Hot Wax And Human Performance

Outlets. We all have them.

An opportunity to gear down from the daily grind and give yourself some undivided attention. What is hopefully a very bright spot of your day to day.

Personally, that outlet for me has become the record player. An almost nightly event of unwinding to a raw sound on a classic device. Better yet a music playing device that does not rob you of your attention span with one thumb swipe to the right.

In fact it has evolved to a form of meditation to me. A deep exploration of the messaging coming my way through beats, riffs, and lyrics and how it may influence my overall thought process and embrace any weird ideas that may surface as a result of it.

Ideas that may take two wildly different subjects in theory only to realize there may be more in common than initially imagined.

In this case, the record player and its ability to influence how you may look at your own performance.
 

Speak To Me

Soft Landings

With spinning records comes the risk of skipping records. One poorly calculated step in your encounters with gravity has the potential for party foul.

In physical performance the terms strength, speed, and power are often the key buzz words in the discussion and rightfully so. However we cannot forget the importance of polishing the deceleration skill set within all of this. Eccentric strength, stability and a constant awareness of your relationship with gravity plays a major role in strength, speed, and power development.

Add to it the influence deceleration training has in changing directions, hitting the ground gracefully and ultimately playing its part in keeping you and your vinyl collection out of harm's way.

Timeless Devices

Funny how some things whether it be music or training serve the test of the time. No matter how much we evolve, there are just certain devices that never seem to disappear. I cannot say that I predicted the resurgence of vinyl in mainstream music. Nor would I have predicted the mainstream resurgence of barbells, kettlebells, and old time lifts in mainstream gyms but here we are.

Both however are tried and tested. They've been around for as long as they have been because they produce a great result. While there will always be evolution in both how we listen as well as how we lift, there are just some things that will always have their place in the process.

Who knows, maybe in another ten years we will all be listening to CD's and you'll see select Hammer Strength machines in CrossFit gyms.

Side A-Side B

My biggest appreciation in vinyl comes in the commitment of listening. Rather than skipping, shuffling, and surfing through a potentially endless resource you have the chance to adhere to and explore one key source that you have ultimately decided upon.

A commitment in training that can also be very tricky due to the fact that we can follow the same fate. Where adherence seems to be the ultimate roadblock in getting where you want to be physically I think we can take a lot from the record player.

You make a decision on a particular selection and your best way to make the most of it is to commit to it and explore it and most importantly ride the course of side A before you can say you made it to side B.
 

Sweet Music

-JA