Game Theory
I got this idea when watching a video by Tifo Football on the Youtube. Its how I spend a lot of my evenings when I’m winding down to go to sleep but I’m too drained to read.
It was in my recommendations and something I watched by chance that turned into bit of a 'yes' moment to explain how I approach training.
So we're about to see if I can put into words what was originally just an abstract thought, that might still be quite abstract to some by the end of this article, and it turned into an email for my mailing list. It will hopefully now turn into a half decent article that will hopefully connect with someone and give them a ‘yes’ moment.
A quick disclaimer.
This might be a long (ish) one...
What is Game Theory?
So, Game theory...
Game Theory was invented by John Nash. It is a branch of sociology, with some mathematics and economics and is used to better understand decision making in business, war and competitive sport.
A theoretical framework for conceiving social situations among competing players. In some ways, you can think of game theory as the science of strategy... Or at least the optimal decision-making of independent and competing actors in a strategic setting… Which is how I’m going to approach the concept of this article.
What is a game?
So, first we need to define what a game is...
A game is any interaction between multiple people where each person’s payoff is affected by the decisions made by others. In basic terms, if theres two or more players then its a game.
Next we need to understand the two types of games.
You have finite games and infinite games.
In terms of sport finite games are single matches. There are set rules, all players are known and the objective is to win.
Infinite games differ to finite games in that the rules are changeable, not all players are known. And most importantly... The objective is not to win, but to keep playing. Think of these as more of a league that repeats every year.
One of my clients, Dan, putting it all out there in competition and hitting a rep PB of 180kg for 13 Reps.
Which at the time was around 75% of his max making it something that we’d usually do for 5 to 8 reps in training.
Basically we didn’t go close to this intensity with this rep count in training for the competition.
Game Theory And Strength Sports
So how does this fit into strength sports?
Well, lets change the terminology a little.
Finite games become competitions and infinite games become training and this is where I'll make my point.
The fact is, its ok to turn competitions into finite games. Its a moment in time where there's an endgame and the best possible outcome is desired.
What you shouldn't do is turn training into a finite game. It’s is where you'll run into problems as making decisions that benefit the short term (1 training session) and will rarely benefit you going forward outside of that bubble.
I posted something about not borrowing from the next training session not long ago, take a look into it.
Link Below:
I understand that Deadlift PB is important and it would be nice to get it in a training session, apparently even if its ugly, but is it really worth killing the rest of your training week for or risking injury for?
Do you win by pulling a PB in training?
You Can’t Win!
With that said, lets now think of things in terms of football...
You can't win 'Football.’
You can win a match, trophy or league, but you can't win Football. The best you can do is be a consistently competing player or team with other top competing players or teams.
Manchester United’s aged class of ‘92.
So with that said lets turn our attention to Alex Ferguson and Manchester United. Paul (one of my clients) will appreciate this because he's a Man United fan.
Man United, although they've gone through a dodgy patch since 2013 and post Alex Ferguson, have been pretty successful in their recent history up to 2013. It wasn't all rosey though. Most people have short memories and between 2004 and 2007 they didn't win anything.
And you may not believe me with this, but to some extent, this was by design.
In 2004 the class of '92 was starting to disband, get older and it was coming to an end with that set of players. Alex Ferguson understood this. He also understood that its impossible to win football and had two choices in front of him.
Play a finite game and go out and spend. Great for short term benefit, but probably not the best for the long term future of the club.
Or play the infinite game and develop youth. Essentially sacrificing Man United's short term interests for larger more lucrative long term benefit.
Guess which route he picked?
Ever heard of Christiano Ronaldo... Wayne Rooney... The 2008 Champions League Final.
Its the same as training, sometimes you have to sacrifice physically expensive short term success or gratification in order to raise your ceiling or to set yourself up for long term success.
Unfortunately thats not what I see the majority of athletes and gym goers doing… Or coaches for that matter. And seemingly mostly because of the invention of insta and insta marketing. Another finite endeavour.
This all may have seemed a little disjointed earlier on, but it all leads to the same place in this article and will hopefully make sense now.
Play the Long Game
Bad movement patterns, achey joints, stagnation and eventually injury will all lead you to sound like that old bloke in the pub who used to 'squat six plates back in the day.'
This is where my training philosophy comes in and its much the same as ‘The law of the farm.’
Link Below.
George plays the long game and it put him in the best position to take the win in his first competition after a year of Strongman.
Obviously I’m aware this absolutely doesn't sound as sexy as 'PB your Deadlift, Squat, Snatch or any other strength lift in 4 weeks.’
But if you're looking for a long term gain, short term gratification and an decent instagram story... Then play the infinite game.
It’s my approach in both my own training and my clients, yes its slightly slower in terms of progression, but it means you'll have a longer lifting career... And those that lift the longest get the Strongest.
Don't be that old man in the pub who has dodgy joints and doesn't deadlift because he has a bad back from lifting.
Adam Johnston, 7th December 2020