Learning to be lazy

Hello from your favorite bard of beardifulness 

Did you ever hear that term 'mastering the basics' in high school or other team sports? I remember my dad drilling into me over and over the power of basics when it came to martial arts. Kicking, striking, moving, speed, and timing where yelled at me as I oafishly struggled to become the image of my father's design. I remember my high school football coach drilling us over and over until our reactions became instinctual.

What really is happening, is that through drilling and practicing the basics over and over, you remove a lot of extraneous movements, along with mental distractions. You simply get to the point of doing what you need to do exactly as it was designed and taught. Once you have gained that mastery of precision, you can add additional knowledge, techniques, or processes due to the simple fact that those movements are instinctual and no longer need the amount of mental energy in order to perform them. Your body can do the basics on auto pilot while learning or attempting the new challenge brought before you.

Ok?? Oh, beardifulness... .How the hell does that help me to learn to be lazy? 

Glad you asked!

You see, what we are attempting to do in steel fighting is become like the well rounded armored warriors of the past. These knights trained and lived a life dedicated to the task of war or protection (well maybe that is how the movies present it). We don't live in the stresses of life where combat, or defense is a part of our daily life. We live quite the life of luxury. How do we combine the warrior training of the past and balance that with our 'highly evolved' selves?

Be more lazy!

Hear me out. I have done strongman competitions while training for running ultra-marathons. When training for multiple sports at the same time, I had to maximize my recovery time. Meaning, my body recovers in the down times or my off days. Gains are not made in the gym, they are made in the time you let your body recover.

I was training for strongman and running half marathons, spartan races, and the Spartan Death Race. Running always was combined with my leg days. Basically like the two a day practices you had in high school. Then the following day, I focused on either active recover (walking or rucking), or accessory work that wasn't tied to my legs as they were trashed at the time. When my routines called for isolation work, hill repeats for the umpteenth time, four different accessory movements, I got lazy.

Seriously, lazy!

I didn't do all of the routines on my plan because I only needed one maybe two of them to achieve the gains I was looking for.  Combined that with the other workouts I was doing for the other sports I was in, my legs and whole body  were getting worked out enough in order to hit my goals.

I am still trying to figure out the perfect way to combine things. Most importantly, I am listening to my body. When I feel taxed, tired, or stressed, I either find a way to exercise around it, or I don't exercise at all. I try to maximize the recovery I get from my workouts, while at the same time pushing myself to achieve my goals. It is a balance of set backs, acceptance, and then surprise performance improvement.

How does this apply to Steel Fighting?

First of all, I have some very specific goals. So, my personal goals will not be cookie cutter for you. For me, I have a crap ton of strength. There may be a handful of knights out there stronger than me in any given lift, but strength alone doesn't make me a better fighter. I need to translate that strength to movement efficiency with precision and accuracy. I can hear my dad say 'told you so, stupid' from the never, never.

So I have two basic training plans. Plan A is a running plan. It is time for me to build up my endurance running again. My personal goal is to bring down my time on my 5K to something faster than a geriatric slug walking through the salt plains.  Plan B is a bodybuilding/leaning program to shed extra body fat, and make me leaner. this will allow me to keep most of my strength, lean out, add some added aesthetics to my sexy bearded self. In turn, I will be more efficient in my movements, able to last longer on the field, without sacrificing all the gains in strength I have made over the years. Will my one rep maxes drop? Absolutely. But getting the next one rep max isn't my goal. My goal is to do some mass destruction in the lists. Which leads to Plan C, learning to fight better in the lists, and become a better at everything I do in the fight.

Now the lazy part... I am not doing 4 or 5 runs a weeks. I am not doing every accessory exercise in each plan. I do cardio 3 times a week, and lifting 5 times a week. One day a week is all out training for steel fighting. When, I can combine activities I do. When I am extra sore, I don't lift. These activities are extreme. When your body is sore, slow down. When you can pick up the pace and push yourself, do so.

The alternative to my laziness is what I call "Jeff's Stupid Phase." This was where Jeff trained all out six days a week. Some days doing two a days, would run extra miles, lift as heavy as possible, and in the end, he was sore seven days a week. He also visited the hospital a few times with severe muscle tears which kept him from training for several months. Gains and progress lost due to pushing it too hard. If only Jeff would practice being lazy!!!

So the take away my future lazy ones is this.... Only do what is absolutely necessary. Just like the old drills playing football or kicking bags in karate, only do the movement that is necessary and nothing else. Do it enough, combined with the other activities you were doing, you will be hugely successful. Listen to your body and rest. Your body will thank you for not being sore all the time, and you will see your performance improve in a steady progressive path. There are tons of great plans you can pick from in order to achieve the goals you are looking for. However, simplify those plans down so that they meet your goals.