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This week Craig Weller and Jonathan Pope of Rogue Performance in Denver, Colorado share one of their training methods and show you how to perform the NSW Mile. These guys are known for their unconventional yet effective training programs
Howie: I'm Howie Clark.
Joel: In this week's episode of 8 Weeks Out TV, you're going to find out why we went all the way out to Denver, Colorado, the Mile-High City. Let's check it out.
Hey there. I'm here today in freezing-ass cold Denver, Colorado with Craig Weller and Jonathan Pope, of Rogue Strength and Performance. Not too long ago, Howie back home, had told me about something called the NSW Mile, which sounded fun and yet brutal, so I wanted to fly here myself and have these guys show you what it's all about and how they use it with their athletes. Are you guys ready to go? All right.
Jonathan: All right. We're here doing the NSW Mile; this is the Safety Squat version. A few things to look for on this is basically just a neutral posture while they're standing. As they get going, they're going to get a little out a breath and you want to make sure that they're doing diaphragmatic breathing. The weight's going to crush them, so it's going to be really hard to breathe up through their chest, but just have them focus on that and just maintain a nice, neutral posture with their chin back. As they break down, they're going to slowly look forward.
Go ahead and start walking, Craig. Another thing you want to look for is any lateral movement; their hips going from side-to- side. Craig here is demonstrating the body weight version and the distances used and the weights used, as we'll talk about later, depend on the individual and their current fitness level. It's freezing-ass cold. I'm shivering.
Joel: I've got a jacket on, and I'm fucking cold.
Jonathan: This is awful. He lost the battle, that's why he has to do it. When they're walking, you want to watch for make sure they have a nice, neutral posture; they're not breaking down or their hips aren't tilting. A lot of times they'll go into an interior tilt; we get a lot of lumbar extension, or they'll break down [inaudible: 02:10] and start breathing poorly; forward head posture. You also want to watch their hips and make sure they're not tilting side-to-side, laterally. Then beyond that, a lot of times, there's a mental breakdown as much as a physical one. If you cue them to keep proper posture and breath properly, a lot of times you can eliminate any of those issues.
As you can see, Craig here is feeling pretty awesome; having fun. The good thing is that he's not really collapsing; he's keeping nice, good posture, and he's breathing properly.
Joel: Which means he can do more.
Jonathan: Yeah, which means that he can probably go further, and we're going to sit here and talk about how nice and cold it is. He enjoys it. That's about it. That's the NSW Safety Squat Walk.
Joel: It really was freezing-ass cold there out in Denver, Colorado, but it great to make a trip out there and see those guys. I know you that go way back with them.
Howie: Yeah. I met Craig a couple years ago in California, and picked his brain. I had read some of the articles he's written before, and he gave me a lot of information to apply to my training. It's great to see that he and Jonathan are still just pushing forward with it.
Joel: Basically, the moral of the story is we're going to throw your body weight . . . how much do you weigh?
Howie: 200 pounds.
Joel: We are going to throw 200 pounds on your back and get your ass out in the cold walking a mile.
Howie: And watch me crumble. Let's give it a shot.
Joel: Let's do it. Hopefully we'll see Howie next week, but in the meantime, make sure and visit us at 8WeeksOut.com, and get more videos like this one; more training tips. You can find us at Facebook.com/8WeeksOut, and enter to win a BioForce system. You can find me there as well: Facebook.com/JoelJamieson. Twitter, same thing. Social media, right?
Howie: That's right. Joel Jamieson at Twitter.
Joel Twitter.com/JoelJamieson. Get it right.
Howie: That's right.
Joel: Anyway, make sure like this video. Go ahead and embed it, share it, give it to everybody who wants to see how to walk a mile in the freezing cold. We'll see you again next time.
Leave A Comment
scott umberger says: “I”m wearing a jacket and I’m fucking cold!”… Quote of the year…
Joel Jamieson says: It was damn cold!
Mr.natural76 says: I agree it looks brutal, but there are hundreds of brutal workouts…just go to the crossfit site. If brutal is the goal, I get it. But beyond brutal, what is the objective here? Why would you want to spend 15 mins of a 60-90 min workout session walking with 200lbs? What sport would a D1 S&C coach use this for?
thanks.
jmpope says: The point of the workout is not just to be difficult. In fact, that’s actually completely secondary. We actually did an interview before we taped the outside portion (seen in the video) where we gave the exercise some context but Joel didn’t throw that in.
Here is the short version of that interview – we only use it with certain athletes that need substantial postural strength such as SOF prep candidates and operators and others such as “mountain athletes” that need to carry their own bodyweight and often large load on their spine for a long period without breaking down. It trains these guys to get comfortable with a crushing load on their spine while maintaining proper movement and breathing. We use it as an assessment tool for these guys as much as a training tool. When movement breaks down we stop, and then address the flaw and retest later.
Why would you spend 15 minutes doing this? Well, it’s a specific test/assessment for us for our athletes specific needs. We don’t have everyone do it and I wouldn’t suggest you do that either. It’s just another tool in the toolbox and should be used correctly.
I’m not really sure how you would use it in D1 athletics setting. I have the luxury of training only a few clients at a time in my facility so without seeing who you train and what the circumstances are that’s a hard question to answer. I certainly wouldn’t suggest doing it with large groups or it will turn into a pissing contest and most likely injuries.
Joel Jamieson says: The interview with Craig and Jonathan is going to be up on the site next Monday so people will be able to get the context of the method being used
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