Never Let Go: A Philosophy of Lifting, Living and Learning

by Dan John

People like to hear stories, usually about people.

My college coach, Ralph Maughan, had a saying for his athletes: Make yourself a slave to good habits.

You have only so much in the can of Free Will, and most of us waste the bulk of our self-determination, grit, or free choice long before we can muster up the energy to deal with nicotine fits, carb cravings, and the three-minute wait to get on the treadmill.

I’m not ripping on PTs here; I’m just pointing out the single greatest value of a personal trainer is someone else’s will is replacing your will.

In the Brothers Karamozov, a woman comes to the priest and says, “I have lost my faith.” The priest asks how, and she answers, “Bit by bit.” That is it exactly with fat gain: You get fat bit by bit.

Buy a lot of the stuff you’re planning to eat. If you decide to eat four eggs a day and you buy a dozen eggs, your new-found enthusiasm will end in three days. Then you’ll likely eat something you hadn’t planned to eat.

Beware of anything that makes no sense. Okay, everybody try this: Breathe through your eyes. “I’m sorry, Dan, I thought you said to breathe through my eyes.” Yes, yes I did. Now, imagine yourself as a fetus in the womb of the universe. “What?!?” Exactly.

Everything works for about two weeks. Nothing works after about six weeks.

In nutrition, the formula is a little harder. I live by this two-part mantra: If it works immediately, it’s illegal. If it works quickly, it’s banned.

Somewhere between high school graduation and age thirty-five, an interesting thing happened: Your life doubled.

This, of course, is the great dirty secret of American education: We teach people simply to get jokes at parties.

The training focus I use with the athletes I work with comes from the Olympic wrestling champ, Dan Gable. Dan said, “If it’s important, do it every day. If it isn’t, don’t do it at all.” I have to leave it to each and every person to decide what’s important, but this statement certainly is a challenge.

The Litvinov. Perform any big lift and then drop the bar (gently) and run.

Finally, I use the standing long jump. The vertical jump just doesn’t have enough inches to work with to measure progress, and it’s often hard to gauge improvement. The SLJ is a great tool for checking to see if what you’re doing really is making the athlete better.

Jones and Darden did something brilliant that was beyond marketing. They changed the definition of intensity. Rather than the classic formula based on maximums, the HIT mantra became, “Train to temporary muscular failure.” By changing the definition of intensity, one could also change the perception of progress.

Maffetone’s great insight was he separated health from fitness. Health is the harmony of the organs to operate optimally. Fitness is task-based.

That’s the genius of one-set-to-failure machine training. It’s a perfect do-this answer to a crazy life. Nautilus and Curves really seem to resonate with people who want to work out, but can’t afford one more drop of free will.

It’s a rare person who’s recently converted to another faith tradition or who’s recently re-embraced the faith of our fathers who can avoid acting in one or two predictable patterns: “I’m right. I used to think I was right, but I was wrong then. Now, I am right — and you are wrong to think I am not right now. Even if I argued earlier about being right, now you must understand I was wrong then, but now I am right.” “No, I can’t define it. But, you must understand I understand it completely.”

Whenever somebody tells me about something new in the world of physical conditioning, the first thing I do is check to make sure my wallet is secure. Next, I reference John Jesse’s book, Wrestling Physical Conditioning Encyclopedia, published in 1974. I picked up a copy as a young lad and promptly ignored all the excellent advice because... well, the technical term is, I am an idiot.

But neither the time nor the heat is the real reason I recommend Bikram Yoga. It’s the dialogue. Throughout the entire ninety-minute session, the instructor talks to the class and walks us through the stretches and movements. Or, lack of movements, I guess you could say. For many of us, that’s the most coaching we might ever receive.

years ago being told by a European athlete the problem with the American system of training was the lack of restoratives in our general training plan, especially the lack of massage therapy. At the time, I was far too polite to note there was absolutely no American system for anything in any sport.

With that said, a few warnings are in order. One, nobody has a typical week. I’ve yet to find someone who can honestly follow a program for two weeks without tweaking it.

You can only ask the body to do so much before it starts banging its way into your emotional and social life.

Misplacing a pound of fat a year is far better than what ninety-nine percent of most trainers are currently doing. Remember, it’s about progress.

Hesiod, the Greek historian, noted, “Observe due measure, moderation is best in all things.” Yeah, but what could Hesiod bench press? Plato, noted for underperforming in the squat, said, “We should pursue and practice moderation.”

“I wouldn’t jog for health, but playful runs are wonderful. Vary the speed and terrain and you have a really great activity that’s fun and healthful. Routinized jogging is factory work, not natural activity. If you log long miles on a track, I believe you’re compromising your health.”

We’ll go basic. Find a place where no one is watching and squat down. At the bottom, the deepest you can go, push your knees out with your elbows. Relax... and go a bit deeper. Your feet should be flat on the floor. For the bulk of the population, this small movement — driving your knees out with your elbows — will clarify squatting forever.

As you go down, leaning back with arms straight, you will discover one of the true keys of lifting: You squat between your legs. You do not fold and unfold like an accordion; you sink between your legs.

Trust your experiences, but also trust the rest of us who made the same mistakes as you and have learned to move on.

Every reader has at his fingertips (literally) a vast warehouse of information, but you need to add one little bit extra: you... your experiences, your resources, and your sense of adventure.

My philosophy for strength training — and no surprise here — is based on three concepts: • Movements, not muscle • If it is important, do it every day. If it isn’t, don’t do it at all. This is a quote attributed to wrestling Olympic gold medalist, Dan Gable. • Repetitions... lots of repetitions

Blitz the Serraseruaputus into Submission! What I have never understood is this: Are these muscles in a war or is this a group of dinosaurs threatening to take over the world? What did the muscle do to deserve this? Certainly, we should find a peaceful solution to this crisis.

Look for your answers through the lens of your goals.

It’s the million-dollar question for those of us in the strength world: Does your behavior match your goals?

My generation, the Baby Boomers, the post-WWII generation born from 1945 to 1965, really has some interesting issues. Generally, there’s a mistrust of bureaucracies, save to get what you can from them. (I’m a master of working systems.) How do you make a Boomer happy? Give him a title. I’m sure the day I’m made Chief Senior Writer in Charge of Weightlifting Philosophy, my life will be perfect.

The worst client for most coaches and trainers is, well, most of us. We know how we want to look or how much we want to lift, but we’re not sure how to get there and have no deadline spurring us on.

Rarely do people improve because of the pleasure of the goal; rather it’s pain that sets them toward a goal.

give yourself some time before you move to the next great exercise, diet or supplement. Finish your last great program first.

Finally, excellence is rarely a stressed or rushed effort. It looks easy. Eliminate all the excess and strive for simplicity. If you can remember Wayne Gretzky playing hockey, he flat moved more efficiently than anyone else. You could say the same about Michael Jordan at his peak, too.

Taking a few minutes aside every so often to account for your physical capital — your shortcomings and your assets — is like finding a vein of pure gold. Mine it.

“Repetition is the mother of implementation,”

There have been countless times I stood by and cheered others on and realized later sometimes the best thing we do is be present.