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Don’t try to build new skills...
Yet
Geoff Girvitz
January 02, 2025
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Today on Dad Strength
Don’t try to build new skills
Making it real makes it messy
Anger with love
A book, a quote, a dad joke
Don’t try to build new skills
I’m pro-new year’s resolutions… But with the caveat of actually trying to make them work for the long-term. So, if you’re dusting off the fitness equipment, signing up to a new gym, or otherwise looking to restore an old exercise practice, then this one is for you: Don’t try to build new skills.
Wait. If that were the resolution, it would be pretty depressing. Rather, my advice to first build your capacity. Get into an exercise space and do stuff that you already know how to do. Start with a small dose and then build into doing more and more.
Here’s why: Capacity-building is your first priority. It expands the size of your container. It creates the ability to do more high quality work AND you will quickly experience benefits along the way. You won’t have to try to learn; it will just happen.
What you’re not doing here is trying to ride two horses with one ass. It’s hard enough to push boundaries of your existing skills. Adding a whole layer of complexity on top makes things so much harder. So do that later. And. by later, I mean in a week or two. That’s it. It’s not a long time; just long enough to restore your ability to maintain technique while experiencing physical stresses.
If you’re not sure what to do, here’s a very simple capacity-building workout:
Do a 30-60 second burst of cardio
Perform a loaded carry
Optional easy movement
Wait until your heart rate is about two 120 beat per minute and then repeat. Do 10-minute sets with five minutes of easy, recovery cardio in between… As many as you can without making things feel like a forced march.
Personally, I like to do this one: sled-pulls + farmer’s carries + push-ups. However, sleds aren’t always handy so here’s a stripped-down version:
30 second bike interval (this could be skipping rope or low-knee runs—many things work)
Grab a heavy dumbbell or kettlebell and walk or march in place for 60 seconds
Expand the container first, add new stuff later. You don’t have to rush if you’re building toward a full year—and beyond—of consistent practice.
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John Saxon introduced Bruce Lee to kettlebell training on the set of Enter the Dragon
Making it real makes it messy
There are so many things that feel perfect when they exist purely in the space of ideas. Yet, just like “no plan survives contact with the enemy,” no idea remains perfect when you convert it into action.
If you are expecting perfection or immediate success, you will be disappointed. Maybe even thrown off course. However, if you consider the experience of having your ideas challenged—maybe even shattered—as one of the ingredients in moving forward, that’s different. It’s like the peaty taste in whiskey… part of a complex array of flavours—and not for everyone.
The quote above comes from Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, a Prussian field marshal and wearer of pointy hats
Anger with love
You can yell. You can glower. You can dispense punishments… pardon me, “consequences,” as they’re now called—and therefore totally different. My question is this: do your kids—in these moments—know that you love them just as much as when you’re calm and collected?
This stuff can be tricky. That’s why we talk it out every Tuesday.
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What I’m reading watching/listening to:
Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World Order –1848-1849– by Christopher Clark
A Quote
“You’ve grown into someone who would have protected you as a child.”
― Unknown
A Dad joke
I just joined an amateur autopsy club. Tuesday is open Mike night!
Take care of yourself, man!
Geoff Girvitz
Father, founder, physical culturist
dadstrength.com