, it’s hard to believe we’re in the final phase of the Fall Semester and the last round of Fury Thursdays. I want to thank you all for the great feedback, and Chris, Todd and Mike for the opportunity to program Thursdays. Since several of you have asked about diving deeper into Original Strength, I thought I’d use this moment to give you some action steps.
Let’s begin with some ideas on incorporating Original Strength and the OS Resets into your programming. The beauty of OS is its simplicity. Here are some key things to remember when programming.
GOOD. BETTER. BEST.
One of our great philosophies is that we view performing the resets as good, better and best. This should be taken as being very liberating. However, as we are often extremely technique driven in other areas we can get bogged down in minutia with OS. As long as we meet a person where they’re at, doing a reset slightly off is better than not at all. We call slowly guide a person to best, but we don’t want to stress them down with too many cues. Remember, we’re looking to build reflexive strength and remain as parasympathetic as possible. Too many cues and corrections will stress a person out and cut the impact of the reset. Enjoy the freedom that good, better and best give you with your peeps.
DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING
Get people to breathe well and good shit happens. Stress, mobility, stability, pain, resiliency and hormones can all be tied to how well we breathe. This is your first stop. At MFF and in my own programming, we start and end every session/class with a breathing drill. Based on the complexity or intensity of a program, we’ll also sprinkle in a moments to reset and breathe.
THE VESTIBULAR SYSTEM
As you dive deeper into Original Strength, you quickly learn that a healthy VS is massively important to quality of life. With posture, balance and coordination are all tied into your vestibular system, look to get some eye and head movement into your program. This is an amazing area to focus on as I’ve witnessed overall range of motion and movement efficiency improve drastically. Three cheers for motor control! I’ve also had people stop getting dizzy or motion sick when they normally would be looking to take a break or hurl. I’ve had head turns and nods as part of warm ups and cool downs but also at specific points during a class or training session. I also use Getups and Swings as a way to stimulate the VS.
CONTRALATERAL AND MIDLINE CROSSING
Improve gait pattern, improve coordination and strengthen your neural connections in the brain. This is huge as it has a direct carry over into walking, running and everyday activities. You’ve all seen how I’ve used contralateral movements throughout Fury Thursdays. Crawling is obviously a biggie in this category but don’t forget marching, skipping and walking. Your single leg deadlifts in this phase are a great example of a contralaterally loaded movement. The elevated rolls are a solid example of being both contralateral and crossing midline.
Let’s look at how used these ideas to program out this phase of Fury Thursdays.
GETUPS: Whether I’m approaching programming from an Original Strength, RKC or DVRT perspective getups are a cornerstone. The ability to get up and off the floor, regardless of load or implement, is vital to a long and healthy life. With OS in mind, it involves moving contralaterally, crossing midlines and stimulating the hell out of our vestibular system. The getup is also one of those unique exercises that incorporates both reflexive strength and the need for tension while improving mobility and stability.
ALOADED CARRIES: I specifically chose asymmetrical carries to challenge our stability under load. When being honest with weight selection, this is a great way to get your core fired up. Carries a great way to build your reflexive strength and very self limiting in terms of safety.
ONE ARM SWINGS/SINGLE LEG DEALDIFTS: Swings are vestibular system glory! Nuff said. Single leg deadlifts allow us to move slower if swings aren’t our jam and still provide a lot of vestibular input. SLDLs can also be viewed as a vertical deadbug in terms of how they challenge and tie the body together.
I hope this give you some ideas for implementing Original Strength into your training and programming. If you want to dive deeper, I highly suggest going to an OS Pressing Reset Course. It’s a one day course that is purposefully priced low because we want anyone looking to feel better access. We’ve had people come with their parents. There is also an opportunity to get certified after the course for an additional fee. If you have questions regarding the courses worth, feel free to hit Ric Garcia, Paul Lyngso, Tristan Phillips or I up. We all teach for Original Strength and can vouch for it. I’m not only the hair club president, I’m also a client.
I have an OS Pressing Reset Course coming to the new MFF Bowery location on 3/5. Please join Kirk, Karin, Wes and I there! Sign up here: Pressing Reset at MFF Bowery!
The book Original Strength Reloaded is a great choice to. It’s a quick and clear read. Personally, I need hands on teaching when it come to movement.
By all means email me with any questions (coachfury@gmail.com). Thank you all so much for being a part of Fury Thursdays. You folks rule!
-Fury
