《40 YEARS WITH A WHISTLE》，Dan John

When I was a child, people used to tell me that “your life flashes before your eyes” just before you die. As I was writing 40 Years with a Whistle, I laughed a few times out loud as my past kept flashing before my eyes.

“All in all, this wasn’t a bad life, but I would prefer to live a bit longer”

This book has been ruminating in my brain for a while.

In 2011, I popped open my first lifting journal from 1971 and realized I had been keeping track of my workouts for 40 years. So, I wrote a two-part article on the lessons I had learned (Part One, Part Two); very simply, it was 40 lessons from 40 years.

Last summer as I was coaching next to a throwing cage at St. Mary’s in Twickenham, London, a local coach asked me how I could “see all of this.” I responded, “Well, you know, I have been doing this for…”

It took me a minute to figure out that I had been standing in fields, yelling in weight rooms and making half-time adjustments for the past 40 years.

当我还是个孩子的时候，人们常说，在死之前，“人的一生历程，会在眼前回溯闪现”。当我着手写《四十年弹指一挥间》的时候，我笑了几次，因为我不断地回溯着过去。“总的来说，过得还不错，不过我希望能活得更久一些。”

这本书，我琢磨了很久。

2011年，我打开了1971年以来的第一本举重日记，意识到自己已经坚持了40年的训练。因此，我写了一篇两部分的文章，介绍我学到的教训(第一部分，第二部分);很简单，这是40年的40个教训。

去年夏天我在伦敦大学玛丽皇后学院的投掷区进行执教，一个当地教练问我是如何做到“洞见一切的细节”，我回答，“因为我曾经经历过……”

我愣了一会，才意识到自己在过去的40年里，一直在执教、训练中不断实践着。

斧游人：

今天我浏览了Dan John的官网（http://danjohn.net/）。

首页上最显眼的地方，是Dan的著作《40 YEARS WITH A WHISTLE》（我把它译为，四十年弹指一挥间）

起初是Dan 在2011年夏天写了两篇博文，纵横了他40年的训练、教学、竞技的经验，后面写成书。这两篇博文，即是今天发的文章，很有智慧，值得一看。

（B站的专栏文章有字数限制，我将用更长的篇幅进行拆解）

40 Years of Insight - Part 1

40年的洞见：第一部分。

原文链接：https://www.t-nation.com/training/40-years-of-insight-part-1

I have a box in my storage room that contains all my training journals. Besides sets and reps, I toss in what's going on in my life. Often, I find long essays about the future, lists about "what works," and funny little tidbits about my life that I would've quickly forgotten had I not wrote them down.

It hit me when I picked up this box the other day that I've been recording workouts since 1971, five years after first picking up a weight. That's forty years! I started to think about the lessons I've learned and, before I knew it, I had a list of forty lessons that I had to learn the hard way.

在我的储物室里有个箱子，里面装着我一直以来的训练日记。除了记录组数、次数之外，我还把生活周遭也写了进去。我在里面能找到不少内容，关于未来的期许、“有效的训内容”以及生活的趣事，如果没有记录下来的话，这些有意思的东西转瞬即逝。

我突然意识到，从1971年开始计算，也就是在我第一次接触力量训练的五年后，我就一直有规律的进行并记录着训练进程。四十年啊！我开始回顾着经验教训，不知不觉中，我列出来一份清单，这是我在这40年间，通过刻苦训练学习到的40条经验教训。

1 – Keep a journal of some kind.

第一条：写训练日记。

It makes me smile to see my attempt at neat handwriting in my first journal entries. The bench press workout was 85 x 8/8/4. I noted, "I was supposed to do six on the second set but it was too easy." In the summer before my freshman year, I benched 100 pounds; my sophomore year, I benched 200 pounds; and I got 300 during my junior year in track season. I would write what I benched as a senior weighing 162 pounds, but you wouldn't believe it.

I have a few notes about my coach's son who came to our weight room one afternoon to see if I was "really as strong as my dad said I was." I told him I'd already lifted and he said something that questioned my lifts. So, I put a low 300-pound lift on the bar and it went up so fast that he told me to stop. "I believe you...wow, I believe you."

The value of a journal is seeing the progress (and the regress) of your training and training philosophy. I believe a thorough review of your old journals is probably as good as a training session.

在最初的训练日记上，看到那工整的笔迹，我笑了。

上面写着，我用85磅（约39kg）进行8次、8次、4次卧推。日记写着，“计划预设的第二组是6次，但太轻松了，所以做了8次。”

大一开学前的暑假我可以卧推100磅；大二时我卧推200磅；在大三的田径赛季，我完成了300磅的卧推。如果没有亲眼所见，你不会相信我大四时能够卧推这么多，但体重只有162磅（约73.5kg）。

日记上记录着我教练的儿子曾在某个中午来到力量房，想看看我是不是“如他爸所说的那么强壮”，即使我表示自己刚练完，他还是要求我展示自己的力量水平。

于是我把杠铃杆加重到300磅（约136kg）然后推的飞起，他看到后马上说停，“行了，我相信你了”。

训练日记的价值在于，能够清晰的看到自己在训练水平和训练理念上的进步（以及退步）。

我相信，你如果在自己的训练日记上进行一次彻底的“温故知新”，所得到的进步和启发，绝对和训练本身一样有效。

2 – Eat like a man

使用“像男人一样吃饭”饮食计划。

（译注：这是ELM饮食计划的原文 ：https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/eat-like-a-man-1）

Eat Like a Man pulled together some wonderful disconnected links that had spun in my brain for a few years. Yes, low carb is good, but carbs are not evil. For the strength enthusiast, or someone who wants to just be powerful, this article gives the template. The carb-depletion workout fit perfectly with a weekly volume day. The carb-up fit perfectly with life!

Now, you can agree or disagree with the diet, but all the athletes I had use this template found that their ability to train longer and harder was enhanced naturally by this simple eating program. And, as the author notes, people fear you in the supermarket!

ELM饮食计划，让我搞清楚了不少这几年一直在琢磨不透的问题。没错，低碳饮食是不错，但并不意味着摄入碳水就是错的。

这个饮食计划为力量爱好者提供了模板，在低碳状态下进行每周的高容量训练，在高碳状态下享受周末的生活。

你可以支持或否定这个饮食计划。而在我指导下使用过ELM饮食计划的运动员都发现，通过这个简单的饮食计划，他们训练时间更长、训练强度更大，成绩也自然得到了提高。还有一点，作者提醒到，在逛商场的时候人们会觉得你太壮了（译注：……）

3 – You must master the squat movement.

你必须精通深蹲这个动作模式。

You may not need to ever squat heavy, and you may also discover that there are some better tools for you (for you, read that carefully) like Bulgarian split squats or pistols, but mastery of the squat is worth every second you spend on it.

In past articles, I've given you a template to follow. However, I still feel that the message has NOT been delivered. You must master this basic movement. Spend years on it if you have to, as I did, but learn to do this.

也许你没有必要蹲的很重，（提示，仔细看清楚）而且你可能更喜欢其他方式的蹲类动作，如保加利亚分腿蹲，或者手枪蹲（单腿蹲）。

不过，你依然有必要练习深蹲这个动作，花在上面的时间越多，回报越大。

在之前的文章里我我提供过一些训练模板，但无论如何，我觉得这条信息仍然没有表达清楚。

你必须完全的掌握深蹲这个基础动作。

如有必要，花上几年的时间去练习深蹲。我曾这么做，而且受益匪浅。

4 – There are several "Modern Classics" that will support your training goals.

“现代经典文学”会帮助你更清晰的明确训练目标。

Yes, these are "books," but the depth and insights will astound you.

Cormac McCarthy's "The Road." It still stuns me and scares me. The diet advice is unsupported by research.

T. H. White's "The Once and Future King." The first part is "The Sword in the Stone" and the book changed my life.

Frank Herbert's "Dune." The book is a science fiction legend, but the respect for education, in all its forms, makes it worth reading.

I would also tell you to read all of Harry Potter. Any book that introduces a character in the first chapter that's so crucial to the whole story, yet won't be seen again until the third book, and a question from the very beginning that isn't answered until literally the end, deserves one's time and energy.

There are others, of course, but the idea is that at times big goals and big stories also include epic tragedy and overcoming failure.

没错，这是书籍（而非训练相关），但它们的深度和洞察力会让你大吃一惊。

科马克·麦卡锡的《危途》，它至今仍让我震惊与害怕。当中的饮食计划并没有得到理论支持（不知道这句话是什么意思……）

（译注：2009年废土电影《末日危途》的原著小说）

T·H·怀特的《永恒之王四部曲》，第一部分《石中剑》，这本书改变了我的人生。

弗兰克·赫伯特的《沙丘》，这本书是科幻巨作，任何形势下对于教育的尊重，都使其值得一读。

我还会告诉你，要读整个《哈利·波特》系列。任何一本书，如果在第一章中引入了对整个故事至关重要的人物，但直到第三章才会再次出现；如果一个问题从一开始就没有得到回答，直到最后才得到真正的答案，那么这本书就值得花时间和精力去读它。（译注：指小说的内容深度，以及作者精湛的写作技巧。）

当然，仍然有许多没被推荐但值得一看的文学作品。

好的作品，关键在于，构建了宏达志向与庞大宇宙观的故事，包括那些史诗、悲剧以及百折不挠的故事。

（斧游人：这一条的建议，与构建美学基础、哲学观有联系。宏观视角会帮助任何人重新审视自己的行为与价值观。）

5 – Lift outdoors.

在室外进行训练

When I first made waves as a writer, I was usually quoted for insisting we go outside and train. It's still great advice. I think that carrying equipment outside and working out in a communal gathering is the single best way to train. As a discus thrower, bringing my kettlebell to the field to do a few movements "now and again" was a game changer in helping me improve my throws. Grab some food and drink and a training tool and go outside and have some fun lifting.

当我第一次以作家身份引起轰动时，人们经常引用我的话，“到室外去训练”。

这仍然是非常好的建议。

我认为带着训练器械到公共场合去训练，是最好的锻炼手段。

作为一个铁饼运动员，“时不时地”地带着我的壶铃到田径场上训练，如同开挂一般，帮助我提高我的投掷专项成绩。

带上食物、饮料和训练器械，到外面去做一些有趣的力量运动吧。

（斧游人：这一点，深有同感。从6月开始，我尝试在从室内转移到室外训练，并逐渐过渡到在室外完成全部的训练。个人感受是，在室外训练的好处很多，日照、温度、通风、空间感以及本体感受，都会让训练变得更加专注。当然，也有一些条件是只有室内有的。在能力范围内，尽量在室外完成所有的训练。）

6 – The Southwood Program works.

南森中学举重计划，行之有效。

译注：南森计划，是Dan 在初中时为了打橄榄球而接触的一个举重计划。

计划原文链接：https://www.t-nation.com/training/lessons-from-southwood

I wrote on this a few years ago. It's very simple.

The Southwood Program is to be performed three days a week in the gym:

• Exercise – Reps

• Power Clean – 8-6-4

• Military Press – 8-6-4

• Front Squat – 8-6-4

• Bench Press – 8-6-4

Although I learned this while Nixon was President and nobody traded with China, it still holds fast as a great training program. You don't miss a single bodypart, it's simple to learn, and a bit rigorous to do. It also demands that you clean and military press which we'll get back to later.

在几年前我曾写过这个计划，它非常简洁。

南森中学举重计划，一周三练。

动作——组次安排：（第一组8次，第二组6次，第三组4次，下同。）

• 杠铃高翻——8/6/4

• 杠铃实力举——8/6/4

• 杠铃前蹲——8/6/4

• 杠铃卧推——8/6/4

虽然我在尼克松时代就知道了这个计划，而且没有人与中国进行贸易（译注：打倒帝国主义哈哈），但它仍然是一个优秀且有效的力量训练计划。

你能够练到任何一个身体部位，很容易掌握，而且做起来一板一眼。

这个计划还要求你进行杠铃高翻和杠铃实力举，我们稍后会讲到这两个动作。

7 – Learn to meditate or relax "on command."

学会“主动的”冥想和放松。

If there's a skill that's overlooked it's the ability to nap when necessary. If my athletes struggle with getting or staying asleep, we're going to have issues down the line. Training oneself to relax is the first step. I recommend squeezing a muscle tight, then breathing out and releasing it. This helps enable falling effortlessly asleep literally any time, anywhere.

Sleep is the best recovery tool I know, but the skill of sound sleeping is often overlooked. Although I recommend ZMA®, Z-12™, and eyeshades and earplugs to just about every audience I speak to, I still say that one also needs to practice relaxing. There are many CDs, DVDs and downloads that walk you through this skill and I can't comment on them all, but it's worth your time to practice this underrated skill.

有个技能是很容易被人们忽略，那就是在必要时快速打盹的能力。如果我执教的运动员存在入睡困难或易醒的问题，那么会影响到后面的训练。

练习自我放松是第一步，我建议先绷紧肌肉，然后在呼气时逐渐放松，这有助于你在任何时间、任何地点轻松的入睡。

睡眠是我所知道的最好的恢复策略，但是良好睡眠的技巧依然容易被忽视。

尽管我几乎向每一位听众推荐ZMA（锌镁力胶囊）、Z-12（一种助眠补剂）、眼罩和耳塞，但我仍然觉得大家要多练练主动放松技巧。

网上有很多视频和课程，可以帮助你学习这个技能，我不能逐一介绍，而它们值得你花时间去研究、实践。

8 – Never pass a pull-up bar without doing some pull-ups.

经过单杠，就得做引体向上。

I learned this from Pavel. It's a "truism." My all-time best number of pull-ups was 14 when getting ready for my senior year of high school football. I know this because of my journal (see Lesson One!). As I grew larger, I let myself slide all the way down to four reps. I also noted my shoulders hurt.

Taking Pavel's advice, I started doing one or two pull ups throughout my training workouts. When two became ridiculously easy, I moved to three and soon four. I am now back to nine pull-ups and "miraculously" my shoulder health is back to being fine.

One surprising point about pull-ups is that they're also a wonderful abdominal exercise. I don't know why that is, but it will be evident the day after a long pull-up workout.

（斧游人：这指用GTG非疲劳训练法，高频率、高组数、低单组次数的练习引体向上。）

这是我从帕维尔那里学来的。（译注：Pavel Tsatsouline，SFG硬式壶铃体系创始人）

这是一个“真理”。

我的引体个人最好成绩是14次，那会还是我为了初三的橄榄球比赛进行的训练。我知道这是因为我记在本子上了(见第一条，做训练日记!)

随着我越来越大，我的引体一直在退步，到了四次，肩膀也出现了疼痛。

按照帕维尔的建议，我开始在训练中做一两个引体向上。当2次引体变得轻松以后，我就去做了3次引体，很快能够做4次。我现在已经恢复了做9次引体向上的实力，我的肩膀也“奇迹般地”恢复了健康。

关于引体向上有个令人惊讶的细节，它同时也是一种很好的腹部锻炼。我不知道为什么会这样，但在长时间的练习引体后，这一点会很明显。

（斧游人：人在空中，需要动用腹壁肌群以稳定与控制躯干、下肢。）

9 – The old time weightlifters had it right: "Fixed" weights are better for most of us.

老派举重运动员说得对：“固定”重量对我们大多数人是更有效的。

I love pictures of the old time strongmen with the huge kettlebells and fixed bars. When I first started training, gyms had fixed barbells in a rack, so you could grab a 75-pound barbell or a 105 pounder, just like the dumbbell rack today.

There's some beauty in this. Originally, all I had was a 53-pound kettlebell and a 70 pounder. So, when I trained, I had two options. The "lack of options" made me dig down harder for certain movements. A few years ago, I noted that most of us should toss out the bulk of our weightlifting plates and just use 45s and 25s. One would have thought I'd blasphemed! I got negative feedback for weeks from that.

I stand by it. Yes, it's a jump to go from 185 to 225. It means you have to own 185 and you'd better be ready for the load at 225. It's also how we trained in college as the small plates were all broken and the football team stole all the 35s to stick on their machines (I won't comment).

So, my first group of recruits when I began coaching learned to lift with 95, 135, and 185 pounds in the snatch and clean. They mastered the loads quickly because, well, we had no other options!

我喜欢看老派大力士的照片，里面有巨大的壶铃和固定重量杠铃。

当我有生以来第一次训练时，健身房的深蹲架上只有固定重量杠铃，意味着我只能在75磅（34kg）与105磅（47kg）之间选择杠铃，如现在的哑铃架。

这里面的内涵是很有意思的。起初，我只拥有24kg和32kg的壶铃各一个。所以在我训练的时候，我只有两个重量可以选择。这种“缺乏选择”的情况，让我尽可能的去研究、深挖某些可以练的动作。

几年前我曾倡议，大部分人应该抛弃掉小杠铃片，要用10kg与20kg的杠铃片去加重。有人觉得我在胡扯，几周下来，我收到了不少负面的评论。

我坚定这个立场。没错，从185磅（83kg）跳到225磅（102kg），这意味着你必须完全掌控185磅的负重动作，并且做好了承受225磅的技术与心理准备。这也是我在大学训练时的真实情况，因为小片都碎掉了，而橄榄球队把所有15kg的片拿去固定器械上了。（不评论这种做法。）

所以，在我执教新学员的时候，他们学会了使用95磅、135磅、185磅进行抓举和高翻。他们必须尽快的掌握这些重量下的技巧，因为面对重量，大家都一样的，毫无选择。

10 – I believe that for overall health, you need to help the body cleanse.

我坚信：为了全面的健康，你需要维持身体清洁。

At nearly every talk I give, I note the importance of dental floss. Flossing is really good for you and it seems like it makes a difference in heart health. It takes about a minute to do it, too. But I get emails from guys who tell me, "I'll do anything to get to X, Y or Z." When I ask them first to floss twice a day, I get a return email that says something like "that is a problem as..." Listen, if you don't have the discipline to floss twice a day, good luck with the Velocity Diet.

I do all the weird stuff. I use a Neti Pot for my sinuses, and I no longer take allergy medicine, so it "works." I use a tongue scraper every morning, and learned that some foods really do make mucus, and I always supplement with fiber. Now, I don't go so far as to do some of the higher-end stuff like colonics, but that's not a judgment on my part.

I think that taking a little time each day to "cleanse" is worth it to your overall health. To me, it's like eating vegetables and fruit. It's got to be good for you at some level. And, let's be honest, it's pretty easy to do.

几乎每次我演讲的时候，我都会提到牙线的重要性。使用牙线确实对你有好处，而且似乎对心脏健康也有好处。这也就花费一分钟的时间而已。

但我收到一些人的电子邮件，他们宣城，“为了达到某些目标，我愿意做任何事。”

当我首次建议他们一天用两次牙线时，他们却给自己找各种理由，这样、那样。

听着，如果你没有每天使用两次牙线的习惯，那么祝你“速度减肥法”成功。

我做所有奇怪的事情。我用洗鼻壶来清洁鼻窦，因为做完以后不再依赖敏药，所以我确定它对我管用。我每天早上都清洁舌苔，基于有些食物确实会使舌苔产生粘液。我坚持补充纤维。

如今是我不会去尝试一些高端疗法，比如灌肠，我对此不评价。

我认为每天花一点时间来“净化身体”，对你的整体健康是非常值得的。比如我会吃蔬菜和水果。一定程度上对你是有好处。

老实说，这些事情都很容易做到。

（未完待续）