I’m talking about guys that do physical labor as part of work all day and as a result, are built like supermen. I had to visit a building under construction this week and I met the bricklayers labor foreman. He was busy moving bags of mortar that really should have been moved by a forklift.
I was with a few guys that knew him and we were all talking. He was about 6’, 230-ish, no fat. His face looked about 55 y.o. (thats seen too much sun) and his body looked like a 45 y.o. thats been training for decades. The man was 73! Holy shit!
They were teasing him about being “as old as dirt” and he said that his goal in life is to work past the age his father did…82. Funny thing is this…the guy knows nothing about the weight room, split workouts, diet, overtraining, supplements, etc. He’s in another universe entirely. Have any of you ever met and been inspired by such a working T-man?
Nah man, but awesome post. There’s something truly poetic and inspiring about the entirty of the situation. It has a pure, hardcore innocence. Here is an individual whose training is not training. While we live the lives of bodybuilders, this man is building for life, and it is a mere biproduct at that. True T-material.
Reggie White, one of the best football players in the history of the NFL did not lift weights. He started to at the end of his career as his age caught up to him in a big way. He only had two rush moves; a forearm club to the chest and a shoulder slap/push that he would use for the inside and outside respectivly. He has the NFL record for sacks. Mega freak
Now, maybe you have witnessed what functional strength looks like. And as you noted this man had a body that most men would kill for. If you want to talk funtional training more and how it can develop a killer physique, reply and hopefully other’s will join. I have an article coming shortly that will briefly touch upon this topic. And your observations regarding his knowledge of training / diet is typical - a man or woman who is truly strong can perform at moments notice.
Coach Davies, first of all, I wanted to say I enjoyed your article in T-mag, and I appreciate your contributions on the forum so far. I would definitely be interested in hearing more about what you have to say on functional training. I am an aspiring submission grappler, but admittedly, I want to look good too. I have no desire (which is good, because I don’t have the potential either) to look like a pro bodybuilder, however I still want to look more muscular. I also want to be able to back up the look, if you know what I mean. So, let’s get it on…
My Dad was like that. He died 5 years ago after his 7th, count 'em, 7th heart attack. In his prime in his early 40’s he had 18" biceps at a body weight of 190#. He was a paint contracter and did drywall work. Tape and floating etc. When I was a kid I saw him strip the handle off a screwdriver trying to remove a stuck screw. He was strong as hell and I would not have wanted to tangle with him even up until the time of his death.
Coach Davies I really enjoy your posts. Now I am young(19 yesterday). I have shifted my gols from a powerlifting standpoint to more of a bodybuilding for now at least. I do however want to keep functional strength and strength in general high. If you could provide some insight into achieving significant muscle growth and developing functional strength, I do not know what one could want more. Thank you very much and continue the good work, Mike
Coach Davies, I too would be interested to hear
what you have to say about functional training.
Not only for myself but also to help me as I
introduce weight training to my 14 yr old.
Thanks
First of all, don’t get confused that to possess functional strength you look like crap or you can’t combine it with bodybuilding. A litte history lesson that you all probably now, but if you head of to the “Muscle Beach” section of Venice Beach, you will notice sets of gymnastic rings, high bars, dip station. The great bodybuilders of the past were great masters of exercise science & possessed total body harmony. Take a look at the great Steve Reeves.
Well I've bored you all, havn't I. Formatting a functional program is straight forward, its just the that it is almost forgotten.
Today, during my personal workout I was training at a commercial gym, while travelling. After a series of kettle-bell movements, Snatch lifts, I was doing towel chins. I did this by throwing 2 towels over the top of the power-rack and began doing standard chins holding onto the towel. It wasn’t a few seconds after my set was done that a few onlookers came over a told they have never seen anything like that before. - Hopefully you get my drift, strength training has gotten so far off base that the basics are now considered revolutionary. Let me know what I can do to assist all of you.
On a fairly regular basis a thread on this forum really catches fire. This post happens to smack of that particular breed. THis new take on functional training has me drooling and thristing for more info. Coach Davies, I do believe I speak on behalf of all the other T-freaks when I write : LEARN US, LEARN US GOOD 'N WELL…wait, I’m from Long Island, NY where the hell did “Learn us” come from? Ah, screw it. Teach us more despite my spontaneous southernality. Thanks.
The best strength and physique gains I ever made were made on a refinery construction crew. I was 18 years old and one summer I got a job with a concrete crew. My job was basically digging and removing rock then pushing wheelbarrows full of concrete around for 10 hours a day. I have no idea how much a wheelbarrow full of wet concrete weighs but at the time it felt extremely heavy. I’d work four days a week and the other 3 days I’d be so tired i’d just lie around and eat like a horse. After doing this for 2 months I went in a weight room and was 15 lbs of lean muscle heavier and had increased every lift a minimum of 15-20 %.
I’m glad this topic is taking off. It’s a completely different perspective with a lot a value to it. I believe Mike the Liber. commented that most construction guys aren’t much better than the average joe. I work in constuction management, so I see hundreds of these guys, and he’s mostly right. I’d guess about only 1 in 10 or so have builds that are significantly above average. Obviously, those guys are the ones that put the most into their jobs.
One trade that stands out above the others are the ironworkers. They have the best builds by far. I knew the guy that was on that Coca-Cola commercial many many years ago. He was my boyfriend's cousin. They were both ironworkers working in New York City when a Coca-Cola agent came to the jobsite and said they were auditioning for the commercial. They went to the audition together and my boyfriends cousin was selected, much to my boyfriends disappointment. He felt he should have gotten the part since he was taller, better looking and much beefier with about 30 pounds more muscle (heehee). I guess they thought the leaner Brad Pitt-like build would look more defined on TV.
Anyway, what do these guys do? Mostly, they are like monkeys. They climb and decend a lot of columns. They straddle beams in a balanced perch while the crane brings another piece of steel for them to connect. They muscle the hanging steel into position. They hold a lot of balanced body positions while waiting for the crane.
And understandably, they are not interested in the gym. They have a “just give me a big dinner and let me rest” mentality. I never got that guy to go the gym with me! He would always look at me like I was nuts
I am about to start a similar long hour manual labor job and I was wondering if anyone who is in this type of business had any diet tips as I will be out in the sun all day away from a refrigerator and only able to take 1 break for lunch.
The post that I find most interesting is Kelly’s. I read in an article, hell I can’t remember where, about a guy that would basically do deadlift lockouts from the knee level. Now what kind of stares would I get if I got myself a wheelbarrel, loaded it with sand, whatever and took a lap or two every morning around the cul de sac, parked it and started my day? To satisfy the technical and over analysing part, I could vary the speed, the laps, (its about 1/10th of a mile at the most) finish it off with presses provided it wont spill out… Where can I get such a wheelbarrel anyway, hmmmmmmmmm. This with the texas sun and I’m guessing I’d get shredded in no time… any thoughts???
Jay…that does bring up an amusing image! We should all take our wheelbarrels with sandbags down to the neighborhood nature trail. Bumpy terrain gets extra points.
Kelly...I was a construction laborer for a summer in college (in Texas). I wasn't going to the gym so I have no idea what my measured gains were but it felt like a lot. Plus, I lost about 10 pounds. Most important thing is to stay hydrated.
