If you followed football in the 80s and 90s, or are at all familiar with athletic phenoms and sports history, you’ve probably at least heard of Herschel Walker. Among other feats, he played in the NFL from ‘86-’97, ranking 2nd in the NFL’s all-time leaderboard for total yardage at the time of his retirement (he still, 20 years after his retirement, is ranked in the top 10). He is considered one of the top college running backs of all time, and, on top of his Heisman-earning football performance, was a star track and field athlete in his time at the University of Georgia. Never one to back down from a sporting opportunity, Walker also had a brief (and successful) stint in mixed martial arts at the young age of 48, competed in the 1992 Olympics on the American bobsled team, has earned a fifth-degree black belt in tae kwon do, has performed in a professional ballet, and competed in (and won) two back-to-back reality-TV athletic competitions featuring elite athletes from varying disciplines. To say that Walker is a remarkable athlete would be an understatement.

What’s most remarkable, though, is how Walker claims to have developed and maintained his incredible athleticism. Most would expect such athleticism to be developed with elite-level strength and conditioning coaches, hired dieticians, and the best-of-the-best in training methods, but Walker’s methods are a bit unorthodox. According to Walker, his daily training consists of around 1,000 push-ups and 2,000 sit-ups (and that’s it!), a routine he says he has followed since high school. As for diet, Walker eats once a day, in the evenings. Usually it is a soup or salad, sometimes with bread, and sometimes he will go days without eating.

What you can take away from the remarkable story of Herschel Walker is not that you should stop your current training and just do 1,000 push-ups and 2,000 sit-ups every day, or that a diet of soup will make you a world-renowned athlete. Quite the contrary, Walker is a reminder that the results of the few should not stand as evidence for the many. Walker is, through and through, a phenom. While we can marvel and gawk at his story, the fact that his absurd way of life has yielded his results signifies nothing more than how wildly varied humans can be.

Give your attention to the body of evidence that’s worked for the thousands, not for the one.

- PS

10/25/18

• Handstand shoulder taps - 4x12 (6/side)

Then...

• 15 min EMOM:

• Min 1: 40s max HSPU

• Min 2: 40s max cal row

• Min 3: Rest