Bon Courage

If you've ever been running in France at some point someone will probably say 'Bon courage' to you. It doesn't have an exact English equivalent, but I would say it means something along the lines of be brave, stay strong, hang in there, good luck and you can do it - all rolled into one phrase.

Courage - the English word is easy to understand. Why keep running, why not stop?

Steve Prefontaine said

"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts"

Steve Prefontaine - the good don't always dies young, but sometimes that do. Plus that moustache alone should make him a hero

Ultra running is just that. The fittest and the fastest don't always finish, the ones with the most guts do.

Stories Of 'Ordinary Madness'

Every race or event has there stories. Not so much the short runs, but when you go long, over hours and days ordinary people start to do epic things. The Trans Aq this year was no different. Here are few snap shots.

A young Japanese competitor injured his knee a day or two in, not just a niggle, but a swelling and haemarthrosis. Forced to slow down to a walking pace and hobble, he kept going all the way to the finish line. Bowing his head every time someone passed him out on the trail. The cheer that went up when he crossed the line and everyone patting him on the back, showed how much everyone respected him for what he had done.

A British guy, again injuring his knee on day 2, unable to bend it, but again just kept going all the way to the finish.

Another British guy, twisted his ankle, an old injury, strapped up he kept going. Maybe the demons of abandons in the MDS and a previous Trans Aq kept him going. But he finished this one, the demons vanquished for a while.

Another British guy, went the wrong way on day 3, the long day, added approximately another 3k to the total distance for that day (took him to about 62 or 63km for that day if I remember). The race leader also went the wrong way on that day, but he abandoned after that. The fittest don't always finish, the ones who want it and have the most guts do.

(Plus there is some luck, one person bitten by an insect and having an anaphylactic reaction had to abandon, not much you can do about that).

'Conquistadors Of The Useless'

Of course, carrying on in the face of major injury seems illogical and insane to the outsider looking in. And in everyday real life if someone had a haemarthrosis or oedema and swelling or ankle sprain I would tell them to stop immediately, rest, ice, elevate, as well as taken all the usual painkillers and anti-inflammatories. In ultra runs, you only end up doing the very last of these things.

But why risk permanent injury, it doesn't make sense in the real world. In the hyper-reality of the event though, it makes perfect sense.

Even in my own case, I injured myself, blood coming out of my right heel, eventually turning into an open wound. Even now, three weeks after the event it is still healing, I tried running this morning and had to curtail it and return home. But during the event it didn't even occur to me to stop, I didn't even get medical treatment on during the event as I didn't want to get a time penalty. Again, sitting here in the middle of everyday life this doesn't make sense, but out there on the trail it made perfect sense.

Why do ordinary people keep going and push themselves? Because the demons are chasing them, the demons of possible failure, the demon memories of previous abandons, the demons of unfinished business. And these are all self imposed demons. No one back at home cares whether you finish or not, you could go back and say you had to abandon, and they would say 'Oh well, are you going to do it again then, cup of tea?'. The demons are all constructs in your own mind. They will chase you down the trail, down the fire breaks, across the black top of the fire roads in the forest, over the sand dunes all the way to final stretch on the beach. And when you see the ocean, it looks bluer than it did a few days before. You left the demons behind, don't stop, don't look back, you've out run them; for a while at least. When the state of grace fades, they'll be back and the next challenge will form in your mind.

To the outsider it can seem like you are a conquistador of the useless. No prize money, no fame, no acclaim, you could of stayed at home and been a conquisatodor of the mundane. This only seems useless if you are the type of person who is content with the comfort, who never looks to the horizon and wonders 'what if' and 'could I do that'? Bon courage to all those who think this and attempt to reach their goal in whatever their chosen field is.

All is mythic. Everyone has their own story. The reason you hang in there, and you stay strong and have courage is because ordinary life bumbles along. In the words of Neil Young

'It's better to burn out than to fade away' and 'Rust never sleeps'

These are the moments you will look back, did I do that, yes I did that. 'When I get old hope I don't sit around thinking about it, but I probably will', Glory Days indeed. Even if it leaves you with 'nothing but boring stories mister', what's the alternative, no stories at all?

Fade

These events are exercises in transformation,  internal alchemy. You are defined by the things you do. I read something by strength coach Vern Gambetta recently

'Define yourself, do not let others define you'

So to all you Trans Aq finishers, bon courage, to all of you out there defining who you want to be, bon courage, and to all of you about to push your limits in some fashion, bon courage. Keep moving forward, because moving backwards ain't no move at all.

The Trans Aq was only 3 weeks ago, but already ordinary life is over taking. It becomes harder and harder to capture the essence of what it is.To try and take an experience and verbalise it.

Michael Herr in Dispatches (page 30 for those of you following along)

'This is already a long time ago, I can remember the feelings but I can't still have them. A common prayer for the over-attached: You'll let it go sooner or later, why not do it now?'

The final word goes to Steve Prefontaine again

'You have to wonder at times what you're doing out there. Over the years, I've given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.'

Simple as that. Stay Frosty and if I see you on to road somewhere, bon courage! Yes, you are a runner, this is what you do. And as the years fly past, it will begin to seem like a series of dreams.




*Conquistadors of the Useless is the name of a book by Lionel Terray about mountaineering and stuff which I need to buy and read at some point.
And yes, this post does reference a Bruce Springsteen song as well.

Hotel Ultra Run: Some Run To Remember, Some Run To Forget

Your hand hovers over the button. You pause for a second. Then. Click. Your in, you've paid for it, you've entered an ultra run.

Why?

The first time you did it, you could rationalise it, someone asked you to do the event with them (thanks Dad!), but the second time you entered, it was your decision, no one asked you to do anything. So why?

And people ask you why, and you fumble around for an answer. If you look quickly out the corner of your eye, you can almost glimpse the answer, but then its gone.

Of course, the question wouldn't even arise if your hobby was playing Sunday football, or golf or fishing or running a 10k. But you're not. Ultra running is like mountaineering, everyone wants to know why. It seems outside the realm of everyday activity.

I can tell you up front, there is no answer. The answer is the act itself. Being in it and doing it. Living it. But the reason people sign up in the first place. Having said there is no answer, I'm going to give it a go, try to explain why people sign up in the first place. The first few explanations are quite prosaic, feel free to skip to the hurt locker moment section.

The athlete - the easy answer

This is the easiest reason. Someone is a really good athlete, maybe they run a marathon in 2.30, may be they've  run trails their whole life. Genetically gifted, they are in it to win. Though again it doesn't make sense why they've entered an event that has no cash prize, little chance of sponsorship and you can't make a living from. So even for this group the answer is not so clear cut.

Tough Of The Track Types

These guys are the seasoned runner. They've tried everything, every weekend you'll see them doing 10k and half marathons and all the big city marathons, they are most likely to be a member of a running club. They aren't necessarily the fastest, but they are dedicated. They've had enough of the carnival that is the big city marathon with tens of thousands of people crowding onto the roads, it's a logical extension of trying to run them all. They can be the most logical and prosaic of runners, its just another event to be done and overcome, like an exercise in geometry, another puzzle to be solved by training.


Interestingly this group also seems to be the ones who try an ultra run once, hate it, and never come back. They can become the 'never again types'. It could be because the training is somewhat solitary, and most clubs don't cater for it. But mostly, it seems they can't cope with the broken rhythm. Unlike, a flat road marathon, you can't switch off and get into your 'zone' and run. And there is a group of runners who hate this idea, the fact the trail makes you concentrate, the fact that some hills have to be walked. Tick the box, and do another one.


Souvenir Hunters - skip over this section to avoid getting angry

There a small group of people who do these things because it is the done thing. Something to talk about in the bar after a hard day of banking. I've heard stories of people turning up to the Marathon De Sables with no intention of doing it or even getting passed day 1, they get their photo taken at the start line and then abandon. Then during meetings they can tell clients 'oh yes, I've been to the MDS'. If I meet them, I will palm strike them or hit them with the wet kipper of reality. I hope this is a small minority, and they don't ruin it for everyone else. As they are taken up a space that a true runner could have had. Anyway, putting this group to one side, most people do it because of the hurt locker moment.

The Hurt Locker Moment



You're in the supermarket. The isles are full of stuff you don't want, you look around, everyone is on autopilot, like shopping drones, they're already dead. A small child is crying, a parent is scolding them or ignoring them and a couple is trying to have an argument without anyone hearing. Fuck, is this it, is this all life is going to be? You just had the 'hurt locker moment'. Named after the supermarket scene from the film.

Most people who enter ultra runs are not super athletes or even seasoned runners. They are the ones who came face to face with the hurt locker moment and acted upon it.

The hurt locker moment can strike at anytime during routine everyday activities. Maybe, you're sitting on the commuter train watching everyday as the newly built housing estates rush passed the window, and past the advert that says 'Feel like your wasting your life commuting' ( yes a real advert, oh, the irony, the commuters have to go past this advert everyday into London, attached to the outside of a new apartment block complex) maybe you're sitting in traffic, gridlock in the city, windscreen wipers and rain, maybe your sitting in your cubicle at work with people you have nothing in common with all around you. You get up, go to work, come home, watch TV that you have no interest in, until one day something breaks. It's the hurt locker moment.

Turn on the computer and search. Maybe it was an article you remember half reading, there's a spark of something you have to pursue. With the internet, something that was once hard to find, and diffuse and esoteric is now easy to find. These things are gaining in popularity, a reaction against the humdrum. Next thing you know, you're in the desert.

Because in modern life, there are no more frontiers, you can't head west, there is no unknown territory, you can't be an explorer anymore or go the the new world. There are no more discoveries in the most literal sense. But all these things can be experienced internally. Every individual has there own internal map, there are personal discoveries to be had, there are mental frontiers to be explored.

You want to find your limits, modern life doesn't let you, it protects you and cocoons you and wears you down in the most nefarious way. You want to turn the Blackberry off, and answer to no one. You want to simplify.

Run, Eat, Sleep, Run, Eat, Sleep repeat. Routine.

And be careful what you wish for. The trail will be break you down. And deep down you want it to. You don't tell anyone, but you want to find the limit, at what point will you break? The attrition is one way. There will be parts of you left on the trail, in the forest, in the desert that you will never get back. And you wouldn't have it any other way.

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms"

                          - Henry David Thoreau

Marathon Monks - missing the point - Siddhartha already tried this so you don't have to

If you don't know what the marathon monks of Mount Hiei do, then have a look at the video clip below. (The youtube link below this is much better and in depth, but that video can't be embedded here so you will have to click on the link to see it)



longer video on the marathon monks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S06oMxdt40A

You can take it too far. An exercise in flagellation. Some see it as some kind of atonement, they run because of something in there past to make amends, they want the pain to wash their sins away. It's an escape, like some French foreign legion moment, they want to forget. This is a flawed reason, in the words of Tony Soprano "There is no geographical solution to an emotional problem".

Or they think there will be some kind of spiritual awakening. If you watched the marathon monk videos above, you know the crazy things they do. 80km a day, every day for a 1000 days, wearing a pair of straw sandals, a crazy hat (only a matter of time before Raidlight make a version of this hat) and a lantern. In this Tendai sect of Buddhism, if the monk fails, he is meant to kill himself (it's a Japanese samurai culture thing). If he makes it through all this, he then gets to sit down for 9 days without food, water or sleep. I believe, it used to be longer, but too many of them died! Now with no disrespect to the monks they may have missed the point, this path does not guarantee any satori or break through. Siddhartha (Gautama Buddha, the Buddha, Shakyamuni Buddha - all the same person) already tried all this ascetic stuff on his road to enlightenment so you don't have to. He hung out with all the crazy ascetics, who sat in the middle of fires, and then starved themselves to the edge of death to look for meaning; and he realised it was a waste of time. He then pursued the middle way, of meditation.

Don't go looking for answers on the trail. People sometimes ask if you had any type of break through or spiritual experience on these type of extreme events, and the answer is no. If you switch off, or zone out, you will step on a pine cone, or fall down a hole or go the wrong way. So, in the way people ask you the answer is no. But in the purest Zen sense the answer is yes. Because, when you run, you are in the present moment, you must concentrate when trail running or you will fall over, there is no switching off. When you eat, just eat, when you wash up, just wash up, when you run, just run. Like a moving koan. And then the pain will kick in, you drop you sachet of energy drink and you're wondering where the aid station is; as it should be, the everyday concerns of making it through.

Average Joe

"because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"

                                                  - Jack Kerouac


Most people who enter ultra runs are 'normal', not superhuman, but there not average, because who wants to be average. In the marathon monk clip, one of the monks says

"When I was a salary-man, my life was passive"

This makes sense to me. Everyday life can seem disempowering, who's in control? Some boss you have no respect for? Ultra running is a chance to be active, to take responsibility, to do it on your own terms. To take a lead role in your own journey, because ultimately only you can wake up and make that decision, and do the training, and pack the rucksack and run the distance.

And on the trail, in the camp, you will meet like minded people, and the camaraderie, and living outside, stripping life down to the basics will connect you. You will never see most of them again, but you will remember them. Unspoken.

Because, whats the alternative, take up Sunday football or fishing, or sit at home watching formula one and decay? But everyone else does that, and you don't want to be like everyone else. Maybe it is an ego thing, but you want to be different and live life on the edges.

There is a moment just after you finish the race and just before the crashing come down of 'what do i do now?'. In between these two moments, there is a space, and in this space you feel invincible. And it may only last a millisecond, but for that moment you are bullet proof, anything is possible. And you might be walking down the high street, or you might be sitting in your car, or you might be at work, and that feeling will flash over you; and you'll smile to yourself, for a second you're invincible again, alive again; and average people are walking by and they will never understand. And that's okay, it doesn't make them bad people. And over time that feeling will happen less and less, and it will fade, and you'll know, you have to go back...

"And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage" - Pink Floyd.

 Yes, you need to go and listen to Pink Floyd 'Wish You Were Here' right now!


There is no other life 

Everyone has their own personal reasons for ultra running or taking part in any extreme event. Possibly, none of the above reasons apply to you. When someone asks you why do it, you might mutter something about the challenge and fitness. The real answer though is always more nebulous and hard to grasp, and you might not even be able to explain it to yourself. And there is no need to justify it to anyone else. All you need to know is this is what you do, this is how you define yourself. This is who you are.

WHY LOG TRUCK DRIVERS RISE
EARLIER THAN STUDENTS OF ZEN

In the high seat, before dawn dark,
Polished hubs gleam
And the shiny diesel stack
Warms and flutters
Up the Tyler Road grade
To the logging in Poorman creek.
Thirty miles of dust.

There is no other life.

-Gary Snyder 'Turtle Island'

Gary Snyder wrote this about loggers in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. I think you can apply it to the trail or running. Thirty miles of dust, there is no other life, what else are you going to do?

Once Upon A Time In Aquitaine. (The Greatest Ultra Run You've Never Heard Of Is Over)

The 7th Edition of La Trans Aq is over. And possibly this event will never run again, which will be a loss to the world of ultra running and multi stage events; as quite simply this is one of the most special races there is. I've been luckily enough to take part in and complete two Trans Aqs (that's 2 stars next to my name), some people have done all seven.

In some ways I don't want to tell you about this race, I want to keep it a secret. I don't want it to turn into the Marathon De Sables (MDS), where there's a two year waiting list and it cost several thousand dollars. But that's just selfishness on my part, maybe this race will never run again so all of this is a moot point. So I might as well let you know the secret.

But what is the trans aq, why is it so special, and where is it and how did it come about. To answer this I must start at the beginning.

Aquitaine

Aquitaine is in France

Aquitaine is in the Southwest corner of France, think Bordeaux, and that's where its at. The terrain is pine forests, beaches ocean, lakes and sand; and being in southwest France it can get warm.


What Is The Trans Aq

It is a 6 stage multi endurance event, about 220km in distance. There is one long stage on day 3, it was 58.4k this year, a night stage on day 4 when you run up and along the Dune Du Pyla (biggest dune in Europe) and then into the forest with just a head torch for company. The other stages all take place in the pine forest mostly, with some running on the beach and around the edge of lakes.

You carry your own food, with a drop bag of 3 kg at the end of the third stage which can contain whatever you want, but sensibly should contain your food for the next 3 days

But these are just the facts, this is not the story...

Once Upon A Time There Was A Runner Called Gerard

G�rard Caup�ne is the runners runner. To say he's been there and done that is an understatement. His achievements include 240 km solo without any assistance in the Sahara desert between Araouane and Timbuktu in 2003. 203 km in 24 Hours in 2002. 31st place at the "Marathon des Sables" in 1998. 100 km PB 8h53 at 24 years old.




With a mixture of Zen mind and French flair, almost mythical stories of him running on sand with trainers with specific holes cut in them to let the sand drain out, and of course, no socks.

Maybe, he saw the MDS and knew he could do a similar race in his region of Aquitaine, and try to avoid all the things about the MDS that he didn't like. Who knows.

He made his money from selling scalextric in France (strange but true), and had organised large scalextric racing events, world championships with specially constructed tracks. Combining his organising skill and knowledge of ultra running the Trans Aq was born.

He funded it himself with his own money. It wasn't about making money, he'd break even at best. The event is cheap in comparison to the MDS, racing the planet and even a 1 day ironman events. It was about the spirit of Raid running and the trail.

I don't know anything about organising races, but I think a multistage race must but the hardest type of race to organise, compared to say a 24 hour race where you run in a circle of even a long 100km run, where you only have to deal with marking out one course for one day. A 6 day run with all the trail markings, moving of camps, gaining permissions from various people to run across their land, medical support and aid stations and a million things I haven't even thought of must be a logistical nightmare.

But he did it, and people turned up to run for 7 years.


The Gestalt Race. The event that is greater than the sum of its parts.

So you're running in the forest in Franc. And in peoples mind this seems easy, but its not. As Gerard says, it doesn't have the romance of running in the desert. However, the challenge is the same, it is as tough in its own way because it sneaks up on you and leaves you shell shocked because you wasn't expecting it.

"The MDS has one day of sand dunes, trans aq every day is sand, it's like someone dropped a pine forest on top of a beach." - Welsh Arthur*, no.111, Team Alf Tupper

And the stages are designed to push you. The design is psychologically clever, Gerard will see how far he can take you, distance is almost irrelevant. You didn't come to the trans aq to run on cycle paths and roads did you? Just when you think your safe, you'll take a right turn and be on the dreaded rollercoasters of sand, up and down, up and down; but you wouldn't have it any other way. You'll learn a new language of classification for paths and from S0 (no sand) to S5 (soft sand everywhere), you'll spend 6 days looking at road books looking at S2, S3, oh no S2 has become S5 because of the dry spring.

Race briefing: No, the guys at the back haven't been doing some painting and decorating

But its not just the terrain, 'The map is not the ground.'


Corkscrews & Black Fly

The two volunteers have been standing in the forest for three hours being attacked by insects. The head torches bounce towards them like slow moving tracer. They get the bottles of water ready, offer to top your water holders ups, they notice that your English, shout go, go, go and your away.

The volunteers hold this race together. They volunteer their time and holidays to be part of this race. Always positive, always there for you, many have done this race and others like it, they know how you feel. Many have volunteered for all seven editions of this race, a honorary cork screw for every edition on their name badge. They set up camp, have the aid station ready, provide medical support, and in the case of the night stage, can end up on the go and awake for well over 24 hours.

There are only 10 or 11 English people on this race, and to my shame I don't speak French. However, you never feel excluded. Of course, some of the volunteers can speak fluent English as wells as German and many other languages. Even, when their is a language barrier, the communication of concern and support is obvious.

In everyday life you are faced with negative people on a daily basis. On this race though, everyone is positive, there is a 'you can do it' attitude from all the volunteers and participants. You have to take responsibility for yourself, this is France, health and safety culture hasn't taken over (imagine a ride on a Zodiac boat in England without a safety briefing,  no signing of a waiver and no one wearing a life jacket, in France your an adult - deal with it!). But the organisation of the race is spot on, with aid stations, control points, camp set up and start times.

One thing you can say about the French, they always look stylish. And Raidlight has no need to sponsor this race because everyone is using their gear anyway

If you did it, you did it

The first person in and the last person in get the same t-shirt, the same medal. If you did the distance, you did the distance, you finished it. Maybe you had your personal battle, a twisted ankle, a swollen knee, maybe you fell in a swamp. If you made it though, you know how that feels. You will get cheered across the line, bravo, you made it. In the banquet at the end, everyone goes up on stage and gets their t-shirt, medal, bottle of wine & resin pot (found scattered through the forest, used to collect resin from the trees a long time ago). Last person goes up on stage first. No cash prize. The spirit of raid running is here.

(Why you did it and how you did it are subjects for another article to follow soon!)

�Always watch where you are going. Otherwise, you may step on a piece of the Forest that was left out by mistake.�  - Winnie the Pooh

Breathing Out

And it will come to you in flashes and fragments like a dream you once had. The beach, the sand, running in the forest alone at night, blood, blisters, the guy who paced you up the beach, the wild boar crossing your path, Run Like Hell playing on a loop in your head, a glow-stick, in a zodiac boat crossing the bay; and then your back in the room.

Most of the wounds will heal. Right now, my right achilles is healing nicely, I change the dressing on a daily basis, and my left foot doesn't feel broken anymore! You're left with scars and memories.

Standing in a t-shirt that says 'finisher', stand back, the forest is darkening in the background as the sun falls. There is wine in your hand, and the ocean crashes but your can't see it from here, an Um Pa Pa band is playing. Remember the moment. Most of these people you will never see again. In the marquee laughter and conversation. Stand back and soak it in. It's already history.

And a long time from now, in conversation someone will ask and you will say 'I went to Bordeaux once, I went to Aquitaine once'.
'What were you doing there?'
'I was running in the Trans Aq'
'What was that like?'

There is no answer. Once I went to Aquitaine and ran with 140 other people. And if you weren't there I can't explain it. Once I was a runner.

Steve Collins** Team Alf Tupper

"There are other Annapurnas in the lives of men."[and women]

                                        -Maurice Herzog (first person to climb a 8000m peak - Annapurna)

Trans Aq J - 10

For the past month I haven't updated this blog as I've been busy running, training and preparing for the the trans aq 6 day ultra run in the Aquataine region of France.

The trans aq ultra run is just over a week away. Me and about 140 other people will be taking part. At this stage you can't get any fitter. All you can do is try and stay injury free and prepare yourself mentally.

Taken from the transaq.fr website:

 "On Psychological Preparation

This is word for word what Fabien Hobl�a says (French 24 hour racer) in the Ultrafondus magazine:

'without forcing things, I visualise the race. I live it by anticipation, in a dream, I make it something positive and something that I really want to do and do well. I build myself a positive impatience, integrating an acceptance that there may be some difficult conditions (note that I don't say "bad conditions") during the week end's race, especially as the weather forecast... etc.'

Everything's been said!"

It's not all sand, honest! It's forest and trail and beach and more

50 Rep Squats - They'll Make You A Believer! Endurance Athletes You Need To Do These Now

Recently I have been following Dan John's Mass Made Simple Program, available here.

Not so much to build mass but to maintain mass and strength while I up my running in preparation for an ultra run. The mass made simple program basically covers all your bases - upper body, lower body, strength, complexes and endurance reps - all in one workout.

The workout normally finishes with some high rep back squats with a barbell. This is after you've done all your upper body strength work and complexes.

I haven't tried high rep squats for a long time, not since I did the super squats 20 rep squats program, rest pause reps,  also favoured by DC Training, where you do (and I did) 20 reps with a 10 rep max weight, with some heavy breathing in-between every few reps after number 10.

Second most popular squat picture on the Internet

The squats can be in the 25-30 rep range, and today I did a set in the 50 rep range. That's right 50 reps in one go, after a couple of warm up sets.

This is the only weight training that comes close to the feeling you get running up a long hill on trail with a rucksack on, a hill that takes at least 45-60 seconds, and sometimes takes 5-10 minutes.

The high rep squats make you push into that same zone. Your legs are screaming, you are breathing hard, trying to recover, keep form and get some oxygen in. You fight through the fatigue and keep going. It has the same mental feeling as endurance hill running, where you have to push through the pain and your body's saying 'stop you idiot, just stop and sit down'.

Although the research for strength training for endurance athletes tends to focus on the lower rep ranges, less than 5, and Olympic lifts, and plyometrics, and also the standard 8-12 reps; I can't helps but feel that these high rep squats have the same mental training effect and the same fatigue effect. There must be some carry over in my opinion, even if its 'just' mental toughness.

Yes, low rep squats are still valid for all the usual reasons we should strength train. However, I would say these high reps must have some glycogen depletion effect, and possibly localised capillarization and increase mitochondria. And even if none of this is true, you should still do them, as nothing else quite gives you that ultrarun feeling of an elephant standing on your chest while your legs are both painful and numb at the same time.

Alli McKee squatting should make you a believer ladies

So give it a go, finish your workout with 2 x 25 reps of squats, and build from there, maybe 2 x 30, and then 1 x50. Start with just the Olympic bar, 20kg, or light kettlebell goblet squat., and increase the weight from there.

Also, for all you trainers and coaches out there. High reps squats are something you can get your female clients to do. If you ever tried to get a woman to do a set of squats that are at her 5 rep max, only to find that in reality they could 10 reps with that exact same weight, this is the method for you. Using just the bar means some women trainees will be lulled into a false sense of security, happily thinking they are in their 'toning range', then make them do 30-50 reps, and they'll realise that light weights with proper depth squats (parallel or below) are hard - psychologically and physically. Their legs will be somewhere between painful and numb, and their heart rate will be way beyond the normal 'I'm watching the cardio theatre range'. Once you get them hooked on squatting, you can increase the weight and lower the rep range.

Third most popular squat picture on the Internet: Pauline Nordin

Try it. High rep squats will make you a believer. And in my opinion, carry over into endurance training as well.

Club Swinging Essentials DVD - A Review

This is a review of the Club Swinging Essentials DVD featuring Brett Jones, Gray Cook and Dr Ed Thomas. I purchased this DVD from dragondoor.com

It looks like this

Cost and what you get for your money

The DVD costs $79.00. International delivery was not cheap and cost another $20 to ship to the UK. On the plus side Fed Ex delivered the DVD a mere 4 days after it was shipped from Dallas Texas, which is quick, on the minus side British customs charged me VAT on top! Which means delivery and VAT cost me almost as much as the product itself.


The DVD is approximately 1 hour and 27 minutes long and also comes with a 72 page colour spiral bound manual. The manual is particularly useful when you are teaching yourself the moves without the DVD in front of you, at the gym or in the garden. The manual covers many of the discussion points from the DVD, as well as photos of the movements, there are also some extra points about  functional movement screening and  historical material about clubs in the manual.

A small point, the word movment (sic) is spelt wrong on the front of the DVD cover, some proof reading may have helped here.


Content in brief

The DVD starts with an introduction discussion with Gray Cook, Brett Jones and the humble Indian Club Master Ed Thomas. It then moves on to Brett Jones discussing safety and grip, then the five movements are explained and demonstrated by Ed Thomas standing and then Gray Cook in tall kneeling and open half kneeling postures. After these five essential moves, three more advanced moves are demonstrated by Ed Thomas. We then move onto a demonstration of club swing by Ed Thomas and finally a discussion about the history of clubs, fitness and the philosophy of fitness.

You must grow a moustache before you start swinging clubs

Paradigm Shift

In the introductory section Gray Cook explains that he sees Indian Clubs as the upper body equivalent of the jump rope, expanding on his idea of self limiting exercise. Both skipping and club swinging demand technical proficiency, unlike running for example, which is easy to do badly with poor posture.

Ed Thomas then explains his background and where he learnt Indian Clubs, after his explanation of clubs as both a healing and martial tool, his time spent in Burma and elsewhere learning the clubs, and his self effacing attitude you are in no doubt that Dr Thomas is the real deal.

The idea of neural training is introduced and then Ed lists the three concepts that are needed to move well

1. Joint Integrity
2. Mobility
3. Efficiency

Dr Thomas them covers some more profound ground. Making the point that every time you do a movement you do it differently, you are a different person and

"every breath you take, you're a different person"

He then covers the concept of rational training, every movement you do either makes you better or worse off.

The dynamic between Gray Cook and Brett Jones is great, as it is on all the DVDs they have done together that I've seen, and Dr Thomas complements this nicely. At this point, you know you are getting much more than a list of Indian Club exercises or a fitness DVD. The fundamentals of exercise are being addressed.

It feels like you are watching the development of a paradigm shift in exercise, away from the mindless treadmill running and 'we must smash our clients into pieces because that's what they expect' attitude towards what Dr Thomas calls 'Mindful Movement'.

Having the brain and the body in the same place at the same time. This is very much in the martial arts tradition, as well as Yoga and Tai Chi Chuan schools.

It gets better, with Dr Thomas explaining that people need to learn to move, when they come to the gym we need to teach them something. People need to

"go to the gymnasium to learn to workout"

With this point I think he hits the nail on the head, this is something I've been trying to evolve towards in the way I coach people.

 Ed Thomas cover his training principles of progression, variety and precision.

Gray Cook adds that much of the exercise variety we have is for entertainment purposes, not for the purpose of exploring how our bodies can move and that the

"solution is not moving more, it's moving well."

For me, this introductory section alone is worth watching over and over again. I don't know if they script this stuff before hand, but the discussion and banter looks natural and spontaneous.

Safety section

Brett Jones then covers safety, just in case you don't know that swinging a club in you house might result in you breaking some stuff. He then goes through the grip, wrist position, elbow and neutral pelvis. This attention to the precision of movement wasn't covered on the power club course I recently attended (see review here).

The five movements

In the next section the five movements are covered, helpfully numbered 1,2,3,4,5. The complexity builds with each new movement.

First Dr Thomas demonstrates the movements in the classic standing posture. A posture I've seen used for classic military pressing and in the original Pilates exercises. Then Gray Cook demonstrates them in tall kneeling and open half kneeling.

Gray points out that these kneeling postures allow for a more reflexive stability, they mimic the developmental sequence (see Pavel Kolar & Vladimir Janda) and help to break bad patterns. They also allow the trainer to see mistakes more easily, as the lower body is taken out of the equation.

The movements are done with what Brett Jones describes as 'Tai Chi slowness' to begin with, and Ed Thomas breaks down the movements as well. Again the details matter. Dr Thomas then comes out with another gold nugget quote

"Do it well before you do it fast."

 There are five movements in total, done in three positions, so that's 15 movements, not counting having to do some with both arms

Gray Cook takes a back seat in this section as he demonstrates the kneeling moves and Brett Jones coaches and talks.

These movements are a lot more complex to learn that the powerclub moves. I personally wouldn't be confident to coach these moves without a lot more practice, as in hours and a few thousand reps! Whereas, powerclubs does have some complex moves, it also has some simple moves that can be coached immediately.

Advanced moves

After the five essential moves, three advanced moves are covered 1) Side stepping lunge 2) Deep knee bend and 3) Wrist Pattern.

It'll be a while before you attempt these moves, but it's worth watching this section for the discussion of the deep knee bend, as Gray Cook says

"people can't squat because they don't squat."

The presenters point out that these are the essential moves, there are an infinite number of patterns after this.

Bonus section - return to the source

Next is a section showing Ed Thomas swinging the clubs, so you can see what can be done. Then there is a discussion between Ed, Gray and Brett.

This is a really interesting section, Ed talks more about the history of clubs, the Turner gymnasiums that originated in Germany, the martial and restorative aspects of clubs and how they can be a weapon or healing device. Ed Thomas then covers off the ground training, and how this is essential as gravity is constantly moulding the human body, so we need to adopt uncommon postures (more on this can be found on the internet). But to give you an idea, we all used to climb ropes in school, I remember there being a ropes in the school gymnasium, but gradually they fell out of favour, no one knew how to teach it properly anymore, safety became an issue and they stopped being used.

One good reason to start rope climbing again!

The point about going to the gym to learn and not workout is re-iterated, you will get a workout in the process. This is a fundamental point that is worth repeating.

Gray Cook then attacks the bootcamp mentality, where everything has to be a full on balls to the wall (my words not his) workout, which is okay if you are 20 and fit but not if your 30 or 40 and overweight and sedentary. You should come out of your workout feeling better than when you started, and then occasionally you test your limits.

The clubs used in the video are only 1 pound (approx 0.5kg), Dr Thomas states that boxers always used lighter clubs, and wrestlers used heavier ones, this is situational correctness, does the club remain therapeutic and restorative, no one begins with a heavier club. Unlike Power clubs, where you start with a minimum of 2.5kg and are using weights in the 4-8kg range quite quickly. Ed Thomas finishes by demonstrating with some 8 pound clubs, which are considered light in the world of power clubs, but the movements are different.


Philosophy

Some fundamental questions are asked by Dr Thomas.
Why do we go to the gym?
What is the purpose?

These questions have got me thinking.

And Gray Cook inadvertently quotes British comedian Harry Hill 'You gotta have a system'! Yes you have.

Conclusion

As you can see from this review, the discussion of fitness, the philosophy and its antecedents interested me as much as the Indian club techniques.

I can recommend this DVD, though the best place to start with Gray Cook and Brett Jones would be Secrets Of The Shoulder or Secrets Of The Hip and Knee. I intend watching Kalos Sthenos next.

There is a definite difference between power clubs and the Indian clubs presented in this DVD. Ideally take the middle way, you can do both. The therapeutic Indian clubs and the more strength basic powerclubs.

If you are doing this at home, I would buy the Indian club DVD . If you are going to be personal training clients then do the powerclub course. I'm somewhat sad to say that the variety of power clubs holds more of an attraction for the average client and putting the time and effort in on a five key moves may be beyond most clients, and the power clubs have some technically easier moves. But you don't have to be that guy or gal! You can teach your clients and they can get a workout as part of the process.

Personally I'm going to use the lighter Indian clubs, and the power clubs, and kettlebells, and Olympic bars, and dumbbells, and bands, and run etc etc etc....................

A Review Of The Premier Training Power Club Course

This a review of the one day power club course that Premier Global (Premier Training International) offer here in the UK. I took part in this course a couple of weeks ago.

I was looking for a course to learn more about club training (Indian clubs, power clubs etc), this course was the only one I could find in the UK. It is a one day course, that is REPs accredited with 4 CPD points (for what it's worth, the pointlessness of REPs points is a discussion for another day).

A picture of some power clubs aka clubbells - just in case you were wondering what they look like

Cost

The course costs �129, for this you get a one day workshop and an e-manual sent to you.

The manual covers all the major exercises, brief history of club training, the various grips and positions, and a table given suggested club weights for men and women of different strength levels. The manual is 65 pages long, I would recommend printing it out if you have access to a printer, as it's easier to read and flick back and forward with a printed version.

Venue

The course I did was held at Premiers venue in North London. Having a dedicated venue makes a difference. So many courses I've attended are held at health clubs, where you end up having to wait for the studio to be free, or sitting in a store cupboard because someone forgot to book the room out. The Premier training venue has dedicated classrooms with projectors and PowerPoint, as well as a gym and studio space. This gives it a more professional feel than some other training providers.

Content

The course was presented by a guy who looked like Rudy Reyes from Generation Kill. It also turned out that he was a part time fitness model, who had recently taken part in a feature on power clubs in Mens Fitness. This immediately made all the women on the course start swooning and made me want to hit him with a power club. But just like Rudy Reyes he was a nice guy, so it was difficult to hate him!

Rudy Reyes from Generation Kill - as far as I am aware he doesn't teach power clubs

An aside

There were only a small number of people on the course I took part in. The course teacher recognised one of the women as having done the premier personal training diploma a couple of years before, and said it was good to see that someone was still working in the industry. This is a sad indictment on our industry, that someone who runs fitness courses' is surprised to find someone still  working in the industry a few years later.


Back to the course

We started with a brief history of club training and looked at some videos of club training like the one below featuring the premier trainer Ben McDonald who developed their power club course. But as the Rudy Reyes lookalike pointed out, we weren't here for a history lesson but to learn some power club exercises!



In the studio, we covered all the power club exercises in the manual and more. Rudy Reyes doppelganger was a good easy going teacher with two caveats.

I would like to have seen some more coaching on our technique. Seeing as there were only five of us present, there could been a lot more coaching, and he really could have been a stickler for precision and hand and elbow position. Since attending the course I have watched Indian Club Essentials with Gray Cook, Brett Jones and Ed Thomas (which I will review in a few days time) and they covered some key points on hand and wrist position which didn't happen on the power club course. Heavy power clubs and Indian clubs are used in slightly different ways, but the wrist and hand position is crucial to both.

There is  always a danger with one day workshops, that anyone can do them, and you can't fail them. So you could have the worst technique in the world, and no one is going to fail you, a few days later you can be out there teaching power clubs to people even if you can't do it yourself. Of course, I'm not saying I'm perfect and I would have liked a bit more coaching on my technique, but my background with kettlebells and Olympic lifting gives me some ideas of how to move.

We covered more exercises than were in the manual, which in some ways is a good thing, as it gives a whole host of movements to go away with. The disadvantage of this is we didn't really spend too long on any one movement. Possibly doing less and trying to perfect fewer moves would have been more advantageous. This is a trade off, everyone want variety for their clients, but too much, and the movements become confused and merge. Quality movement and doing less until these are perfected is the direction I'm going in, the details matter with these type of dynamic circular movements.

Another aside

Lunch break, one of the women in the course was standing outside smoking a cigarette, classic fitness industry.

Back to the course

We covered quite a few hybrid movements. Though the instructor said we were doing complexes, I would disagree and say if one rep flows into the rep of the next movement you are doing a hybrid, whereas with a complex you would do all the reps of one exercise before starting the next exercise. For example, if you do a front squat straight into a torch press, straight into a flag press then you are doing a hybrid, if you did 5 front squats followed by 5 torch presses then you did a complex. This a minor point, and I don't want to get hung up on definitions, and it didn't spoil my enjoyment of the course. And the hybrids/ complexes we did were mostly good.

To his credit the instructor stated that power clubs were an adjunct to other training, you still need to do your squats, deadlifts and strength training. Also, in a classic moment one of the participants asked the Rudy Reyes lookalike instructor what he thought of the ViPR, he replied 'I think it's a piece of plastic with two handles in it!', which echoes my own views to be found here.

We finished  two hours early, maybe because there were so few of us. However, as I had paid �129, a bit more content could have been put in. Possibly, us having to design a power club circuit and be observed coaching the other participants of the course.

Do I need to go on the course or could I teach myself power clubs from the internet?

Most of the information covered is available on the internet. The Mens Fitness article that our instructor took part in, covers many of the exercises. And the guy who developed the course appears in a whole series of youtube videos demonstrating many of the exercises. So yes, you could teach yourself.

However, there is something different about having someone demonstrate the exercises for you and talk you through them. I think this can help you get a better feel for some of the movements. Having an instructor breaking down the moves and seeing them from different angles does help. Its always good to see how other people coach and teach, and interesting to see other people who work in the industry.This can either make you feel good about yourself or despair for the future of mankind.

If you don't work in the fitness industry and you don't need a certificate to say you're competent to teach other people then you could teach yourself.

Nice touch

The clubs we used on the course were the clubbells made by Wolverson and developed in conjunction with premier. Doing the course entitles you to a 15% discount on any order of these clubbells. I purchased a pair of 2.5kg, 4.5kg and 6kg, and so far have been impressed with their quality.

Final thoughts

I enjoyed the course. �129 for a day course is a reasonable price, there was enough content to justify this. An actual printed manual would have been better than an electronic one, and a bit more coaching of our technique would have added to the content. If you want to learn power clubs to teach the public this course is a good starting point.

Since taking part in the course I have been using my power clubs personally and with a couple of clients. And the exercises I learned on the course are great for the forearms, grip strength, shoulder mobility and strength; and the circular movements feel natural and a good departure from linear training.

Look out for my review of Indian Club Swinging Essentials DVD in the next few days. Which resource will come out as the winner, the power club course or the Indian club DVD?

In the mean time stay frosty!