ATG Numbers Applied to Speed
The ATG Program uses 20 measurable exercises, from ankle to neck to grip. Each relates by percentages to both your own bodyweight and to each other. That way you can see how you stack up compared to others, as well as compare the balance of your own abilities and fix your weakest links.
Let’s take 2 of those 20 exercises, look at my exact numbers, and see how they relate to running speed.
- When I started the ATG Split Squat I had to regress less than my own weight. I was fragile, slow, and laughed at for my terrible jumping ability. Now I’m doing at least 75% of my bodyweight for at least 5 strict reps per side: 1) full pause with hamstrings covering calves, 2) back knee not touching floor, 3) torso vertical:
Compared to my previous self, my legs are capable of producing more strength into the ground, and my hips are more mobile to open up in a running stride.
2. About halfway into my ATG Split Squat progress, I began training the Reverse Squat. I could do ⅓ of my bodyweight for 20 strict reps. Now I can do ⅔ of my bodyweight for 20 strict reps, meaning my hamstrings cover my calves on each rep.
Compared to my previous self, I can now pick my feet up much easier when running, since 120 pounds feels like what 60 pounds used to feel like, even though my legs have not gained 60 pounds of weight. (I’d estimate my lower body has gained about 15 pounds of muscle over these past 10 years of ATG experiments).
My legs are stronger and more mobile (ATG Split Squat) yet feel even lighter for me to pick up (Reverse Squat)!
Basketball used to be so stressful because I was the slowest player on the court — not to mention being addicted to painkillers for my knees just to be able to play.
Now basketball is a joy beyond anything I imagined it could be. My speed is a weapon and I never think about my knees no matter how hard I play.
BUT I NEVER WORKED HARDER DURING THAT TRANSFORMATION THAN I DID BEFORE.
I work hard.
I did work hard.
I have always worked hard.
“Hard work pays…” — Well, in my case hard work led to knee surgeries, painkiller addiction, and looking ahead at life thinking I’d be a dad who couldn’t play with his kids.
Hard work was not enough.
A precisely measurable route of actual physiological changes in the RIGHT DIRECTIONS is what saved me.
Meanwhile, my 68-year-old mother has used these same unusual-yet-common-sense exercises to regain the ability to run fast and pain-free.
While shooting a video on this subject yesterday, I told her, “Okay, now warm up for your running scene.”
“Warm up? I don’t need a warm up!”
And she proceeded to sprint right on cue — 68 years old and sprinting with no warm up.
But she can do a flat ground ATG split squat and that’s a measurably exceptional ability for her age.
I don’t have her add load.
I do have her maintain that ability and I’ll never accept her losing it.
I once cared about these numbers so I could dunk and help other genetically-poor athletes make breakthroughs.
Now I realize the value of these numbers is in helping anyone, so I’m re-calculating them by factoring in the difficulty of your bodyweight itself. For example:
75% of bodyweight for 5 reps is my target for athletic transformation on ATG Split Squat.
100% of bodyweight for 1 rep is my target for athletic transformation on the Captains of Crush Gripper.
But a bodyweight-only ATG Split Squat on flat ground cannot correlate to 0 pounds of grip strength.
Owning a flat-ground ATG Split Squat can take considerable work and is an accomplishment to be proud of. Having 0 pounds of grip strength is not.
If you look at an ATG Split Squat, you’re probably lifting about 75% of your body’s weight, because you’re lifting your entire hips and upper body — but you’re not having to lift the lower portions of your legs.
So a flat-ground, bodyweight-only ATG Split Squat is probably about half of the way toward the athletic transformation minimum, thus my mother should probably be able to close about 50% of her bodyweight in the Captains of Crush gripper, whereas an athlete in a combat sport should close 100%.
If that’s confusing I completely understand. These are visual subjects and I will continue making them simpler with videos and improved app software.
Also:
THE ATG NUMBERS AREN’T ABSOLUTES OR PERFECTION.
But they’ve been a darn good guide that’s led to breakthroughs for people from all walks of life, and we’re still toward the beginning of this journey.
Yours in Solutions,
Ben
