Alex Viada: The Real-Life Shinogi Kureha

Shinogi Kureha is the Ultimate Athlete, possessing high levels of fitness in a variety of disciplines, from running fast, short distance and long, slow distances to weight lifting to flexibility. If you've watched Grappler Baki, you know he's somewhat of a monster. He's also a freakin' medical doctor, for crying out loud and is obsessed with interesting cases involving human performance.

Dr. Muscles will see you now.

But did you know that there's a guy in real life who is pretty much Kureha?

Alex Viada, of Complete Human Performance, is a monster in his own right. Just take a look at some of his accomplishments:

• He touts a 700# deadlift and squat and an almost 500# bench press. 
• His mile time is just over 4 minutes. 
• And did I mention he runs ultra-marathons and does triathlons? 
• He's working on a Master's in Physiology.
• Plus he's ripped as hell at 220#.

Did I say he was ripped? I said that, right?

The point he make with his training protocols is that it is possible to be very good at multiple things that seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum by proper scheduling of your training sessions, eliminating non-essential training, conforming to SAID (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands), and for every training session to have a purpose. 

"The biggest realization for me was that, to be good at multiple things, I had to be lazy- to be specialized, to do ONLY what I needed to improve at each discipline and not a bit more. Eliminating the waste from my programming was a difficult thing to do- I couldn’t afford to do three or four accessory lifts every session- I had to limit it to one or two. I couldn’t “go out on a run” just for the sake of going out on a run- if it didn’t make me faster, improve my overall endurance, or aid in recovery, it would be a waste of time."

(Source: http://www.jtsstrength.com/articles/2014/04/12/5-questions-alex-viada/)

That's an enormously difficult thing to do for many people who workout. It means staying committed to a goal that you have and only doing things that conform to that goal. I know that's been one of the biggest things to overcome for me. 

Ask yourself, "Why am I doing this workout?"  

Is this workout going to make you stronger, faster, improve stamina, skill, or make you big? Make sure that your training is not haphazard and that your workouts are serving a purpose. 

The other takeaway here is that if you have something you want to do-- do it. If you want to run marathons and lift heavy weights, freaking do it. Want to box and do Crossfit? Go for it. The point is that if you train all the aspects properly so they don't interfere with one another, there's no reason you can't achieve your goals. It might take you longer and it might be hard as hell, but you can do it. 

There are people who redefine what's physically possible all the time. They run faster or farther. They pick up more weight than anyone ever has before. They learn 5 martial arts and blend them together. People do 5k races on their hands! Figure out what you want to do and then do it. 

Shinogi Kureha became the Ultimate Athlete. Alex Viada's not far behind him.

That's all for today guys! Until next time, good luck and train hard!