In the world of fitness, the name Milo of Croton is brought up from time to time. Milo was a Greek Oylpian from the late 6th century BC and is considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of ancient times. So, why do we still speak of him and his feats over 2600 years later? As the stories go, Milo was a six-time Olympian competing and winning long past what would be considered the “ideal” athletic age. He was able to do this because of his unconventional training techniques we now call Progressive Overloading.
As the name would suggest, Progressive Overloading, is making incremental and consistent changes in load, repetition, duration, or the number of rest periods that lead to significant changes in strength and function. The idea is that these consistent changes over a period of time will allow the body to adaptively adjust to prevent injury while also resulting in better function. It is by no means a glamorous way of training, as you are not seeing big differences week by week, but possibly month by month. As a Physical Therapist, I am consistently seeing patients who are “weekend warriors” whether that’s starting a new workout routine or if it’s trying to clean out your whole garage that first weekend the weather turns nice. Sudden increases in activity like this, can result in overuse injuries like tendonitis, bursitis, or muscle strains. I can testify to this when I moved into an apartment in my early 20s on the third floor. After going up and down 120 flights of stairs on one Saturday, I developed bilateral Achilles tendonitis that lasted for almost a month. Had I used the concept of Progressive Overloading and trained my body on a stair climber in the weeks/months prior I could have avoided the injury.
Now, back to Milo and why you may have heard of him. His unconventional training, as the legend has it, in the off years of the Olympics he would buy a newborn calf and carry it on his back every day until the Olympics took place. By the time the Olympics happened, he was carrying a four-year-old bull on his back. This training is why he was able to compete in the Olympics in his 40s, which was the typical life expectancy for a male at this time.
As a physical therapist, I would never recommend a person do what Milo did. That being said, we can use his concepts to prepare us for our own life “Olympics.” If you or a loved one has a sporting event, a hiking trip, or want to start improving their own physical fitness while avoiding injury please stop in at any Hulst Jepsen Physical Therapy location or give us a call at 616.256.8679. One of our therapists can help establish a training program to avoid injury and allow you to do what you love.