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David Goggins of Strength Training

Wolv3rus

Level 3 Valued Member
So lately I went down the rabbit hole of David Goggins again, I'm sure he doesn't need an introduction on here.
I'm especially impressed by his seemingly never ending workouts:
Running at least 7 miles (11.2km) every single day, 4x per week calisthenics + weights, daily 2 hours of stretching ...
It reminded me of Jocko Willinks similar workout routine (cycling push, pull, hinge and squat in the morning and BJJ/surfing in the evening, every single day.)
Both famously only RARELY take rest days, Goggins probably never.

I'm currently on @Tim Almond 's double kettlebell C&P plan and really enjoying it and 1-2x per week BJJ, but after fixing my diet recently and adding some supplements, I have more energy than ever before and don't know where to put it.
I'd like to go to the gym more and work on hypertrophy (mainly legs and abs) but don't really know how to program that, so it doesn't interfere with my other training.

What are some ways you could integrate a similar mindset/work ethic?
 
I think the takeaway from folks like Goggins is that you can train despite fatigue, injury, wear and tear, etc. If you’ve followed Goggins at all, or read either of his books (I’ve only read the first), you will know that he trains despite feeling beat up, tired and sore.

He (and jocko, I would guess) trains to endure and be tough in times of stress. It’s a totally different thing than training for performance. It’s training to perform through discomfort.

Will your body “adapt” to that? In some regard maybe. Is it the best thing for “gains?” That’s debatable. I like Goggins for certain reasons, but few would say his approach is best for making training gains.
 
My jiu jitsu coach told me quite a few years back that we never teach someone to be tough. In wrestling practices you will never hear a coach tell the team to be tough. This is because just being on the mat will make you tough. Showing up to train and getting smashed makes you tough. If you look at higher level competitors they are always tough. He told me every year he would go to Brazil when the world championships were in Brazil that this guy who was a world champion was always his rival in training. He said he was so confused about the way he trained because he rarely went for submissions in training and didn't seem to train that hard. But at the end of the camp he was ready to lay it all on the mat for the competition. The take away is, don't leave all your energy in the gym, save that and your body for when it will really matter to have a body that is not too beat down and tired. Just my humble opinion.
 
I don’t particularly like Goggins. Work ethic sure, but I question the training effectiveness. Most of his workouts seem to just be gut check after gut check after gut check, without actually building anything (or building little but more as a byproduct).

Learn … I guess do a gut check every now and then and if you’re dedicated motivated and driven by demons you can probably do more than what most people say.
 
As much as I'd love to train daily, I truly appreciate rest. I've gone through periods of doing 'too much', thinking that more was better. My ego has taken many hits, usually resulting in injuries. Love Goggins content, but that type of training would not work well for me. I don't need daily gut checks.

Now, daily movement yes. Nothing like going on a long, relaxing walk on a rest day!
 
John K said:
I don’t particularly like Goggins. Work ethic sure, but I question the training effectiveness. Most of his workouts seem to just be gut check after gut check after gut check, without actually building anything (or building little but more as a byproduct).

Learn … I guess do a gut check every now and then and if you’re dedicated motivated and driven by demons you can probably do more than what most people say.
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I’m kinda in the same boat. I find him inspiring in many ways, but I’m not that guy, and I don’t want to be that guy.
 
I used to follow David Goggins and have read his book. He seems to have inspired a lot of content on social media where people are out running surfing a runners high whilst delivering inspirational messages. The problem seems to be when they get injured. Everyone of them seem to find it difficult to “stay hard” when they are laid up with injuries.
For a young person looking to develop their understanding of Strength and Conditioning I would much sooner push them towards Pavel/DanJ than David Goggins.. just my opinion.
 
Don Fairbanks said:
A few thoughts on overtraining I tend to agree with. Warning, several F-bombs, time-stamped. Go Goggins. Carry the Boats. Nobody Cares.

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We like to say "But who's gonna carry the boats?!" as a joke. Especially since we don't have any boats ... I tried saying "but who's gonna carry the helicopter?!" as encouragement to stay late and work and .... it didn't work.

I don't particularly agree with that guy's comments on overtraining. Overtraining isn't something the sedentary masses have to worry about because they're not training. But this is where I'd highlight the difference between training and working out - if the goal is improvement, just "doing more" or getting hot and sweaty may or may not be right.

Which leads into his "rest as little as possible" bit. If you are doing that and your lungs become the limiting factor ... Well maybe you need to be in "better shape," but what if you were trying to get stronger? Or bigger? If the goal is hot-sweaty-short then resting as little as possible is great. If you quit your squat set because you couldn't breath - I mean, cool, maybe that was the goal, but if the goal was getting stronger or bigger than you totally missed the mark. If you couldn't breath because high reps ... or if you couldn't breath cause you were doing a superset ... doesn't matter.

Maybe you need to develop that "specific conditioning" so you can do sets of 8 or 10 or whatever without being totally gassed so that you CAN use that rep range and that movement for your training, but then that block's goal is actually to on-ramp you to get you ready for training.

I think Joe De Franco actually just talked about this on a podcast. Oh hey it was the same podcast he talked about David Goggins. Funny coinky dink.

www.defrancostraining.com

How Muscle Mass Affects Longevity, Pro Tips for Programming Supersets & More! - Official Website of Joe DeFranco & DeFranco’s Gym!

SHOW NOTES & TIMESTAMPS 1:30 – Joe introduces today’s sponsor – Manukora Honey 7:00 – Topic #1: Joe’s thoughts on David Goggins training Tony Ferguson for his upcoming UFC fight 23:05 – Topic #2: How Muscle Mass Affects Longevity [Why do so many heavily-muscled people die young?] 52:30 – Topic...
www.defrancostraining.com www.defrancostraining.com
 
Wolv3rus said:
after fixing my diet recently and adding some supplements, I have more energy than ever before and don't know where to put it.
Click to expand...
Do something fun and recreational! Play with your kids. Take an easy bike ride or hike. Help someone do a physical task.

Wolv3rus said:
I'm currently on @Tim Almond 's double kettlebell C&P plan and really enjoying it and 1-2x per week BJJ,
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You're training already. Let these drive your physical adaptations and progress. Further energy expenditure doesn't need to be training.

Think of a work analogy. If you have a full time job, and you're making enough money, but you still feel capable of doing more -- do you get a second job? Hopefully not. You use that time and energy towards things that do you good in different ways.

Diversify.
 
As per...

John K said:
I don't particularly agree with that guy's comments on overtraining. Overtraining isn't something the sedentary masses have to worry about because they're not training. But this is where I'd highlight the difference between training and working out
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The Sedentary Masses

The majority of these individual rarely exercise, rarely maintain a long term exercise program and definitely are not OverTraining.

With that said, OverTraining does exhist and occur. That usually occurs with overly ambitions individual who push training intensity too long in the believe that working harder and longer is better.

With that said, let's break down the sequence.

OverReaching

This the mild form of OverTraining. This is where progress stalls or stops.

OverReaching can be an effective method of breaking through plateaus. The stress place on the muscles, body and mind provide a the stimulus or ensuring gains.

However, that only occurs once OverReading is followed by a Recovery Period via...

Periodization Training

Periodization Training break training down into a certain number of weeks.

The number or week is determined by the lifter

Training Age

Training Age is the amount of time and individual has been training, not their chronoligical age.

Novice Lifters can utilize long training cycles and make progress because they adpat slowly.

Advance L:ifter have shorter training cycles because they adapt quickly.

Intermediates Lifters are in between.

Progressive Training

Periodization Training Period is reliant of progressively increasing the load and/or intensity over a specific number of weeks.

In the final week of training, the training load and/or intensity is pushed to the limit or near it. That produces OverReaching.

Once that occurs an new, easier Periodizatin Training Plan is begun.

This prompts...

Active Recovery

Active Recovery with a light, easier load with the initial start of a new training cycle elicit faster recovery.

OverTraining

OverTraining occurs when an indivdual continues to train once in the OverReaching Stage; which is counter productive.

Wound Healing

This term is used in medicine. It applies to training, as well.

Would Healing means the greater the damage, the longer the Recovery Period requied to get back to normal. This is OverTraining.

The less damage that occurs, the quicker the Recovery Period., This is OverReaching.

John K said:
"rest as little as possible" bit. If you are doing that and your lungs become the limiting factor ... Well maybe you need to be in "better shape," but what if you were trying to get stronger?
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Rest Periods

Short Rest Period are effective for Conditioning, Endurance and Bodybuilding.

However, as John notes, not effective for Maximum Strength Training.

Pavel Tsatsouline on GTG, optimal rep count and rest duration for strength


Per Pavel, 5-15 minute rest between heavy sets.
 
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I like Goggins but yeah, I'm not going to emulate his training. If that's what you WANT to do, then go for it, but (imho you should) be flexible about what constitutes a training session if you want to stay healthy.

I generally try to do SOMETHING physical every day (and that generally means some kind of weight/resistance training for me) - most years, I hit around 90% of days and I don't think I've been below 80% in the last 10 years or so that I've been paying attention to the metric.
LukeV said:
Top endurance athletes, whether runners, swimmers etc commonly train every day
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Well, yes, but even for elite athletes not EVERY SINGLE day generally. And an off-season (even if it's 1-3 weeks twice a year) where you do some different things is a good idea even for the elite of the elite.
 
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