(written Sep/Oct 2018)
This is a theory. File under natural movement. Enjoy.
As a heavyweight I seem to get pumps in pulling musculature from walking. The swing of the arms or something pumps up by lats.
One of my buddies was constantly on his feet through high school. He had a sometimes homeless welfare type mother, which often found him constantly crashing at different places. One motel was 10-12 miles from school. There was no car in the family, he ran, jogged, and walked everywhere.
5’9″ 165, he had a very wirery strength. Just from always being on his feet and wearing a backpack.
I believe strength that we can’t reason it’s existence out via gym science is built simply through natural movement.
Walking at a decent pace, hands cupped, swagger arm swing, alert, head turning & scanning… something primal is comes alive in you.
You ever run faster cause someone’s at your heels?
The first time I ran a mile at if not a sub 6:00 pace, then very close to it was with my 5’10” 230lb wrestling coach breathing on my neck the entire time (I was a 6′ 171lber) and me simply thinking “he ain’t passing me this lap” eventually realizing larger and larger fractions of the mile were done, and in the last 1/6 RUNNING full speed ahead to keep him from passing me.
I finished and go “time!” His reply 6:02 or 6:03. It had taken a moment for him to check and I was in front of him.
That Mark’s Daily Apple stalking prey run thing works. I can recall being on the “prey” end of it twice.
1. The aforementioned wrestling story where the coach (a threat to me) kept me moving faster ahead of him.
2. During a 1 mile run with bleachers added (~1.5 mile equivalent) another cadet was able to pass me in the last 100m. I’d gotten sick of keeping him from passing, and unlike a few months earlier primal brain he wasn’t a threat.
Anyway, I noticed when I’m doing a lot of walking that my pulling strength, particularly grip as applied to heavy lifts like a double overhand deadlift, improves even though I may not be training it.
-J