Nekkid Time

“Strength is a skill.” -Pavel Tsatsouline from The Naked Warrior.

Sometimes it seems that athletes possess super-human strength and ability when performing their sport; Dancers balance on point on one foot, ring gymnasts hold their body static in gravity defying positions, old yoga instructors bend and hold their bodies in unthinkable positions, and even short basketball players seem to easily dunk a ball on a regulation court.

How are these athletes so strong? Or are they? Since it looks too good to be true, maybe it is.

My speculation is that these athletes are in fact incredibly strong, but they’re also incredibly skilled. They understand how to optimize their strength by using skill. They foster a synergistic relationship.

One way to look at the relationship between strength and skill is The Strength-Skill Scale

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As you can see from the scale, certain activities require more strength or more skill depending on their demands. By developing skill or strength alone you can improve your performance. By developing both simultaneously, you can excel in your performance.

The purpose of the scale is to show that you can make progress by improving your strength or skill. If you ever get to a sticking point in strength, try improving your skill to break the plateau.

Methods to improve your skill:

1. Meditate: Once a day is all it takes to improve concentration and recover your central nervous system.
2. Practice: Utilize the SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demand). If you work at something enough, you’ll inevitably get better at it.
3. Mobility/Flexibility: Improve your balance and coordination by properly warming-up and improving your range of motion using mobility drills.
4. Focus: When you lift or perform a sport, don’t let your mind wander. Focus on your goal and dig deep to harness the potential power of your mind. Meditating helps you expand your ability to concentrate, but you need to refine that expansion into a skill.

‘Tis skill, not strength, that governs a ship.” -Thomas Fuller

Refine your skills and look good Nekkid friends.