I just returned from a 3-day adventure in Camden Hills State Park in Maine (not far from Acadia National Park). Yes, it’s mid February, and yes I just got back from a backpacking/camping trip in the middle of winter. I spent the better part of the last three days with an aluminum frame pack on my back, hanging out with 8 other companions (9, including our dog), including the Tougas family, whom I introduced to you last year here. We spent the days lugging around our packs through the snowy hills and mountain in Camden – stuffed full of sleeping bags, extra layers of clothing, and most importantly FOOOOOOOOOD. I think I probably carried more weight in food than anything else. Some would argue that we ate better while camping than at home! Our weekend trip was a delightful adventure and it ended far too soon.
We’ve all been there. You show up to the gym more than ready to slay dragons and crush weakness. You hit it hard, every set. Every rep is your absolute best. You also nailed a new personal record ahead of schedule – you’ve never done that much work in a training session until now. By the end of your session, the only way to describe how you feel is used, and you kinda like that. Life is good.
Until the next morning anyways. As you step out of bed and begin the semi-conscious shift back to supporting your bodyweight on your own two legs, something rather sudden happens. The moment your feet acquire bodyweight load, this little voice in the back of your head yells EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!
You gasp or shriek if you’ve never felt this sensation before, but most of us just grumble under our breath and accept the fact that your body feels like it’s been torn into a thousand pieces…again. You, my friend, are experiencing Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), and it’s one of life’s greatest pleasures. For all that hard work you did yesterday, your body has decided it would be best to almost immobilize you for the next day or so to allow ample time for healing. Actually, every time you move it’s as if every fiber in your body is being re-torn. Each new staircase transforms into Mt. Kilimanjaro, and getting off the couch requires a precisely calculated effort (with the help of others, of course). Don’t get comfy for too long though, since a couple hours of inactivity may enlighten you with a surprise ripping sensation upon re-initiating movement – and you might even hear it audibly (yep, with your ears).
Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness is a painful condition that is more severe than regular muscle soreness. Typical muscle soreness may start upon completion of vigorous physical activity, like lifting weights, and may last several hours to a day or two. DOMS, on the other hand, may not occur until the following day or days, and it can also last for several days. DOMS is primarily caused by the body’s inflammatory response to exercise. Its frequency and severity are determined by several factors including a trainee’s current conditioning level, age, along with the actual damage done to the muscle and connective tissues and the body’s ability to recover from that damage.
Note: This is part 2 of The Problem With Research series. Part 1 is here.
The truth is more important than the facts. Frank Lloyd Wright
FACTS.
They’re everywhere. You can find facts in a book, in a magazine, or on the World Wide Web. You can find people talking about facts on the news, in a political convention, or at a health professional conference. You can find facts almost everywhere you go because our culture bombards us with facts supporting this and facts supporting that. Facts are literally being fired off in every direction just like free throws in one of Shaq’s basketball games.
Here’s a brain-crasher: facts aren’t always true. In fact, some facts are false… deceptive… even lies. Other times facts are an illusion of the truth, but have been skewed into half-truths (this means that they’re not true!). There are a great many things that differentiate the truth from the facts.
Facts can be interpreted many different ways. Truth is known.
Facts can be used as evidence to support an opinion. Truth supersedes opinions.
Facts can be used out of context to create the illusion of truth. Truth is absolute.
The truth is incontrovertible, malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end; there it is. Winston Churchill
Note: maybe you’ve already read my TACFIT Commando Review, and you’ve gotten most of your questions answered from yesterday’s Q+A with a hesitant buyer. This one last bit of info is about why I love this program and why you will, too.
I’ve been talking about it since December, and now it’s finally here. [...]
Note: I received some questions from a hesitant buyer about TACFIT Commando this morning. They graciously allowed me to republish my response here on my blog. Their name has been left out for anonymity sake.
QUESTION:
Hello John,
Thanks again for your responses to all my questions! I wonder if I could ask you a few more questions, this time about Tacfit Commando. One of the things that has impressed me so much about CST is its extensive vocabulary of bodyweight exercises. While many of these movements are not absolutely unique to CST, they are thoughtfully put together all in one place, with accompanying forms of joint mobility, compensation, etc. One of the challenges of being a newcomer to CST is sorting through all the different products, and trying to differentiate them from each other and determine their distinctive value. I am delving into Flowfit and Intuflow. I think I can already appreciate (and more importantly feel) their commonalities and differences. To me, being able to move in a sophisticated manner is much more compelling than increasing my bench press!
Tacfit Commando looks like a very interesting product. I tried the Israeli Challenge and truly enjoyed it, even if movements like the quad squat, springing tripods, and swinging planks were not entirely new to me (for example, they are all in Flowfit). The marketing of Commando, however, has me very wary. Frankly, I think it is packaged in a hokey manner that makes me feel like I’m being sold snake oil. This comment has nothing to do with the goal of training soldiers, the sincerity of Commando’s creators, etc. It is simply a comment on how
it is all packaged. I feel as though the approach can stand on its own without all that artifice (i.e. Intuflow has little artifice and amazing content), and the artifice makes me wonder about the value of its actual content!
I know you do not endorse products lightly. In fact, your endorsement is encouraging me to give Commando a chance. As there are pros and cons to any approach, I wonder if you could suggest some of the weaknesses in Commando. What kinds of athletic goals and plans would it not be particularly well suited for? Could you give me a sense of how it differs from products like BER? Can it be incorporated with other forms of resistance or endurance training? Is there a substantially new vocabulary of movement in Commando as opposed to
what has come before?
I’m not expecting you to say anything negative about your colleagues, or put you in a bind, but I thought it might be helpful to get feedback from one person who thinks the packaging is a real turn off (i.e. Sonnon’s statement that the enemy is not honorable enough to do the workout- I mean c’mon…). I will probably end up purchasing Commando before the initial deal expires, but hoped your feedback could help me make an informed decision.
Many Thanks,
Anonymous
ANSWER:
You’re very welcome. I’d be happy to assist you in your buying decision. Times are rough and money is tight, so I want to make sure you don’t feel like you’re getting scammed into something that isn’t right for you.
I hear you on the marketing, but as I said in my email newsletter… If you take away all the marketing, all the shiny signs and fancy sales copy, and leave ONLY the program, I think it stands alone as an excellent product, which is why I gave it an endorsement. If I were in charge of releasing it, I’m sure I probably would have done it a little differently, but let’s get to your questions. Continue reading TACFIT Commando FAQ and Concerns From a Hesitant Buyer (Q+A)
We’ve all been there. You show up to the gym more than ready to slay dragons and crush weakness. You hit it hard, every set. Every rep is your absolute best. You also nailed a new personal record ahead of schedule – you’ve never done that much work in a training session until now. By the end of your session, the only way to describe how you feel is used, and you kinda like that. Life is good.
