Tough Mudder, Ivan Abadjief and Heat Training

Today is hot. The only way to train in this weather is to get acclimated to the heat. It generally takes a few weeks in order to accomplish that. One of the problems in Tuesday’s workout was the heat. Tony and I were both tired and that’s easily related to the heat. Hopefully, the heat won’t be a problem in another week or so. Buck Shaw told me about an event called “Tough Mudder”. This activity is scheduled to come to Northern California in September of this year. Squaw Valley is the race site. This athletic endeavor is supposed to be really difficult because the British Special Forces set up the obstacles for this 10 mile run. Take a look at the website to get an overview and specifics about obstacles and training. Running and weight lifting is just part of it. Let me know what you think about the sport? They’re already 7500 people registered. I believe they’re opening up another slot once they get permission from the Park service. This is new and exciting.

In Tuesday’s, June 21, 2011 Wall Street Journal there was an article about weightlifting and the Bulgarian method. You might not remember but, in 1972, the Bulgarian team beat the Soviet Union’s weightlifting team in the Olympic Games. The man given credit for this was Ivan Abadjief the weightlifting coach. He has also produced champions in Turkey and Qatar. Currently, he is in Danville, California training students at a new Academy for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Ivan is currently 79 years of age and has his own method of training. His method, to oversimplify, is that his weightlifters train with no days off. They also push their bodies gradually and consistently with great amounts of weights during training. He believes that our bodies will adapt to any level of stress regardless of the demands placed upon it. His idea is that injury and fatigue are less likely while adrenaline is running through the body, stimulating protein synthesis. Also, his students eat anything they want including junk food.

I remember working out with weights in preparation for college football at the University of Detroit in 1958. I visited nearby friends who incorporated what could be called the Bulgarian method. We would put huge amounts of weight on the bar and do partial squats and other lifts. I know that using these tremendous amounts of weight were good psychologically as well. These weights became just numbers. I certainly developed more strength and power from those workouts. Maybe that training should be called the Barr method. Thank you Bob for introducing me to that technique.

In contrast, many American fitness trainers plot the combination of exercises to build things like endurance, core strength, and cardiovascular health while including periods of stretching and rest. They believe a healthy balanced diet is essential. Ivan gets many testimonials from the students who now follow his regime because of the results. It is likely that many American coaches tend to error on the side of under training to account for things like class work, relationships, etc. It must be pointed out that the American men haven’t won a gold medal in weightlifting in the last 40 years. To see photos and a video about the Bulgarian method visit WSJ.com/sports. Get back to me on this one also. Eating anything you want can be tempting.