Earlier this week, I posted a throwback to some training footage from approximately 15 years ago. My reason for sharing the old footage was twofold. First, I hoped to provide some ideas for garage/home-based workouts. The entire video was filmed at my old home in the garage, basement, and backyard. Perhaps more importantly though, I wanted to reiterate a message that I’ve preached for years. To put it bluntly, old school is still a great school. What worked many years ago continues to work today. There’s no need to constantly reinvent the wheel.
Old School Training Demo
Below, you’ll see variations of pushups, pull-ups, squats, jumps, rollouts, etc. In other words, you’ll see the same exercises that I continue to demonstrate regularly. Aside from living in a different home, very little has changed.
Substance Over Flash
Continuing with the old school theme, below is a brief discussion on the topic from a few years ago. The message is particularly relevant today with gyms around the world closed due to COVID-19. If that’s the case for you, there’s no need to panic. You can still do quite well at home by working hard with a few basic exercises.
For example, go find anyone who’s consistently (for years) performed pushups, pull-ups, squats, lunges, hill sprints, etc. and you’ll find someone who is fitter than most. It really isn’t that complicated. As I’ve said before, work hard with almost anything and you’ll do well. The specifics matter less than the intent behind the work
Learn from the Past
Old school exercises may lack flash, but they’re loaded with substance. And that’s just another reason why it’s useful to study athletes from the past. They weren’t vying for attention on social media. Their focus was simple. Get the job done as effectively as possible. Plenty can be learned from their example.
Speaking as a professional boxing coach, my job description is also quite simple. I prepare fighters to win. I’m not paid to be original or different. Getting the job done is all that matters. It’s a result driven business. We don’t get extra credit for style and flash. No one cares what methods are used. All that’s remembered are the results you produce. And while that may sound obvious, I believe it is an important statement to make (particularly in today’s world).
Final Thoughts
I don’t make a living on social media, and I don’t get royalty checks because I’m using exercises from the past. Therefore, when I talk about the old school, I’m not doing so because it somehow benefits me. I’m just sharing what we use and what actually works.
Furthermore, I’m not suggesting that we should never look to improve upon the past. We should always strive to improve at whatever we do. With that said, recognize that there will always be more opportunities to improve an individual than there will be opportunities to improve the methods used by that individual.
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“The more we value things, the less we value ourselves.” – Bruce Lee
Outstanding comments… Definitely stimulated by thinking… Back to my old wrestling training techniques which I’ve been doing the last several weeks
Ross,
Great job man !!!! Wish I was a young man and could train and spar with you. Keep up the exciting work you have accomplished . So inspiring and helpful to all of us. We will be ordering some of your shirts.
Ross-
Wondering if you will be putting out a manual sort of like your old one called Warrior Training. I got it almost 17 years ago when I was a younger man and still refer to it and Never Gymless. However wondering if you will ever put together “routines” and string workouts together like you did in those again with updates based on what you’ve learned over the years.
Thanks much
-Steve