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DEEP
WATER
Overcoming the Waves of Life
JON ANDERSEN & JASHA FAYE
DEEP WATER
Table of Contents
Where It All Starts
CHAPTER 1 - DEEP WATER ORGINS
CHAPTER 2 - THE ROURCE ROOM - AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL LESSON
CHAPTER 3 - IT’S ALL ABOUT NUTRITION
Getting Down to Business
CHAPTER 4 - DEEP WATER TRAINING METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER 5 - GETTING BEYOND YOUR CHALLENGES
CHAPTER 6 - DEALING WITH THE PAIN
CHAPTER 7 - TRAINING PARTNERS
Making Deep Water a Life Long Strategy
REHAB & RECOVERY
THE DEEP WATER PHILOSOPHY
BONUS MATERIAL
© 2014 JON ANDERSEN & JASHA FAYE
DEEP WATER
Success in Deep Water requires
overcoming big obstacles. It requires
conflict. Stress is necessary for
adaptation because without it, there
is none.
Deep Water portals often open as a result of stressful challenges. We face challenges every
day with loved ones, co-workers, friends, diet, money and training. How we adapt to this
stress, is directly related to how we prepare. The Deep Water approach leaves you
prepared physically, mentally, and spiritually for any outcome.
Jon Andersen
wrestler | strongman | bodybuilder | author
DEEP WATER
Deep Water will transform
you and make positivé changes.
Push Yourself Into Deep Water.
Deep Water will get you on the right path.
It’s difficult to push yourself into Deep Water. It takes a tremendous amount of honesty
with one’s self to achieve adaptation. You have to be willing to push past your existing pain
thresholds. Your mind is designed to protect you and keep your body safe. When you venture
into Deep Water, even the toughest people begin to doubt themselves. When things get dicey,
the “fight or flight” impulse kicks in. That’s how humans survive. Usually the brain convinces
the body to stop long before it’s in any real danger. Recognizing your true limitations is
integral to Deep Water. You have to be confident that you have more in the tank when every
fiber of your body is screaming for you to stop. It’s when we are in the deepest waters that we
achieve our greatest gains.
When Big Jon Andersen was a young boy, he was lazy, fat, and scared. In the showers after his
first day of football practice, Jon had saggy tits and the only hairless scrotum in the room. His
face burned hot with shame as he was showered with a constant stream of insults and abuse.
Today when you see Jon at 300lbs with less than 7% body fat, it’s hard to believe he wasn’t
born ripped.
Through trial and error, and an open mind, Jon completely revolutionized his diet and
training. He didn’t have a guide, he didn’t have a personal trainer, and he didn’t have
anyone telling him he was right. In fact, almost everyone questioned his crazy ways. He
felt like Magellan telling people the world was round when all around him everyone knew
without a doubt that the world was flat.
DEEP WATER
Deep Water isn’t for everybody. Not everyone wants these kinds of results. Not
everyone embraces the grind. That’s ok, because it gives people who do enjoy it, a huge
motivational kick knowing they are achieving their goals by doing what others will not.
Deep Water is a way of life that will allow you to unlock your potential. Whether you want to
see growth in the gym, relationships, work, your physique, or anywhere else, Deep Water will
force you out of your comfort zones and into new
growth. Deep Water will transform you from
pud to stud and unleash your inner great
white shark.
Jon Andersen’s Powerplant is in full swing.
Every platform has at least 3 athletes on it
and there are some gamers in the room.
There’s a slight breeze and the sun is shining.
It’s a perfect California day, a great day to pick
up heavy weights. The workout is power
snatches followed by power cleans: 5 sets
of 5 reps in the snatch (technique work)
Deep Water is a
way of life that
will allow you
to unlock your
potential.
and 5 sets of 10 in the power clean (gut check).
Cal Rugby player Anthony Kosinski is ripping
out a set of ten with 80 kilos. The intensity on the club platform is heating up. There are
3 guys training there, so the pace is pretty quick with little rest between sets. Big Jon is
using 100kg (220lbs) for his sets while Anthony, and the third athlete, Ken Boatwright, use
80kg. It is Ken’s second or third workout at the ‘Plant. He is a former pro bodybuilder who
has made the switch to CrossFit. He has a great attitude and knows how to work.
Jon decides to add a twist to the program: one more set to failure. Anthony and Ken will
both use 60kg (132lbs). Jon is sticking with his original weight of 100kg. Ken and Anthony
both stop at 40 reps; not a bad showing and a serious scorcher for anyone. Now it’s Jon’s
turn. “Start filming,” he quietly says to me.
DEEP WATER
I quickly fumble around until I manage to turn on my phone camera. (I’m very low tech.)
Luckily, I got my camera rolling just as Jon grabs the bar and begins his set. At forty reps,
it’s clear he has no intention of slowing down. Seventeen reps later, my camera is out of
memory. Jon is cruising past sixty reps. He’s breathing hard and his impressive frame seems
to be growing with every rep. I notice that he is mumbling something to himself. He is in
Deep Water. Everyone in the room is pulling for him, shouting encouragemaent. But Jon
doesn’t seem to notice. He has a snarl on his face and he’s attacking the barbell like a great
white devouring a seal.
He has a snarl on
his face and he’s
attacking the barbell
like a great white
devouring a seal.
At that moment Jon is reminded of a story
he heard when he was a child: Alexander
the Great had just sailed the high seas to
land on Persian shores. Despite being vastly
outnumbered, Alexander ordered his army to
burn their own boats, thus removing any exit
strategy or method of retreat. Alexander left
himself and his men with only two options:
victory or death.
It proved to be the right decision as it motivated Alexander’s invading army to conquer the
Persian hoards.
“Burn the Boats!” Jon shouts at rep sixty-five. Jon is saving nothing for the trip home.
Seventy reps down. He’s in very Deep Water now, but he’s showing no signs of slowing
down. His pace has quickened a bit as he passes eighty. It’s truly amazing to watch. His
breathing is harsh and labored. His hands are a bloody mess. His entire body is in a state of
stress but he keeps grinding away. Jon is talking out loud but his words are unclear. He stays
focused as his resources start to run out: His vision is darkening. The pain in his hands and
back jerk his mind back to reality as his body looks to protect itself by shutting down. Most
people would have stopped long before, but Jon sees his narrowing vision as a portal and
dives through. Eighty-five reps now. A six-foot circle of sweat and chalk surrounds him.
Ninety reps.
DEEP WATER
As he approaches ninety-five
reps, it seems that it must be
the end, but Jon wants
more...
Young Jon
A lifelong journey
Check out
my Cool Videos
As he approaches nintey-five reps, it seems that it must be the end, but Jon wants more.
He has no idea how many reps he has done or what’s going on around him. Life outside
seems to have slowed down while the storm in his mind and body rages on. Fear grabs hold
of him. His heart is pounding in his ears and he can’t breathe. Every beat of his heart is like
a clanging bell in his head. Alarms are sounding. Jon has broken through a new pain
threshold and has never felt this close to dying. He presses on, curious to see how far he
can swim into the abyss. To manage his fears, Jon uses the same tactics he has always
used: face them, attack head on, and don’t leave anything in the tank for the swim back.
Finally, he stops at 101 reps.
I have been training with Jon for over fifteen years and I have never seen
him in deeper water. His right eye is flipping up like a window shade and
he seems
to be flashing in and out of consciousness. As he stumbles around it becomes
obvious that he is changing, growing to adapt to his extreme workload. He is falling
forward when three of us catch him. It takes all of our strength to collectively right the
behemoth and get him on all fours in front of a fan.
When I ask him about that 101st rep, he smiles and tells me, “I can’t stand the idea that I
might limit myself by picking some magical number like 100. What if my real limit is 102 and
I set my mind on 100 at the beginning of the workout? Then I will never truly know how far I
can push it.”
DEEP WATER
I don’t think he had another rep in him. What we witnessed was something that few ever
see but many talk about: going to failure. That is, truly exhausting one’s resources to the
point of failure. Many people talk about going to failure, but most of the time, they set
a number in their heads and stop when they reach it. They never truly reach the point of
extreme adaptation and therefore never realize their true potential. The only way to truly
grow is to push yourself beyond your limits, into the darkest places. Face your fears and
attack them. Being afraid is normal. It’s part of life. It’s how you face that fear that is a true
test of your mettle.
You need to keep an open mind. Opportunities for greatness are all around you. If you
don’t recognize them, they’ll slip through your fingertips. Jon had planned on going to
fifty reps because it would allow him to beat his training partners and because fifty is a lot
of reps to do in the power clean with any weight, let alone 220 pounds. When he got to
fifty he recognized an opportunity for growth and dove through the portal. Even though
he was hurt and tired he realized that if he pushed through his fear and discomfort, he
could do something great and see fantastic gains from it. So he seized the opportunity,
attacked his fear, and ignored his discomfort.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
DEEP WATER ORGINS
Chapter 1
Motivation started young for Jon.
It is a warm day on the Willamette River. Children are splashing around in the cool waters,
families are spread out on blankets soaking up the sun, and there is a friendly game of
volleyball underway. The only interruption comes from the occasional shipping barge slowly
lumbering by.
A young boy stands alone. He has separated himself from the throngs of other children. He is
wearing a t-shirt in spite of the perfect temperature, the telltale badge of a self-conscious fat
kid. His eyes are transfixed on the far bank of the river. Kids are playing there as well. Somehow the opposite shore appears to be sunnier and more fun.
He recalled every other visit to the river. He would swim out halfway before becoming
overwhelmed by fear and turning back to frantically swim to shore. It never occurred to him
that he was covering the same distance either way. He would crazily imagine being devoured
by sharks, despite being in fresh water. His fear took the form of a feeling not unlike drowning.
Before he was even ankle-deep, the air would become heavy in his lungs. He felt frantic and
out of control and he wasn’t even swimming yet. Just the thought of venturing into the water
made him shudder. He was sure everyone was watching him, waiting for his inevitable failure.
Even though this time would be no different, he awkwardly negotiated the rocky shore into
the cool water like a man walking the plank.
DEEP WATER
To Jon, the boys swimming nearby seemed like grown men. He would never be like them, he
thought to himself. He would always be fat and lazy, never athletic or tough. He would never
accomplish anything and he would definitely never make it across this river! The boys on the
other side seem to be laughing at him, jeering and taunting. He takes another unsteady step.
They are a thousand miles away. He has never been more motivated to swim across this river.
After what seems like an hour, he stops for a breath. The shore seems no
closer than when he was standing looking at it. Instantly, he is filled with fear and
disappointment. He’ll never make it across. Years from now, he’ll be an old
man staring
around
across
the
river,
still
gripped
by
terror.
Reluctantly,
he
turns
to make the shameful swim back. Surprisingly, he has come further than he
expected, further than he’s ever been. Fear washes over him and he begins to frantically
thrash about, trying to gain some kind of control. He’s in trouble. This is beyond his childish
fears. He’s in real danger of drowning and he knows it. Back on the shore, nobody is looking
his way; they’re all looking upriver.
Before he even sees it, he knows what they are looking at. A quiet calm blankets him as he
turns to see the massive barge closing in. Without hesitation, he begins to swim hard towards
the shore where he started. Within seconds, he realizes he has come too far to get back to
shore before the barge overtakes him and turns him into an urban legend.
He knows what he must do. His only chance is to swim to the far side. It has nothing to do
with sharks, or with the thousands of times he had tried and failed. This is about survival. He
will either drown or be run down by mediocrity if he doesn’t swim hard to salvation. This is a
swim for his life.
He doesn’t look up until he feels the rocks on his fingertips. His lungs are on fire and his arms
and legs are aching. But he’s made it. He no longer cares about his flabby chest because he
knows something important has happened. For the first time in his life, he conquered his fear
and he did it with hard work and determination. He won the first of countless battles against
fear by grinding through it with sheer will power.
DEEP WATER
As he pulls himself out of the water, he glances back at the
barge to see just how close he had come. He shudders,
realizing that without a doubt, he would have been overrun
and chewed up by its massive propellers.
Without another look back, he pulls off his wet t-shirt and
strolls over to join his classmates. He’s almost as terrified of
them as he was of drowning, but that doesn’t stop him. Fear
means something else to him now. It means hard work.
Few animals instill a sense of fear and awe like a great white
shark. Sleek, beautiful, efficient. It’s hard not to recognize the
beauty of the big fish. It has adapted to the changing climates
better than most animals, and remains at the top of the food
chain. It’s a perfect killing machine, always moving, never at
rest. Big Jon Anderson is like a great white. He is never at rest
and has adapted to his environment in ways few people do.
He certainly instills a sense of awe. At 6’1” and a powerful
300 pounds, with around 7% body fat, he commands
attention without saying a word. He was an international
strongman competitor and is currently a professional
wrestler. Not content with being a pro athlete in two
sports, he recently teamed up with the great Achim Albrecht
to pursue a professional bodybuilding career.
All of this, and he doesn’t have an athletic bone in his body.
Deep Water training is not about swimming, it’s not about
diving, and it’s definitely not about fishing. Deep Water is
about dragging yourself off of the comfortable beach of life
and venturing into deep, dark places, physically, mentally and
emotionally, with no regard for the return swim.
DEEP WATER
Deep Water was created by accident. It was born of a fat
kid’s desire to be bigger, stronger, and leaner than everyone
who ever hazed, picked on, or out performed him.
Save nothing for tomorrow because there will never be another today. Deep Water is something
that we believe can -and should- be applied to any aspect of your life where you want to see
growth. It’s a paradigm that anyone can flourish with, but it isn’t for everyone. It requires laser
focus and uncommon tenacity. It also requires more than a little amount of guts with
complete and total devotion. Devotion to the philosophy, devotion to the grind, devotion to
your peers, devotion to success, and devotion to failure.
Deep Water is not based on some exercise science journal or someone else’s facts. It’s based
on individual achievement through adaptation. It’s all experiential. We learn by grinding it out
and finding our true limits, pushing through pain thresholds and finding new levels of mental,
physical, and spiritual growth.
Everyone has obstacles in life. For Jon, they were obesity and severe dyslexia. With Deep Water,
Jon overcame his fears and shortcomings and is living a life he never imagined possible. It
doesn’t matter what your goals are, Deep Water will release the great white inside of you.
DEEP WATER
THE RESOURCE
ROOM
Chapter 2
Making the Connections.
Check out my Cool Videos
The Resource Room at Knight Elementary School was a place for students who struggled with
the normal curriculum. Some were special needs students with learning disabilities, some had
suffered head trauma, others had Downs Syndrome.
The school’s main building is shaped like a horseshoe, with large windows facing inwards
toward a garden and playground. All of the students attending the classrooms on the inner
row of the horseshoe had a clear view of the playground and the classrooms opposite their
own, including the Resource Room.
Consequently, it was impossible to set foot in the Resource Room without the rest of the
student body knowing about it. For most of the students who had classes in the Resource
Room, this was an exciting by-product of being “special.” They loved the attention. Few of
them understood the children’s cruel humor that led to it being called the “Retard Room.”
For a select few, this was the ultimate humiliation and the worst part of every day.
These “special” kids didn’t feel special at all. They knew all too well what it meant to be in the
Resource Room. It meant name-calling, ass kickings, bullying, and all around general misery.
One such “special” kid was Jon Andersen. Jon had loving parents and a sweet disposition. He
was a good looking kid, but was on the bigger side of husky. His mother would supportively
tell him it was just “baby fat,” and that it would melt off as he got older. But as the years passed,
Jon kept getting plumper. His size and sweet disposition led to frequent bullying. The titty
twisters were the worst. He was quickly given the nickname “Pud.” Needless to say, he hated
the handle. No one named Pud had a girlfriend. No one named Pud had any friends. Still,
over time, he shamefully began to respond to the name. It seemed better to be ridiculed than
ignored.
DEEP WATER
Jon had severe dyslexia. His experiences reading in class were brutal. When his name was
called (which seemed to happen all the time), cold sweat would appear on his brow and his
shirt would stick to his pasty folds. His throat would constrict and his mouth would become
as dry as chalk, making it impossible to utter a word. His mind would become a static filled
chaotic vacuum. He would just freeze most of the time, as hot tears rolled off his cheeks
and down onto his textbook. He wasn’t afraid of public speaking so much as he was
afraid of being exposed as a dummy. His dyslexia was as crippling as polio to him. Every time
someone else’s turn came to an end he was riddled with anxiety. He wondered how his
classmates made it look so easy, the way the words rolled off their tongues as if they
themselves had written “To Kill a Mockingbird” and were reciting it from memory. For Jon,
the words looked jumbled on the paper and made little or no sense. He knew what the
letters meant and what sounds they represented, but somehow when they were printed in
the form of a story, it became overwhelmingly confusing and daunting.
When he was first placed in the Resource Room, he thought it would be an improvement.
Maybe the other kids would be like him. No one would stare and laugh as he struggled with
difficult reading. But he was wrong; it was even worse. There were no children like Jon. In fact,
he didn’t identify with a single student in there. Worst of all, his time in the Resource Room
was the period immediately after lunch, making it impossible for him to sneak in. The entire
student body would be settling into their 5th period classes to watch the parade of misfits
head into the Resource Room.
His victory in the river had been huge for him on a personal level. But the rest of the world
couldn’t give two hot shits. He was drowning again. It was the same feeling he had that day on
the river, only this wasn’t a shipping barge running him down; this was a lifetime of beatings
and ridicule. He was scared, but his experience on the river had taught him something: he
could out-work his fear.
He didn’t know how, but he was going to out-work this reading problem. He had to get out
of that room. After a particularly nasty day at school, Jon told his mom through snot bubbles
and tears that she had to get him out at any cost.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
The next day she saw the principal. She told him he was making big gains and belonged with
the rest of his classmates. Somehow, she convinced him that he was ready to switch twothirds of the way through the semester. The following week, Jon was back in the regular
classrooms. He wasn’t just battling dyslexia now. He was also very overweight and the only
known “graduate” of the Resource Room. He wasn’t going to let this opportunity pass him
by. He read constantly. At home, he struggled with books a few reading levels above his own
so that easier passages at school wouldn’t be so intimidating. He read aloud, in front of a
mirror at first, then in front of his parents. Sometimes he would read the same difficult
sentences over and over again -hundreds of times- until he could recite it from memory. He
hadn’t cured his dyslexia, but he was out-working it.
His bodyweight was increasing at an alarming rate. He wasn’t abused at home or seeking
attention. His parents were loving, caring, hard-working people. The kids in the Resource
Room had obvious reasons for their physical ailments. Jon had no excuses. Jon was just lazy.
He knew he wanted to change. He knew he wanted to be great. He was just too scared to man
up and sign on the dotted line. But nothing he did seemed to matter. He just kept eating. It
was the only part of his life that he had any control over. He could eat until he was sick if he
wanted, which he often did. He got great joy from the food he ate, especially the sweets. Jon
would come home from a miserable day at school, collect all the snacks he could find, make a
huge pile in front of the TV, and eat everything. When his parents came home, he would still
eat a huge home cooked meal.
His mother loved the way he appreciated her cooking. He always asked for seconds and
often thirds. There was always room for dessert, and momma was liberal with the sweets as
well. She loved her boy and took great joy in preparing delicious meals for him. He loved to
eat a big meal then enjoy a lavish dessert before lounging around in front of the TV.
Whenever the food ran out and the TV was turned off, he felt empty and alone.
At school he was reminded of his obesity every day, bullied constantly. Everyone still called
him Pud, or fat ass, and not just the strong kids. Somehow Jon had become lowest man on
the totem pole. Even the weak, non-athletes picked on him. They saw that he was never going
to stand up for himself and that he was an easy target.
DEEP WATER
The abuse continued into high school. At Canby High School the worst physical insult you
could suffer was to be “top-locked.” Being top-locked meant you were hoisted on top of the
lockers and your shoes were tied tightly through one of the locker doors. It was the equivalent
to getting stuffed in a trashcan orgetting a toilet swirly. It meant either a nasty fall forward
or waiting shamefully for help to come while the whole world laughed at the pussy who
got top-locked. It was almost as bad as being in the Resource Room. Jon got top-locked
at least once a week.
Once, his assailants were a group of pencil-pushing lab nerds. It was like some sick comedy.
They were the least athletic, sickliest, pathetic group of bullies ever assembled. But to Jon,
they were just another group of kids out to humiliate him. Together they managed to heave
Jon’s substantial girth onto the lockers and tie his Converse to the door. As they walked away
laughing, Jon began to cry. It was the worst feeling he had ever experienced. If things didn’t
change soon he was going to die. He was drowning in the worst way. His round body shook
and convulsed as he sobbed uncontrollably. Around him kids were laughing and pointing. A
few looked sorry or concerned, but none offered a hand. Soon the bell rang and the kids all
went to class, leaving Jon to moan on top of the third corridor lockers.
A few minutes later, the PE coach saw Jon and began untying his shoes and consoling him.
Nothing the coach said calmed Jon down. He couldn’t breathe through the tears. He was
drowning in an ocean of insults and couldn’t see an end to the pain that he was swimming in.
He had accepted that he was going to always be less than mediocre.
He had no idea what he was doing, so he just trained as
hard as he could every day, fueled by the determination of
a kid who never wanted to get beat up again.
The coach continued to talk to Jon, telling him he was going to be alright. All the while, he
was guiding Jon through the hallways, gently pushing his shoulder this way and that. Jon was
unable to see where he was going through his tears.
DEEP WATER
Eventually Jon found himself in the weight room. It was empty except for him and the coach.
Jon’s tear streaked face peered around the room as if he had never seen anything like it. In
here, there were no jeering bullies. Only iron and steel.
The coached looked him dead in the eye and said, “Don’t you think it’s time to do something
about it?”
From that day on Jon spent every spare moment in the gym. Like every boy his age, he had
been to the movies to see “Conan the Barbarian.” Jon wanted to have muscles like Arnold
Schwarzenegger, and the gym was where he could get them.
He became obsessed. He read books and interviews about bodybuilding and weight training.
He lost himself in his workouts, training alone. He had no idea what he was doing, so he just
trained as hard as he could every day, fueled by the determination of a kid who never wanted
to get beat up again.
“What is the next
level of pain?”
he would ask the
universe. “It’s
not about who’s
strong now, it’s
who’s strong after
10 more sets of
this shit!”
People still called him Pud, but the
beatings were becoming less frequent.
Perhaps it was his slow but gradual
weight loss. Maybe it was the confidence
he found in the weight room. He certainly
wasn’t as afraid anymore. Now, he got
approving nods from some of the more
popular kids who saw him grinding it
out in the squat rack. The same kids that
used to point and laugh or take part
in the hazing now looked at him with
respect. It hardly seemed possible.
DEEP WATER
He learned quickly that the bullying
had less to do with his physical
weakness and more to do with his
emotional weakness. The more he
acted like a frail victim, the more
victimized he became. The more work
he put in to improve himself, the more
respect he got around the schoolyard.
Jon discovered himself in the weight room. In the gym, he found acceptance and a way to
silence the critics. By his junior year in high school, he was one of two students who
could squat 405 pounds.
He developed a mantra, a series of phrases he used to motivate himself when no one
around him even dreamed of training like he did. In fact, most people just looked on in awe,
convinced that he was crazy.
“What is the next level of pain?” he would ask the universe. “It’s not about who’s
strong now, it’s who’s strong after ten more sets of this shit!”
Now when he walked the halls, he was given wide berth. He had not only transformed his
body, but his outlook and way of thinking. He applied his all-or-nothing formula that he
had learned in the river to every aspect of his young life: schoolwork, training, and diet.
Now his classmates called him Stud, and Pud was a distant memory. But sometimes,
someone would eventually remember and remind everyone what a pud Jon really was. He
wanted to put distance between that scared young boy and the young man he was trying
to become.
Every workout pushed him further from that fat kid in the mirror. Every swim into uncharted
waters brought him closer to his goal: to look better and be stronger than everyone.
DEEP WATER
He had no one showing him how it was done. He was learning through repetition and
experience, trial and error. There were no easy workouts for Jon. In the beginning,
his training sessions were fueled by fear. Nearly every workout, he found himself in a
compromised state, cramping up or gasping for air through mouthfuls of barf. When he
got to a point in his workouts where he was afraid, he would throw a switch in his mind.
Just bear down and get through it, he would tell himself, just like that day on the river. By
now, he knew he could out-work his fear. He had started high school a pasty, round, flabby
130 pounds, and finished at a solid 190 pounds with a 400+ pounds squat. His shoulders
had broadened and filled out enough that he no longer had an O-shaped body, but a
vaguely V-shaped torso.
His biggest transformation took place once he got to college. He no longer had the easy
life of home-cooked meals and desserts. He had to pay for books and tuition before he
even thought about food. So he shopped accordingly. There was no room in his budget for
anything but the essentials. He discovered early on that he recovered from heavy workouts
faster when he ate a lot of protein. So it didn’t take a genius to figure out that if Jon was
planning on training hard, he had to budget his diet for recovery purposes only. That
meant no money could be spent on sugar or carbs if he was going to maximize the space
on his plate and the money in his wallet.
DEEP WATER
Deep Water will transform
you and make positive changes.
His new lifestyle transformed his body from 190 pounds to a solid 260 in four years. His
unique training style combined with his willingness to consume gigantic amounts of
protein transformed him. His strength alone made him a sought after commodity. Before
long, he was the starting inside center for his school’s rugby team. His amazing leg strength
made him the fastest player on the field. His last year in college, he single handedly scored
more points than the rest of his team combined. He was Team Captain and MVP.
Jon knew that his success on the rugby pitch was the direct result of his hard work in the
gym. He knew that nothing he would face during 120 minutes of rugby would compare to a
set of twenty reps with 500+pounds in the back squat. His unique training philosophy had
made him mentally fierce and prepared him for the worst possible situations. Most games
were like light workouts for Jon. In fact, it was not uncommon to find Jon attacking a big set of
squats after a game while the rest of the team was out celebrating.
At twenty-three, Jon was a college graduate with a major in theology and a minor in
philosophy from the University of Portland. After college, Jon hit the ground running. He
knew he was onto something with his outlandish training style because his results were
staggering. He was making gains he never thought possible while those around him
seemed to be driving with their brakes on. Without hesitation, Jon applied his philosophy to
the professional world of house painting. In 1995, Jon started his first business. In five years
he had over twenty employees and was grossing over a million dollars a year. He figured
that was a good time to sell and pursue his athletic career. He sold his company for half a
million dollars.
DEEP WATER
At the time, he didn’t have a name for his philosophy. He would constantly tell those around
him that he was “All in, every day.”
Now, at forty-two, he is attempting to open the door on his third pro career as a
bodybuilder. Deep Water doesn’t discriminate against age. Deep Water will continue to
produce results as long as you are committed to the grind. Deep Water works if you are
willing to do the work.
Almost every training session with Big Jon is set up to be some kind of battle. Jon will construct
handicaps and co-efficient ratios to keep everyone in the game. You don’t have to be the
strongest or the toughest person alive. All you need to train with Jon is a good attitude and an
open mind. Guts help, too. One of Jon’s favorite battles is what he calls “dead man standing.”
Dead man standing is a barbell loaded to a near maximum weight and dead-lifted for singles,
alternating between two athletes until someone fails. They are done with no rest except for
the time it takes your partner to finish his rep. Very few of Jon’s training partners can actually
hang with him head to head, except for Ricky LaRocca. Ricky has a gigantic deadlift and great
technique. He is also a great guy with a huge heart and a no bullshit approach to training.
Jon and him like to load up a 750 pound barbell for this workout. When they go to battle,
sometimes Jon wins, sometimes Ricky does. But every time they face each other, they
learn and they grow. They have developed a trust and bond that few outside of the iron
game can relate to. Often, the end of these high intensity battles results in a cool down set
that turns into a portal and an opportunity to jump into Deep Waters.
Another favorite is tire flips. Almost no one can hang with Jon in this movement, so he devises
ways to challenge himself while dragging others into Deep Waters. For example: Jon will flip
a 900 pound tire in a battle against two people. The first guy will flip it back to him and Jon
will then flip it to the second guy. The other guy then flips it back to Jon giving the first guy
time to rest, but Jon none. For every flip his partners complete, Jon finishes two.
Jon uses stair running, vertical jumping, power cleans, and squats to do Deep Water battles
as well. Any exercise that uses multiple joints and complex movements is perfect. Strongman
implements are particularly challenging and always fun. Using stones is a good way to go
to battle. Load a heavy stone onto a chest level platform. Unload it. Now it’s your training
partner’s turn. Repeat to failure, last man standing wins. The results are undeniable. Deep
Water battles are designed to be so nasty and uncomfortable that when you face life’s real
battles, you’ll have the tools to cope.
DEEP WATER
DEEP WATER NUTRITION
Chapter 3
Success in Deep Water is dependent on a strict dietary regime.
Success in Deep Water is dependent entirely on a strict dietary regime that Jon has developed
over years of applied science. His results are hard to ignore. Here is a sample of what Jon
consumes in a day:
5AM:
100 grams of whey protein with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
Back to sleep
7:30AM:
12 organic omega-3 DHEA eggs. 1/2 avocado
10AM:
1 lb. grass fed organic ground beef (85/15)
1-½ cups green veggies
2 tablespoons flax seed oil
1 tablespoon guacamole
1 tablespoon sour cream
12:30:
1 lb. grass fed organic ground beef (85/15)
1-½ cups green veggies
2 tablespoons flax seed oil
1 tablespoon guacamole
1 tablespoon sour cream
DEEP WATER
3PM:
Post-workout, 150 grams of whey protein
5:30PM:
1 lb. grass fed organic ground beef (85/15)
1-½ cups green veggies
2 tablespoons flax seed oil
1 tablespoon guacamole
1 tablespoon sour cream
8PM
1 lb. grass fed organic ground beef (85/15)
1-½ cups green veggies
2 tablespoons flax seed oil
1 tablespoon guacamole
1 tablespoon sour cream
10:30:
1 lb. grass fed organic ground beef (85/15)
1-½ cups green veggies
2 tablespoons flax seed oil
1 tablespoon guacamole
1 tablespoon sour cream
NOTES:
2 gallons of water per day
One fiber supplement in the morning and one at night
1200mg of fish oil
If a meal is missed for any reason, a supplemental 100-gram whey
protein shake is consumed during the night
NOTES:
2 gallons of water per day
One fiber supplement in the morning and one at night
1200mg of fish oil
If a meal is missed for any reason, a supplemental 100-gram whey
protein shake is consumed during the night
DEEP WATER
If you look up the Latin translation of the word “diet,” it doesn’t say anything about
getting ripped or losing weight. Directly translated, it means “lifestyle.” Deep Water is
Jon’s life. He doesn’t have to remind himself to act this way or eat that way. It’s who he is.
For Jon, the eating disorders stuck with him the longest, long after he had conquered his
learning disorder, the weight room, and the rugby field. Even after his successful
business endeavors. Jon still ate like the fat kid in the Resource Room. He would hoard
food. He would drink gallons of sugary sodas. He would drown himself in sweets until he
had the sweats.
One day he was watching TV after a hard workout. He had eaten more protein than anyone
he had ever heard of, so he felt sure he had done all he could for his recovery. Now it was no
longer about recovery, it was about comfort. This was his secret time.
He had a huge mixing bowl full of M&Ms balanced
on his gut. As he watched mind-numbing crap on TV,
he shoveled handful after handful of chocolate treats
into his open gob. He couldn’t stop, even though
he kept telling himself this was bad. His brow was
wet from the insulin spike. His heart was pounding and
he was breathing hard, but his hand just kept returning
to the bowl for another scoop. His arm was like some
giant flesh crane, dumping candy rocks into the
vast quarry of his guts. At some point, the joy he
was feeling was replaced by anxiety. He told himself to
He knew he
would never
reach his true
potential if he
didn’ t clean up
his diet
stop, but he couldn’t. The thought of stopping made Jon feel sad and empty. But the
feeling of self-loathing for not being able to control himself washed over him just as his
roommate walked in.
He knew he would never reach his true potential
if he didn’t clean up his diet.
DEEP WATER
Immediately, Jon was ashamed and transported back to his childhood when he knew it was
wrong, but continued to eat badly anyway. His friend looked at him in disbelief. How could this
specimen have so little self-control? For Jon, it was a crossroads. He knew he would never reach
his true potential if he didn’t clean up his diet. He didn’t think he could control the obsessive
nature of his eating, but he figured he could at least choose which foods he obsessed over.
He developed a way of life that would allow him to consume ridiculous amounts of food just
like when he was eating those M&Ms. Only now it was flesh.
He figured protein and fat both had multiple roles in the body’s metabolic chain. Both served
as sources for energy and for muscle development. Carbs and sugar, however, served only one
purpose: energy. His new system would exclude any food that didn’t have recovery properties,
but he could eat as much of that food as he wanted.
The results were fantastic. His body transformed almost overnight. When he didn’t have any
outside sources of energy, his body immediately accessed the fat it had been storing for a
rainy day. Within weeks Jon was leaner than he had ever been and was still making strength
and size gains.
Most people are caught up in the way they view food and “dieting.” For most of them, diet
means less food or restrictive eating. On the contrary, a good diet means you eat so much
you will be sick of eating. Eating will seem more like a job than a source of pleasure. When
you are adhering to a strict Deep Water regime, you eat so frequently that you let go of your
ideas about food. You don’t have to be hungry. You don’t have to restrict calories. You don’t
have to wait to eat.
When he didn’t have any outside sources of
energy, his body immediately accessed the
fat it had been storing for a rainy day.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
When he didn’t have any outside sources of
energy, his body immediately accessed the
fat it had been storing for a rainy day.
You will consume so much quality food that the idea that you need to cheat will seem ridiculous
and difficult. Food will no longer be in control of your life.
It’s important to recognize the value of quality food, stuff that is organic and locally produced.
Food that is chemical- and hormone-free. Food that will go bad if you don’t eat it soon. If
it’s in a sealed package and doesn’t require refrigeration, it’s probably not part of your Deep
Water diet. If it can see you, you should eat it. Eat a diverse range of flesh: fish, beef, fowl,
and pork. This will give the body a complete protein profile and allow it to become a more
efficient protein synthesizing machine, thus allowing you to recover and rebuild after taxing
workouts. Eat plenty of fats. Energy from fat is efficient, especially when a variety of fats are
consumed. Just like the protein profile, your body will recognize the essential fats (fish oils,
omegas, avocados, etc.) and become a more efficient fat burning vessel. By balancing your
protein profile and supplementing essential fats you are giving your body a better range of
tools to get into and survive your Deep Water workouts.
Make no mistake, you will eat some unintentional carbohydrates. Mostly in the form of protein
shakes, avocado, nuts, and nut butter.
DEEP WATER
Eat as many green veggies as you want at least three times a day. Avoid peas, as they are
high in sugar. Drinking water is key to maintain liver and kidney health when utilizing a
high-protein diet. If you weigh more than 250 pounds, drink 6-8 liters a day. If you are less
than 250 pounds, drink 4-6 liters per day.
Protein is much more anabolic than is generally thought. You hear about only being able to
absorb so much protein before you begin to waste it. That may be true. But the harder you
train, the greater the demand for protein, and the more efficient your body will become at
using the protein you put in it. This is especially true if you are limiting your carb intake. Your
body will find the energy somewhere: unintentionally digested carbohydrates, excess protein,
intentionally digested fat, and existing body fat stores. You just have to let it adapt. But be
aware: adaptation is an intensely uncomfortable process. Most people want to see the gains,
but very few have the mental fortitude and discipline to grind through the physical and
mental stress that goes along with Deep Water dieting. The only way to adapt is to become
comfortable with discomfort. You can thrive on a no carb diet if you allow yourself to adapt.
It’s uncomfortable and painful, but gains hide in the pain. For starters eat a minimum of 1-½
grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day, up to a maximum of two grams. Eat up
to ¾ gram to one gram of fat per pound of bodyweight per day. Use up to a 2:1 ratio of
protein to fats.
It’s important to balance the type of fats you eat. You can consume as much animal fat as
you’d like as long as you supplement them with omegas (fish oils, salmon, swordfish, grassfed animal fat). The body will be a more efficient fat burning machine with a balanced intake.
Increase the frequency of meals, especially if you are exercising hard. If your body doesn’t
think it’s going to eat for a while, it will hold onto the calories that are introduced in the form
of storage (fat). If your body knows it will be eating more frequently it uses the fuel it has
available.
Most people want to see the gains, but very few have the mental
fortitude and discipline to grind through the physical and
mental stress that goes along with Deep Water dieting.
DEEP WATER
If your body knows you are eating again soon it will surely burn right through what you put
in it. Your metabolism will speed up. You will recover faster. You will have a sense of well
being and you will feel better.
Think about the average American workday. Up early, maybe some coffee and a small snack,
but usually no food at all. Eat again at lunchtime. By this time it has been 16-18 hours since
your last real meal. Your body is in survival mode. Your metabolism assumes (correctly) that
it won’t be eating again for 7 or 8 hours so it slows down and holds onto some energy in
the form of fat. You finish the workday and gorge yourself on a carb rich diet because all you
can think about is food. Maybe watch a little TV then go to bed with a belly full of food then
wake up and do it all again.
This dietary cycle is the slow death and the worst
possible scenario for a Deep Water lifestyle.
This dietary cycle is the slow death and the worst possible scenario for a Deep Water
lifestyle.
Even though most of us are in no danger of starving, we eat like we will never eat again.
Whether we like it or not, our society has become obsessed with food. We are constantly
inundated by millions of dollars worth of advertising telling us to consume massive
amounts of crap. It’s a battle we fight every day. All around us are colorful, intriguing ads
encouraging us to eat more shit for less money. Deep Water will teach you to choose foods
based on their nutritional and performance value rather than slick advertising.
Eating a healthy, performance-based diet requires planning and discipline. So often, people
miss meals or eat food that they know isn’t healthy because they failed to plan their day.
Cooking for a few days at a time and storing the meals in the fridge is a great way to make
sure you have food on hand. Just grab a tupperware container for every meal you will be
away from the house. If you are looking at a 9 hour workday, grab at least three proteinrich, pre-prepared, organic meals on your way out the door.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
You won’t be hungry. You won’t obsess about where your
next meal is coming from or if it’s healthy. You will be in
control of the food you eat rather than the food controlling
you. You will look and feel better than ever. Deep Water
dieting takes the guesswork out. You will have complete
control over your lifestyle and the food you eat.
Jon is trying to get down that path faster than anyone else.
The only way to do that is by providing himself with the
necessary tools and materials to facilitate growth at all
times. There can never be a moment when he isn’t in a state
of recovery. Deep Water workouts are nasty, tough, and
painful. They push you into a state of recovery that often
lasts for several days. Your diet needs to reflect that. Take
a double shot of protein immediately after your workout.
Immediately after heavy workouts, there is a window for
increased protein uptake. Don’t just push your protein
after heavy training sessions. In order to stay in a constant
state of recovery, you need to maintain a regimented Deep
Water diet. You can’t build without protein. The human
body is constantly adapting and changing. If you continue
to overload a body in an adaptive state with protein it will
become more efficient at using that protein. The more you
can digest, the faster you will recover and rebuild.
Deep Water will make you a more efficient protein converting machine. If you believe your
body can only ingest thirty grams of protein per meal and you only eat thirty grams of
protein for the rest of your life, do you think you will ever adapt to eating forty-five grams?
Or even sixty? No way. If you want to adapt you have to force it. Adaptation is violent.
Your diet should reflect the intensity of your workouts.
DEEP WATER
If you eat enough quality meats and fats, the rice and other carbs will not call out to you. They
call out to you when you don’t eat regularly enough and your brain sends out signals saying it
needs quick burning energy now. But none of that really matters. If you want gains, you have
to get uncomfortable. Don’t be a pussy. The carbs will always call your name. It’s your job to
silence the voices and push through. If you adhere to a strict Deep Water diet your body will
become a fat burning and protein synthesizing expert. If Jon is eating, he is eating
protein. This was before Atkins and long before Paleo. When he was thirty, Jon got a beef
sponsorship that allowed him to consume five pounds of grass-fed beef per day. It is safe to
say Jon Andersen has consumed four to six pounds of flesh a day for the last twenty years.
Thanks to Deep Water, Jon is 300lbs with never more than 7% body fat. He’s a physical
juggernaut. It’s hard to imagine that he isn’t “pre-contest” or “tapering,” but this is how Jon
looks 365 days a year. It isn’t about photo shoots or peaking for a show. It’s a lifestyle for him.
Deep Water is a daily routine. It’s his way of life.
Before Jon’s feet hit the floor in the morning, before his butt hits the toilet, he has
consumed 100 grams of protein. Jon will consume seven or eight meals a day, like
clockwork, consisting of no less than 100 grams of protein per sitting. With that comes a
healthy supply of fat. There is no room left for carbs. Not because he wants to watch his
glycemic index, but because there’s just no way to eat more. Most of us, when faced with
day-to-day choices, go for the pleasure lifestyle: eating for enjoyment instead of
sustenance. For Jon, it’s not just a lifestyle, it’s a necessity. Jon is in a constant state of
recovery at all times. He is never not sore. The more protein he consumes, the faster his
recovery from the grueling, Deep Water grinders that he puts himself through. For Deep
Water to be successful, this symbiosis between diet and training must exist. Eating
massive amounts of protein without the hard work won’t be effective. Training at the
intensity this program calls for, without proper protein replacement, is a waste of time, too.
Jon enjoys his lifestyle. It brings him joy to know that he adheres to a unique regimen that
produces drastic results. He is proud to do what others won’t.
DEEP WATER
“Every time I look in the mirror I see that fat kid
in the locker room,” he says as a big grin spreads
across his face. “I train like this to make sure he never
steps on this side of the mirror again.”
DEEP WATER FRIENDLY FOODS:
MEAT
POULTRY
Ground beef
Steak
Buffalo
Venison
Ham
Pork
Bacon
Veal
Heart
Chicken
Ostrich
Turkey
Duck
Quail
Rabbit
FISH
SHELLFISH
VEGETABLES
Arctic char
Catfish
Cod
Flounder
Grouper
Haddock
Halibut
Herring
Mackerel
Mahi-Mahi
Monkfish
Orange roughy
Perch
Red snapper
Salmon
Sardines
Sea bass
Shark
Sole
Surimi
Swordfish
Trout
Tilapia
Tuna
Clams
Crab
Crawfish
Lobster
Mussels
Octopus
Oysters
Scallops
Shrimp
Artichoke
Asparagus
Bean sprouts
Bell peppers
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots (uncooked
only)
Cauliflower
Celery
Green beans
Kale
Lettuce
Mushrooms
Onions
Peppers
Radish
Spinach
Tomato
Zucchini
Avocado
DAIRY
EGGS
NUTS
Low-carb cottage
cheese
Sour cream
Cream
Low-carb cheese
Low-fat Greek
yogurt (unsweet
ened/unflavored)
Chicken (omega-3
eggs recommended)
Almonds
Peanuts
Almond and peanut
butter
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
HERE IS A SAMPLE BEGINNER DEEP WATER DIET FOR A
200-POUND PERSON. USE FOOD CHOICES FROM THE
LIST PROVIDED:
MEAL #1, 8AM:
MEAL #4 (POST WORKOUT), 6:30PM:
9 whole omega-3 eggs
100 gram protein shake
1/2 avocado
2 tbsp peanut butter
1/4 cup peanuts
MEAL #2, 11:30AM:
MEAL #5, 10PM:
9 whole omega-3 eggs
3/4 lb. organic chicken thighs
1/2 avocado
Unlimited green vegetables
1/4 cup peanuts
2 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp flax seed oil
MEAL #3, 3PM:
3/4 lb. grass fed ground beef
(85% lean)
Unlimited green vegetables
2 tbsp guacamole
1 tbsp flax seed oil
DEEP WATER
Deep Water is all about recognizing opportunities to improve. Portals are windows of opportunity that present themselves when breaking new pain thresholds. Passing through a
portal is like passing into a new world, a world where all of your goals are attainable and
progress is inevitable.
Passing through a portal is the moment in the workout when the body begins to manage
pain more effectively. The big gains hide in the pain. Get comfortable
Chapter
4
being
uncomfortable.
Identify your portals and jump through. When you learn to
DEEP WATER TRAINING
recognize and jump through portals, you are on the fast track to success.
BEGINNERS
Ten sets of ten reps. There are plenty of
exercises that can get you into Deep Water.
Compound movements that use as much of the
body as possible are ideal. As a beginner, you
will want to stick with more basic movements.
Back squats and deadlifts are perfect. Auxiliary
exer-cises like curls and bench presses won’t do
the trick. Keep in mind that your body may feel
overtrained. The goal is to feel like you can
keep going past ten even though you are
whipped. Your body is releasing endorphins
that have a numbing effect on the pain. At this
point, don’t dive in, but watch for the portals of
opportunity. Once you learn to recognize them,
you are on track. These are portals to a whole
new world of training and gains that you never
knew existed: Deep Water.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
INTERMEDIATE
Now that you have pushed yourself with ten sets of ten it’s time to step it up. Remember
the portals? Now it’s time to dive in there. You are now going to start turning sets of ten
into longer, more brutal work sets. Your goal is to learn to push your body past what your
mind is telling you is possible. Your body is very resilient and is capable of more than you
know. When that little voice in side your head tells you to stop, you need to get mad and
keep going.
It’s time to start learning to deal with being uncomfortable. Ultimately, you’ll learn to keep
your mind calm while your body is freaking out. You’ll learn to ignore and even embrace the
adrenaline being dumped into the bloodstream. It’s natural to start panicking, however this is
the worst thing you can do. Calm your mind, but never your body!
Your ten sets of ten has now become a test to see how few sets you can do to achieve
100 reps. Keep in mind that even at this intermediate level, you are ultimately training
yourself to operate in Deep Water. You are training the mind to stay calm even though the
voice in your head says you are in great danger. You are training the body to break through
pain thresholds like they are made of glass. Most importantly you are training the two parts
to work together even though they are in two completely different states. When you are
in deep, uncharted water it is important to stay focused on the next rep. Not the next 10.
You can almost always get one more, then one more, and then one more again and again
and again until you reach your goal. There is usually always one more and your mind
can live with that. Don’t sell yourself short by setting a number and stopping there.
Maybe, just maybe, there is more in the tank. You’ll never know unless you are willing to
toe the line.
As your thresholds increase, so will your ability to perform more complex exercises. The
intermediate stage is a great place to ad power cleans, front squats, clean and jerks, and
some strongman implements.
DEEP WATER
ADVANCED
If you have come this far, you are achieving an unbelievable amount of success in the
best way possible.
This method of training is something that you will benefit from immediately. However,
you should always be pushing yourself into deeper water. Jon has been at this for over
twenty years and he’s still going deeper. You will discover more about your version of
Deep Water every time you get in. Keeping your mind calm will always be difficult. The
bigger the goal, the tougher it is keep calm. In the beginner and intermediate programs,
reps and sets are set up to do nothing more than teach you how to get in and how to
recognize the portals and opportunities when they present themselves. As an advanced
swimmer, you can use many different rep and set schemes. You can get into Deep Water
on a set of five by turning a max set of five into seven or eight. Or add weight and do a
harder set of five. It’s all about reaching for more and getting the mind out of the body’s
way. There are so many ways to better yourself. Just apply your new tools and set new
standards.
You have learned to make your body and mind work together to deal with extraordinary
amounts of pain and punishment. You have stretched out your work capacity both mentally
and physically. Now it’s time to push it.
Now that you’re an advanced Deep Water athlete, you are equipped to use these tools to
suit individual goals with individual/customized training. You are now able to harness and
access more of your physical tools through mental toughness. Ask yourself: what is your
goal? What are you trying to achieve? Reaching goals is satisfying no matter what level you
are. Advanced Deep Water is truly a state of mind. The challenge is being able to recognize
and capitalize on the opportunities when the time is right.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
BEGINNER DEEP WATER PROGRAM
*Anybody interested in engaging in a serious Deep Water program should establish a 1-rep
max in thefollowing exercises:
• Squat
• Deadlift
• Push press
• Strict standing press
• Power clean
• Bench press
• Incline press
• Narrow-grip bench press
Once you have found your 1-rep max, you will use that number to calculate your 10-rep
max. Multiply your 1-rep max by .77 to find your hypothetical 10-rep max. Multiply your hypothetical 10-rep max by .7 to find your 70% as prescribed in the beginner’s program.
DURING WEEKS 1 AND 2 USE 70% AND TAKE NO MORE THAN 4 MINUTES REST BETWEEN
SETS.
WEEK ONE
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Light deadlift
Pull-ups - 4 sets
Push press -
Bench press -
Active rest -
(technique)
to failure
10x10
3x10
Stairs,
- 3x10
Bent over rows
Lateral DB raises Close grip
hills, or swim:
Squat - 10x10
- 4x10
-
bench - 3x10
medium
Barbell lunges -
Clean pull (tech- 3x10 each arm
Incline press -
intensity for 20
3x10 reps
nique) -
Barbell curl -
3x10
minutes
per leg
3x10
5x10
Dips - 3 sets to
Sit-ups/back
60-second
Sit-ups/back
failure
extension
plank with 20
extesion - 20
Push-ups - 3
-20 each, 3 sets,
sit-ups - 3 sets
each,
sets to
no rest
no rest
3 sets, no rest
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Saturday/
Sunday
Off
DEEP WATER
WEEK TWO
Monday
Tuesday
Light squat
Pull-ups - 4 sets Strict press -
(technique) -
to failure
10x10
3x10
Bent over rows
Lateral DB rai-
Deadlift - 10x10 - 4x10
Wednesday
ses - 3x10
Barbell lunges -
Clean pull (tech- each arm
3x10
nique) -
Barbell curl -
Sit-ups - 3x20
3x10
5x10
60-second
60-second
plank with 20
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
no rest
Thursday
Friday
Saturday/
Sunday
Bench press 3x10
Close grip
bench - 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
Push-ups - 3
sets to
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest -
Off
Stairs,
hills, or swim:
medium
intensity for 20
minutes
DURING WEEKS 3 AND 4 STAY AT 70% BUT REDUCE REST
TIME BETWEEN SETS TO 3 MINUTES.
WEEK THREE
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Light deadlift
(technique) 3x10
Squat - 10x10
Barbell lunges 3x10
reps per leg
Sit-ups/back
extension
-20 each, 3 sets,
no rest
Pull-ups - 4 sets
to
failure
Bent over rows
- 4x10
Clean pull (technique) 3x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Push press 10x10
Lateral DB raises - 3x10
each arm
Barbell curl 5x10
Sit-ups/back
extension 20 each, 3 sets,
no rest
Bench press 3x10
Close grip
bench - 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
Push-ups - 3
sets to
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest Stairs,
hills, or swim:
medium
intensity for 20
minutes
Saturday/
Sunday
Off
DEEP WATER
WEEK FOUR
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday/
Sunday
Light squat
(technique) 3x10
Deadlift - 10x10
Barbell lunges 3x10
Sit-ups - 3x20
Pull-ups - 4 sets
to failure
Bent over rows
- 4x10
Clean pull
(technique) 3x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Push press 10x10
Lateral DB raises - 3x10
each arm
Barbell curl 5x10
Sit-ups/back
extension 20 each, 3 sets,
no rest
Bench press 3x10
Close grip
bench - 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
Push-ups - 3
sets to
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest Stairs,
hills, or swim:
medium
intensity for 20
minutes
Off
DURING WEEKS 5 AND 6 STAY AT 70%, BUT REDUCE YOUR REST TIME TO 2
MINUTES BETWEEN SETS. START IDENTIFYING YOUR PORTALS!
STAY FOCUSED AND STAY TOUGH. THESE WORKOUTS WILL MAKE YOU
WANT TO QUIT. NEVER GIVE UP! “PAIN CAUSES SOME MEN TO BREAK AND
OTHER MEN TO BREAK RECORDS!”
WEEK FIVE
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday/
Sunday
Light deadlift
(technique)
- 3x10
Squat - 10x10
Barbell lunges 3x10
Sit-ups/back
extension
-20 each, 3 sets,
no rest
Pull-ups - 4 sets
to failure
Shrugs - 4x10
Clean pull
(technique) 3x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Strict press 10x10
Barbell curl 5x10
Sit-ups/back
extension 20 each, 3 sets,
no rest
Bench press 3x10
Close grip
bench - 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
Push-ups - 3
sets to
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest Stairs,
hills, or swim:
medium
intensity for 20
minutes
Off
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
WEEK SIX
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday/
Sunday
Light squat
(technique) 3x10
Deadlift - 10x10
Barbell lunges 3x10
Sit-ups - 3x20
Pull-ups - 4 sets
to
failure
Shrugs - 4x10
Clean pull (technique) 3x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Strict press 10x10
Barbell curl 5x10
Sit-ups/back
extension 20 each, 3 sets,
no rest
Bench press 3x10
Close grip
bench - 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
Push-ups - 3
sets to
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest Stairs,
hills, or swim:
medium
intensity for 20
minutes
Off
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
INTERMEDIATE DEEP WATER PROGRAM
*Anybody interested in engaging in a serious Deep Water program should establish a 1-rep
max in the following exercises:
• Squat
• Deadlift
• Push press
• Strict standing press
• Power clean
• Bench press
• Incline press
• Narrow-grip bench press
Once you have found your 1-rep max, you will use that number to calculate your 10-rep max.
Multiply your 1-rep max by .77 to find your hypothetical 10-rep max.
Multiply your hypothetical 10-rep max by .7 to find your 70% as prescribed in the beginner’s program.
DURING WEEKS 1 AND 2 USE 70% AND TAKE NO MORE THAN 4 MINUTES REST BETWEEN SETS.
WEEK ONE
Monday
Light squat
(technique) 3x10
Deadlift - 10x10
Box jumps 5x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Tuesday
Push press 10x10
Barbell curl 5x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Pull-ups - 3 sets
to
failure
Clean pull
(technique) 3x10
Power cleans 10x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Bench press 3x10
Close grip
bench - 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest Stairs,
hills, or swim:
medium
intensity for 20
minutes
Saturday/
Sunday
Off
WEEK TWO
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday/
Sunday
Light deadlift
(technique) 3x10
Squat - 10x10
Back extension
- 5x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Push press 10x10
Barbell curl 5x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Pull-ups - 3
sets to
failure
Clean pull
(technique) 3x10
Power cleans 10x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Bench press 3x10
Close grip bench
- 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
60-second plank
with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest Stairs,
hills, or swim:
medium
intensity for 20
minutes
Off
DEEP WATER
DURING WEEKS 3 AND 4, USE 80% AND TAKE 4 MINUTES REST BETWEEN SETS. NOW TRY TO COMPLETE THE
REPS IN 9 OR LESS SETS. THESE WORKOUTS WILL BE YOUR FIRST
SWIMS INTO DEEP WATERS. BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR YOUR PORTALS!
WEEK THREE
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday/
Sunday
Light squat
(technique) 3x10
Deadlift - 100
reps in as
few sets as
possible
Box jumps 5x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Push press 100 reps in
as few sets as
possible
Barbell curl 5x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Clean pull
(technique) 3x10
Power cleans 100 reps
in as few sets
as possible
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Bench press 3x10
Close grip
bench - 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest - Stairs,
hills, or swim: medium
intensity for 20
minutes
Off
WEEK FOUR
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Light deadlift
(technique) 3x10
Squat - 100 reps
in as
few sets as
possible
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Push press - 100
reps in
as few sets as
possible
Barbell curl 5x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Clean pull (technique) 3x10
Power cleans 100 reps
in as few sets as
possible
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Bench press 3x10
Close grip
bench - 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest Stairs,
hills, or swim:
medium
intensity for 20
minutes
Saturday/
Sunday
Off
WEEKS 5 AND 6 WILL TEST YOUR MENTAL TOUGHNESS AND RESOLVE. HAVE CONFIDENCE
IN YOUR STRENGTH AND FORCE YOUR BODY TO ADAPT TO HIGHER STRESS LEVELS. LEARN
TO BE COMFORTABLE IN AN UNCOMFORTABLE PLACE. GET INTO YOUR PORTAL AND STAY
THERE AS LONG AS YOU CAN. USE 80% OF YOUR ONE REP MAX AND TAKE AS MUCH REST
AS YOU NEED. TRY TO FINISH YOUR REPS IN 8 OR LESS SETS.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
WEEK FIVE
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday/
Sunday
Light deadlift
(technique) 3x10
Squat - 100
reps in as
few sets as
possible
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Push press 100 reps in
as few sets as
possible
Barbell curl 5x10
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Clean pull (technique) 3x10
Power cleans 100 reps
in as few sets as
possible
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Bench press 3x10
Close grip
bench - 3x10
Incline press 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to
failure
60-second
plank with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets
no rest
Active rest Stairs,
hills, or swim:
medium
intensity for 20
minutes
Off
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday/
Sunday
Light squat (tech-
Strict press - 100
Clean pull (techni- Bench press -
Active rest -
Off
nique) -
reps in
que) -
3x10
Stairs,
3x10
as few sets as
3x10
Close grip bench
hills, or swim:
Deadlift - 100
possible
Power cleans -
- 3x10
medium
reps in as
Barbell curl - 5x10
100 reps
Incline press -
intensity for 20
few sets as pos-
60-second plank
in as few sets as
3x10
minutes
sible
with 20
possible
Dips - 3 sets to
Box jumps - 5x10
sit-ups - 3 sets no
60-second plank
failure
60-second plank
rest
with 20
60-second plank
with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets no
with 20
sit-ups - 3 sets no
rest
sit-ups - 3 sets no
WEEK SIX
rest
rest
DEEP WATER
ADVANCED DEEP WATER TRAINING
On Deep Water days, there will be a reduction of volume and a massive increase in
intensity. Burn the boats! On non-Deep Water days, work up to a max set of 10.
WEEK ONE
Monday
(Deep Water)
Light squat (technique) - 3x10
Deadlift - 5x5, work up to a max set and then drop down to 65% (multiply max set of 5 by .65). Dive into
your portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8 minutes. Drop to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to failure
again. Get wet! 60 second plank with 20 sit ups 3 sets no rest
Tuesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Strict press - 5x10
Barbell curl - 5x10
Pull-ups - 3 sets to failure
60 second plank with 20 sit ups 3 sets no rest
Wednesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Bench press - 3x10
Close grip bench - 3x10
Incline press - 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to failure
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Thursday
(Deep Water)
Clean pull (technique) - 3x10
Power cleans - 5x5, work up to a max set and then drop down to 65% (multiply max set of 5 by .65). Dive
into your portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8 minutes. Drop to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to
failure again. Get wet!
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Friday
(Non-Deep Water)
Active rest - Stairs, hills, or swim: medium intensity for 20 minutes
Saturday/Sunday
Off
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
WEEK TWO
Monday
(Deep Water)
Light deadlift (technique) - 3x10
Squat - 5x5, work up to a max set and then drop down to 65% (multiply max set of 5 by .65). Dive into your
portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8 minutes. Drop to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to failure again.
Get wet! 60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Tuesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Bent over row - 5x10
Barbell curl - 5x10
Pull-ups - 3 sets to failure
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Wednesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Bench press - 3x10
Close grip bench - 3x10
Dips - 3 sets to failure
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Thursday
(Deep Water)
Push press - 5x5, work up to a max set and then drop down to 65% (multiply
max set of 5 by .65). Dive into your portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8 minutes.
Drop to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to failure again. Get wet!
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Friday
(Non-Deep Water)
Active rest - Stairs, hills, or swim: medium intensity for 20 minutes
Saturday/Sunday
Off
DEEP WATER
WEEK THREE
Monday
(Deep Water)
Clean pull (technique) - 3x10
Power clean - 5x5, work up to a max set and then drop down to 65% (multiply
max set of 5 by .65). Dive into your portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8 minutes.
Drop to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to failure again. Get wet!
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Tuesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Pull-ups - 3 sets to failure
Strict press - 5x10
Barbell curl - 5x10
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Wednesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Clean pull (technique) - 3x10
Power cleans - 5x10
Box jumps - 3x20
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Thursday
(Non-Deep Water)
Bench press - 3x10
Close grip bench - 3x10
Incline press - 3x10
Push-ups - 3 sets to failure
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Friday
(Non-Deep Water)
Active rest - Stairs, hills, or swim: medium intensity for 20 minutes
Saturday/Sunday
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
WEEK FOUR
Monday
(Deep Water)
Light deadlift (technique) - 3x10
Squat - 5x5, work up to a max set and then drop down to 65% (multiply max
set of 5 by .65). Dive into your portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8 minutes. Drop
to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to failure again. Get wet!
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Tuesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Pull-ups - 3 sets to failure
Push press - 5x10
Barbell curl - 5x10
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Wednesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Clean pull (technique) - 3x10
Power cleans - 5x10
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Thursday
(Deep Water)
Full or squat cleans - 5x5, work up to a max set and then drop down to 65%
(multiply max set of 5 by .65). Dive into your portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8
minutes. Drop to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to failure again. Get
wet!
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Friday
(Non-Deep Water)
Active rest - Stairs, hills, or swim: medium intensity for 20 minutes
Saturday/Sunday
DEEP WATER
WEEK FIVE
Monday
(Deep Water)
Light deadlift (technique) - 3x10
Front squat press - work up to a max set and then drop down to 65% (multiply
max set of 5 by .65). Dive into your portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8 minutes.
Drop to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to failure again. Get wet!
Box jumps - 5x10
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Tuesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Pull-ups - 3 sets to failure
Strict press - 5x10
Barbell curl - 5x10
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Wednesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Clean pull (technique) - 3x10
Power cleans - 3x10
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Thursday
(Deep Water)
Clean and push press - 5x5, work up to a max set and then drop down to 65%
(multiply max set of 5 by .65). Dive into your portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8 minutes. Drop to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to failure again. Get wet!
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 5 sets no rest
Friday
(Non-Deep Water)
Active rest - Stairs, hills, or swim: medium intensity for 20 minutes
Saturday/Sunday
Off
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
WEEK SIX
Monday
(Deep Water)
Light squat (technique) - 3x10
Squat - 5x5, work up to a max set and then drop down to 65% (multiply max set of 5 by .65).
Dive into your portal and go to failure. Rest 5-8 minutes.
Drop to 50% (multiply max set of 5 by .5) and go to failure again. Get wet!
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Tuesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Pull-ups - 3 sets to failure
Strict press - 5x10
Barbell curl - 5x10
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Wednesday
(Non-Deep Water)
Clean pull (technique) - 3x10
Power cleans - 5x10
Box jumps - 3x20
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Thursday
(Non-Deep Water)
Bench press - 3x10
Close grip bench - 3x10
Incline press - 3x10
Push-ups - 3 sets to failure
60-second plank with 20 sit-ups - 3 sets no rest
Friday
(Non-Deep Water)
Active rest - Stairs, hills, or swim: medium intensity for 20 minutes
Saturday/Sunday
Off
DEEP WATER
Chapter 5
Getting Beyond Your Challenges
You can either go through the motions and barely finish, or
you can bring all of your heart and resolve to a workout.
Remember, Deep Water is not for everyone. It’s very challenging. It will stretch your limitations
in ways you never knew possible. This goes for the beginning swimmer and seasoned deep sea
divers alike. Before long, you will have standards. You will begin to break new pain thresholds
and weights you found heavy before will seem like toys in your hands. Set goals. Create
challenges for yourself and your training partners to attack and conquer. Learn to spot your
portals and know when to jump through them. Set reasonable goals that will keep you healthy
but push you into uncomfortable places. Find the comfort in the pain.
Here are some standards if you want to swim with the big fish. For these purposes, heavyweights
(HWT) are 242+lbs, middleweights (MWT) are 242-186lbs, and lightweights (LWT) are 185lbs
and under.
HWT
MWT
LWT
SQUAT
Deep Water
500x20
405x20
315x20
Beyond the Break
425x20
335x20
275x20
Shallow End
365x20
275x20
225x20
Still on the Shore
<315x20
<225x20
<185x20
PUSH PRESS
Deep Water
315x10
275x10
225x10
Beyond the Break
275x10
235x10
185x10
Shallow End
225x10
185x10
155x10
Still on Shore
<175x10
<145x10
<115x10
Deep Water
500x20
405x20
315x20
Beyond the Break
425x20
335x20
275x20
Shallow End
365x20
275x20
225x20
Still on Shore
<315x20
<225x20
<185x20
Deep Water
315x10
275x10
225x10
Beyond the Break
275x10
235x10
185x10
DEADLIFT
CLEAN
Shallow End
225x10
185x10
155x10
Still on Shore
<175x10
<145x10
<115x10
DEEP WATER
For those of you looking to test the waters outside the gym, try
stair running. Stair running was my first “deep swim.” It’s a great
beginner Deep Water workout. In fact, stairs are perfect for any
athlete who wants to venture into unknown depths.
Jon likes the Larkspur stairs. 151 stairs straight to hell. Anyone
who has ever experienced them shudders when they are
mentioned. Anyone who has ever DEEP WATER: UNLEASH
YOUR INNER GREAT WHITE 74 run them with Big Jon Andersen
has a story to tell. Training with Jon is always an interesting
It feels like hot
lead has been
poured into my
glutes and quads.
I am in
Deep Waters.
experience. Pushing yourself without any concern for the return
swim, never leaving anything in the tank for tomorrow. Always
testing your physical and emotional limits during a workout.
It’s my seventh Sunday on the stairs. The fact that I still get the invite every week is a testament
to my willingness to push my workouts into the Deep Waters. That, or a testament to
my stupidity. Either way, I’m here again. I’m sick. I’m cramping up. I’m in big trouble,
because I still have two sets to go.
The week before, an Olympic weightlifter who I coach had begged Jon to let him join us.
Emile Brock is a Muni bus driver and a strength athlete. He wants badly to break into the
strongman scene and knows training with Jon is a great place to start.
We all warned Emile not to eat breakfast and to come ready to work. This is an exclusive club
and Jon does not suffer quitters or whiners. In fact, he chooses his training partners carefully.
He only trains with people he knows will push him and get the most out of themselves. That’s
how he stays sharp.
The program is five sets, skipping a step, full speed. There are over 150 steps with a landing
about half way up. One set takes about a minute. When the first athlete hits the landing, the
next one starts. If there’s someone new, Jon makes it interesting by following him. “If I catch
you, I’m knocking you down and you have to start over.”
DEEP WATER
It was Emile’s third set, when his breakfast boomeranged on him. It was obvious to
everyone that he hadn’t heeded our warnings and had eaten eggs, toast, and some bacon.
Wiping the barf from his gasping mouth, he looks up at Jon with pleading eyes, “I’m done. I
can’t go on,” he gasps between heaves.
Jon is patient at first, “That’s ok, brother. Get it all out so you can finish the workout.” Simple.
Emile looks at Jon with amazement and horror in his eyes, “I can’t finish,” he sputters.
“You can do it, Brock,” I groan through what seems like a gallon of saliva. I am close to barfing
too. “Hang tough, homie.”
But Emile is unresponsive, lying in the tall grass. Jon gives him another chance. “This is it,
brother, this is why you came today. Push through the pain. That’s the only way to improve.”
Emile is not hearing it. “I’m sick, dude!”
Now Jon is pissed because this is affecting his workout and burning valuable time. “Listen,
brother,” he growls, “this is your last chance. You can tear up your dance card if you quit
because you will never train with me again!” With that he sprints up the rest of the stairs,
grunting like it’s feeding time at the zoo.
This week it’s my turn to hit a wall. I am three sets deep and the lactic acid dump is crushing.
It feels like hot lead has been poured into my glutes and quads. I am in Deep Waters.
Everyone, including Jon’s daughter, Tayler, is waiting at the top for me. There are also several
other enthusiasts walking or jogging up and down for their version of torture including a beast
of a powerlifter-turned-strongman named Ricki LaRocha and some skinny marathon types.
One in particular has all the latest jogging gear on and is making cute remarks about the meat
factory on the stairs. He had asked if he could join us. Jon said yes, as long as he does them
our way. “Don’t start what you can’t finish.”
“I’ll try and keep up,” he laughs sarcastically.
Ricki hits the landing so off I go. By the time I hit the landing I am speaking in tongues and
trying to remember my name. The second flight seems to have tripled in distance. By the time
I approach the final stretch I am moving in slow motion, feebly pumping my arms and pulling
my feet out of what feels like quick-dry concrete. I see Jon and Tayler, both screaming at me
but I can only hear the blood pounding in my ears and my own mantra of “keep moving,”
repeating in my head.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
There is no joy in finishing, only pain. It’s difficult to stand so Ricki and I are literally rolling
around in the middle of the street, moaning in agony. Jon extends his giant paw to help me
up. As I stand the nausea returns with a vengeance. I didn’t eat breakfast but last night’s
dinner is threatening to make an appearance just as marathon-man gets to the top.
“Atta-boy,” smiles Jon, “only one set left.”
Ricki somehow laughs and groans simultaneously. I begin to laugh too but my laughter turns
into a heave and there’s no turning back. Since I hadn’t eaten breakfast it was particularly
tough to get the food out of my belly. I am a big man and don’t do anything quietly, especially
barf. Nobody likes to see or hear that when they are feeling sick themselves.
“You gonna puke, brother?”
I’m doubled over in pain. I look at him and all I can say is, “It’s in the mail.” In true form, Jon
is cracking up, making jokes.
In fact, we are all having a good laugh, even me between hurls. All of us, that is, except
marathon man. He is not happy. “You guys are killing me,” he groans. He looks bad, sort of
green around the edges. As my puking intensifies, he becomes more and more uncomfortable.
Jon recognizes it and starts to egg him on.
“Dude doesn’t look so good,” he laughs. “Looks like he might be giving back that latte he
rented!”
“Ha, ha,” says dude as he stands up to escape the smell. Right about then, his eyes rolled into
the back of his head and he fell like a tree, face-first down the stairs, out cold.
There is a moment when we all look at each other and laugh in amazement. Then we
spring as fast as our ruined legs can manage down the fifteen or so stairs that he has
fallen before his face stopped his progress.
DEEP WATER
He’s a mess. His face is bleeding and bruised. But he’s smiling because he has no idea where
he is. He’s in very Deep Waters. Drowning, in fact.
“Hey guys, what’s up?”
“You passed out and fell down the stairs,” I say, fighting back the laughter, “but you’ll survive.”
Bewildered and confused, we pull him to his feet. He’s near tears now, “Please don’t tell my
wife, she’ll never let me run the stairs again.”
“Don’t worry, brother,” laughs Jon, “your secret is safe with us.”
We load him into Jon’s truck after we watch him try and negotiate the stairs down. He is still
very shaky and could really hurt himself. As we drive him home, all I can think about is how
grateful I am that he took a fall when he did, thus ending the workout.
Now don’t get me wrong, running the stairs will not make you superhuman. They might not
even be tough for certain athletes. But doing them the way Jon does them -with Jon- will push
any athlete into Deep Waters. The anaerobic nature of climbing stairs means that the lactic
acid builds up in the legs almost immediately. And the burn that comes with it doesn’t go away
until long after the workout. Stair training works both the aerobic and the anaerobic system.
During the high intensity efforts, the anaerobic system uses the energy stored in the muscles
(mitochondria) for short bursts of activity. Anaerobic metabolism works without oxygen, but
the byproduct is lactic acid. As lactic acid builds up, the athlete enters oxygen debt (Deep
Waters), and it is during the recovery phase (rolling around in the street) that the heart and
lungs work together to “pay back” this oxygen debt and break down the lactic acid.
By performing high intensity intervals that produce lactic acid, the body adapts and burns lactic
acid more efficiently during exercise. This means athletes can exercise at a higher intensity for
a longer period of time before fatigue or pain slows them down.
I have never seen Jon slow down. He is always the last man standing, and he weighs 300+lbs!
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
“It’s a lifestyle within training,” he says when asked about his pain and discomfort tolerance.
”I take a great deal of pride in knowing that I will do things that others won’t. You can either
go through the motions and barely finish, or you can bring all of your heart and resolve to a
workout. There is a comfort in knowing you gave it your all. Something to lean on when the
pain starts.”
That’s the rub. “When the pain starts.” For most athletes, this kind of pain marks the end of
an intense workout. For Jon, the pain is simply a marker; a buoy in the water, telling him
there is more to come. If you don’t get through the first barrier, where it seems unbearable,
you wont get into Deep Water. If you are able to push through, you find a portal where things
still hurt and it still sucks, just not as bad. That’s when things start to shut down.
“That’s when you unhook the governor in your mind,” Jon muses. “You know the shut-down
is imminent and you begin to wonder if you can force yourself to do one more rep.” He looks
me dead in the eyes, as serious as I’ve ever seen him, and says, “There is always one more.
Always. You just gotta keep digging. That’s when you get to the Deep Water. When drowning
is the least of your worries.”
As we drive away from marathon man’s house, Jon glances over at me with a big shit-eating
grin. “Don’t worry brother, I didn’t forget about your last set just because dude took a swan
dive. I’ll get it out of you yet. We’re doing cleans tomorrow.”
DEEP WATER
Chapter 6
Deep Water Clean and Jerks
Andre Shiskin is a Russian-born football player from Northern California. He is a D-1 defensive
end at the University of Western Carolina, but to hear him tell it, he’s already a Pro-Bowler.
He’s on break and typically trains with me when he is home. Everyone loves him. He
always has a big smile, an even bigger cooler full of food, and at 6’4” and 285 pounds, he
barely squeezes into the cab of my truck. My daughter calls him Andre The Giant.
“Big Jash!” he exclaims as he slaps my back, “Zdrasvitsya!” He knows I speak some Russian.
“I’ve got apples, bananas, a few turkey sandos, some peanuts, something my mom made, not
really sure what its called in English. You hungry?”
“Yes,” I reply, “starving. But I’m going to wait until after the workout.”
“Why, you think its gonna be hard?” He is already peeling an orange.
I stare at him in amazement, “Do I need to remind you that we are training with
Big Jon?”
“I know. He told me we’re doing cleans. Big deal. I always eat before weights at school. Makes
me feel solid!” He slaps his chest hard as he says it and I shake my head in disbelief. “This is
going to be awesome,” I laugh.
“What are you talking about?!” Now a banana. “I’m going to dominate this workout. I’m in
great shape. These guys aren’t gonna know what hit them!” He’s excited now, and sweating.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
I am laughing and shaking my head. For me, training with big Jon Andersen is a very serious
matter. It doesn’t compare to a casual workout with the homies or even a big squat day with
some heavy hitters. With Jon, there are no easy or light days. Training with Jon requires a
great deal of mental preparation, not to mention a significant amount of time blocked off for
recovery, as well as food, water and restoratives close at hand.
Andre is new to this group. I always love bringing someone new to into the mix. Either they
bring their A-game and get a key to the executive restroom or they flounder and drown in the
Deep Waters. Regardless, it always makes for a good story and we all work harder.
It could go either way with Andre.
By the time we get to the dungeon, he has consumed two oranges, an apple, a banana, and
a turkey and avocado sandwich. His impressive gut is distended as he struts towards the
platform. Big Jon is there with his daughter Tayler and world class CrossFitter Danny Nichols.
Danny is another athlete that I have been working with for years. He jumps at any opportunity
to train with us because he knows he will be pushed into Deep Waters. Danny holds
the CrossFit world record in the thruster lift at 335 pounds. He has also snatched 320
pounds and clean and jerked 412 pounds weighing about 235 pounds. He looks like a
super hero and brings intensity and resolve to every workout. Guys like Danny know the
value of good training partners and a positive attitude.
Jon is moving slow. I see that his Adidas weightlifting shoes are untied. This can mean only
one thing.
“Sore back?” I venture.
“No. Hamstring.”
DEEP WATER
He knows our only chance to beat him in this workout is if he is hobbled. Even though I
have cleaned 440 pounds, I am almost certain we won’t be going after heavy singles. That
is never the purpose of Jon’s workouts. The purpose is to skate the line between total
physical breakdown and adaptation in order to push yourself into deep, dark waters.
I strap on my shoes and start warming up, afraid to ask what’s on the docket. My last workout
with Jon left me legless for days and almost killed some other guy. I was just now bouncing
back.
I have never known an athlete more comfortable with pain
than Jon Andersen. It’s astonishing.
Danny isn’t scared. “What’s the plan, Jon?”
We all freeze and lean in as Jon says, “Well I figure we take advantage of all of our strengths
and work on our various weaknesses at the same time.”
Sounds great. A perfect workout. The problem is I can’t think of a single weakness
between Jon and Danny. I am at defcon four on the fear scale.
The workout is as follows: a barbell is loaded with 275 pounds. Ten reps, ground to
overhead, any style. The only rest you get is when the others are lifting. Go to failure.
Last man standing wins.
Jon lays down some ground rules. “Be ready when it’s your turn. There are too many of us to
be wasting time. Get water and chalk before you’re up. Let’s set a good pace and keep it as
long as we can. Don’t anyone leave the rest of us hanging.” He looks everyone in the eyes,
“Understood?” After we’ve all nodded in agreement, he turns around and gets after it.
Right away, I see the severity of his hamstring injury. He is pulling off one leg and loading up
the back instead of the hips. But he is moving fast and the bar is flying. His first set looks like
he’s holding a broomstick.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
Danny is eager to go next, so we give him room. He’s an extremely athletic and powerful man
who also happens to be ultra competitive. He grabs the bar and absolutely molests his first
set.
Now it’s me. I have the most experience in the Olympic lifts but the least amount of gas
in the tank. Let’s just say I am a one-rep monster. Sets of ten are not in my wheelhouse. This
was going to be a long one. By the 5th rep, I’m on fire. I’m relying heavily on technique. My
hands feel like they are going to tear apart, but I’m fired up and the boys are letting me hear
it. I lock out the tenth rep and Andre is chomping at the bit to start.
After his set he is jumping around, hooting and hollering as Big Jon starts into the second
round. He’s so strong, yet so inflexible that his “cleans” never actually touch his shoulders.
Instead, they float around chin level before he push jerks it overhead. Rep after rep, he never
slows down. Consistent. Aggressive.
“Pain makes some men break,” he says to himself, “and
causes others to break records.”
Danny is up next and the pace is heating up. He’s such a gamer. He knows when to strike. He
wants to put it on us early so we can’t keep up and fade fast. He’s increasing his pace and each
rep somehow looks better than the last. The bar is moving up and down so fast that it looks
like he’s jumping rope.
I chalk up and dig in for a plateful of pain. On the very first rep, I tear a quartersized callus on
my hand. No turning back. By the third rep, the bar is too slick with blood to hold onto. Jon
walks over and grabs my wrist to have a closer look.
After a moment’s reflection, he crushes a large piece of chalk into the meaty hole in my hand,
shrugs and smirks, “Let’s go brother, time to step it up.”
I grip the bar, drop my hips and bang out three more reps. Four to go. My lungs are on fire. I
hear my old coach, Steve Gough, in my head: “Pull hard and move fast!”
DEEP WATER
Two more down. Get set. Get aggressive. On your heals. Squeeze. Big finish. Rack and stand.
Hips through. On your heels. Big chest. Drive hard and reach.
One more. Time to turn up the heat. I can’t slow down this early. “You ready boy?” I taunt
Andre.
“Oh I’m ready,” he says as I drop the bar. But this round came pretty quickly. He’s belching and
breathing hard and sweating like a whore in church. He breezes through this set easier than
the last. “How many sets are we doing, anyway?”
“You can stow that shit right now, brother. You’re doing as many as it takes.” Jon says as he
limps past the big Russian.
He is hurting. Bad. I may be the only one here who notices. His demeanor hasn’t changed.
His attitude and aggression remain constant. He has none of the usual pre-emptive excuse
bullshit you hear from most people. He just charges forward. I have never known an athlete
more comfortable with pain than Jon Andersen. It’s astonishing. He would rather die than
show one shred of mental weakness, because to him that’s all pain is: your mind convincing
you to stop before it’s in any real danger. When you reach out for something hot, the nerve
endings in your fingers tell your brain that it’s hot long before you are in any real danger of
being burned. That’s how Jon looks at pain, like his body is warning him that it’s going to get
burned if he keeps this pace up.
“Pain makes some men break,” he says to himself, “and causes others to break records.”
This set is just as easy as the last. Danny is pacing back and forth like a jungle cat waiting to
pounce. He’s fired up. He has what my coach would call “linebacker eyes.” Focused. This set
is even faster than the last. He only stops once when Jon tosses him a block of chalk
around the fifth rep. His hands are bothering him, too.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
My turn again. My hand is taped and I’m chalked up. The first rep feels like its glued to the
floor. Just crush this first one and the rest will follow, I tell myself. It feels like a max deadlift
with a pull and a prayer, then an eyes-on-the-cheeks front squat and an
uncharacteristically easy jerk! I follow that with two more touch and go reps. Three down. I
take a deep breath, ad-just my bloody hand tape and reach down for number four.
Success. Six more. Five more. Everyone is screaming at me, including my erectors and
hamstrings.
“Let’s go, Jasha!” cries Tayler. Her words are inspirational and her voice pushes me
through the rest of the set. To be fair, it was more like ten singles than a set of ten
continuous reps. I could tell Jon and Danny were getting antsy.
“C’mon Jash, we don’t want to get cold,” says Jon, “Andre is ready for round 3! Wait… where
the hell is Andre?” We quickly search the area and find him outside, behind the facility.
“You’re up, boy! Quit wasting time!” shouts Danny.
“Already?” He’s green. His swagger seems to have swaggered out of the building. He
apprehensively approaches the bar, mumbling stuff like “...last set...let’s just do some
abs… I squatted heavy yesterday…”
“Andre, focus on your technique,” I say encouragingly, “you’re going to be fine. Just crush
this set so we can move on.”
This seems to motivate Andre. His next ten reps are better than the first set. This time, there
is no hooting and hollering afterwards No chest slapping. Andre is in Deep Water. He is disoriented and in pain. Jon is already four reps into his forth round when Andre bolts for the
back door and barfs over the railing behind the facility. It’s hot out and the smell instantly
wafts inside. Jon is on his sixth rep when he looks up with a smile on his face.
DEEP WATER
“What did he eat? Smells like pineapples. It’s making me kind of hungry.” But really, Jon smells
blood. He’s going to try and pick us off one by one. Andre is already fading and making
excuses. The barf is a signal to a predator like Jon, like blood in the water. He smells it. “You had
better pull yourself together, boy. I’m taking you into Deep Waters today. I hope you’re
ready to get wet!” With that he hammers out six more reps.
That was twelve,” Danny points out as he approaches the bar.
“I know. I figure I owed you a couple since I stopped to smell the roses.”
“Fair enough,” laughs Danny as he hammers out another flawless set. This time he is
shaking his hands out between lifts and actually glances at his palm around the seventh
rep. He may be running into trouble too, but he’ll do his best to disguise it.
I’m sitting down and stretching my hamstrings (which feel like piano wires) when I realize
everyone is looking at me expectantly.
“Your turn, coach.”
I get up and walk towards the bar. I know any kind of hesitation or complaint will be met
with heavy opposition. The first rep goes up relatively easily. Same with the next. I have
reached that part of the workout where the body starts to adapt to the load, when the
pain feels a little distant and not quite so intense. Only when I am dragged into Deep
Waters do I really get to this point. It’s also where I make my biggest gains.
I have found a rhythm. Endorphins are managing my pains. This is my best set yet. My lungs
are on fire but I finish strong.
“Andre, you’re up!” Shouts Jon at the back door.
Andre is outside, leaning back with his shirt off and arms spread wide against the railing. His
eyes are closed and he has a gentle smile on his face. He’s sunbathing. “I said you’re up!”
Andre snaps his eyes open. “What are you talking about? I thought Jasha said we were moving
on.”
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
“Yeah!” snapped Danny, “Moving on to the next set! We’re just getting warmed up and by the
looks of that last set, you are nowhere near done” Andre starts to say something but he can
tell from looks on our faces that almost nothing he says will make a difference. “Did you do
another one, Big Jash’?” he asks sadly.
I still can’t talk, but I nod yes. This has been the longest break yet and the natives are very
restless.
It’s about time that Andre had his big breakthrough. He grits his teeth. His mind was made
up; maybe we made it up for him, but at that moment there was no backing down. He made
a choice to silence the thousands of voices saying, “You can’t.” He made a choice to go all in.
He was going to give everything he had.
The next set and the one after go very smoothly. Same for Jon and Danny. Jon’s face is a mask
of pain, but he never slows down. Danny knows Jon is hurting, so he pushes even harder. As
for me, the next two sets are the beginning of the end. My hand is a bloody mess and both
hamstrings are seizing up. My technique is breaking down horribly. If I don’t get my shit
together, I’ll get hurt.
I make it through seven and part of an eighth set before I pull out. Seventy-four reps. Happy
to be rid of the dead weight, the guys don’t object much.
It goes on like this, set after set, everyone pulling for each other, Tayler looking up from her
coloring book to cheer us on. Andre pukes twice, just to be drug back in and crush his sets.
His mind is telling him he’s done, but his body isn’t even close. At the beginning of his ninth
set, well into the Deep Waters, he says flat-out that he can’t go on. He is completely shot.
Somehow, we manage to motivate him through two more sets. He even saddles up for set
number eleven, but he’s got nothing left.
DEEP WATER
“At least I didn’t lose to the old guy,” he says, pointing his thumb at me. Like I said, everyone
loves Andre.
By the end of the workout, I did seventy-four reps; Andre broke triple digits with exactly
100. By the time Jon had finished, he had done 152, counting the two extra he did early on.
Danny did 150 before I stopped them. Neither of them was going to back down, but both
looked close to the edge that I suggested they call it. I don’t know if things would have
been any different if Jon had not been injured, but I doubt it. I believe he got the most
out of himself that he possibly could that day. So did everyone else; we all ventured into
Deep Water. It looked a little different for everyone, but we all got there. Some of us
went kicking and screaming. Others charged forward despite their handicaps. But we all
made big gains because we were able to step outside of our comfort zones.
Afterward, we all sat around in the sun, drinking protein and eating Andre’s homemade
Russian food.
“Good job brother,” Jon says to Andre. “You really brought it today.”
“Thanks for having me,” replies Andre. “You guys are beasts. I knew this would be tough but
I had no idea it would be that bad.”
“Well I’d love to have you back next week. I have some local kids who are right where you
were a few years ago. I think it’d be good for them to train with someone like you and vice
versa. What do you say?”
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
Andre thinks hard for a moment. You can see him doing the math. He is weighing the potential
pain of another Deep Water session with us versus the potential gains they represent. “That
sounds great,” he says, ”same time next week?”
“Yes Sir! Just make sure you bring more of that beef your mom made!” Jon exclaims.
“Uh. That’s not beef,” says Andre. “Well what the hell is it?” asks Jon.
“I don’t know. Not beef.”
“Well whatever it is, bring more.”
DEEP WATER
Chapter 7
Deep Water Training Partners
For years, Jon searched for this element. He looked for like-minded people. Sometimes he
drove hours because he heard a few guys were doing big things in a warehouse somewhere.
He learned from every experience, but he realized he had to create his own environment.
A friend who had some land in Petaluma, California told Jon he could leave some gear out
in the field to train. Jon found the most level spot he could and -like a freaky 300lb reapercut the grass down with a scythe. He bought a tire sight-unseen on the internet and had it
delivered to the field.
“The thing weighed 2400 pounds!” Jon laughs. “I had zero experience and had no idea
that the thing was too big to flip.” Never missing an opportunity to salvage a situation,
Jon drilled some holes in it, shoved in some re-bar, and made a car deadlift implement out
of it.
“I know that Jon is going through this with me, alongside me,
and that he has gone through it hundreds of times before
and survived,” he says. “I know I’m going to get through it
one way or another.”
He knew he had to surround himself with other athletes who were willing to push at least as
far as he was and hopefully further. How could he ever make progress if he was always setting
the standard?
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
They used to ship live codfish from Alaska all the way to China. They’d keep them in giant
vats in the belly of the ship. By the time the codfish reached China, the flesh was mushy and
tasteless because the fish had become inactive and listless. So they came up with the idea to
put some catfish in the tank with them. Just one or two catfish in the vat would keep the cod
agile and active.
The same goes for training partners. You may have the best training partners in the world,
but eventually you’ll learn all of their tricks and excuses. Training becomes stale and listless.
That’s why bringing in new blood –catfish- is necessary from time to time. They keep you on
your toes and keep you fresh. Without them nipping at your fins, you’d just swim along, doing
business as usual.
We need catfish in our lives. Hell, sometimes you have to be the catfish. I never want to get
mushy or tasteless, so I surround myself with people who keep my on my toes. My wife, my
kids, my business partners, my coaches, my training partners… I‘m surrounded by positive,
proactive people who help me perform at my best.
Now, there are catfish and there are cod. There are all types. At the top of the food chain, you
find the great whites. They are a valuable asset if you know how to avoid getting eaten.
Jon Andersen is a great white, patrolling the Deep Waters, waiting for the next victim.
In Jon’s search for the right training partner, he doesn’t discriminate. He’s aware that true
gamers come in all shapes, size, and ages. You never know when someone will surprise you.
In a way, he’s like Forrest Gump running across the country. Everyone admires and respects
what he does but most people think he’s crazy. A few people see the genius in the madness
and are just crazy enough to join him. Some stick around, most making it across a state or
two and falling off. But Forrest just keeps on running. You’ll always find Big Jon working out.
People will always stand back and admire what he does and most will call him crazy.
DEEP WATER
But some, a special few, seek him out like
religious zealots.
Eventually Jon had a corral of quality
training partners. They were spread out
around Northern and Central California,
and in some cases, the world.
Getting them all together at the same time
in one location was nearly impossible.
At this point in his career, Jon was a
professional athlete. A professional who
had to drive up and down the coast to find
quality training partners. It was no surprise
to me when I showed up for one of Jon’s
infamous Olympic weightlifting workouts
and found two eager teenage boys.
I recognized one of them as Anthony “Kaz”
Kosinski. Anthony was a graduating senior
at Marin Catholic High School in Larkspur,
California. I had worked in the preseason
with Anthony on his strength and speed.
He’s a California Sectional Champion
wrestler and is currently attending Cal
Berkeley and playing for their rugby
team. With him is his sixteen-year-old
kid
brother,
Alex,
an
All-League
lineman at Redwood High School in
Corte Madera, California. Together, they
weigh over 500lbs and yet neither
shaves.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
Today’s workout: 10x10 power clean and push jerk. While Jon does his set, the boys have to
hold a power squat position. When he finishes, the boys immediately start their set while
Jon holds the squat position. This means you are doing nearly twenty minutes of
continuous work. The only rest you get is from the time the bar leaves your hands until the
moment it hits the floor. For Jon, the bar is loaded to 255 pounds. The boys have 135
pounds.
This workout is a tricky one. It may seem like the cleans are going to get you, but it’s really
the squat holds that do you in. You get to the point where the clean and jerks feel more like
rest than the actual “rest” time.
The boys, however, have never ventured this far into the abyss. They each deal with their
agony differently. Anthony suffers in silence while his brother shouts and groans as the waves
of pain wash over them. But both of them deal with it.
They are working hard in Deep Waters. Alex’s eyes are closed. He has a look of disbelief on
his face. But there is no sign of quitting. Anthony is stoic. His face is placid as the sweat pours
into his eyes. Wrestlers are always tough.
Jon has found a rhythm. His sets are gaining momentum. He seems to be getting stronger as
he gets into deeper waters. The boys are hanging on for dear life, drawing inspiration from
Jon. They’ve never seen anything like this.
Around the seventh set, Jon runs into trouble when he strains his pectoral muscle on the
jerk. He is in pain and a little shocked. Confused and unsure, the boys start their set. By the
time they are done, Jon has set his resolve and decided to proceed without the jerks.
Suddenly the tables are turned. What was a fairly routine workout for Jon -designed to
lure these kids off the beach and into Deep Waters- is now a test of his willpower.
Jon calls this the challenge of being a leader. It means that no matter what the situation, he
has to lead by example. He can’t expect a training partner to push past their limits if he isn’t
willing to do the same, even when he’s hurt.
Even young Alex recognizes the power of Jon’s leadership. “I know that Jon is going through
DEEP WATER
Even young Alex recognizes the power of Jon’s leadership. “I know that Jon is going through
this with me, alongside me, and that he has gone through it hundreds of times before and
survived,” he says. “I know I’m going to get through it one way or another.”
Anthony experienced firsthand what this type of training will do for your game. At his State
Sectionals, he was in the best shape of his life thanks to Deep Water. “I just had to go out
there and wrestle. I never had to worry about being tired.” He loves Jon’s training philosophy.
“That’s when you get better, when you’re stretching the limits. That’s how every workout is
with Jon.”
Afterwards, Jon takes me aside and admits that he was in Deep Waters towards
the end, deeper than he can remember being in a long time. “After my pec went
I wasn’t sure I could finish. If those kids weren’t here, I might not have taken the
risk.”
It’s hard to know when you’re going to get a Deep Water workout in. For the boys, it was a
forgone conclusion: we were going to drag them into the sharkinfested waters whether they
liked it or not. But for someone who operates at that level, it becomes necessary to recognize
opportunities and seize them when they present themselves. Some of the most legendary
Deep Water workouts started off as technique days. Everyone says, “Today I am going to train
harder than I ever have. Today I am going to break through my existing pain barriers. Today I
am leaving it all out there.” But it almost never goes down like that.
When the opportunity to shine presents itself, you have to seize it. Life presents us with
choices every day. There are thousands of reasons, thousands of voices in your head telling
you to quit, but you have to create the voice that will silence the others. Seize your moments
and move forward without hesitation. Get uncomfortable.
Anthony and Alex are stretching. “Its a good thing I ate that giant bowl of pastalast night.
I needed the extra energy today!” “That’s crazy talk, brother!” Jon says as he gulps down a
protein shake, “carbs are for the weak!” “How do you get energy for this kind of workout?
Don’t you need carbs?” “I haven’t eaten a carb in over a decade,” laughs Jon. And you believe
it when you see him.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
Chapter 8
Deep Water Rehab & Recovery
For professional athletes, injuries are inevitable. There isn’t an elite athlete who hasn’t
experienced the frustration of being injured. For Jon, injuries are a way of life and just a
different kind of barge to out-swim.
Deep Water has helped Jon recover from injuries big and small. His capacity for dealing with
pain and discomfort helps when it’s time for rehabilitation. After a particularly rough season
as an international strongman competitor, Jon needed knee surgery. He had complete tears in
the ACL and MCL, as well as a meniscus tear. Jon’s doctor told him he could go back to
training in six months. But Jon has a superior mindset and can deal with high levels of pain
thanks to his swims into the abyss. During one of Jon’s post surgery appointments, the doc
cleared him for walking stairs and encouraged him to push it. The doctor had no idea who
he was talking to.
Jon went straight to the Larkspur stairs. 3000 stairs later, he was ready for an ice pack, a
meal, and a nap. As painful as it was, he continued this regimentwice a week until his next
appointment. The doc was blown away by Jon’s progress. Jon told the doctor what he had
been doing and the doctor’s jaw dropped. He had never heard of a more aggressive rehab
program. He also had to admit that he had never seen progress like it. Jon continued using
Deep Water to absolutely crush the rehab and was competing again in 5 months, a full
month before the doctor said he could even train again.
DEEP WATER
Chapter 9
Deep Water Philosophy
Most people are fine on the beach, gazing across the river. Avoiding the Deep Waters, hoping
they don’t get run over by life’s barges or eaten by sharks. It takes a special individual to head
off the beach and swim straight into the deepest water they can find and stay there longer
than they ever believed possible, moving forward in spite of their fears.
Every day, we are faced with uncomfortable situations. Typically we navigate around potential
pain, hoping we don’t run into it down the road, but true growth only occurs when we are
forced to adapt to extreme levels of stress. Every day, people do amazing things. Mothers lift
burning cars off of their infants, millions of dollars are won and lost in the business world, elite
athletes perform feats that amaze us. Records continue to be broken. For every record broken
on the field of play there are hundreds attempted in training, millions of torn calluses, and just
as many broken dreams.
There’s no magic pill or secret weapon. The only thing the people we all admire have in
common is that they are willing to be very uncomfortable to be the best.
Be brave! Without courage there is no Deep Water, only talk
of it. It won’t be easy, but nothing worth doing is.
They are willing to work longer and harder than most people can fathom just to score one
more point, make one more film, earn one more dollar, or lift one more kilo.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
DEEP WATER
Whatever stands in your way, whatever obstacle that scares you the most and keeps you from
your dreams, dealing with that should be your first order of business. Identify your problem,
make a game plan, and attack. Don’t worry about the outcome. Be willing to fail. Failure is the
only way to succeed. Learn from your mistakes and press on.
Surround yourself with positive people who push you in the areas you want to see improvement.
Create an environment that forces you to engage in battles as often as possible. The more you
can put yourself under fire in training, the easier things will feel when you are in the furnace.
Whether it’s on the field, on the track, in the courtroom, or at home, Deep Water will prepare
you for the worst-case scenario. You will learn to remain calm when others around you are
falling apart. Your body and mind will be so used to stressful situations that the obstacles that
used to paralyze you will now be welcome challenges. You will learn to recognize when to
attack, when to withdraw, when to conserve, and when to pour it on. When before you would
be disoriented and confused, now you will remain calm while your body is in chaos. Your most
significant and meaningful gains will be those made under the greatest levels of stress.
Jon Andersen learned early on that life is full of terrifying challenges, some internal and some
staring you down like a 200-ton barge. Nearly being killed by that barge was the inception
of Deep Water and the best thing to ever happened to Jon Andersen. It taught him that if
you faced your fears with a positive attitude and a willingness to work, you could overcome
that fear and accomplish anything. Now he can’t wait for the barges in his river of life. Every
challenge represents a possibility for growth.
Deep Water isn’t for everyone. Take pride in doing something others cannot. Take comfort in
knowing you can endure more than most people. Deep Water will get you there. Not everyone
will see results like Big Jon. Everyone’s Deep Water will look and feel different. Your goals may
be different than Big Jon’s. Either way, the results depend on your level of commitment. If you
are “all in, every day” your results will show it. Deep Water isn’t for whiners or quitters. Deep
Water is for people who want to maximize their physical, emotional, and spiritual potential.
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Deep Water will raise your pain thresholds to a level that force most men to break while you
are breaking records. Deep Water is for people who have what it takes to push through their
existing pain barriers to make gains. It’s for people who are comfortable being uncomfortable.
It’s ok to be afraid. Fear is natural. Deep Water is about facing your fears and attacking them
head on. Be brave! Without courage there is no Deep Water, only talk of it. It won’t be easy, but
nothing worth doing is. Choose the more difficult path. Don’t take short cuts. Push yourself
into Deep Water and save nothing for the swim back. Leave it all out there because you may
never have another opportunity like you do today. Grab it! Seize it! Jump through your portals
headfirst and get wet!
Deep Water
A Way of Life.
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THE IMPORTANCE OF FAT
IN THE DIET
To the general public, fats are synonymous with sickness and disease and are only slightly less
evil than the “carb”. The belief is that if I eat fat then I will get fat, so fat must be minimized or
eliminated. The other stigma around fat has been that fat is unhealthy for the heart and too
much of it leads to heart attacks stroke, high blood pressure, etc. But are of these beliefs true?
The truth is fats are simply misunderstood and consumed improperly. They are a necessary
nutrient for cell membrane structure, as signaling molecules, and as a source of concentrated
energy, to name a few. To get a full understanding of fats and their impact on our health and
performance you should first understand what fats are.
Chemically fats are made up of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. There are five major kinds of
fats; triglycerides, free fatty acids, sterols, phospholipids and terpenes. The most commonly
spoken of ones are the triglycerides and the major sterol, cholesterol. Free fatty acids are part
of the structure of the triglycerides. They are made up of a glycerol backbone with three fatty
acid side chains. It is these fatty acids that are most commonly associated with “fat”. These
fatty acids are made up of carbon chains. Each carbon in the chain has four potential bonds.
If the carbons have the maximum amount of hydrogen atoms possible bound to them, then
they are call saturated fats, if they do not they are called unsaturated. The saturated fats
can be divided into three main classes, those that are two to three carbons in length are
very-short chain fatty acids, or VSCFA, those that are four to six carbons long are called
short chain fatty acids, or SCFA, those that are eight to fourteen carbons long are
medium chain fatty acids, or MCFA, and those that are sixteen carbons and longer are
called long chain fatty acids, or LCFA. The unsaturated fats can be further divided into
monounsaturated or
polyunsaturated, depending upon how many double bonds are
present in the fatty acid chain. The polyunsaturated fats can be subdivided another way
based upon where the first double bond is in the carbon chain. If it comes on the third
carbon from the methyl end it is called an omega-3 fatty acid, if it is at the sixth it is called an
omega-6 fatty acid and if it is at the ninth it is an omega-9 fatty acid. Each of these fats has
different characteristics and health benefits or disease risks. Most fats can be built by the
body as needed from the fats that are consumed.
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There are some fats that must be consumed through the diet and these are called essential
fatty acids. There are two major ones; linoleic acid, an omega-6 fat, and alpha linolenic acid,
an omega-3 fatty acid.
The sterols are another commonly known fat, in the form of cholesterol. We have been led
to believe that cholesterol is a dangerous substance and that it should be avoided at all
costs. We should avoid consuming it in any form and we should take medication to get it
as low as possible. Cholesterol is a major contributor to cell membrane structure and as
cellular signals. The most commonly known one amongst strength athletes is testosterone,
a cholesterol derivative. In fact the hormones estrogen and progesterone as well as cortisol,
and the hormone intermediates dehydroepiandrostendione, or DHEA, and pregnenolone are
all cholesterol derivatives. It is also the structural component of Vitamin D. It is an absolutely
critical substance for a strength athlete or anyone who works out in general. We are told to
avoid it in our food, but seventy percent of the cholesterol in our bodies comes from our
own bodies, as we manufacture it ourselves. Cholesterol is transported around the body in
Lipoproteins. There are two commonly talked about lipoproteins, high-density lipoprotein
and lowdensity lipoprotein, or HDL and LDL respectively. There are other ones such as
intermediate density and very-low density lipoproteins that have health impacts as well. HDL
is commonly termed “good” cholesterol and LDL is “bad” cholesterol, and of course we are
led to believe that a lot of HDL and little to no LDL is best.
The question that now comes up is how much fat you should have in your diet to be healthy
and ultimately improve performance. This is up to much debate. Studies have been done
that show as little as five to ten percent of your macros benefits health and reduces some
disease risks. Then there are studies that show higher levels of fat, some as high as eightyfive percent. Another aspect of fat consumption that has been shown to be important is
the quality of fats. Regardless of the total amount that is consumed, it is the distribution
of the kinds of fats that impact health. Roughly two-thirds of the fat consumed should be
monounsaturated fats. These fats are commonly found in olive oil, avocados, and almonds.
The remaining one third should be divided again into thirds with one third being
saturated fats, one third being omega-6 polyunsaturated fats, and the final one third
being omega-3 polyunsaturated fats.
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Saturated fats are present in red meat, dairy, egg yolk, shellfish and coconut oil. The
fats that are saturated form series two eicosanoids which are inflammatory in nature.
Saturated fats are the ones that are most typically associated with cardiovascular disease.
It is known that saturated fats raise plasma cholesterol and decrease the LDL receptor
activity. It is generally recommended that saturated fat levels be 10% of daily caloric
consumption. Recently coconut oil has become a popular health product with health
promoting properties. Coconut oil can be up to ninety-two percent saturated fat. Coconut oil
has a unique property in that it has high levels of medium chain fatty acids, or MCFA’s. These
MCFA’s do not undergo degradation and re-esterfication like other saturated fats do, and
actually are absorbed across the intestinal lining differently than regular fatty acids. They
are absorbed and used for fuel very efficiently. Only a few studies have been published
on potential health risks of these saturated fats, they appear to be less atherogenic.
Omega-6 polyunsaturated fats are found in vegetable oils such as safflower, soy, corn and
sunflower oils. The fatty acids from the omega-6 fats form series 1 eicosanoids, which tend
to be anti-inflammatory in nature. The omega-6 fatty acids provide the essential fatty acid
linoleic acid which is converted to gammalinolenic acid and then to dihomogammalinolenic
acid, or DGLA. This fatty acid metabolite can do one of two things, in the presence of a
glycemic controlled diet the DGLA will tend to go towards the anti-inflammatory eicosanoids,
however in an uncontrolled glycemic state the enzyme delta-5-desaturase converts this DGLA
into arachidonic acid, a precursor to pro-inflamatory eicosanoids. Sesame oil can inhibit this
process. Another inhibitor of the delta- 5-desaturase enzyme is trans-fatty acids. These fats are
often called “fake” fats, since a majority of them in the human diet come from hydrogenated
vegetable oils, primarily the omega-6’s. In reality trans fats occur naturally in meat and dairy
products, although at very minimal amount, especially relative to the amount consumed
by the average American in the standard highly processed diet. Trans fats have also been
shown to raise LDL levels and suppress HDL levels leading to increased risk of inflammatory
conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
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The Omega-3 polyunsaturated fats are found in cold water fish, flaxseed, walnuts and beans.
The fatty acids in the omega-3 fats become series 3 eicosanoids, which are anti-inflammatory.
The primary essential omega-3 fatty acid is alpha-linolenic acid, ALA. The series 3 eicosanoid
precursor that has anti-inflammatory characteristics is eicosapentanoic acid, or EPA. The body
does not efficiently convert ALA to EPA. The reason is this is so is because ALA inhibits an
enzyme called delta-6-desaturase. This D-6-D is necessary in the conversion of ALA to
docasahexanoic acid, DHA to EPA. DHA is primarily associated with brain and retinal health,
whereas EPA is primarily associated with overall health, and specifically cardiovascular health.
This is why it isnecessary to consume cold water fish or supplement with fish oil. The amount
of EPA/DHA that is necessary has been shown to be a minimum of 3 grams. One study on
rheumatoid arthritis showed that an amount of 130 mg/kg/day was effective in reducing
disease flares and discontinuation of NSAIDs. DHA is also a potent inhibitor of lipogenic
enzymes, which are responsible for fatty acid formation and storage. One thing that is agreed
upon by most researchers and physicians, is that the omega-6 to omega-3 ratio should be as
close to 1:1 as possible to benefit health.
Do fats make you fat? The answer is, NO. In studies of isocaloric diets it has been found that
diets with a higher fat percentage do not increase the chances of gaining weight. What is also
interesting is that if a diet that has excess calories is consumed the diet higher in carbohydrate
percentage has a tendency to increase weight gain than a diet that has a higher fat percentage.
This primarily has to do with the stimulation of insulin and subsequent anabolic
effect on converting excess blood glucose to stored triglycerides. Studies also show that
omega-3’s prevent fat gain, whereas diets high in omega-6’s tend to promote fat gain. This
may have more to do with the association of omega-6’s and processed foods which tend to
contain more refined carbohydrates. Diets high in monounsaturated fats tend to promote fat
loss as well.
When it comes to cooking with fats, the kind of fat is an important factor. Some fats become
rancid, or oxidize more easily than others. This oxidization is what generates free radicals and
causes health issues. Fats that can be used for high heat cooking are coconut, peanut, and
high oleic safflower oils. Medium heat cooking can use olive, corn, and hazelnut. Low heat or
no heat, are almond and sesame oils. Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil is one of the single
best oils.
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It is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids and phytonutrients such as polyphenols, and can be
used to make dressings.
As you can see the stigma around fats in the diet are almost completely unwarranted and fats
have been completely misunderstood by the general public. Eating a diet high in fat is to be
encouraged when done properly. In fact it is even necessary for anyone serious about working
out to ensure that fat makes up a large part of the diet, even if fat loss is the goal. Balancing
saturated fats with omega 3’s is part of the key in the whole equation. So it’s time stop limiting
yourself from eating fat, and begin to see the difference in how you feel, look and perform.
For more information from Josh Thigpen and Zach McVey check out the Performance Nutrition
Encyclopedia.
Deep Water
A Way of Life.