It has been fasciting and inspiring over the last couple of weeks to read Jamie's updates from New Zealand. He has been living through the massive earthquake in Christchurch and the subsequent aftermath.
I wanted to highlight something he wrote today:
Two important ideas there:
This stuff - and all Jamie's writings - should give you pause for thought
I wanted to highlight something he wrote today:
....that said however, as I reflect on the events of that and subsequent days, I can see a degree of capacity there that many didn't have. There was a lot of sprinting, lifting, and digging going on. I truly believe, that had I been anywhere in town that had required me to move objects, climb, jump, run, dodge, or weave, to get out alive, I would have backed myself to the hilt to give it the best go I could, simply because the training I do gives me that capacity. Several buildings had their stairwells separate from the building itself (some catastrophically). Could I have got myself down a couple of floors if I had to? Yes I think I could. I can jump gaps, lift objects getting on for twice my own mass, fit into tight gaps, crawl, climb... To me, that is stacking the deck in one's favour. I might not get out of every situation, but I would sure as hell try and wouldn't go down passively without a fight.
The base of all of this? Strength. At no point throughout the initial aftermath, and in the days after, did the ability to function at a high level of my maximum aerobic output have any use whatsoever. Strength formed the basis of everything I did. And it gave me a degree of confidence in everything I did.
Two important ideas there:
- Skill - movnat style. Erwan talks about learning skills that will allow you to survive - run for your life, crawl etc. You won't survive on the basis of your elliptical trainer ability
- Strength - is fundamental to all skills
This stuff - and all Jamie's writings - should give you pause for thought
Comments
But the bench press isn't gonna help much there, unless maybe you'd get squished under a car or something.
Functional exercises for the win.
I haven't tried carrying a log through the woods, few logs around my parts and even fewer woods ... who knows, maybe I would suck at it.
I find this speculation weird.
My parents were holocaust survivors. Years ago, at a job interview, in discussing my background, (i.e., "where is your family from?")this came up.
The interviewer veered from my qualifications and started talking about how much he admired those who survived, how they had "something special." He went on to speculate that he often thought that, had he been there, he too would have survived.
I thought the guy was a colossal schmuck. If anything is subject to "power laws" surely survival of disasters is.
The whole paleo/functional thing is getting weird.And I agree with anonymous above. Using a tragedy to make a point about exercise is really poor taste.
And speaking of executing on your feet; I trained a guy who, amazingly, had spent 16 years doing the same machine oriented workout. For legs he used the seated leg press, leg curl and leg extension machines. I discovered he was incapable of doing a single legged squat. He had no balance, no coordination, no stabilization strength. Functional strength is real.
"He had no balance, no coordination, no stabilization strength." Really? NONE? He just fell down a lot?
I think very little is known about "exercise" and some humility is called for. The longest lived people in the world (See blue Zones) don't lift weights or run marathons. They generally walk a lot and avoid strenuous exercise.
If we like to do something, fine. But to state that if you do a certain protocol it will make you less functional in real life is not supportable by any evidence I've seen. Asian people squat a lot, and the ones I know would laugh at somebody doing crossfit stuff.
Once again, the above article was someone writing what he thinks he would have done. Pretty thin stuff.
March 8, 2011 5:06 PM