Passing through a portal is the moment in the workout when the body begins to manage pain more effectively. The big gains hide in the pain. Get comfortable being uncomfortable. Identify your portals and jump through. When you learn to recognize and jump through portals, you are on the fast track to success.
BEGINNERS
10 sets of 10 reps. There are plenty of exercises that can get you into Deep Water. Compound movements that use as much of the body as possible are ideal. As a beginner, you will want to stick with more basic movements. Back squats and deadlifts are perfect. Auxiliary exercises like curls and bench presses won’t do the trick.
Keep in mind that your body may feel overtrained. The goal is to feel like you can keep going past ten even though you are whipped. Your body is releasing endorphins that have a numbing effect on the pain. At this point, don’t dive in, but watch for the portals of opportunity. Once you learn to recognize them, you are on track. These are portals to a whole new world of training and gains that you never knew existed: Deep Water.
INTERMEDIATE
Now that you have pushed yourself with 10 sets of 10 it’s time to step it up. Remember the portals? Now it’s time to dive in there. You are now going to start turning sets of ten into longer, more brutal work sets. Your goal is to learn to push your body past what your mind is telling you is possible. Your body is very resilient and is capable of more than you know. When that little voice in side your head tells you to stop, you need to get pissed off and say, “Fuck you!”
It’s time to start learning to deal with being uncomfortable. Ultimately, you’ll learn to keep your mind calm while your body is freaking out. You’ll learn to
ignore and even embrace the adrenaline being dumped into the bloodstream. It’s natural to start panicking, however this is the worst thing you can do. Calm your mind, but never your body!
Your 10 sets of 10 has now become a test to see how few sets you can do to achieve 100 reps. Keep in mind that even at this intermediate level, you are ultimately training yourself to operate in Deep Water. You are training the mind to stay calm even though the voice in your head says you are in great danger. You are training the body to break through pain thresholds like they are made of glass. Most importantly you are training the two parts to work together
uncharted water it is important to stay focused on the next rep. Not the next 10. You can almost always get one more, then one more, and then one more again and again and again until you reach your goal. There is usually always one more and your mind can live with that. Don’t sell yourself short by setting a number and stopping there. Maybe, just maybe, there is more in the tank. You’ll never know unless you are willing to toe the line.
As your thresholds increase, so will your ability to perform more complex exercises. The intermediate stage is a great place to ad power cleans, front squats, clean and jerks, and some strongman implements.
ADVANCED
Now we are in the shit. If you have come this far, you are a nasty motherfucker in the best way possible.
This method of training is something that you will benefit from immediately. However, you should always be pushing yourself into deeper water. Jon has
been at this for over 20 years and he’s still going deeper. You will discover more about your version of Deep Water every time you get in. Keeping your mind calm will always be difficult. The bigger the goal, the tougher it is keep calm. In the beginner and intermediate programs, reps and sets are set up to do nothing more than teach you how to get in and how to recognize the portals and opportunities when they present themselves. As an advanced swimmer, you can use many different rep and set schemes. You can get into Deep Water on a set of five by turning a max set of five into 7 or 8. Or add weight and do a harder set of five. It’s all about reaching for more and getting the mind out of the body’s way. There are so many ways to better yourself. Just apply your new tools and set new standards.
You have learned to make your body and mind work together to deal with extraordinary amounts of pain and punishment. You have stretched out your work capacity both mentally and physically. Now it’s time to push it.
Now that you’re an advanced Deep Water athlete, you are equipped to use these tools to suit individual goals with individual/customized training. You are now able to harness and access more of your physical tools through mental toughness. Ask yourself: what is your goal? What are you trying to achieve? Reaching goals is satisfying no matter what level you are.
Advanced Deep Water is truly a state of mind. The challenge is being able to recognize and capitalize on the opportunities when the time is right.