Secret of the Strong

Discover the Secret of the Strong:

“Struggle is not optional – it’s neurologically required: in order to get your skill to fire optimally, you must by definition, fire the circuit sub-optimally; you must make mistakes and pay attention to those mistakes; you must slowly teach your circuit. You must also keep firing that circuit – i.e., practicing – in order to keep functioning properly.” - Daniel Coyle (taken from “The Talent Code”)

I was having a conversation with another trainer the other day about cueing members during sessions, explaining to them how exercises should be done, why they need to be done in a certain manner, etc.  And it occurred to me that the point I was trying to make with him, is actually a point I’ve been trying to make with exercisers for years, because really that’s who it is aimed at.

This is something very important that all exercisers need to understand:

Strong people don’t exercise well because they are strong.  They are strong because they exercise well.

They make sure every repetition is PERFECT. Not “OK” – PERFECT. 

They make sure every squat has heel pressure.  They make sure every pushup has a stiff spine.  They make sure every kettlebell swing has extended hips.

When you exercise with this mindset every time you workout day after day, week after week, month after month, eventually you become a significantly stronger and better conditioned human.

This is why, in my facility anyway, when you see people doing impressive things you need to remember that initially they struggled, like we all do.  But after a period of very deliberate practice and always correcting mistakes, they became strong and well conditioned.  The fact that now they make very difficult moves look very easy can be deceiving.  Tons and tons of repetitive errors and corrections went into that skill.

But this doesn’t seem to be peoples’ perception more often than not.  What I hear and what I observe from others is the assumption that the person is strong – therefore they can exercise well. 

Not true.  Not in most cases anyway.  They are strong and well conditioned because they pay attention to every detail of their movement and the exercise they’re performing.

The flip side of this is the person who doesn’t obsess over every movement detail.  The person who doesn’t mind that they shoulders are rolling forward when their hips are supposed to flex.  The person that doesn’t mind that he/she squats with all knee flexion and no hip flexion.

Will this person get results?  Maybe, if they’re lucky.  But they won’t get GREAT results.

In order to achieve major gains from your strength and conditioning program, you need to pay very close attention to every move you make in the gym, and deliberately correct any imperfections.  Over time, this is how major improvements are made.

Pay attention to and correct mistakes – this is how improvement occurs.  And like it says on the walls of the TR: “Always Improve”.