Your weekly mission: throw heavy shit
Hey dudes,
I wish to stress that you don’t need a gym, you don’t need “trainers”, you don’t need “classes”, you don’t need strange machines, and you don’t need extreme programs to get stronger or to get a great workout.
This is what Pointman is all about: finding simplicity and efficacy, then amplifying it, often through weighted or timed resistance.
We look to natural anatomy and physiology to help us. As we learned in swingers, humans are the only primate that can run. So, we run, and we do movements to help us run with more speed and strength.
Humans are also the only animal that can throw things, at least with range and accuracy. [Google for more, it’s interesting.]
So it’s time to throw heavy shit.
SPEX:
Pick a weight**
Choose a safe area free of unpredictable hazards like pets or kids
Throw that weight, up to 10 times
Keep your eye on the weight and trajectory! Don’t hurt yourself or others, please.
This is one set
Take no more than 3 minutes per set, including rest
Complete no more than 10 sets in 30 minutes or less
Throwing weight like this is basically a snatch that doesn’t stop at the top. Just as before, strength comes from the hips. The hip hinge is the foundation of this movement, not the upper body.
**You will have to do some planning here. A kettlebell works great if you are on the right surface like the beach or dirt. A kettlebell on a lawn, however, will cause tons of damage — don’t do that. In future editions I will show you how to build weight with simple materials. I recently bought a Strongman throw bag and am using it here. I put in one bag of sand so it weighs about 65 pounds, though there is room for more. Honestly, I don’t love it as much as I thought I would. So you don’t need it; simple is better.
STRONG STORIES
As I was doing this workout in the park, a guy drove by and stopped to watch me. He was very enthusiastic and interested, but clearly timid. So I did what anyone should do in this situation — I invited him over to join me.
Lee told me in very broken English that he came over from China 20 years ago. He also said he’s 70! I wrote down Pointman.net for him, though it’s not clear if he owns a computer or phone. I hope he finds us.
This happened while a group of bros throwing a football near me also watched, but none came over to learn more.
Lee — without language nor training nor youth nor size — humbled himself and stepped up. The bros did not.
Everyone starts somewhere. He’s a legend in my book.
In the spirit of Lee, GET IT!