La Sierra Fitness Standards

[Torin]

Why?

-S-

These days, I mostly do Presses, Split Squats, Swings, Getups, Ham Curls, Tricep Extensions, Bicep Curls, Calf Raises, Grip Work, and Rowing (cardio).

They're all fine exercises, and I do them because I enjoy them. But I miss having varied athletic qualities.

I'm not willing to give up Presses and Split Squats (or swings and getups) as my main exercises because they're what I like. But I wouldn't mind including training that worked a variety of other attributes.

I understand that not everyone will feel this way, and I appreciate all of the feedback and advice that everyone has shared.

I guess I want to stay capable of doing the things I love and being the person that I want to be. And that person is more than someone who can move weight. He's someone who can move athletically and well.


Edit:
[The times in my life that I've been the most athletic have been times when my training has been built around higher reps of bodyweight drills and running / sprinting, so this may affect my view on these standards]

 

[Steve Freides]

@Torin, fair enough. A few points from me in no particular order:

We have Strong Endurance. If you haven't looked into that, I think you might like what it would do for you.

No doubt some people will dislike me for saying this, but look at the bodies in the video. If in adulthood we were built like that and hadn't let ourselves "fill out" it would be a lot easier to do a lot of the bodyweight stuff you see there. I again mention Pavel's, The Cost of Adaptation article. The choices are there - powerlifting without bulking, martial arts. Swing a kettlebell. (Perhaps my favorite thing about AXE is that it's twice a week instead of everyday, a great fit in busy life that includes strength training.)

A pullup bar and a set of rings give you options that are at least along the lines of some of the things in the video. I learned to do a front lever on the rings by practicing one rep per day, 6-7 days per week. Just one FL, rest for 3 min (or come back later) and one skin-the-cat followed by one set of kip extensions. The whole business is fun to do and, even with the 3-minute rest in the middle, still takes only 5 minutes.

I used to work on my splits after the kids, when they were little, went to sleep. We have a park in the middle of my town here in NJ, and I often stop and stretch there for a couple of minutes when I'm walking through. Sprint when you cross the street. It's all possible to do.

JMO, YMMV.

-S-

 

[Torin]

I appreciate the ideas Steve.

We have Strong Endurance. If you haven't looked into that, I think you might like what it would do for you.

I haven't been to a Strong Endurance seminar, but I do enjoy the programs

In addition to the advice @John K gave me, I'm planning to try this Strong Endurance program that they're using at Prescott:

Spoiler: Excerpt

Strong Endurance in Schools to Strengthen the Next Generation | StrongFirst

Incorporating Strong Endurance, the Fighter Pullup Program and Grease the Groove have been an enormous success at Prescott. We have seen noticeable physical improvements throughout the year and a half we’ve been implementing these programs.

www.strongfirst.com

I like your idea of introducing more mini habits into my day.

 

[Abishai]

I don’t think military-style phys ed classes are going to get people “into” being physically active. The real problem is that a long time ago our society chose Sports as THE physical activity for people to do, and if you’re not good at Sports or you Age Out (e.g graduate high school or college) you Stop Being Active.

if its mandatory.

 

[Abishai]

@Torin, fair enough. A few points from me in no particular order:

We have Strong Endurance. If you haven't looked into that, I think you might like what it would do for you.

No doubt some people will dislike me for saying this, but look at the bodies in the video. If in adulthood we were built like that and hadn't let ourselves "fill out" it would be a lot easier to do a lot of the bodyweight stuff you see there. I again mention Pavel's, The Cost of Adaptation article. The choices are there - powerlifting without bulking, martial arts. Swing a kettlebell. (Perhaps my favorite thing about AXE is that it's twice a week instead of everyday, a great fit in busy life that includes strength training.)

A pullup bar and a set of rings give you options that are at least along the lines of some of the things in the video. I learned to do a front lever on the rings by practicing one rep per day, 6-7 days per week. Just one FL, rest for 3 min (or come back later) and one skin-the-cat followed by one set of kip extensions. The whole business is fun to do and, even with the 3-minute rest in the middle, still takes only 5 minutes.

I used to work on my splits after the kids, when they were little, went to sleep. We have a park in the middle of my town here in NJ, and I often stop and stretch there for a couple of minutes when I'm walking through. Sprint when you cross the street. It's all possible to do.

JMO, YMMV.

-S-

Doing that as a teen gives you the ability even if you get bigger afterward (as long as you maintain).

 

[John K]

if its mandatory.

There’s a difference in forcing people to perform something and inculcating a lifestyle. We force kids to read throughout school but that doesn’t make them into lifelong readers. And we see that in the military as well - forcing people to do “PT” doesn’t translate into life long exercisers either, and when they’re not forced … they stop. And often have developed an extreme distaste for those activities

 

[Abishai]

There’s a difference in forcing people to perform something and inculcating a lifestyle. We force kids to read throughout school but that doesn’t make them into lifelong readers. And we see that in the military as well - forcing people to do “PT” doesn’t translate into life long exercisers either, and when they’re not forced … they stop. And often have developed an extreme distaste for those activities

Fair.
Although you can argue that people who don't like it will hate either way

 

[John K]

Fair.
Although you can argue that people who don't like it will hate either way

For sure. And there’s a bit of a chicken-or-egg issue - do people enjoy reading because they are good at it or do they learn to enjoy reading because they see it as fun and that it is a “normal” part of life? Do my kids read because they’re just good at it, or do they read because they see me reading? Do they read because it’s just “fun” or did they learn to think of it as fun because I helped make it fun? How can this inform our approach to physical activity with them as kids? How can this inform how we introduce it in schools? Does that (school introduction) even matter?

 

[LarryB]

I may have been unclear: the sprawl itself is of course common, just someone sprawling as fast as possible for 30 sec isn't something I remember seeing on youtube. The drill mentioned is sprawl and back to stance (lead foot forward, weight on the balls of the feet, hands in defensive position), not circling up, since in practical application, repeated sprawls happen in a scenario with fakes, re-shots etc. With circling up, I'd gladly pay an entrance fee to watch someone do 40 in 30 seconds

Ya, i getcha. Just wanted the thread to have a reference of the hip down sprawl. We used to do it for conditioning as well.

 

[John K]

Ya, i getcha. Just wanted the thread to have a reference of the hip down sprawl. We used to do it for conditioning as well.

Hey you still teach PE? What do you think of these fitness standards and implementing a military-esque PT program like La Sierra did? How do you approach teaching kids? Hopefully I’m not confusing you with someone else.

 

[Torin]

Hey you still teach PE? What do you think of these fitness standards

Oh that's a good point.
I'd also enjoy @LarryB's perspective on this.

 

[LarryB]

Oh that's a good point.
I'd also enjoy @LarryB's perspective on this.

You aren’t confused.
I think they are great standards, love them. Completely unrealistic for gen pop though. If i recall the history of this program it was elective and done on a pretty small scale. I think PE should be more like this than the current model of learning to play games though

Current standards are extremely low. Most don't do the mile test anymore and have dropped pull ups in the last 10-20 years. This was the best chart I could find of what represent the current standards and tests. Most teachers do it in once or twice a year to check it off their list. I try to get them to train to improve. Most kids actually really like fitness opposed to games imo. The true athletes will complain but they’re the ones that need me the least.

I ran a race in my hometown this weekend and was in my junior high gym where I first started training. This was on the wall and made me chuckle.

 

[Torin]

The true athletes will complain but they’re the ones that need me the least.

That's very insightful.
You sound like a great teacher.

 

[Period]

You aren’t confused.
I think they are great standards, love them. Completely unrealistic for gen pop though. If i recall the history of this program it was elective and done on a pretty small scale. I think PE should be more like this than the current model of learning to play games though

Current standards are extremely low. Most don't do the mile test anymore and have dropped pull ups in the last 10-20 years. This was the best chart I could find of what represent the current standards and tests. Most teachers do it in once or twice a year to check it off their list. I try to get them to train to improve. Most kids actually really like fitness opposed to games imo. The true athletes will complain but they’re the ones that need me the least.

One thing I should add to standards based on bodyweight: it makes sense to vary them in weightclasses, like they do in wrestling. It's quite unrealistic to expect a 240 lb guy to do as many pull-ups or run a mile as fast as a 120 lbs guy. Even international level athletes of that weight are usually unable to get more than 25 clean pull-ups, since relative strength decreases in the higher weight classes. If you find a guy with 240 lbs with the relative strength of a decent light- or middleweight, you got yourself a potential world champion.

 

[the hansenator]

.Most kids actually really like fitness opposed to games imo. The true athletes will complain but they’re the ones that need me the least.

That would have described me. Being forced to play team sports always made me uncomfortable. I really wished they let us climb the ropes or use the pull-up bar more often though.

 

[offwidth]

… mini rant ahead…
Not a fan of ‘standards’. Not a fan of ‘PE’ (traditional) in schools.
I was the proverbial 90lb weakling in school (still am just heavier). If I could contrive a way out of PE I would.
At the end of it all I turned out okay. People either find a (the) way or they don’t.

I really enjoy a ‘fit’ lifestyle. I enjoy talking about it with like minded folks. e.g. the fine folks around here. But in general terms I could really care less what the majority of the population is up to or what they are doing (or not doing)

Rant over… (for now)

 

[Period]

… mini rant ahead…
Not a fan of ‘standards’. Not a fan of ‘PE’ (traditional) in schools.
I was the proverbial 90lb weakling in school (still am just heavier). If I could contrive a way out of PE I would.
At the end of it all I turned out okay. People either find a (the) way or they don’t.

I really enjoy a ‘fit’ lifestyle. I enjoy talking about it with like minded folks. e.g. the fine folks around here. But in general terms I could really care less what the majority of the population is up to or what they are doing (or not doing)

Rant over… (for now)

On the other hand, at least where I'm from, you have standards in PE anyway - they just call them grades. Funnily enough, my path in sports started in PE - I was really unfit as a kid, because I come from a rather bookish family and wasn't introduced to sports by them. At the age of 12, I started training to improve my abysmal grades in PE. Within half a year, I was top of the class in the discipline I had sucked at the most (middle distance running), within four years I was competing at international meets. I later went on to compete semi-pro in Greco and Freestyle wrestling. None of that would have happened without "standards" in PE.

 

[LarryB]

One thing I should add to standards based on bodyweight: it makes sense to vary them in weightclasses, like they do in wrestling. It's quite unrealistic to expect a 240 lb guy to do as many pull-ups or run a mile as fast as a 120 lbs guy. Even international level athletes of that weight are usually unable to get more than 25 clean pull-ups, since relative strength decreases in the higher weight classes. If you find a guy with 240 lbs with the relative strength of a decent light- or middleweight, you got yourself a potential world champion.

I relate to this being around 220

 

[Nate]

On the other hand, at least where I'm from, you have standards in PE anyway - they just call them grades. Funnily enough, my path in sports started in PE - I was really unfit as a kid, because I come from a rather bookish family and wasn't introduced to sports by them. At the age of 12, I started training to improve my abysmal grades in PE. Within half a year, I was top of the class in the discipline I had sucked at the most (middle distance running), within four years I was competing at international meets. I later went on to compete semi-pro in Greco and Freestyle wrestling. None of that would have happened without "standards" in PE.

Unfortunately for me, our school had standards in Chemistry class.

 

[LarryB]

One thing I should add to standards based on bodyweight: it makes sense to vary them in weightclasses, like they do in wrestling. It's quite unrealistic to expect a 240 lb guy to do as many pull-ups or run a mile as fast as a 120 lbs guy. Even international level athletes of that weight are usually unable to get more than 25 clean pull-ups, since relative strength decreases in the higher weight classes. If you find a guy with 240 lbs with the relative strength of a decent light- or middleweight, you got yourself a potential world champion.

I relate to this being around 220

… mini rant ahead…
Not a fan of ‘standards’. Not a fan of ‘PE’ (traditional) in schools.
I was the proverbial 90lb weakling in school (still am just heavier). If I could contrive a way out of PE I would.
At the end of it all I turned out okay. People either find a (the) way or they don’t.

I really enjoy a ‘fit’ lifestyle. I enjoy talking about it with like minded folks. e.g. the fine folks around here. But in general terms I could really care less what the majority of the population is up to or what they are doing (or not doing)

Rant over… (for now)

i would have gotten through to you kid…