Loading...
You are here: Home Archives for Mental

Mental #118 (re-post from 08/15)

by

“Blood in the Water”

(If you’ve dipped your toes in the water, and like how it feels) do the favor of allowing yourself to obsess over physical performance for at least one period of your life.

I’m not talking about downing a pre-workout and moving 10% faster in a 10-minute conditioning piece… I’m talking about the non-glamorous details that lead to provable advancement and markedly improved performance: Address the areas that hurt the most (reasonable “pain” is part of the process) and indulge the things that drive you nuts (they’re speaking to you for a reason); Deep-water, high-level improvement requires listening to the voices that you don’t want to hear.

Exception to that statement: Those fully-fueled by the act of completion of a physical task (with composition as an afterthought) or largely driven by receipt of a pat-on-the-back for simply managing to finish; If you’re content with the shallow end, and more motivated by acclaim/ recognition than self-evaluation/ evolution, it’s better to stay out and make way for those with the mind and mettle to jump in deeper.

As in the pursuit of any type of mastery, fixation on performance requires abandonment of convenience; Nothing about moving past what you are naturally good at, what your body is comfortable with, or what your now-mind is convinced is your true potential is easy, but the closer you move to the flame, the more you learn. And- physically or otherwise- the more we know, trust, and believe in ourselves the greater our chance of achieving non-negotiable excellence in any of our chosen paths.

It all begins with some flavor of obsession.

If our true potential and high-capacity remain trapped, wrapped, and bound with convenience, fear, ego, self-deception, or even group-deception, they will forever be prey, and never predator. They will live and die as the frightened child, huddled in the dark, wondering what the monster in the closet really looks like.

It doesn’t have to be profoundly unhealthy or permanent, but if we are never imbalanced in favor of tedious details and hard-earned progress, and ferociously driven by strain and struggle (and the satisfaction they grant when pushed to their limits), you will never really know which version of yourself lives at the end of that tunnel- And that is something no strong-minded person should ever die wondering.

Omega.

by

03/17/18 will be our last daily “Physical” offering;

Nothing is changing regarding how we consider, construct, or apply training- we will just not be posting it here, obsessively detailed and narrated, every day but Sunday, for free.

If you are one of those that is applying the program with consistency outside of our location, please reach out, and we will make sure you are able to continue.

If you stumble upon this and are looking for the best Generalist strength & conditioning program in the world, you may start any day you’d like from 2012 on, and begin improving all material aspects of your physical practice.
________

Our priority of dissemination of highest-quality information has not changed in any way, shape, or form.

If anything, it has magnified, and strengthened. Training is a vehicle to a destination, and contained on this site is one of the most thorough and effective modes of transport ever created.

I was reminded this week of the strange-yet-true fact that very few people fully value what they get for free.

I don’t understand. But I guess I don’t need to.

Keep paying your hard-earned money for “specialized” training programs that are nothing more than recycled CrossFit, nonsensical attrition-based torture drills, or dead-end plug-and-play templates that no one has ever really tested in provable context.

Or- for free- run through the Wolf Brigade YouTube channel that features virtually our entire curriculum, and then select a starting point that makes sense for you.

Or, don’t.
_______

We have posted over 2,500 non-gimmick, organized, sequential, and sensible-but-brutal training days.

Without fail.

Six days a week.

Since March of 2009.

Consistency is not just an in-movement priority.

And, if standards shifted as each tide rose and fell, they would be called something else.

Mental 133: Standards & Practices V.1

by

Wolf Brigade “Standards and Practices”, V.1, 2017.

For those unfamiliar with us, we are an experienced, forward-thinking, strength & conditioning brand headquartered in Rochester, NY. Please dig deeper into this very website for more information on our history, philosophy, and lineage.

Our purpose here is to outline some things we hope you will address prior to undertaking our program! Beginning a project with the appropriate tools goes a long way in ensuring its success- Especially in something as detailed, potentially risky, and potentially rewarding as high-level physical training.

________________________________

Knowing specifically what you’re supposed to do, but guessing as to why, or how, is one of the most common- and in this case, ultra-avoidable- pitfalls in all of physical culture. If there is a valid “what”, there must be an equally valid “why”, and a sound, proven, and detailed “how”.

Our goal for you is the same one we share with all our in-house trainees: Wide-range adaptability. Physical proficiency. Mental acuity. Above-average durability. We use a specific set of movements and lifts to develop and train the patterns we use the most in life, leisure, profession, and sport.

Utilizing details of breathing, and bracing, consistent application of full range of motion, movement quality even at pace and under duress (speed is not a substitute for form…) are all things we describe as “not suggestions”.

“Functional fitness” must be learned and performed with strategy, quality, and mindfulness, or it loses its truest function, and creates incomplete fitness.
_________________________________

Once position and execution of each are practiced and in-order,
we recommend testing a 2-rep max in the following lifts:

Bench press
Press
Push press
Pendlay row
Deadlift
Back squat
Front squat
Power clean

While 1RM may show a truer number of absolute strength, the 2RM requires a different demonstration of sustainability and standardization that, for most lifts and movements, falls better in line with our overall goals and philosophy. Both are useful, however you will see our program reference 2RM far more frequently
______________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for the interest in why we do what we do, and how we do it. We hope you find value in the following explanations.

This is an evolving document, and we will do our best to make sure you have all the tools and information possible to succeed in our program. Please feel free to reach out with questions!

Mental 132: Why I avoid wearing sloganed clothing outside of the gym.

by

(A short, preferably unnecessary article by Greg Walsh)

I went to Starbucks today (got it… my fault, and I get what I get), and during the attempted assimilation I ended up having a brief but memorable conversation.

When in such settings I attempt invisibility, am cordial and specific, and also attempt to be as efficient as that sort of process allows. Their job must be extremely trying- everyone “wants” something, no one “needs” any of it, people demand as opposed to asking, and there is a level of impatience to it all that confuses me; It’s a motherfucking luxury drink, goofballs. Keep your expensive fucking pants on.

I was wearing one of Wolf Brigade’s earliest shirts, which says “Physical Culturalists” on the back.

The obviously waiting to die/ gave up a long time ago 40-something male behind me in line began a conversation with the back of my head: “Hey, what’s a physical culturalist?” Assuming he was talking to me, although no proper indication was given, I turned and responded “Well, we would define it as someone that looks at physical training and movement as more than simply lifting weights or something.”

In his defense, he did take a second to absorb what I had said, and then responded snarkily with “Oh… you mean like steroids and shit… “. I also took a second, and simply responded with “No, we mean, like, thinking and shit”.

I looked at him in a way that even to the dullest of dullards would signal the end of the current conversation or the potential for an unpleasant new one, and then turned back around.

After ordering my drink I listened to him “order” his. “I’ve got a free drink coming and I want a venti mocha frappucino with a banana, two extra shots of espresso, and caramel. The coupon doesn’t say there is any limitations on the drink”.

No, my friend. There… are no limitations… to your free drink at Starbucks.

Image stolen from Nausea

PROGRESS