038 : 002 Vis in Motus XVI

Session 16

Breathing ramp up
Then...
In 15 minutes work to a heavy triple zercher ‘squat lift’ Then...
1 mile carry (of your choice) @ bodyweight
Then...

Walking or seated down regulation Until you reach a comfortable nasal: 4-6-8-0 breathing cadence.

Zercher Squat Lifts

If a perceived ‘lack of mobility’ puts you off of attempting zercher deadlifts, because you’re worried about excessive rounding of the lower back during the pick-up, this lift makes for a good compromise, and one that many people use to initiate zercher squats and carries.

Deadlift your barbell from the ground in a conventional manner, albeit with a slightly wider grip, before sitting back into a squat with the barbell in the crease of your hips. From this position, manoeuvre your arms beneath the bar and into the zercher position and lift the bar out of your hip crease. Breath deep, filling your trunk, creating tension and bringing your torso into an upright position. Drive your feet into the ground and stand up explosively. Once your hips are fully extended, drop your barbell. This is one rep. Repeat three times in quick succession then add load, rest, add load.

Spend 15 minutes working to the heaviest triple you’re comfortable with. You know the drill by now: if you’ve got friends that are into this sort of thing, invite them. Fitness is (more) fun with friends.

The Carry

This is what we’ve been working towards— a one mile carry, loaded up with the equivalent of your own bodyweight. Literally ‘carrying your own weight’. The type of strength that efforts like this build can’t easily be quantified using the well-worn biological metrics that we usually lean into. I believe that regular long carries— of almost any sort— can build tremendous upper back strength and size; bigger traps; stronger grip; a real diesel engine. But those are fortunate, but secondary, benefits compared to the real goal of tackling long carries: building the type of ‘grit’ that you hear instagram entrepreneurs wax lyrical about all too often.

Heavy lifts are admirable, as are heroic high-intensity efforts. The same is true of long endurance bouts. But all of those modalities have very clear physiological ceilings. You’ll find your limits with them, often quickly, and you can pat yourself on the back knowing that you couldn’t possibly have done anymore. A long, correctly loaded carry, by necessity will put you in position where you are forced to stop many, many times. Each time you’ll be confronted with the option to stop completely, or go on. You won’t be able to go fast enough to gas yourself out. You won’t be able to go heavy enough to hit true muscular failure. What you’re up against is a potentially mind- numbingly frustrating, stop/start effort, that should have you questioning your own work ethic.

I’m by no means saying this type of challenge is unique to long, heavy calories; we’ve all faced ‘the wall’ before, gritting our teeth as we hit it head on, only to realise it was never there in the first

place. What I am saying, is that a correctly dosed long carry is a sure-fire way to engineer this scenario, and quickly.

It’s one mile. Once you start your choice really is quite binary: finish or don’t. All of the mental negotiations in the world won’t render that one simple truth inert.

Be realistic with your choice of carry and the subsequent loading. The carry should feel like everything I just described above. If it doesn’t, that’s not because you’re ‘too strong’, it’s because you chose a carry that was too easy for your strength to weight ratio. Your bodyweight in a sandbag draped across your shoulders might be a huge burden; it might also be the easiest way for you to manage the load. Don’t seek a load that’s ‘easy’, seek a load that makes you ask questions, before you’ve even started.

If you have a double bodyweight (plus) deadlift, then a farmers carry with 50% of your weight in each hand is more than a realistic test. If you don’t, then a barbell or yoke that you can shift positions with (relatively) easily will give you enough flexibility and variety to make it through the mile.

Pay attention to the entire experience throughout. Notice how much of the ‘discomfort’ is actually the quest for comfort; a resistance to accepting these sensations as simply inherent to the experience and dealing with them thusly. I’m reminded here of Mark Twight’s words ‘this is not a cozy place’. A different context, but same sentiment: accept it, don’t fight it— you’ll lose.

Pay attention to your internal dialogue. The bargaining. The poo-pooing of this as anything other than a ‘stupid idea’. The debunking of its benefits. Who is that? And who’s listening? Don’t think you can go any further? Fact check that information by picking up the weight and trying. Then trying again, and again, and again.

Question your ability to finish this task all of the way to the finish line.

I’ll leave you with this line from my opening essay in this series:

You were built to carry.
You were probably built to carry heavy stuff, reasonably long distances.
And, you were probably built to carry things approximate to your own bodyweight; far and fast.