Helping Jen, Martin, and her crew prepare for their launch of The Bigness Project, got me thinking about the importance of clearly defining what it is you’re training for. Maybe that sounds obvious but I can’t tell you the number of times I see someone whose training is out of alignment with what they really want. Sometimes it’s because they started out wrong, but other times your wants, desires, or needs change without your actions keeping up with them.
If you want to put on 40 pounds of muscle and look like a bodybuilder come summer time then chasing a 600 pound deadlift probably isn’t the quickest, safest, smartest route to your goal. Could getting a triple bodyweight deadlift make you jacked? Possibly? But you’re not going to end up looking like a bodybuilder unless you also get lucky and have amazing genetics. Training like a bodybuilder will make you look like a bodybuilder though.
On the flip side, if you’re training like a bodybuilder and thinking that it’s going to get you to a 600 pound deadlift you’re going to be really jacked and woefully disappointed that you haven’t hit your deadlift goal.
Bringing it down to Earth, if you’re training for general health, resilience, and capability then chasing any one particular lift or going deep into a particular training style may not be all that effective. Training for general physical preparedness is no less a goal, and your actions should reflect it.
In the case of The Bigness Project, Jen had this realization that when the pendulum swung towards training with a focus towards capability it almost became verboten to even talk about training for aesthetics. But you know what? Physical training as a healthy way to modify and accessorize your body is no less a noble goal than training to be able to do a pull-up. Neither one is strictly necessary in every day life, but damned if life isn’t better with it.
Taking a moment to reflect every so often and see if your actions are lined up with what you’re actually after can be super valuable. Try it – you might be surprised.
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