ALL PHYSICAL ORDERS REQUIRING SHIPPING DELAYED UNTIL 17 JUNE 2024

Little key, heavy door

Little key, heavy door

March 04, 2020

“A very little key will open a very heavy door.”
― Charles Dickens, Hunted Down

 

We question everything, and you should too. If you’re doing front-flip burpees landing into a single leg pistol squat holding a kettlebell;

  1. Congratulations, thats actually quite impressive.
  2. Why? For attention, or results?

The consistent application of basic training principles is the little key. The heavy door is whatever your reason is for training the first place. Every locked door opens easily with the right key. You can hard-knock the bastard, breach your way through and get what you need. But in terms of longevity, that door is cactus. 

To that end, specificity is the key. Every single program we put out, we have trialed ourselves and as such, are intimately aware of the workload and intensity.

Three reasons to have your why sorted first, not last.

Reason one: Intensity. The intensity and layout of a program containing two workouts per day can be unachievable unless you are already at a significant level of strength & fitness. Why do you need to train twice a day in the first place?

Reason two: Injuries. If you are following a program that incorporates a workload beyond what is necessary, you are at a significantly higher risk of injury. And although this can be covered in periodisation, longevity is best achieved in the right doses. Our core intent is to strengthen people, not break them with snazzy, brutal looking workouts any muppet can write. Harder doesn't mean better.

Reason three: Results. Putting the previous two reasons together, we want to get a clearer picture of you, and your capabilities. Based on this we can make suggestions which will benefit you in the long run. Any clown with half a brain can write a workout that hurts and looks cool when you show your mates. Where we separate ourselves from the masses, we don’t give a toss about how cool some workout sounds, or looks on paper - all we care about is cold hard facts, results.

In our experience, performance and reporting bias is a real thing. Ask someone what their max push ups are on the spot, 99% of the time this will differ from the actual amount they are capable of. Take that one degree further, in self-report measures individuals incorrectly report their height and/or weight. Interesting stuff.

In closing we’ll leave you with one of our favourite quotes which sums up our point of view:

“Make improvements, not excuses. Seek respect, not attention.”
― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart.

 



Leave a comment

Comments will be approved before showing up.


Also in Skilled Athlete Opinion Blog

LEGENDARY COACHES: Thom Harinck
LEGENDARY COACHES: Thom Harinck

March 16, 2023

For those of you playing catch up, Harinck has trained numerous world champions. Most famously Ramon Dekkers, the first non Thai fighter to be crowned "Thai Boxer of the Year" in Thailand. Harinck's other champions include Peter Aerts, Branko Cikatić, Jérôme Le Banner, Badr Hari and Hesdy Gerges. And that isn't even the whole list. 

Read More

This is our why
This is our why

March 08, 2023

If you’ve been following this page for a while, you’re probably no stranger to our outspoken views on the preservation of memorials, commemorations and our shrines. There is a reason we rage against the abject politicisation of these things. 

We will always speak our truth, especially if this goes against the grain of the popular narrative. This is our why.

Read More

LEGENDARY ACHIEVEMENTS: Eero Mäntyranta
LEGENDARY ACHIEVEMENTS: Eero Mäntyranta

February 23, 2023

Who is he and why are we talking about him?

For a long time, he held the highest ever recorded VO2max. Let's dig in.

Eero Mäntyranta was a Finnish cross-country skier who won seven Olympic medals, including three gold medals, in the 1960s. Mäntyranta's success in skiing was attributed to his exceptionally high VO2max, measured at a staggering 96 ml/kg/min.

Read More