Lessons from a Greek Legend.

Milo of Croton was famous for his incredible strength and athleticism. He was also the undisputed wrestling champion of his day. He won his first Olympic title in 540 BC and went on to win another 5 in a row.

The story goes that when Milo was a boy, he decided to lift a small calf and carry him on his shoulders. The next day, he did it again. Milo continued this for the next four years, hoisting the calf onto his shoulders each day until he was no longer lifting a calf, but a four-year-old bull.

This story demonstrates perfectly one of the core principles of resistance training, progressive overload. As the calf was getting bigger and heavier, Milo would have had to get bigger and stronger himself to still be able to lift the bull.

The other key point I take from this story is to avoid overcomplicating your training. And if you’re a beginner don’t let all the jargon around complex training methodologies prevent you from getting started.

Now, I’m not saying you need to start carrying farm animals around all day!! But the story of Milo is a great example of how keeping things simple and focusing on the fundamentals is the best approach.

3 Fundamentals of Strength Training:

Start Small:
Milo didn’t start with a bull, he started with the newborn calf. When you start lifting weights it is better to focus on form, technique, and volume so you can build the capacity to handle much heavier weights later.

Consistency is Key:
Milo lifted the calf every day. He stayed consistent. You don’t need to train every day like Milo, but you can imagine the results if he’d only attempted to pick up the calf once a month!

Increase weight slowly:
Strength gains take time, long term adaptations don’t happen in only a few weeks. The calf that Milo carried on his shoulders will have gained a few lbs. every week, yet these gains added up to a significant amount over months and years. You need to see your strength training as a long-term plan.