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Old School One-Stop/3-Way Test: Strength/Flexibility/Guttage by Mark Hatmaker




The video link at the end of this post will take you to a short demonstration we posted of an Old School Test that uses one [that’s right, one] position to test for…

·        Posterior Chain Flexibility

·        Psoas Strength [Internal stabilizers are far more important than the “show” muscles, work the stabilizers and the esthetics of the show will follow.]

·        Guttage aka “Speed Bumps”

The Standard Standing Body Fold becomes less “standard” when you do it the Old School way—just as with much of Old School Combat Tactics and Physical Culture, what often “looks like” is not “the same as.”

The video explains the ins and outs of how to conduct the 5-second test, as well, as offers suggestions on how to improve your “Test Results” in the span of just one week.

We go into far far more detail on Pliant Strength in Unleaded Volume 1: The Pliant Physique where the premium is always on making a non-separation in all aspects of conditioning.

I might add, there is a train of thought that seeks to “boost” flexibility gains by means of tensing and relaxing the targeted muscle.

For example, tensing the hamstrings for 10 seconds and then relaxing into a deeper stretch.

This is properly known as PNF stretching, or proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation.

This is a far better and safer method than grabbing props, straps, blocks, or your own body and forcing a deeper stretch—just as with strength training, if it requires a spotter to move a bit of the weight for you, well, then you can’t really do it.

Gains can indeed be made via this method but…

The tensing/relaxation sequence must be repeated each time we wish to repeat the feat, so to speak.

Whereas pliant-strength is at hand at all times once it is built.

Example, we have no need to do 3 sets of tense and release half-way push-ups to prepare for the actual push-up we desire. Once the strength of the push-up [or any physical skill for that matter] is built, it is ours to keep with no need to ask the self, “Hey, Body ready to get ready to do a push-up?”

The same “weapon-always-in-hand” attribute is present with old school pliancy, build the strength-in component, then the twin attributes exist side-by-side.

With that aid, every aspect of the Old School Unleaded Program embodies the trinity of stamina/strength/pliancy and strives to avoid separations.

I've likely made that too simplified; we go into great detail on Unleaded 1.

As for that aforementioned psoas muscle and the Old School emphasis on internal and stabilizing muscle before “show” muscle, well, much ado about that in Unleaded Volume 2: Stabilizing Muscle—The Trunk, to be released to Black Box Subscribers just in time for New Year’s resolutions on New Year’s day.

[For more Rough& Tumble history, Indigenous Ability hacks, and for pragmatic applications of old school tactics historically accurate and viciously verified see our RAW/Black Box Subscription Service.]

Or our brand-spankin’ new podcast The Rough and Tumble Raconteur available on all platforms.

The Test


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