Something happened to me last weekend. Something awesome. Something that left me more sore than I care to admit, but with a whole new outlook on training, eating, and living.
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| Much fun was had in the realm of Maxwell. |
THE MAN
I had been to a couple of Steve's workshops before, and was not disappointed. Attending a workshop with Steve is part fitness class, part philosophical journey. The man surely has a deep perspective on training and living, and which had a profound impact on me. He made me ponder such things as: Why do we train? How do we find joy in it? What is the true meaning of functionality? He talked about what constitutes good health and not just the pursuit of fake aesthetics or the ridiculous "look at me! I'm doing a one handed bosu-ball blindfolded planche" physical accomplishments rampant on YouTube.
And Steve certainly practices what he preaches, unlike many other internet forum gurus, or cash-minded and dogmatic fitness "leaders". The man actively uses his own system. And it shows. In my line of work, I meet a lot of people of all ages, and I've yet to meet a 60 year old who can do rock-bottom pistol squats and has an eight pack. Seriously. Im not kidding. In fact, people MY AGE who can do rock-bottom pistols with washboard abs I can literally count with both hands.
And Steve certainly practices what he preaches, unlike many other internet forum gurus, or cash-minded and dogmatic fitness "leaders". The man actively uses his own system. And it shows. In my line of work, I meet a lot of people of all ages, and I've yet to meet a 60 year old who can do rock-bottom pistol squats and has an eight pack. Seriously. Im not kidding. In fact, people MY AGE who can do rock-bottom pistols with washboard abs I can literally count with both hands.
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| Oh, washing machine broken? It's ok ill just use salt water and my eight-pack. |
Steve's coaching style is also unique. He's knowledgeable, fun, and motivating, but also strict when he needs to be. His progressions and regressions are easy to understand, and implement. As a person, I simply like the guy. He's cool, always interesting, and a generally awesome person. And yes, it appears I do have a man-crush on Steve Maxwell. There, I said it. Now let's just move on shall we?
His system brings together near half a century (!!!) of personal experience in physical culture with plenty of formal education in exercise science, and a relentless spirit for experimentation and learning. Although a master coach, Steve is the first to say that he's always a student, and if there's a fitness system out there he hasn't tried, you can be damn sure he'll go wherever that is, and try it. Steve travels full time, and as such, sees a lot. From hypoxic slow cadence strength drills with the Spetsnaz in Russia to boulder lifting competitions in Hawaii, Steve certainly has a wide array of experiences. This certification is his attempt at distilling it all into a workable and applicable system, for all healthy training populations.
THE CERT
The cert itself was a blast. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect. Sure, like any good internet exercise junkie, I'd seen MovNat videos and heard of Paleo training, etc, but I was genuinely blown away by what we learned. I think thats an important thing to mention. What we learned. Although the training was at times grueling, coach Steve definitely made sure we were learning, taking notes, and continually testing us on his principles. It was very educational, and I've recently applied some of his drills to my patients with remarkable success.
So, what did we do? Well, in short, Everything. At least everything a normal human being is supposed to be able to do. We ran, walked, crawled, picked stuff up, and engaged in plenty of movement-craziness, even including fitness testing and screening. The focus was on learning the basic human movement patterns. I say "basic" because these are basic things humans are programmed to do, not because they are at all easy. In fact, I dare-say I had some of the toughest workouts I've ever had. Workouts that were also actually FUN as well as productive, leading to epic levels of soreness for the next few days. We learned how to design workouts within this system, and even designed our own workouts and coached each other; an invaluable experience.
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| Taking pushups to the next level. |
Steve also talked about the history and development of exercise in general, and of the evolution of the modern fitness movement. As a fitness nerd and student of movement, I found this fascinating. He boldly stated that most modern gyms are actually very unsuitable places for working out, something I couldn't agree with more. The endless rows of hamster wheels and pec decs do little for physical development, and can in some cases be detrimental to your health, albeit giving you a superficial layer of non-functional muscle. And for what? So you can parade around looking cocky with large, useless, blow-up muscles? That is not higher living. A quote from Steve that I loved (forgive me Steve if this is poorly paraphrased!):
"You don't wanna look like Tarzan and perform like Jane. You wanna look like Tarzan, AND perform like him as well"
Succinctly put. However, the thing I like most about his philosophy is his lack of dogma. He doesn't say machine training is useless, in fact, for rehabilitation it can be quite useful. He states they can be an effective supplemental tool for trainees who already have good mobility and movement patterns. I like that. It's a sign of open and sensible thinking, something sorely lacking in the fitness industry today, and something I try to emulate as much as possible.
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| What you get when you don't pay attention in class. |
Now, before I get too wrapped up in my own dogma and convince you that my man-crush on Steve will eventually lead to our wedding, there are a few things this cert doesn't do. Will it give you bigger arms? Maybe, if you've never trained before, but not likely. Will you be a better powerlifter? It may help, but it won't increase your numbers. Will you win a Crossfit competition? Probably not.
So, now you're likely wondering, what's my point? Well, as much as I love Steve's system, there are quicker ways to reach goals. If you simply want bigger arms, do lots of curls and tricep extensions. If you want a big squat, then squat. If you (for some uknown reason) want to be able to do power cleans for high reps, then you need to do just that. Whether or not a goal is right or wrong is irrelevant. I believe we are all in charge of our own bodies and as such, also believe that goals are highly personal. For me, I'm definetly going to be putting into place A LOT of what Steve taught me, but I'm still gonna do heavy deadlifts, and powerlift, because I want to be able to pick up heavy stuff, and (when everyone has left the gym) I'll do a few curls and extensions, because big arms are fun.
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| Logan lifting heavy balls. |
THE BOTTOM LINE
What Steve does is give you a way to train the basic human movement patterns in a programmable and progressive manner. His focus is using exercise not as some sort of competition, but as a way of improving your health, mobility, functional strength, and vitality. If I had to choose one system to do forever, Steve's would be a good choice. Thankfully we don't live in a world of strange hypotheticals and I can mix it up. Steve himself tells me to mix it up, which is good.
So, in conclusion, Do I think Steve's system is the only one I'll use? No.
Should it form the basis of everyone's training program? Maybe.
Do I think Steve Maxwell makes the world a better place? DEFINETLY.
See you next year Steve! (Hopefully in Greece!). Thanks to the great people at Oslo Kettlebell Gym for hosting an awesome weekend! Special thanks to Hans-Petter Skolsegg for the photos.
