“The mind is primary. The mind drags the body — struggling behind it — rarely the opposite. When spirit increases, improved physical performance is a consequence. As performance improves, spirit soars, confidence evolves and character develops.” – Gym Jones Fundamentals Seminar Manual

We say “The Mind is Primary” at Gym Jones because it is the  guiding principle in everything we do.In every situation we put our athletes through in the gym and, much more importantly, everything they seek to accomplish outside of the gym, mental toughness is  the deciding factor between failure and success. We believe that the quality of mental fortitude is decisive in all areas of human endeavor and directly determines physical performance regardless of what other training has occurred. 

It’s not meant to be esoteric, but “The Mind is Primary” does mean something different to everyone. How one achieves the mindset is an individual journey, but the resulting character is easy to spot: Someone who has it can prioritize stress based on their designated purpose, do hard things on a regular basis, navigate complex tasks quickly and efficiently, and control  their thoughts and emotions (especially in stressful situations). 

At the end of the day, this mindset doesn’t matter much in the gym. Feats  of strength or power displayed in four walls designated for such performances aren’t of  much consequence to most of us. But the gym can create the stress that builds these characteristics in our athletes. The gym is a place they can prove to themselves that they can learn quickly in any situation, be confident in their ability to accomplish hard tasks, and, most importantly, perform well under stress. 

A surefire way to create  the stress that  builds mental fortitude is to have an athlete work with a teammate. This is where Tailpipe comes in. 

“Tailpipe” – named because athletes describe completing it as feeling like they are  sucking on the end of a truck’s tailpipe – is a classic Gym Jones workout. It’s a right of passage of sorts. It’s the first workout we do at every Fundamentals Seminar, and a new athlete at Gym Jones HQ won’t make it more than a few weeks without doing a Tailpipe. It sounds simple (as most horrible workouts do): One partner rows 250 meters while the other partner holds two 24kg kettlebells on their chest in a front rack hold. When the rower finishes, the partners switch places, and repeat until each partner completes three rounds at each station. It doesn’t take long (the gym standard for men is 5:00), but intense aerobic work followed by holding two heavy kettlebells on your chest gets hard, fast. 

So why a partner workout? Why does Tailpipe help newcomers at Gym Jones really start to see what they’re made of? “Because you’re going to push harder, you’re going to hold those kettlebells longer, and you’re going to move faster if your buddy is waiting for you.” says Kurtis Frasier, Gym Jones Fully Certified Instructor and former Army Ranger. 

So why a partner workout? Why does Tailpipe help newcomers at Gym Jones really start to see what they’re made of? “Because you’re going to push harder, you’re going to hold those kettlebells longer, and you’re going to move faster if your buddy is waiting for you.” says Kurtis Frasier, Gym Jones Fully Certified Instructor and former Army Ranger. 

Gym Jones Instructors aren’t first to make this discovery. Researchers at Oxford University found that members of its rowing team had a greater pain threshold after training together than when they performed the same exercises individually. A 1996 study by Stroebe, Diehl, and Abakoumkin found that when two people of the same ability work together, their individual performances increase by more than 5% , and when two people of differing abilities work together, the weaker one’s performance increases by more than 10%. And the military has long conducted research on the efficacy of teamwork; as Dr. Gerald F. Goodwin of the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences says, “the secret sauce comes from the teamwork.”

The reason for the military’s investment in teamwork is obvious; nowhere is performance under stress more important than in combat. With that in mind, we’ve modified Tailpipe for our Tactical Fundamentals Seminar to make it even more relevant for the operators we train by adding shooting with SIRT target systems to the mix. If you’ve got this setup at home, grab a buddy and give it a try!

TACTICAL TAILPIPE

P1: 

150m Row 

2 rounds with SIRT pistol, 10m to target *

4 rounds with SIRT rifle, 30m to target *

*Burpee penalty for each missed shot 

P2: 

KB Rack hold @ 2x24kb Kettlebells