Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand
Focus on what is most important and understand that even if you can only do a little, it can have tremendous impacts
There is an old parable that many of you have probably heard where a teacher fills a glass with a combination of rocks, pebbles and sad. Rocks represent the most important things in your life while sand represents the least important things in your life. If you fill your glass with sand first, you don’t have room for pebbles or rocks. If you fill it with rocks first, then pebbles, and finally sad, you can fill the jar completely.
So what can we learn from this about fitness? First, I believe very strongly that fitness is a Rock in our lives. As I’ll explain, however, it is not the most important rock for most people and, if I’m being really honest, it shouldn’t be. It generally improves most aspects of our lives, but my children, my wife, my friends, and my responsibilities at work come first (I just happen to be lucky that fitness is a huge part of both my jobs). I’ve found a lot of people who are into fitness and a lot of trainers can’t comprehend that fitness isn’t actually the center-piece of most people’s lives. Fitness should add to your life, not take away from it. But it also has such a positive impact on most people that to neglect it entirely is doing yourself a great disservice.
Second, this analogy can be used to think about what is important within the fitness realm. As I’ve stated in other posts, I don’t sell programs and I strongly believe I have to know my clients in order to get the best out of them. Most programs are sold to people without understanding their lives, goals, and where exactly fitness stands in relation to everything else. They give you a jar of Rocks, pebbles, and sand and say “Do all this.” For some people, that works. For most of the people I’ve worked with, it simply doesn’t. Instead, I try to think in terms of rocks, pebbles, and sand and create programs that allow the client to get the most out of what they’re able to give.
When I was active duty, I was so busy that I couldn’t put my own personal fitness first. I had to still stay in shape, so I started designing my workouts using this thought process. Every day I made sure I did at least took care of my Rock that day. I would start each workout with a big, heavy, compound exercises like squats, barbell presses, pullups, rows, or deadlifts. This usually didn’t take very long and I could make progress on a lift only working out for about 15 minutes a day. If I had time, I would add the pebbles. These were usually compound movements involving machines like a leg press or isolation exercises for triceps or biceps. These added volume, increased muscle gain, and worked movement patterns that, although they might not be as important as the rocks, were still important. Finally, I would add the sand. For me, this was anything I specifically wanted to work on that could take a back seat if I couldn’t get to it. Things like focused grip work, “prehab” exercises, “pebble” lifts done in a different way, or skill specific training (ammo can lifts for the Combat Fitness Test, for example).
This has generally served as a good framework when working with busy clients or clients with other priorities. My main focus is that I want them to get the rocks in the jar. For most clients, that still means the big movements that will build the most overall strength and muscle. This, in turn, tends to have the most transformative impact on their life and their bodies. But every client is different and understanding their unique situation will often change even the rocks. Pebbles are also usually pretty similar, but are much more specific to each client. These will usually address weaker points or client preference on what they want to focus on. Finally, the sand is going to almost always be unique. The thing is, even if all you do is the rocks, you’ll still see major improvements. Your jar will still be pretty darn full and doing 20% of the work can get you 70% of the results. I’ve talked to far too many people who think they have to live at the gym to get results. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.