Shall we play a game? Let’s. Stand up, feet shoulder-width apart, and arms by your side. Dip down a bit, jump in the air, and spin 360 degrees before landing. Hopefully you’ll stick the landing after rotating full circle. If you don’t, all the better. But remember how this feels. We’ll come back to this. For [...]
Shall we play a game?
Let’s.
Stand up, feet shoulder-width apart, and arms by your side. Dip down a bit, jump in the air, and spin 360 degrees before landing.
Hopefully you’ll stick the landing after rotating full circle. If you don’t, all the better. But remember how this feels.
We’ll come back to this. For now, let’s push forward.
Why box jumps are jokes
There’s a problem brewing. When I was a young trickster padawan, and I was introduced to strength training, I sought most of my movement answers in the barbell. I thought squatting until I cried blood was the way to somehow become a better trickster.
Looking back, especially after having “strength and conditioning” experience, I’ve come to see that most of the people in barbell land share a different view of athleticism than I do. This “strength and conditioning” world is a place where box jumps are seen as athletic. And thus, a lot of the great so-called athletic programs are a bunch of barbell exercises with the inclusion of box jumps.
Jumping on a stationary box.
Compare that to flinging your body in the air, spinning a few times, losing temporal awareness, forfeiting all faculties, and living to talk about it. (Or you can just break your foot…hey, I never said I was any good at these things.)
The sad truth is that many “strength” folk know little about movement. Anyone over 5” with legs is capable of a 20” box jump, even with only jumping 1” in the air as the height of the “box jump” is largely bent on being able to tuck your knees to your chest rapidly. Not so much jumping power in itself.
And back squats? While certainly a useful exercise, I think one-too-many people think they are the sole responsibility for athletic greatness. Back squats make movement more powerful, but they don’t do anything for learning complex-dynamic non-linear motor skills.
Even worse is the, “Do a dumbbell lunge with a side step and rotation to work in the transverse abductional supramittent plane.” This stuff makes me wonder if these people have ever really moved in their life, as I’m sure any true mover will tell you that such methods won’t do much…other than make you look like you haven’t a clue about movement.
Movement, flow, self dominance—these things aren’t learned with pre-programmed faux-athletic motor tasks. Jumping on top of a 50” box is nice (kind of, but not really), but can you jump 10”, spin full circle, and stick the landing comfortably? I’d rather see the latter than the former.
Proof squats aren’t all that athletic…and twisting your Schwartz
A perfect example as to why box jumps or back squats don’t help you learn complex tasks takes us back to our initial game. At the start of this article, you jumped and spun 360 degrees. I didn’t specify a direction, so you likely spun to the side you’re most comfortable with.
Now I want you to jump and spin 360 degrees to the opposite side.
Feels different, doesn’t it? So different, in fact, that you probably didn’t make the full rotation…and landed rather uneasily.
That’s because no amount of non-specific work will ever be specific to a complex task. Writing print won’t make you a better cursive writer.
Saying squats increase athleticism is saying that squats will help you learn how to better jump and spin 360 to your non-dominant side. This is something I’m considering permanently calling Schwartz Twisting. Don’t twist your Schwarts, kids.
Don’t mash meathead with movement. Both have their purpose, but once you start doing one for the other, problems arise.
Don’t squat to become a better athlete. Squat to make your legs stronger, and then let strong legs do what they may to your athletic skills.
These ideas proliferate from our attempts to categorize the idea of “athleticism.” I can go on a long spiel about our faulty categorical minds (and intend to in the future), but I think Lynn Swann (a great athlete that took ballet) was able to see something most everyone else can’t: movement mastery isn’t meathead mastery.
Why gymnastics is the part of the answer
It’s only a matter of time before gymnastics takes over the world. If I ever open up a gym, it would be a combination of free weights and gymnastics equipment. There’d be a plyo floor, mats, a foam pit, rings, parallel bars, uneven pars, pommel horses, squat racks, barbells, dumbbells, and oh-so much more.
Perhaps we should take a page out of Georges St-Pierre’s playbook. His training is considered “unique,” which is a problem. It should be the norm.
Not a training day goes by when I don’t do some kind of acro-gymnastics, be it handstands, kip-ups, macaccos, or whathaveyou. (I wrote about this a bit in my post about unconventional athleticism.)
If you want to train like this, there’s hope for you yet.
How to combine athletics and aesthetics
This all isn’t to say back squats are no good. I love squats. I think everyone should do them. But they should be done for the right reasons. Remember, meathead isn’t movement.
One of the more frequent questions I get is how to merge barbell training, bodyweight training, and acrobatics into a program that also plays hand to creating an “X” physique.
This combination is what I’ve been tinkering with my entire life. Ever since being glued to the TV when watching Dragon Ball Z, I wanted to be a combination of muscle and movement.
It’s taken me a while to get to where I am, largely because of this tinkering. The only reason I have a vendetta against meathead methods for movement mastery is because I’ve tried to glue the two together so many times, and each time has ended in failure.
If you’ve tried this for yourself, I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. In fact, you’ve probably done a bunch of things to combine the two without actually doing much of anything for movement. If you’re wondering whether squats or deadlifts are going to bring you success, you’ve already lost.
Alas, it’s about time that I create my ethos on combining meathead and movement methods. None of those “athletic training” shenanigans that really aren’t all that athletic. You know what I’m talking about: “Get this ripped athletic bod” garbage.
I’m talking about how to introduce acrobatics and body weight training into a routine, how movement really works, and how to continue strength training for the good of an “X” physiqued mankind. In other words, if you just want an athletic body, and not the movement skills, go home. We don’t want you here.
Basically, if you want to look and perform like Georges St-Pierre, this is for you. Outside of forming energy balls and flying, you’re basically becoming a Saiyan with this kind of training.
Until then, I ask you a question:
Is your Schwartz Twisted?
If so, I invite you to ask me anything about meathead movement, be it about specific bodyweight skills, how to get started with tricking, how to jump higher, anything you can think of.
Just drop them in the comments.
You know I always respond.