We get inspired to do things for all kinds of reasons, whether it's being a better athlete, business person, a coach or whatever. Seeing what people are capable of doing and being in awe of the possibilities that give us the courage and/or will to go after things for ourselves. When it comes to working out, I get a lot of inspiration from the old timers, some influencers today and those who have moved on from this world.
From personal experience and knowing the man himself, Bud Jeffries will always be at the top of the list of guys that gives me the reason to go after what I love and making it work with a fucking vengeance. He was arguably the strongest drug free lifter of all time, right up there with Paul Anderson (One of the men he modeled after), Saxon, Grimek and others. Bud's conditioning for a man his size at the time is still a complete anomaly even to us that knew him well. The amount of Strikes he can do in a brief time with sledgehammers, his sprinting intervals, kettlebell swings in an hour, the amount of squats and push-ups he was capable of doing was not meant be done for a guy who at his heaviest was over 400 lbs and the lightest before he died just under 300. The man moved like a middleweight instead of a super heavyweight, his speed, flexibility and power was beyond most man who were drug free. A Superman for sure
Another one I was always inspired by is the reason for this article that you are reading at this moment and that's the legendary Kurt Angle. If the term superhuman had a name, it was Kurt. We all know the story of him winning the Gold with a Broken Freakin' Neck. I have read his book and learned many stories but one thing stood out in my mind the most was the way he trained starting with the World Championships around the time he was training with Foxcatcher and other areas.
The type of training he did was something he picked on from Dan Gable in how he trained his wrestlers at Iowa. It was called Exhaust Training where you would just go hard until you were exhausted and that's when the training actually started. The sprints he did, his wrestling, bodyweight stuff, weights, bands and whatever to push himself to limits that is a mind fuck to what the human body is capable of. Shit, the way he trained makes David Goggins look like a joke in comparison. The explosiveness Kurt had and the ability to wear down opponents with incredible ease is jaw dropping. I swear if he was in catch wrestling and knew the hooks, would've dominated in the early 20th century and could've made guys like Frank Gotch and Ed Lewis think twice. In the UFC, nobody would've been able to touch him.
I get a kick out of listening to those stories on his training because it shows what you're willing to put in and become some kind of machine. In my own training doing 500-1000 rep circuits with the Dopamineo Bands, the 500 Hindu Squats, Sapate HIIT Workouts, Sprinting and whatever else I want to put myself through. Now I wouldn't touch Exhaust Training with a ten foot pole and it's not ideal to do that kind of extreme training over a long period of years but it is important to understand that when you learn what you're capable of at any age, there are things you test on and things you learn to adapt with.
Kurt has said himself he wasn't the biggest, fastest or most technical in his time but he knew if he can outlast everyone, that was what mattered. I believe to this day that Conditioning is your greatest asset whether you're an athlete or not and from a wrestler's point of view it goes back to Karl Gotch's saying of "Conditioning is your greatest hold". I still love the story when Kurt went and trained with Dan Gable's team at Iowa learning about Exhaust Training and on a "Day off", Dan had the guys do one college match. Now for those playing the home game, a college match I think even today is 3 rounds of 3 minutes, 2 minutes and another 2 minutes. So, Kurt thought ok one college match with the greatest college wrestling squad should be fun. Several minutes go by, whistle isn't blown, 15-20 minutes in and something isn't right and these guys are going hard. At 30 minutes, whistle is blown and Kurt just in shock thought it was going to be one college match like Dan said. Dan kept his word but the match was going to be 30, 20, 20; 10 times the amount of time for a typical match.
That shit alone makes you wonder how the hell that team even had guys that lost when they were in that kind of condition. Crazy right? That is some inspiring stuff. These guys were the cream of the crop when it came to college wrestling and up until the time Cael Sanderson came along (Wrestler & Coach), nobody could touch Iowa. This is why I enjoy doing workouts that may seem nuts but compared to these guys, it would kill me even now. Doing those Band sessions, lots of squats and step ups, it gives me a new outlook on high rep training than I had before. In my early 40's now, I love the training I do and being able to go out there and hammer out whatever and have fun with it keeps those inspirations alive and learning what I can do without putting myself at risk of major injuries.
Will I be doing the same stuff that I'm doing now 10-20 years down the road? Maybe not and will adapt if needed but the love I have for it will never die and if I can go and be able to train so I don't get winded for things in my own life, that's just the cherry on top of a kick ass Sundae. If you want to know what real conditioning looks like, look up guys like Kurt Angle, Bud Jeffries, Ed Lewis, Dan Gable and even guys like Rickey Henderson in Baseball, Walter Payton or Herschel Walker in Football. These were great men.
Train hard, be inspired and get to a level that you didn't think was possible. You are powerful, you can be in great condition and more in the process. Be respectful to the old timers but also respect the training that you even put yourself through. You don't have to go to extremes but it is important you learn what your capabilities are even at the smallest fucking fraction of progress because it will still lead to the big picture. Keep being amazingly awesome.
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