Some people cannot accept minimalism and add “vertical pulls,” “horizontal pulls,” and the kitchen sink to their lifting regimens. Steve Freides, StrongFirst Certified Senior Instructor set them straight in his post about two-lift programs on
our forum:
“Balance is overrated. The idea that a lifting program must touch on all the “basic human movements” is fundamentally flawed. One should move in as many varied ways as possible, at least from time to time, but that doesn’t mean heavily loading every possible movement pattern. A lifting program can do what a lifting program needs to do and only contain two lifts. A lifting program doesn’t need to be balanced—a life does.”
Steve keeps his training minimalist—and gets his balance by competing in all-around lifts. Freides holds over 20 masters’ records, world and American, in exotica such as the “Steinborn lift” and the “Inman mile.” The former is a powerlifting squat, except that it starts and ends with the bar on the platform. The lifter maneuvers the barbell onto the shoulders with complicated body language, squats below parallel, and then respectfully returns the bar to the platform in the same controlled manner as lifted. The latter is death march with 150 percent of the athlete’s bodyweight on a yoke sitting on the shoulders.
Dr. Mike Prevost agreed:
“This approach can be really effective…include some Hindu pushups, bodyweight squats, yoga poses, a bit of sprinting, some flexibility work, balance work (like on a slack line), lots of walking, some practice with break falls and rolls, swimming...”
