Does This Stuff Really Make You Strong?

Categories: Blog Oct 02, 2016

And now a guest post from OS Coach, NY Firefighter, and friend, John Galan........

 

 

I would like to start out this post by giving you a little background. Exercising, working out, training   (whatever they are calling it these days), has been a passion of mine since I was a kid. While other kids were watching cartoons on TV, I was watching the “Jack LaLanne Show”. Yeah, I know, I was a strange kid. This passion has led me on a journey to learn as much as I can about training. Over the years I have read countless books and articles, watched many VHS tapes (remember these) and DVD’s, and attended several certs and workshops. It was at one of these workshops where I first met Tim Anderson. Tim and I hit it off right away. We exchanged phone numbers and e-mail addresses and we kept in touch. If I remember correctly, this was about a year or two before he came out with Becoming Bulletproof.

When Becoming Bulletproof was released, I bought the book. After reading it I remember thinking to myself that it was a very interesting concept and that it was different than anything else that I had learned about. So I started “playing around” with the re-sets. In my mind it was too simple and easy to really have a lasting effect on me. The re-sets felt good, but, I couldn’t really see past that. I didn’t see the real power of it……..yet.

Then I had my first “aha” moment. During this time I had an “issue” with my lower back. One day, I felt that all too familiar pain. I felt the frustration starting to rise in me, and then, the re-sets came to mind. I immediately got on the floor and starting rocking. The pain didn’t magically go away, but, it never got worse and was gone in 2 days where in the past it would last 2 weeks! I was sold! This led me to really dive into OS. The more I learned about it, the more interested I became.

Tim always said that OS will make you as strong as you want to be. So I decided to test that out. I stopped training the way I had been at the time (which was mostly KB’s) and started training through the lens of OS. My training consisted of lots of loaded and unloaded crawling, loaded marching/walking, and John Brookfield’s Beyond Bodyweight training. I also engaged in the 5 re-sets every day. That was it. I did this for about 6 months. During this time I experienced no pain or injury from training, and, I didn’t feel beat up. I felt awesome! OK, but .….what about strength? I felt strong, but, how strong was I really?

I really didn’t have anything to gauge it by. I was no longer competing in athletics and I wasn’t training for any PR’s in the gym. One day, on a whim, I decided to test my deadlift. Now keep in mind that at this time I hadn’t trained the deadlift in about 3 years. My personal best in the DL was 525 lbs. at a bodyweight of 200 lbs. That was 20 years ago when I was in my early 30’s. So, here I am at an age where I qualify for AARP, at a bodyweight of 170 lbs. and I hadn’t deadlifted in 3 years. I pulled 465 lbs. and I still had more in me. At this point I didn’t feel the need to push it. I was convinced! Even though it wasn’t a PR, if you do the math based on percentages, pound for pound I was stronger.

So, to answer the question, “Does this stuff really make you strong?” You be the judge.

• John Galan

John Galan is a NYC firefighter and an OS coach and trainer who specializes in training High School and College athletes.

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