Getup-2-2016

Volume VIII Issue 3
June 2016
Savor the Journey!
Welcome to our next edition of Get Up!
Markus continues to make my life easier
by doing the work of the editor – and that
entails much more than you think!
The idea behind Get Up! has always
been to hear from real people solving
real problems. We embrace “better”, not
“perfect”. We, like Cervantes, believe it
is the road, not the inn; the journey, not
the destination.
Sure, if you tell us that you are going to
do a challenge, like the 10,000 swing
challenge, we want you to finish. But, more
importantly, we want you to filter and flow
through the lessons – good and bad – of
taking on a challenge.
Sadly, I have learned far more from bad
lessons than from good ones!
This edition features some new authors and
a few of our grizzled vets. They take you
from the backyards and basements to “on
the road” training in hotels.
This newsletter remains “first person” and
is always on the look out for someone new,
something fresh and some challenging
thought.
Consider yourself invited to write.
Have a great summer,
Dan
Our Mission? To Teach Everyone:
In this Issue:
1. The body is one piece
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2. There are three kinds of strength training:
• Putting weight overhead
• Picking it off the ground
• Carrying it for time or distance
3. All training is complementary
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Rolling with the Seasons, by Dan John
Living the Low Life, by Mike Prevost
On the Road Again, by Stefanie Shelton
A Letter to the Coming Ones,
by Darren Pratt
More Things with Swings, by Dan Martin
10.000 Swings – Now What?,
by Mark Wilson
Barbells and Bumpers, by Walter Dorey
Tearing Down the Past, by Dave Royhab
Rolling with the Seasons
Dan John
Autumn in America is “back to school” and
football season. It’s a time for discipline,
showing up on time and checking the
boxes. American football is filled with rules
and regulations. To play, you must have a
very high level of discipline.
I wrote a series of articles on fitness in 1997
and 1998. It’s funny to look back at them.
I didn’t know then that most people don’t
“read” articles; at best, they skim them,
misunderstand the key points, and take
away the wrong lessons.
One of them was about overhead squats,
which I had learned about ten
years before, a week after I got married
(we have been married 28 years, so
do the math). Most people completely
misunderstood the point: It is a very
good exercise for throwers. That’s all I
meant, but I still answer questions
about the article that simply reading
it would answer!
The article that never seems to get
traction from that first year was my yearly
approach to training. Basically, I follow the
four seasons: autumn, winter, spring and
summer. Many get lost in the specifics, but
I still try to follow the basic template of this
simple idea yearly.
Keep It Simple
That’s why I like programs, peaking and
planning training sessions in the fall. These
six or twelve week programs reflect the
discipline and structure of the school year.
Show up, follow the plan, repeat. Autumn
is the Industrial Revolution model of fitness
and performance: Think of Henry Ford as
your coach.
Photo: Devan Nielsen
Now, winter in Utah is hard. Parker J Burns
once commented: “Hey, it is twice as warm
as yesterday!” We use Fahrenheit, but it
had been 2 degrees the day before and it
had warmed up to 4 the next day. That’s
cold in a gym. Oh, yes: we train basically
outside in my garage.
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This is the time of year for bear crawls and
the whole family of horizontal movement.
It’s the time to climb ropes, throw the balls
and be sure to do a bit of sprinting.
Our sprint program is called the Great Eight.
Sprint down and back four times and keep
the idea of “Start slow and ease off.” The
ballistic moves are snappier this time of
year and we naturally see more jumping,
more fun and more play.
Go Heavy, Go Hard, Go Home
Winter training is simply: Go heavy, go
hard, go home. Groundwork takes a bit
of bravery on my cold concrete floor and
warming up is something you do the whole
time. Rest periods? Are you crazy?
So, I often embark on things like the 40
Day Workout and other “built in” training
programs that are light on warm ups
and thinking. I found this winter that the
kettlebell Rite of Passage was perfect for
me. I built up to five rungs of five ladders
with the 36k kettlebell and it took some
time to get to 75 total reps with the left and
right side clean and press.
By the time spring rolls around, we all start
gravitating to the lawn, the rings and the
various sports balls we have laying around
the gym. We start doing more loaded
carries, but we are now picking the pace
up a bit. Yes, it rains (and snows) a bit in
spring, but most days are nice enough to
get outside and play around more.
Be Alive!
My knock on commercial gyms – and I
certainly understand why people go to
them – is that the sanitized, air
conditioned, and artificial light filled
box denies a chance to experience the
elements. Not so in my gym: We track
mud around, get cold and wet from rain
and snow, and hurt our hands touching
weights that were left in the sun.
It might sound crazy, but it is fun. This
summer, find a way to play more
outside. Add runs to every exercise, bike
to the store, play tag and hide and go
seek. Enjoy yourself.
Adopt a seasonal approach to training and
learn to be alive again.
In summer, we have to move our olympic
lifters in the shade and equipment needs to
be covered to prevent burns. Utah is high
desert, so we have the great extremes of
weather: lots of snow and lots of heat.
Call for Authors!
Hello, you! Yes, you! Gentle reader,
have you ever wondered what it would
be like to be published in the finest
strength and health newsletter on the
web? Well, wonder no more, here is
your chance! Do you have a cool story
to tell or a nifty new trick to share?
Have you maybe entered your first
powerlifting meet or your last cage fight?
Maybe you have built a new, improved
power rack or failed miserably in creating a
workout plan that combines deadlifting and
skydiving. Whatever your story is, send us
an email and get typing!
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Photo: Mike Prevost
Living the Low Life
Mike Prevost, PhD
more thoughts, ideas and questions. The
question: “Do you own your stuff or does
your stuff own you?” I began to realize that
owning stuff, even if the stuff is paid for, is
not free. Sometimes there are significant
costs. If you own stuff you have to store it,
clean it, upgrade it, fix it, insure it, move
it, replace it and much more. So I began to
take a look at my stuff.
Mike Prevost is a Captain in the US Navy
and holds a PhD in exercise physiology from
Louisiana State University. As the Director
of the Human Performance Laboratory at
the U. S. Naval Academy, he performed
physiological testing of athletes, developed
the Principles of Strength and Conditioning
Course for all Midshipmen, and served as
the director of remedial fitness training
programs. He also developed human
performance training material for the U. S.
Special Operations Command.
([email protected])
No Furniture – No Problem!
Fortunately I had an easy strategy initially.
I have been in the Navy for nearly 21 years
and have lived in 10 different homes due
to frequent duty station transfers. My first
rule was anything that was still packed in
a box from the last move needs to go. This
line of thinking led to a critical assessment
of everything I owned. To borrow some
terminology from Dan John’s Intervention,
Sometime around 2009 I heard a rhetorical
question that started me down a new
path in life. Slowly at first, but much more
dramatically later. When I heard it, I knew
it was going to be impactful, but it took
time. Over the course of years, like planting
a single tree that bears many fruit, it led to
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my point “A” was a three bedroom house
with a large basement, 3300 square feet
of space, fully furnished with lots of
excess stuff (for only two people!). My
eventual point “B” today (and this took
years) is owning no furniture, with all of
my possessions capable of fitting in my car.
I consider point “B” to be a much better
place because every bit of stuff that I got rid
of not only put money back in my pocket
(thank you, Craigslist), but it also resulted in
a small, incremental increase in freedom.
tucked under position is really nice on the
spine, and results in a well aligned spine.
It is also a great stretch for my inflexible
ankles. The Lotus position turns out to be
a great stretch for my hips, and also the
erector spinae, especially on my left side,
which is tight from an old back injury over
20 years ago. However, unlike plopping in
a La-Z-boy recliner with a remote and a
snack, neither position is going to be doable
for 4 hours. What I find is that I shift from
one position to another, then I stand, kneel,
stretch, move. I am never in the same
position for more than 5 minutes at a time.
While this may sound uncomfortable, you
quickly acclimatize to it and it seems very
natural; more natural than sitting for hours
at a time. As a result, I get up and down off
the floor countless times during the day
and with countless different techniques.
Out With the La-Z-Boy!
There have also been a number of physical
benefits. One of the side effects of living
without furniture is improved physical
hardiness, or durability. The enemy of
durability is prolonged static postures.
When you have no furniture, you simply
cannot sustain a static posture for long
because you have no supporting structure
(i.e., a La-Z-Boy recliner) to take the
static posture load. Everybody is familiar
with the office chair “slouch” position or
the “I-phone hunch,” both of which can
physically change your body’s structure,
resulting in semi-permanent changes in
postural alignment. When I finally got rid of
my furniture, I was at a loss as to what to
do. Do I sit, stand, lie on the floor?
If all movement is training, I am training
constantly. Think about how this simple
approach can improve your ability to get
up off of the floor as you age. Many of you
have heard about the study in the European
Journal of Preventive Cardiology that found
a nearly seven fold increased risk of death
in the next six years for 51-80 year old
adults who had to use both hands to get up
off the floor. Not only can I get up off the
floor with no hands, but I can do it with a
cup in one hand and a full plate of food in
the other! I expect to preserve that ability,
through practice, for a long time.
Remembering that the Japanese have a
long standing tradition of sitting on the
floor to take meals, I researched their
seating positions. It turns out that there are
two. The first is similar to the Lotus position
that is used for meditation. It is simply
sitting in a cross legged position with a long
spine and good posture. The second, which
is generally a “female” sitting position, is
with your feet tucked under you and knees
bent. So that is what I did. Now I sit in one
position until I feel like shifting, then I shift
to the other. What I noticed is that the feet
Keep Fidgeting!
Another benefit is NEAT. By “NEAT” I don’t
mean “cool” or “groovy.” NEAT stands
for non exercise activity thermogenesis;
basically fidgeting. It turns out that
research has shown that NEAT can account
for enough calorie burn to account for
a significant part of the weight gain
associated with obese individuals or weight
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gain with age. In individuals who tend to
be lean, overfeeding causes a spontaneous
increase in NEAT. They fidget more, so they
burn more calories spontaneously. The
typical weight gain pattern in the United
States is a “ratchet effect” of consuming
approximately an extra 100 Calories over
weight maintenance requirements. This
runs contrary to the assumption that
obesity is due to huge binges. The reality is
that it is the day to day, very small excess in
calories that adds up over time. Can NEAT
offset these effects? The small magnitude
of the calories involved suggests that it may
be part of the solution. I can tell you from
experience that living without furniture
certainly increases NEAT.
the kickback against the vertebrae by the
ribs when the chest is prevented from
movement by the forest floor.”
Hey, Free Chiropractor!
He argues that this is similar to a
chiropractic adjustment and that the
same effect occurs with other joints. In
his observation of the sleeping postures
of many native peoples who sleep on
the ground, he noted that there are a
few common sleeping postures. His basic
argument is that these “natural” sleeping
postures are more suited to how our bodies
evolved than a big mushy bed with lots of
pillows. It is hard to argue with his logic.
Whatever the reason, I can tell you that my
back has never felt better.
The Cheapest Bed in the World
What I thought was going to be the hardest
part of the transition turned out to be the
easiest. Before I sold my bed, I ordered a
firm foam pad to sleep on. It just did not
seem possible to be comfortable on the
floor without a pad. I slept on the foam pad
for a couple of weeks and it was fine. Then
I decided to try an experiment. Instead
of committing to sleeping all night on the
floor, I tried a Saturday afternoon nap.
Surprisingly it was fine. So I threw caution
to the wind and folded up my foam pad and
put it in the closet and tried the floor that
evening. I had a few aches and tussled a bit
that evening but got a pretty good night’s
sleep anyway. By the fourth night on the
floor it was completely natural and felt as
comfortable as any bed I have ever owned.
I have not slept in a bed since then. I rarely
feel stiff on waking and I have tons of room!
References:
In an article published in the British Medical
Journal, Michael Tetley argues that sleeping
on the ground (rather than on a mattress or
pad) provides a unique benefit, “Nature’s
automatic manipulator during sleep is
Tetley, M. (2000). Instinctive sleeping and
resting postures: an anthropological and
zoological approach to treatment of low
back and joint pain. BMJ : British Medical
Journal, 321(7276), 1616–1618.
Brito LB1, Ricardo DR2, Araújo DS3,
Ramos PS2, Myers J4, Araújo CG5.
Ability to sit and rise from the floor as
a predictor of all-cause mortality. Eur J
Prev Cardiol. 2014 Jul;21(7):892-8. doi:
10.1177/2047487312471759. Epub 2012
Dec 13.
Levine JA , Best Pract Res Clin Endocrinol
Metab. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis
(NEAT).
2002 Dec;16(4):679-702.
Hill, J. O., Peters, J. C., & Wyatt, H. R. (2009).
Using the Energy Gap to Address Obesity:
A Commentary. Journal of the American
Dietetic Association, 109(11), 1848–1853.
http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jada.2009.08.007
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Photo: Dan John
On the Road Again
Stefanie Shelton
Stefanie is owner and head instructor at
Flexology™, Strength and Fitness Club in St.
Louis, MO. She specializes in post physical
therapy rehab and kettlebell training.
Stefanie has fought and won Stage 3 breast
cancer, all while being a single mom and
managing a growing business.
a glass or two of wine, or heck, more like
a couple of bottles. You’re going to stay up
later than usual and wake up earlier than
expected. You can expect to just feel plain
out of whack for a few days. So what to do?
The “On the Road” workout. I love to
travel. I love to work out. But I hate the
hotel gyms, I’d much rather workout in the
privacy of my hotel room. Preferably on a
wrap around balcony overlooking the Las
Vegas strip with a view of the Venetian
fountains, or maybe somewhere else much
more fabulous, but I digress.
If you’re like me, you want to get started
on your bikini tan right away, or get out
there and see the sights as quickly as
possible. Who wants to go to a hotel gym
and haphazardly pick up weights, or heaven
forbid get on that stupid treadmill? Really?
Why would I do that when I can go walk
outside on the beach?
Traveling can take a lot out of you and it is
in those times that staying on top of your
fitness is of utmost importance. Face it,
you’re going to eat crappy and indulge in
What I NEED to do is get in a 15-20 min
workout and be on my way. Nothing
too vigorous, nothing too complicated,
but something that will make me feel
Get Back in Whack!
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energized, strong and flexible. Fundamental
movements will do that. Attempting
these unloaded is ultimately better for
your longevity than going to the gym and
pumping the iron anyway.
calves. Then exhale as you stand back
up. Be sure to squeeze your glutes – you
want that bootie looking toned in that
swimsuit.
3. Push ups! There are many different ways
to do pushups. You can do them for
example from a push up plank position
(PUPP) or inclined, putting your hands
on a wall or your feet on a chair.
I’m thankful for Dan John for drilling into
my head the importance of fundamental
movements. He has a knack for simplifying
the complicated. Push, pull, hinge, squat,
carry, other. He explains these more in
many of his writings. I particularly love his
book “Intervention”. If you haven’t read it, I
highly suggest picking it up.
4. Turkish get ups, unloaded or with
a shoe. This is probably the most
important exercise of them all. You
experience stretching, core activation,
balance and vestibular training.
The most important thing for me while I’m
on vacation, and should be for you too, is to
maintain the basic human movements. No
weights needed. All I need is my arms, legs,
and maybe a wall.
Program it:
I learned a long time ago to Keep It Super
Simple. I suggest banging out 5 rounds of
10 pushups, 10 squats and a 45 second
handstand. If you can do more than a
45 second on your hands, start going for
one-handed variations. These will really
challenge your shoulders. Be sure to stay
really stiff in the core and don’t hold your
breath! Finish it off with 5 minutes of
Turkish Get Ups and you‘re golden.
Here is my “On the Road” workout:
1. Start in a plank position with your feet
close to wall. Walk your feet up the wall
until you’re straight up and down. Then
walk yourself back out to plank position.
2. Body weight squat. The closer you can
get your feet together, the better. Keep
your arms straight out in front of you.
Inhale as you squat all the way down.
Let your back of your thighs touch the
I hope you go to fabulous places this
summer, but be sure to take this simple
workout with you. Stay strong!
Photo: Devan Nielsen
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A Letter to the Coming Ones
Darren Pratt
3. Listen to your coaches. They‘re your
coaches for a reason. I‘m a pretty good
example of how not to do this. In about
1997, my coach tried to tell me that
I should switch from kayak to canoe. Australia is pretty good at kayak racing and
terrible at canoe. My coach was Polish. The Poles are very good at canoe racing. He recognized that I was close but not close
enough for kayak but could have been a
real shot at canoe for Sydney in 2000. In
hindsight, I probably should have listened
to him. But I thought I knew better.
4. Perfect is the enemy of good. Maybe
this is just me because I‘m a bit of a weirdo. You know when you‘re 10 or 15 minutes
late for training or you forgot you favorite
shoes or stick or weightlifting belt. And
you think: That‘s it, the session‘s a write off
because it‘s not going to be perfect. But
it doesn‘t always have to be perfect. It
just has to be good enough. Or as good
as it can be. Most of your sessions and
competitions are going to be in the middle
of the bell curve. A few are going to be out
at the far left of the bell curve and really
suck. Every now and then you‘ll have a
session or a competition or a moment
that is so far out to the right of the bell
curve that you‘ll remember it decades
later. In almost 20 years of jujitsu, I can
think of 2 techniques that I‘ve done that
were near enough to perfect. Enjoy those
moments and remember them. But it‘s the
accumulation of sessions and competitions
in the middle of the bell curve that make
the difference.
5. The further you go, the more you‘re
going to discover that other people have
an emotional investment in your success. Family, friends, coaches. They‘re going to
Darren has had a long and varied sports
career. He has raced stock cars, holds a
teaching grade in jujitsu and represented
Australia in sprint kayaking. His eldest son,
James, is a national medalist in weightlifting
and his eldest daughter, Maddie, is a state
representative in field hockey.
Dear James and Maddie,
as the two of you are near the end of
high school and your sporting careers
continue to progress, I wanted to take a
moment to share a few things with you
that I‘ve learned along the way. Amongst
the many things I‘ve learned from being
your father (aside from the fact that it‘s
the most important job that I‘ll ever have),
is that there‘s no perfect way to start
conversations. Especially, awkward ones. You just have to turn up, leap in and do
your best. So, here goes:
1. Dream big. This one really speaks for
itself. I want you to dream outrageously,
impossibly large dreams. Surprise yourself. 2. It‘s the process, not the outcome. I
thought about some alternative headings
for this one, like “why I hate Instagram
fitness bloggers”. Because it‘s all about
the process. No amount of #tags or
Instagram posts is going to get you any
closer to achieving anything. You‘ve just
got to keep fronting up and doing the
work. Maybe that‘s the only talent that
matters – the ability to show up and do the
work for 10 years or so. Think about that
for a moment. If you got serious at 15,
then at 25 you could be really, really good. That‘s how long it takes. As Pop says about
farming: The first 20 years are the worst,
after that you‘ve seen most things.
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put pressure on you. Sometimes that can
be a positive thing and sometimes you‘re
going to want them to back the $%#* off. But you‘ve got to want it for yourself and
not for anyone else. 6. You‘re going to leave some people
behind. Not all of them will be happy
about it. There‘s going to be some bitching
and moaning when you make the cut and
they don‘t. This sounds obvious but when
someone who used to be your best friend
suddenly isn‘t making the team anymore
and moves to another club, you realize that
not everyone is going to be happy about
your success. This goes the other way too. You‘re not always going to make the cut
either. And when you don‘t, suck it up. Photo: Devan Nielsen
Congratulate the people who made it. And
keep training with them because nothing
makes you better, faster than training with
people who are better than you.
7. You‘re going to have a target on your
back. This is related to the previous point. The further you get up the ladder, the
more people are going to be on lower
rungs looking up at you. And you can
focus on process as much as you like, but
it‘s hard not to be distracted by outcomes
when someone tells you how their
only goal for in life is to beat you, or
how excited they are because they
finally did beat you. Keep focusing on
your process and you‘ll leave most of
them far behind.
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Photo: Dan John
9. Take a moment to smile. Each time you
step onto the platform or before the ref
blows the whistle, look around you, take
a moment to appreciate the atmosphere,
and smile. This is what you‘ve worked for. It might be just one competition in a long
career or the last one you ever do. So take
that moment. You‘ll be glad that you did.
10. The dog doesn‘t care. The wonderful
thing about dogs is that they don‘t care
whether you‘ve had your very best
competition or your very worst. They‘re
just excited to see you walking through the
door. It reminds me of the dad joke about
the difference between a dog and a friend: If you lock your dog in the trunk of the car,
it‘ll still be happy to see you. I always found
8. If you spend your tickets on the ferris
wheel, then you can‘t spend them on
the merry go round. Simple economics
really. But if you‘re dreaming impossibly,
outrageously large dreams and you‘ve got a
process to make them happen, then you‘re
going to have to make some hard choices. Do you go to that party? And if you do,
will you leave early, so you can still make
training the next day, or will you spend all
night hanging out in the hope that cute
boy/girl that you really like happens to
notice you? If you want to train the way
you‘re going to have to train if you want to
be really good, then you‘re going to have
to organize things so that you don‘t have
to stay up all night cramming for exams. Organization and efficiency is critical.
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that helped me to put it in perspective - the
dog not caring (I never locked anybody in
the trunk of a car). There are few things
that help you put things into perspective
like the smell of a dog paw.
11. You‘re going to get PMT. That was
the TLA we used back in the day for Post
Marathon Tension. It‘s that feeling you get
when you‘ve spent weeks, months, maybe
even years building up to that one big
moment. And then it‘s over. Any you find
yourself walking around the supermarket or
University or wherever and nobody knows
or cares. You get it when you‘re training
really hard too. Sometimes you‘re going
to question why you do it. It passes. More
sleep and more food usually help. Dial up
the recovery and wait it out. Make sure it
has passed before you make any decisions.
12. It doesn‘t hurt when the pain stops. I told this one to my friend PC when he
started training for an Ironman triathlon. When I first told him he said it was stupid. Two years later after he‘d done an Ironman
triathlon he came back to me and said he
got it. You‘re going to hurt. After a while,
Photo: Dan John
you learn to get more comfortable with
being uncomfortable. It‘s not just about
physical pain either. Being comfortable
with being uncomfortable is also about
making changes to your technique or
learning new positions or skills. Anything
that takes you out of your comfort zone. 13. You‘re going to lose some you should
win, and win some you should lose. I first
heard this from a guy who‘d just won a big
surf ski race he never should have won. Another double ski crew was miles in front. These guys were a very distant second and
were not even in the hunt. And then the
first crew had a catastrophic gear failure. Suddenly the crew who was a distant
second came through and won. And I asked
this guy after the race how he felt it about. I was probably 20 at the time. I thought
that it must be a hollow feeling to win in
those circumstances. But he just turned to
me and shrugged and said “you win some
you should lose and lose some you should
win”. I think it took me another 15 years to
appreciate the genius of that statement. Love, Dad
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10.000 Swings - Now What?
More Things with Swings
Mark is a 54 year old coach who also
competes in masters cycling track sprinting.
He trains weekend warriors and age group
winning triathletes and cyclists to increase
strength and mobility.
Dan is a former firefigher who retired after
38 years in the department. When he is not
training, he enjoys the married life with two
grown children and three grandchildren. He
is also a founding member of the Coyote
Point Kettlebell Club and the club‘s official
“Maker of Sammies”.
Mark Wilson
Dan Martin
In the last edition of Get Up! you read
about my 10,000 swings ending on
Christmas Eve. Recent training and teaching
– I teach five spinning classes a week – has
led to me looking to pursue track sprinting
in the velodrome. I love lifting weights and I
love riding my bike, so this is a perfect fit.
This is an alternative template to get
through Dan‘s 10.000 swings.
10K Swing Template:
A.
KB Clean & Press x 5L/5R
Two-Hand Swing x 15
KB Clean & Press x 5L/5R
Two-Hand Swing x 35
To succeed in track sprinting you need to do
two things: accelerate the bike from a slow
speed and cadence quickly and build and
maintain high cadence, up to 150 rpm plus.
This is a combination of strength and skill.
Up to a point, increased strength enables
you to push a bigger gear, but maintaining
the cadence is vital. Speed endurance
enables maintenance of this speed for up to
350 metres.
B.
TRX Row x 5
Two-Hand Swing x 15
TRX Row x 5
Two-Hand Swing x 35
C.
Goblet Squat x 5
Two-Hand Swing x 15
Goblet Squat x 5
Two-Hand Swing x 35
So the next stage is to work on general
strength up until training camp in February.
Then I will focus on strength maintenance
and building in conjunction with improving
cycling skill and cadence until the major
competitions in May to September 2016.
D.
Plank
Two-Hand Swing x 15
Plank
Two-Hand Swing x 35
At a bodyweight of 185#, I deadlift 375#,
squat 308# and bench 220#. Top sprinters
squat and deadlift over 440# and bench
308# plus, so these are the targets.
E.
Suitcase Walk
Two-Hand Swing x 15
Suitcase Walk
Two-Hand Swing x 35
The next report will details my strength
gains. I turn 55 next year and will be a
“baby vet”, at the low end of my age group.
Yours in strength, Mark Wilson.
13
Barbells and Bumpers
Walter Dorey
that’s what can happen when you don’t
have bumpers and a platform to lift on.
Walter learned early in life that working and
training hard has a huge carry-over into the
ability to improvise, adapt and overcome.
If he is not training outside with some odd
rusty object, you’ll find him cooking up a
good meal with his wife, Ginger, or playing
with his dogs.
So, the next day at work, I had some pipe
welded up and made two new sleeves for
my bar. These babies haven’t broken yet!
Shortly after that I turned that bar into a
2.5” thick bar which I still have and use to
this day.
Several times in my life I’ve had to live in
very small apartments, which meant no
room for training inside with equipment.
This was before kettlebells were available
here in the USA.
Looking back on this I realize that some
people may be in the same situation. They
don’t have much disposable income for
nice equipment and they live in a place
where they cannot train inside. So it’s
either paying gym membership fees
(I prefer to invest in my own equipment)
or improvising.
This means that I had to load my plates and
barbell into a vehicle and drive to where
I could train outside. Every lift had to be
taken from the ground, which in a way
simplifies your training and also may seem
to limit you in other ways, but in reality it
can lead to some great gains. To this day I
still train outside most often.
Do It Yourself!
Let’s look at how I would do this without
a bunch of money and with no other
equipment other than a barbell and plates,
knowing I will be training outside and
dropping the loaded bar onto dirt, asphalt
or concrete. No fancy lifting platform here!
One time, I was training outside in the
mud doing power snatches with something
like 185 lb or 205 lb on the bar. After each
successful lift, I would drop the bar and
catch it on my thighs with a controlled
dip and then lower it to the ground. The
metal plates would sink into the mud and I
had to lift from there. My lower legs were
plastered with splashed mud and rainwater.
My feet had been sliding around the mud
for the whole session, but I managed to
stay stable. Until I finally lost balance and
had to dump the bar.
Of course, bumper plates would be the way
to go versus standard olympic metal plates.
Yet, even inexpensive bumper plates are
fairly pricey. And from what I have read,
they just don’t hold up that well. Often
people complain about the inner bushings
tearing out.
To get even a half-way decent set of
bumpers and a decent bar will set you back
an easy $800-1,000. Problem is: They do
not hold up to being dumped in the dirt or
dropped on concrete. You need a dedicated
platform on which to lift, which will also
cost money to build. And where do you
Crack!
I heard the crack of breaking metal and my
heart sank. Unfortunately, one of the plates
hit a rock hidden in the mud, breaking one
of the revolving sleeves on my bar. Well,
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Photo: Walter Dorey
I would hit up Walmart and buy the cheap
gray Olympic plates or look online or on
yard sales. At the big WM, 10’s are under
$10. The 5’s are under $5. And the 2.5’s are
cheaper yet. So that puts us at about $90
and 85 lb of plates, depending on where
you get them.
store it if you live in a place with no garage
or shed? Here is what I would do instead. In
fact, it is what I have right now.
Step one: buy a half-decent bar.
We can find a rugged bar at around $200
to $300. Shop around at Rogue, York and
other places. Don’t skimp on the bar, you
want one that has good rotating sleeves.
It makes a big difference. Take care of that
bar. Keep it out of the rain, keep it clean,
and if it has oil holes in the ends, drop
some 3-in-1 oil in there every few months.
Now you’re probably thinking: “I need more
weight than that!” Well, have a little faith.
The little plates above give you the
capability to create any weight from 2.5
to 42.5 lb per side. If you don’t want the
ability to jump weight by 5 lb total on the
bar at a time and jumping up by 10 lb is
good enough for you, don’t buy the 2.5
plates. As Sam Axe would say, “easy-peasy”.
Most of my bars are old beat up things
stored outside. But I still clean and oil them.
My best bar, a $400 York I bought years ago,
is stored inside my home.
Step two: we need some weight plates.
Step three: acquire four steel wheels
with tires.
I’d start with this if I had to do it again,
especially if I had to shuttle things with a
vehicle to find a spot to lift: buy six
10 lb plates, four 5 lb plates and two
2.5 lb plates.
How? Ask around or check out tire stores
and garages or look online for a set of
inexpensive steel wheels with tires. The
tires can be nearly bald with little to no
tread. Such tires are cheaply had, since they
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are basically useless. Someone might even
give them to you or trade something for
them. Often people buy pricey shiny wheels
and are just trying to get rid of their old
steel wheels for cheap.
for $50 but I didn’t like trying to argue the
man down from his asking price when I
saw his little children running around. I also
found four wheels for $50 several times and
could have purchased them for even less.
Be sure to buy steel wheels. Buy regular car
tires, not the doughnut tires. The regular
tires will be a bit wider, giving more surface
area. Yes, they will take up a bit more room
on your bar, but check this out: I have found
that 25 and even 35 pound plates will fit
into the center of the wheel. So you can fit
70 pounds of plates inside the tire without
taking up any more room on your bar.
Why not just get two wheels? Having four
tires spreads the load on the bar better, so
you are less apt to ruin your bar sleeves.
So if you can find four tires, buy them all at
once so they are all the same diameter.
If you want 25 and 35 pound plates, buy
them AFTER you get your wheels.
Some people take 5 or 10 lb plates and drill
them and then bolt them to the tire. This
localizes the dropping force onto too small
an area and can damage your bar, plus the
wheel kind of flops on the bar because of
such a small contact area.
Step four: you need a way to convert the
diameter of the hole in the wheel to fit to
your bar.
First, measure the inside diameter of the
wheels before going shopping for the
bigger plates, so you KNOW they will fit
inside the tire.
If you do not have the tools and knowledge
(always a great investment) or a place to
work, find someone who can take a piece
I bought a set of 4 steel rims with tires for
$75. I could tell I could have gotten all four
Photo: Walter Dorey
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of pipe or tubing and slide it into the hole
in the tire and weld it to the steel rim. Be
sure to measure things so the pipe fits your
bar. Often someone will do this for you for
burgers and beer or a metal scrap yard will
often do this for $50 or less.
of pressure in the tire. This way they don’t
bounce as bad, especially with heavier
weight. Control the drop so the tires do not
bounce into your shins.
An important note here: measure how
wide your tires are in thickness. Split that
measurement in half or a bit less. This is
how long you want your sleeve to be. Refer
to the pictures. This way, the sleeve only
projects into the inside of the wheel a little
less than half-way. To get a pipe to fit I
actually used an angle grinder with a cut-off
wheel and sliced a .25” slot out of the side.
I squeezed it together, slid it into the wheel
hub, and welded it all up from there. Look
at the pictures closely and you’ll see what I
did.
Now reread this next point several times. It
will save someone’s life:
Whoever does this for you, DO NOT under
any circumstances weld on that steel rim
with the rubber tire still on the rim!
The tire will often explode and if it does,
whoever is nearby welding on it will be
killed or very severely injured. Go check this
out as a reminder: https://www.youtube.
com/watch?v=HiLeji8bLOk
The tires I used weigh about 42 lb apiece.
With four tires on the bar that’s about 213
lb with the barbell. Add in 70 lb placed
into each of 4 tires and that’s another 280
lb, bringing the total to 493 lb. Also I have
found that I can sneak a five pound plate
onto the other side of the tire. So with four
tires that’s an additional 20 lb. Total: 513 lb.
Not too shabby.
In another report, a mechanic actually
broke the bead on the tire, letting all the air
out. He left the tire on the wheel, welded
up the rim and then refilled the tire with
air to reseat the bead. However, the heat
weakened the tire. Several days later the
tire was really soft so the mechanic reinflated the tire. It exploded and he lost his
life.
A little trick if your tires seem to run out to
the ends of the bar as you lift:
Did I scare you? GOOD!
So, take the tires completely off the wheel
before welding!
You know the side that the lug-nuts are
tightened against, the outside of the tire
you see when mounted on a car? Put that
side inwards toward the hub on the inside
of your bar. This way the tires are more apt
to run inward as you lift and will stay
in place much better. And if your sleeves
fit well and are not loose on the barbell
they will stay in place much better. I
actually lined the inside of my sleeves
with a cut piece of thin and flexible
poly cutting board. If you look close,
you can actually see this liner in one of
the pictures.
If you or a friend can’t do this, for a small
fee a garage will do this for you. Then go
weld the sleeves into the tire. Then come
back and have them remount the tires
on the wheels. I just invested in a Harbor
Freight tire changer for $40 and it works
great.
Don’t air the tires up all the way. Once
the bead is seated on the rim, let air out
until you have about one or two pounds
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OK, so with four tires we are looking at
about 213 lb with the bar. Add in the 85 lb
of 10’s and 5’s and 2.5’s we bought and
we have 298 lb to play with. The smaller
plates let you adjust weight with the tires
in 5, 10 or 20 lb increments. That’s 298 lb,
buying just the little plates I mentioned
above, without buying any plates bigger
than 10 lb!
Tearing Down the Past
Now, Get Strong!
I felt sick to my stomach as I pulled the last
screw out of my lifting platform. What was
once worthy of an EliteFTS power rack, a
dozen York plates, and countless PR‘s, has
been reduced to a pile of steel, ten 2x12‘s
and a couple pieces of plywood.
Dave Royhab
Dave Roy is a recovered powerlifter, who
changed his focus from being as strong as
possible to being healthy and looking kinda’
good for an old guy. When not training, he
works as a school administrator and tries to
keep up with his lovely wife and two teenagers.
It might not sound like much, 300 lb or
thereabouts. But if you get to where you
can power clean and press and front squat
that weight, I guarantee that you will be
far stronger than almost anyone you meet.
So for around $300 to $400 you can have
a completely portable bumper set that will
outlast your lifetime and can get you very
strong in the middle of a patch of dirt.
Conservatively, I‘ve spent well over 2000
hours by myself, in this basement gym.
While most families in my suburban utopia,
living in their cookie-cutter homes, would
call it a “den”, in my little townhouse it‘s
“the weight room.” You can have your
basement office with a pretty picture on
the wall and a pullout bed for the guests.
My room will have a concrete floor, plain
drywall and a ton of iron and steel.
Now, how cool is that?
“The Weight Room”
Our realtor thinks no one will want to buy a
house with an unfinished room, especially
one filled with primitive-looking devices of
strength and pain. Deep down, I know she
is right. I told my wife that, as we prepare
our house for the market, the gym is the
very last thing I‘ll deal with as not to disrupt
my training any more than necessary.
Photo: Devan Nielsen
But now the time has come. So for the next
three months or so, my precious toys will
sit in a storage facility across town.
For thirteen years, three or four days a
week, I‘ve been trudging down the stairs to
that little 11x11 square foot room. A picture
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of Henry Rollins looked over my equipment
with his quote: “There is no better way to
fight weakness than with strength.”
my bones bend. It‘s a room full of effort
and aggression. It‘s one last place where
a modern man can feel real weight, both
figuratively and literally.
It‘s more than a gym. It‘s more than
personal records. This room has been a
place of meditation and escape. In this
modern world, most of us live soft lives and I am no exception. We have our climate
controlled homes and door-to-door food
delivery. Cars that start with the push of a
button, and doors that automatically open
for us. Plush couches and comfortable
recliners with just the right amount of
lumbar support for our weak backs. Riding
lawn mowers and snow blowers so we can
avoid real physical effort at all costs.
I‘ve built myself up, broken myself down,
and built myself up again in that room.
I‘ve torn callouses, and ripped shins. I‘ve
been covered in welts on my hips and
stomach from my lifting belt, and deep
brush burns on my traps from the squat bar.
I‘ve blown blood vessels in my eyelids, and
after one mishap, cut open my forehead
(just a tiny little cut, but it sounds cool).
In that gym I‘ve given myself tendinitis in
my elbow, bursitis in my shoulder, plantar
fasciitis in both feet, a herniated disc, and a
hernia.
Something Primal
This basement weight room is where I tried
to recapture something ancient, something
lost, something primal. Where I can feel
my muscles contract, my sweat drip, and
Photo: Devan Nielsen
But I‘ve also got myself stronger than I ever
dreamed possible. And I‘ve been in the best
shape of my life.
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My little brother, a true craftsman and
fellow home gym fanatic, built me two
squat boxes. He then drove five hours to my
house to help me build my platform. Time
well spent with my best friend.
I ran the Westside system for years, building
up my squat and deadlift, higher than I ever
thought possible. I stopped powerlifting
and lost my way until I found Wendler‘s
5/3/1 and kick started my progress again.
I‘ve followed programs from Dan John,
Jason Ferruggia, Alwyn Cosgrove, Jen
Sinkler, and others in that basement. And I
loved them all.
My wife with her patience, god bless her.
Never taking offense when I get home from
work and make a bee-line for the gym,
occasionally stopping by the kitchen for a
shot of caffeine. Never complaining about
the loud punk and hard rock music flowing
straight up through the floor into the
kitchen.
It is the Journey
In that basement gym, I‘ve been both the
fat powerlifter and a ripped gym rat. I‘ve
had to buy bigger lifting belts, and I‘ve had
to buy smaller ones. I‘ve been strong, and
I‘ve been weak. I‘ve been out of shape,
and fit as hell. I‘ve looked forward to new
bench shirts, squat suits and wraps. And
I eventually packed them all away, telling
myself that I‘ll never use them again - but
not having the heart to throw them away.
My kids have both literally grown up
with the rule: Only interrupt dad‘s
workout if it‘s an emergency. And even
then, KNOCK FIRST!
I recall my excitement when my first two
pieces of equipment arrived from EliteFTS
13-years ago: a power rack and a glute/ham
raise. I left work early when I learned they
were waiting for me on my porch.
I once noticed that a lifter spends the first
half of his life trying to get big, and the
second half trying to get small again. I am
no exception.
Priorities
I fondly remember the time my wife and I
drove three hours to the York Barbell tent
sale, in York, PA. I bought twelve 45 pound
plates. My little Toyota truck looked like a
ship sinking into the sea as I drove down
the highway. We stopped for breakfast
on the way home. I insisted we park by a
window in the restaurant so I could keep
an eye on the equipment in the back of my
truck. My wife reminded me that normal
people would not be able to steal all those
plates, even if they wanted to.
But I never stopped lifting. Goals change,
but NEVER the demand for progress. Never
the need to improve.
Other than my family, I‘ve gotten more
from that little basement gym than
anything else in my life.
So out goes the gym, piece by piece, into
the storage unit. My EliteFTS equipment:
power rack, safety squat bar, Swiss press
bar, and glute/ham raise. My York
bar and plates. My lat pulldown &
cable row machine. My grippers,
Mantaray, rollers, and balls. Dumbbells
and kettlebells. Straps and wraps.
Heavy bag and gloves. Sandbags and
boxes. Bands and boards. Olympic
I can recall my excitement over the years,
as I added new toys to the mix. Blast Straps
and a TRX. Kettlebells and Captains of Crush
grippers. My EliteFTS safety squat and Swiss
bars. A heavy bag and boxing gloves.
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lifting shoes and Chuck‘s. Years and years
of training journals. They‘re all being
packed away.
And after all this, I must tell you that I will
NOT be reconstructing my basement gym.
There will be no “weight room” in the
basement of the new house.
This room will be painted and floored.
Made pretty. The new owners will never
know what it was. What it did. What
it meant.
Oh no...
Because that Iittle old weight room is now
in the two-car garage.
So, now we‘ve found a new home. A much
bigger house. The kind of home I always
wanted for my family.
Photo: Devan Nielsen
And this time, it‘s twice as big!
Published by Daniel John
Markus Weßel-Therhorn, Editor
Copyright © Daniel John, 2016
All Rights Reserved
Any unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited.
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