Appreciating the Simplicity

I guess there is this phase everyone goes through at some point in their life. The simplicity phase. Well, I guess it isn't the simplicity phase as much as it is the appreciating the simplicity phase.

It reminds me of when I first started playing drums, my first drum kit was a tiny little 4-piece set. A bass drum, floor tom, rack tom and a snare along with a crash cymbal , ride cymbal and high hats. Then, after becoming a "basement rock-star" my set had grown to two bass drums, 4 rack toms, 2 floor toms, a snare, 4 crash cymbals, a ride cymbal, two china cymbals, splash cymbals and hi hats - make no mistake, I was the second coming of Charlie Benante (If you don't know who Charlie Benante is your taste in music is awful). Then I started playing out in a band, mostly small clubs but a few large venues around the Cleveland area. My set barely fit on the drum risers and stages plus hauling all that crap around sucked. By the time I finished my "music career" in an indy-rock / punk band in Atlanta I was back to that original 4 piece kit. It's funny, Modern Drummer Magazine ran a cartoon one time that went "Your first drum kit (picture of a basic 4 piece kit) --- Your drum kit after you build some chops but before you start playing out (picture of a drum kit that looked like Neil Peart from Rush's kit - about a billion drums and cymbals) --- Your drum kit AFTER you've been playing out (picture of the basic 4 piece kit). I loved it cause' it was the evolution of my drum kit (which is now sadly sitting in my basement under about an inch of dust).

Eventually you grow tired of all the flash and flair and whittle things down to the most basic and simplest form. This applies to everything-training, business, life-you name it.

One of the most enjoyable experiences I've had in a long time was sitting on the beach in Pensacola-after two days of Qigong training-just breathing in the salt-sea air and watching the waves. I don't know how long I sat there, 10 minutes, an hour, time didn't exist and shit just started making sense because there was no thought - it was pure being.

If you look at anything long enough you see this trend, and for good reason. The basics never fail. Simplicity - fewer working parts - this leaves less to go wrong.

It's always better to be really good at a few things than mediocre at a bunch of stuff.

You see this trend in strength training right now - when I first started going to the old school YMCA in Madison, OH as a teenager it was all about squats, bench press, overhead press, deadlifts, barbell and dumbbell rows, chins, dips and sit ups. Then it was every machine under the sun, Nautilus, Atlantis, Cybex, Strive, Life Fitness; then back to hardcore but with bands, chains, box squats, assistance work, special strengths, bench shirts and squats suits. Now it's back to a barbell, power rack, bench and deadlift platform.

That's why I love kettlebell training - it's about as simple as you can get. A ball with a handle. Put it overhead. The more reps you can put it overhead the cooler you are.

   About as simple as it gets - an iron ball with a handle. Put it overhead and don't set it down.

Plus if you really analyze your training log I'm pretty sure you'll find Pareto was right - 80% of your results come from 20% of your exercises. The rest is all fluff.

The benefit to focusing on getting really good at a few things is it allows for greater technique mastery - no point in doing something if you can't do it well.

Derrick keeping it simple - 600+ lbs of simple.

I came across old training logs during my recent gym move and was comparing them to my current log and the one thing I noticed was that the squat, bench, deadlift, kettlebell clean and jerk, and pull-ups have been the only things that have made a continuous appearance through all the training cycles I've done since 2003.

I'm pretty sure there's a reason for that.

This picture has absolutely NOTHING to do with this blog other than I met Chuck Zito and thus I am awesome now.

Stay Strong and Healthy!

-Scott