I was watching a young man in a strong man video clip on the web and as he was pushing the wheelbarrow up the hill I thought to myself – why don’t you come and work in my yard instead? Help me maintain my acreage?

I am talking about the raised popularity of pushing barrow, lifting and throwing types etc.

Now don’t get me wrong – I don’t have a problem with this type of training. Or any type of training for that matter. But what it did make very clear to me is that the standard of living is so high that some seek the ‘thrill’ of these odd lifts.

In the days where more did manual labour, I am very confident that few would go home and do more manual labour!

And for that matter, those who do manual labour all day long (or have done so for at least a few months) would know how tough it is to come home from a long day in the sun to do any weight training at all.

This odd lifts or push the wheel barrow trend is not new in sport. It has been recommended and used throughout my life by coaches and athletes who wanted to get or stay in condition for their sport.

However one of the factors contributing to the continual increase in sports performance is that the off-field training has become more targeted. Manual labour can rarely compete with more specialized training.

So in essence, lifting and throwing objects is only specific to the odd lifts competitions as far as sport specific training goes. For those seeking adaptations that are not necessarily for any specific outcome – as long as they understand the lowered specificity of this, and that if they were seeking more specific outcomes there may be more specific training forms that may be more suited.

In the meantime, you can all come and maintain my yard if you want to do some manual labour!