The Nomad Way or How to be a Fitness Gypsy

This really and truly should have been my first blog post, or at least included alongside my introductory offering. But, I wanted to put it together carefully and discuss it with others so as to fully elaborate and explain myself, often it's hard to articulate concepts and ideas that you live through on daily basis. So thank you to my friend Charles Moriarty and my brother Callum for listening to me drone on and on with passionate vigour about press ups, logs and scavenged tractor tyres...

When I decided that I wanted to get back into good shape, despite living a lifestyle that would lead most men to preclude any form of exercise, I made the conscious decision that I didn't want to 'do okay for my circumstances', I wanted to excel. I wanted to be stronger, faster and leaner than I had ever been. Not only that, but I wanted to continue to improve, never 'peaking' and believing that I needed 'more' to be more, whether that be more rest from work, more gym time, more equipment on the road. Whatever. I wanted to make the best of what I had and learn to thrive in any situation, adapting and modifying whatever the weather, just as nomadic cultures do.

Adapting vs compromising

Something I've given a lot of thought to is what makes The Nomad Way different to other modalities, I'm not particularly concerned with 'individuality', in fact my passion is discovering how others train and live, then seeing what I can incorporate and utilise in my own journey. I have however thought about what TNW (I'm going to abbreviate as I feel I've written the word 'nomad' more than any man should have to in a lifetime) could most closely be compared to, and consequently considered the key differences...

I guess crossfit, MovNat and calisthenics are all pretty fair comparisons, there are elements of all three involved, that being said, if you look at the programming (and yes... For the most part I do program) TNW is pretty geared towards hypertrophy, fat loss and general aesthetics, with elements of strength training. It actually has all the hallmarks of old school bodybuilding, I've just dusted it off, trimmed down the time consuming 'fluff' to make it fit my schedule, then snatched it away from the gym and taken it out to play...

So it's not Crossfit, it focuses on body parts and emphasises aesthetic goals as opposed to movements patterns and strength/ performance (although I will concede that the two are intrinsically linked, more on that later.)

It's not MovNat, we may train outside, implementing naturally occurring terrain, obstacles and objects, but that's an adaptive response to not having access to gym equipment NOT a preference. I'm also not trying to recreate or hone any natural movement patterns. I'm just trying to get in great shape with a good deal of strength and fitness. The fact I can move around like a monkey who's been medically diagnosed with some form of attention deficit disorder, is probably more a result of never letting myself get out of the practice of dicking around like a kid in a playground at any given opportunity. I like climbing lampposts. Say no more.

Lastly, despite the fact my personal opinion is that manipulating your body through space will always produce better results than staying stationary and levering weights (think lat pulldown vs pull ups, bench press vs dips etc) this clearly isn't calisthenics as I utilise weights, weighted objects and added resistance wherever possible, to induce progressive overload without increasing the duration of my training sessions.

I have a lot of love for all of those training styles, I've adopted a lot from all three as well as various other individuals and movements I've encountered. 

If I had to put my finger on the biggest influence in the formation of The Nomad way I would definitely look in the direction of Gym Jones, particularly Robert 'Bobby Maximus' McDonald. But that's a whole other can of worms...

More guidelines than rules...

The two main fundamental premises of this type of training, are that a) generally speaking, most movements are interchangeable, and adaptable to your environment and b) Time constraints are a realistic barrier to most busy professionals, but workouts can be adapted and adjusted to fit most time scales, often increasing in efficiency and cardiovascular benefits as the window narrows.

If you look at the movements and set/rep prescriptions that make up most successful 'bodybuilding' program's, you can see that most focus on one or two initial big 'bang for your buck' compound movements per body part, followed by some accessory/ extra stimulation work. Let's say we're pressed for time and equipment so we're just going to focus on our money-makers, our squats, deadlifts and presses and up the volume to make up for shaking of the assistance movements by throwing in a few more sets, reducing rest periods to increase the accumulative fatigue and generally pack out the small amount of time you have efficiently. 

If you take a look at the movement patterns of the big compound lifts, the one's we should be concerning ourselves with, it's easy to see how transferable they can be, if you find yourself bereft of equipment; if you can pick it up and shoulder it, you can squat it, you can probably press it too. Light weight? Use one arm and switch between reps. 

Your muscles don't know the difference between a barbell and a log or piece of scrap iron. In fact, odd objects will force your body to work in ways it's never had to before. This is good, ja?

The philosophy being, that with The Nomad Way, settling for ‘maintaining’ a good physique or even ‘letting yourself go’ due to lifestyle barriers is totally unnecessary if one is adaptable. In fact, it is more than possible to build a body to be proud of with nothing more than basic objects and items that can be found everywhere.

Also, that no matter what your time constraints, doing something will always trump doing nothing, building fast, effective workouts that are adaptable and replicable in any environment from woodlands and warehouses to beaches and hotel rooms.

I hope you can take something away from this, have a play around and start your own nomad journey. 

Next time, how l split and structure my workouts... Get yourself warmed up and primed because this is where the magic starts...

Peace out

AT