I have found myself stuck on a topic for over two weeks now, the end result being that while there have been some videos done and some writing compiled the site has remained untouched. Some people might point to the huge amounts of snow falling in the Rockies as being part of the issue, however I will deny this charge with every last breath. See a few weeks ago, my friend posted an article on how people seem to be training obsessively and are losing sight of having fun. Now I agree that sometimes it is good to just train for the emotional release, or for the honesty of it, but then I go and re-read Easy Strength and find myself again asking the question of what are we training for, and is it actually helping. Throw a bit of Ferris into the mix with his new book on skill acquisition with the least possible effort and I really start to wonder.

So I am left with the question again of why I train and whether it makes me better at what I enjoy doing. I think for many of us in the gym culture who actually enjoy training in and of itself, this occasionally gets lost as we begin to try and figure out the best training programs, start to experiment with fun new exercises, or start pushing for a max on a lift. It is really easy to get caught up with training the fitness, or getting really good at the “sport of exercise”. However if your training makes it more likely you’ll get injured, or worse injures you, then you are getting away from the point. Training should be fun, and it should improve us while still leaving a lot of energy do to our chosen sports. The Easy Strength approach is to create the most results with the least effort so an athlete can actually spend their time doing their sport. So massive burn me out quick programs might seem like they are great, but if we are left too smoked to do what we love then the program (or in many cases, the coach) has failed.

I trained some heavy bell work yesterday mixed in with some explosive upper body work in preparation for speed climbing at worlds. ;It was fun, and I enjoyed it. However on the whole it was a relatively short bit of work, and part of me felt like I should be doing more and working until I was decently fatigued and sore. However as the sun was setting and I was putting on my headlamp, prepping for the third lap of 50+cm through glades in a blizzard I was really glad that I felt good. When I gun for riding 1000m of elevation in a matter of three hours and then snowshoeing back up, I become really glad that my training recently has supported the activities I do. Had I needed to skip night riding on a Wednesday because I was too sore than the priorities would be wrong.

Now it is crucial to understand that I am still all about training. I believe without any doubt that having a good strength background in your major lifts will injury proof your body, and that it’s that same training that makes 2000m days seem relatively easy. It seems that people choose a polar end of this whole training and sport debate. They either do activities and avoid the gym entirely because it makes them too sore, or they sit at the other end of the spectrum always training and rarely actually doing. The balance has to be found. The right exercises and flexibility work can leave us energized and injury free for years and still able to do our activities at a high level. However, doing just an activity is most likely going to result with injuries and imbalances, while just training for the sake of training is hollow as well.

So my advice. Do what you love doing. Have fun with it. However train to support that in such a way that your training gives you energy rather than burning you out.