Circle of Trust

A famous scene from the movie Jaws was when Quint told the story of the USS Indianapolis.  The way the actor, Robert Shaw who played Quint talked was very similar to how my Grandpa used to talk-  an Irish brogue, but he spoke more in a somber growl than the sing-song cadence you often see on tv when folks imitate a brogue.  It was in that tone my Grandpa would tell us about his brother, our Great Uncle Pete…  “You’re Great Uncle Pete was the strongest man you’ll ever see.  He’d work the fields so hard that his mule would be too exhausted to walk back on its own so Pete would have to carry the mule back from the fields.”  While awestruck by the story, I believed it because my Grandpa told me the story and because I was 8 years old.

As time passed, I began to realize that like many Irishmen, my Grandpa was a world-class story teller…  Were the stories of Uncle Pete really true?

Then came classes in high school and college where you’d sift through the often blurred lines of the history and the legends of Ancient Greece, and I first heard of Milo.  Milo was an Olympic champion wrestler a couple thousand years ago.  Milo’s strength was legendary.  Milo claimed he could carry a bull.  Milo did not pick up a full grown bull right off the bat.  No, he bought a new born calf and he would pick up the calf every day for years.  As the calf grew, so did Milo’s strength.  Eventually the calf grew to be a full grown bull and through his patient and daily training over the years, Milo could in fact pick up and carry a bull.

Hot damn!  Maybe my Grandpa’s stories of Great Uncle Pete were true!!!  If Milo could carry a bull, why couldn’t Pete carry a mule?!!!

The Great Milo of Croton was the father of resistance training and he followed these 3 simple principles:

1. Start light, start too easy.  Intensity will come later.
2. Continue to show up.  Show up every day.
3. Make small, manageable gains.

Using Milo as an example, on December 1st, I started doing just one Turkish Get-Up.  I have added one more Get-Up to my total each day.  Today we did 9 Turkish Get-Ups.  My goal is to get to 100 Turkish Get-Ups in a day.  Start easy, show up every day and continue to make manageable gains.  Whatever you choose to do, every journey starts with the first step, stick with it, and continue to get better.