MARK RIPPETOE: Heavier Kit? Stronger Soldiers!
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MARK RIPPETOE TO THE RESCUE? The Overloaded Soldier: Why U.S. Infantry Now Carry More Weight Than Ever: Technology was supposed to be the solution. Instead, it added to the problem. “In 2016, the Marine Corps Times reported a new standard for strength and endurance. An average Marine Corps infantry officer should to be physically able to carry 152 lbs. for nine miles. That load might sound extreme, but even official documents describe carrying a 100 lbs. as standard. In the ensuing debate about whether this was realistic, one marine infantryman described carrying more than 200 lbs. during missions in Afghanistan.”
I’ve been doing “farmer’s carries” where I carry more than that — currently 270 lbs — but as a strength exercise, doing it for the length of a basketball court and back. And after a few of these, I’m wiped. Doing it for nine miles with nearly that much is an amazing load, even for people who are, sadly, 1/3 my age. But maybe if soldiers have to carry so much, their conditioning routines should focus more on strength?
MARK RIPPETOE, EAT YOUR HEART OUT: Man uses teeth to pull 677-ton cargo ship.
A LIBERTARIAN MANIFESTO: Mark Rippetoe: The “Corporate Culture” of The Aasgaard Company.
MARK RIPPETOE goes off.
MARK RIPPETOE: How Functional Training Pushes Kids To Use Steroids.
MARK RIPPETOE EMAILS A LINK TO THIS STUDY: Do statins lower testosterone and does it matter?
WHAT EVERYONE NEEDS: The Winchester Model 1897 ‘Trench Gun.’
UPDATE: Mark Rippetoe emails: “I have one of these. Killed about 60 rattlesnakes with it last year. Lovely little thing.”
READING THIS ARTICLE MAKES ME WANT TO RAISE A BILLION DOLLARS FOR MARK RIPPETOE: Age Of The Twink.
MARK RIPPETOE: Adaptation, Your Environment, and You.
MARK RIPPETOE: Adaptation, Your Environment, and You.
I’D BE INTERESTED IN HEARING MARK RIPPETOE’S TAKE ON THIS: Weightlifting Injuries Common for Deployed U.S. Troops.
UPDATE: Mark Rippetoe emails:
I looked at the full text of the paper. As you might guess, with the paper titled “Acute Pectoralis Major Tears in Forward Deployed Active Duty U.S. Military Personnel: A Population at Risk?” it is not about the larger topic of strength training but rather it’s a small review article that primarily deals with the surgical interventions. This, of course, does not prevent the authors from pondering the overwhelming threat posed by the most popular exercise in any gym in the United States except for mine, on the basis of 9 reported injuries. I strongly suspect that since 80% of these injuries were pec tendon avulsions at the humerus (not really pec tears at all), and since one of them occurred at 135 pounds (!), what you’re seeing here is a bunch of pre-inflamed tendon insertions — courtesy of the now-popular CrossFit training these military guys do — which decided to rupture on deployment.
1. How many pec tendon avulsions were treated in non-deployed troops? Statistics?
2. This injury is in fact uncommon, and I’d never seen one prior to CrossFit. An occasional pec belly rupture or partial rupture, like Bill Kazmeier’s back in the 80s, but not a tendon avulsion. How many of these guys had a history of CF or other high-rep ballistic shoulder work?
3. Look at this bizarre statement: “Due to the alarming frequency with which pectoralis major ruptures were diagnosed and treated at one expeditionary military treatment facility over a short four-month deployment cycle; combat deployed active duty US military personnel likely represent a high-risk population for this injury.”
Is an illogical conclusion now required for publication in medical journals?
It doesn’t hurt.
MARK RIPPETOE: The Olympic Games: Time to Stop. “The Olympics has turned from a celebration of human physical performance that once transcended global politics and popular culture into a propaganda event for the dominant interpretation of global politics and popular culture. It is no longer about athletics and who wins the athletic competition – it is now concerned with shaping our perceptions of what it means to compete with each other, and why we probably shouldn’t celebrate winning at all. It has become an embarrassing mess for the entire human race, and it’s time to stop wasting resources, time, and attention span on it.”
Then there’s the mind-boggling corruption.
MARK RIPPETOE: From Heart Patient to Lifter.
MARK RIPPETOE: How Do You Hire A Trainer? Me, I get Rip to work out with me when he’s passing through town, but I guess that’s not for everyone.
MARK RIPPETOE: Physical Strength Is Like Money In the Bank.
Physical strength is like money in the bank, in that it enables you to do the things you want to do with your body. Work, play sports, hunt and fish, and be physically independent well into your later years – physical strength is the basis of all these things.
I know that sitting around the table at The Academy, solving calculus problems, grappling with tough philosophical questions, writing art criticism, calculating reparations payments, and making decisions for other people might seem to be a more satisfying use of time and intellect. If you’re physically lazy, it certainly is.
But you can still do all these things while getting your deadlift up to a respectable weight. I manage.
Intellectual pursuits are indeed important, but having a strong enough body to host an intellect effectively, and to enjoy the fruits of intellectual accomplishment into old age is part of the equation. Strength is the antithesis of ill health, and ill health is not how an intellect flourishes.
In fact, the muscle mass that comes with the development of physical strength has been proven to prevent the diseases and afflictions that come with careless aging, the irresponsible lack of attention to maintaining the strength that is everyone’s birthright. Everyone can get and stay strong, but this requires work, and excuses are easier than squats and deadlifts.
Related: Nassim Taleb on how to spot an intellectual-yet-idiot: “He doesn’t even deadlift.”
Also: Lifting weights could make you more intelligent, study suggests.
MARK RIPPETOE: Your First Days in the Gym.
MARK RIPPETOE ON BARBELL TRAINING SIDE EFFECTS.
HE’S NOT CULTURALLY APPROPRIATING FROM MARK RIPPETOE, TO JUDGE FROM THIS PICTURE: ‘Privileged’ Justin Trudeau accused of colonialist attitude over boxing match.
JEFF BEZOS DOESN’T JUST SELL MARK RIPPETOE’S BOOK, he’s also looking as if he’s read it.
MARK RIPPETOE: Your First Two Weeks of Strength Training: What to Expect.
MARK RIPPETOE ON FUNCTIONAL TRAINING: Diversity is NOT our Strength.
MARK RIPPETOE: Getting Played: Whose Fault is It?
DUH: It’s John Ashcroft I mean Fox News I mean, the Russians!