (or just bodyweight) always keep squatting.

The squat is one of the most universal and necessary movements that a human body can do.

Regardless of the program you are on, if you are not squatting on a regular basis you are missing out!

Words that sabotage your progress

Victor Hugo said, “People do not lack strength; they lack will.”
I couldn’t agree more.

I have seen so many people destroy their own will, or mindset, through speaking weak words that arise weak thinking.

Ed Coan talked a lot about this at his recent Powerlifting seminar. He would not allow any negative words to be spoken by anyone there, especially prior to a lift.

Like wise, at the Cave, I don’t allow any weak or negative expressions, like:

I have never been good at_________
I’ve always been uncoordinated
I’ll try to _______________
But I have never used that much weight before
I might be there if _________________
If I can, I will _____________
I have always had a weak ____________
I didn’t sleep all night
I didn’t eat all day

Disclaimer, I don’t give a rip about your free speech during a training session.

It doesn’t cover whining or excuse-making.

Just shut up and lift!

Adex club exercises at the park

No-rules Adex club training http://cavestrong.net from Frank DiMeo on Vimeo.

Sleds, Adex clubs, & deadlifts

Looking back over the last months I was blessed to hit a new PR on my deadlift which was 10 1/2lb over my previous one.

I had been plateaued for quite a while; then I went to Ed Coan’s Powerlifting Seminar and with his coaching on the mental aspect of lifting, I broke through.

At 66 years young, I pulled more than twice my bodyweight. However, compared to what the really strong lifters do, it pales in comparison. That doesn’t matter to me though, because they don’t live in my skin, I do.

Needless to say, I was thrilled to hit 405lb!

Something else happened this past week during our quarterly strength/work capacity tests

I tested with 285lb which was ten pounds more than my last test (note: we use 70% of our 1RM and lift it for max reps in ten minutes)
I also got three more reps this time with 33 reps total
the last test looked like this 275 x 30=8,250lb
my most recent test looked like this 285 x 33=9,404lb
that was an increase of 1,155lb

Here’s the funny thing, though, I hadn’t done a lot of heavy deadlifts in the last few months. I did sub-max lifts pretty often; but I did quite a bit of sled work plus quite a bit of work with my Adex club and mace.

non-gym training http://cavestrong.net from Frank DiMeo on Vimeo.

The sled work usually lasted about 30 minutes each time, with emphasis on pulling forward, backward, and laterally. I know this added to my work capacity on my tests.

Also the work I did with clubs and maces really strengthened my grip, wrists, and forearms. My grip didn’t fail during the tests.

This is what worked for me; whether other people will get similar results is up to them.

Each person is different and will progress at their own pace.

When you think you can’t do any more, you still can!

Mental toughness is an elusive quality, in fact, it is so elusive in our culture it is almost extinct. Giving up when something gets difficult is the norm, unfortunately.

Worse yet, not even starting a task if success is not assured and it will be easy (and of course they get a participation award)

There is small minority of people, though, who have an abundance of mental toughness.

Thank GOD, not everyone is a wuss!

So how do these people get mentally tough?

Good question, it they get it one decision at a time, one day at a time, over the years.

You see, there was a time when people worked very hard physically every day just to put food on the table for their families. I am sure they didn’t always “feel like going to work” the next day, but they still did; over and over again. They made themselves do it and it became ingrained in them.

Let’s apply it to the gym, since this blog is about strength and fitness.

This week was tough at my gym. There were five difficult tests to get done in five days.

That meant everyone was going to be sore and tired all week.

All I can say is, big deal, suck it up. I was sore and tired to, so what?

I still did what I had to do. I expect no less from those I train.

Barring any medical situations, or serious family problems, everyone was expected to finish the week well.

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