Developing a Strong Foundation

When constructing a building, it’s important to assess how strong your foundation must be. I’m not going to pretend I know a whole lot about this and if my information is off, let me know. The basic idea as I understand it is that the higher your building, the stronger your foundation must be. The difference in foundational thickness, area and integrity varies depending on the size of the building. A shed and a skyscraper just do not have the same needs when calculating their foundation. In like manner, you don’t see tall mountains or trees with weak, narrow bases.

Some people are inspired by videos, pictures or training programs of skilled athletes. They want to run out and copy their program or try to do their special trick or skill. They then often lose hope when they are unable to replicate it or their progress stalls more abruptly than they had anticipated. What cannot be adequately demonstrated in the inspirational material is the years of accumulated work done training the fundamentals. A consistent devotion to foundational development widens and strengthens the base. The wider the base, the higher the peak.

In many ways it is more fun to try something like a maximal lift. You get yourself psyched up and pull, press or squat as much as you can. Classic Soviet training programs, however, spend the majority of their time training between 70-85%. Submaximal lifting allows tendons and other connective tissue to adapt, so you can reach higher heights in your lifting. Additionally, it’s more fun to just kick up and try to balance on your hands as long as you can. You may gain some strength and balance (building a shed) but with proper wrist prep, shoulder conditioning and body-line work you can progress to seemingly inhuman variations of handstand pushups and presses (building a skyscraper).

Take a look at your training and decide where your goals are. If you have shed goals you’re probably already on the right track with some possible touch ups here and there. If, however, you hope to work on skyscraper goals you must make a patient, disciplined commitment to establishing a strong foundation. Define and clarify your goals. Incorporate a strategy designed to achieve them. Learn to pay the figurative price and tenaciously move in that direction, always counting your failures as learning experiences. And enjoy the process.