Recently, Walter Isaacson released a biography on Elon Musk. As a fan who has also read the previous biography by Ashlee Vance, I was eager to read this new one.

Elon is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. Some people love him and others hate him. What you can't deny is what he has accomplished. Starting Tesla and SpaceX, almost at the same time, is an insane feat to try, let alone successfully accomplish. So, it stands to reason he may be able to teach us all a thing or two.

Conveniently, the biography was released a couple of days before I had the GAIN Swimming Clinic in Carmel, IN. 3.5 hours each way provided plenty of time to listen, and throughout the book, many lessons came to mind. One lesson that stood out was the concept of first principles thinking.

First Principles

Elon is has talked many times about first principles thinking to solve problems. First principles is a physics framework that involves breaking things down to their most fundamental components. This is contrary to what is commonly done, reasoning by analogy.

In Ashlee Vance's biography, Elon determined that building a rocket would be cheaper than purchasing one. On his plane ride back from Russia in an attempt to buy an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile), he reviewed the parts necessary to build a rocket and broke down the cost of materials.

He explained this thought process in a Wired interview. “Physics teaches you to reason from first principles rather than by analogy. So I said, okay, let’s look at the first principles. What is a rocket made of? Aerospace-grade aluminum alloys, plus some titanium, copper, and carbon fiber. Then I asked, what is the value of those materials on the commodity market? It turned out that the materials cost of a rocket was around two percent of the typical price.”

In the most recent biography, Elon coined the term 'idiot index' to describe this difference. Take the cost of a component divided by the cost of the raw materials. The higher the number, the bigger the idiot index.

Sport-Specific Training

So, after diving into how Elon Musk shook the foundations of the aerospace industry with his first principles approach, you might be asking, 'What does this have to do with strength and conditioning?' Well, the answer might be more relevant than you'd think. The same way Elon reduced the complexity of building rockets to its core elements, we too can dissect sport-specific training down to its most fundamental components. This isn't just theory; it's a practical way to rethink and elevate how we prepare athletes for their respective sports.

Musk's 'first principles thinking' can easily be applied to sport-specific training, which often relies on mimicking movements from the sport. "This exercise looks like breaststroke, so it's a good exercise to give breaststrokers." This would be an example of reasoning by analogy.

Instead, using a first principles approach, it would be better to break down the sport movement into its most basic components. What specific joint actions are required for this movement? What muscles does it work? What type of training would best benefit this movement? What are the common injury mechanisms? Basically, what pieces do I need to put together to prepare this athlete for their sport?

The Functional Range Conditioning course was good for this thought process. Dr. Spina explained how to deconstruct movements in a sport down to their specific joint actions and work on them individually, exemplifying first principles thinking.

In my world (strength and conditioning in swimming), reasoning by analogy is pervasive. Take an exercise that looks like a swim stroke, and do that on land to complement it. People can see how it looks kind of like a stroke, so they will deem it to be effective.

This approach has its limitations, failing to consider the fundamental biomechanics that govern these movements, which is where first principles thinking comes into play. It's just mimicking a movement. Water also allows for much greater freedom of movement with very little load compared to a very similar movement on land in a weight room with much more load.

Practical Application of First Principles Thinking

Backstroke requires several components such as shoulder flexion and extension, shoulder internal rotation, lateral flexion of the trunk, rotation of the trunk and pelvis, and strength of the lower body, upper body, and core.

Reasoning by analogy would entail taking an exercise in the same supine position and creating movements that look like backstroke. Specifically, there was an exercise posted on Instagram designed to improve backstroke where an athlete was positioned supine with their hips on a bosu ball while mimicking backstroke arm action.

There are flaws with this exercise choice, however. Being buoyant in the water compared to being face up on land are entirely different. Buoyancy is going to be centered around the rib cage as that's where the lungs are located. Lungs filled with air keep you buoyant.

This land-based exercise involves a partial V-up position, which basically turns it into a hip flexor exercise. Yes, core is involved, but there will also be substantial stress on the hip flexors. Swimmers get plenty of hip flexor work from kicking, and hip flexors also pull the pelvis anteriorly. Swimmers have a tendency to already be in a substantial anterior tilt with excessive curvature of the lumbar spine, so this will likely make matters worse. This is not the type of position you'd want to train the core in, nor would it be a good choice to improve shoulder range of motion.

A better approach involving first principles to backstroke training could be something as simple as breaking down the aspect of hand entry. This is what the "arm circles" aspect of the aforementioned movement was intended to create. Hand entry involves full shoulder flexion and internal rotation. This places the shoulder in a position that is at risk for impingement, a common injury mechanism in this stroke.

To reduce the likelihood of impingement, including activities to gain both full shoulder flexion and internal rotation would be ideal if they're limited would be another example of first principles programming.

Conclusion

Finding the weak links in a swimmer's movement capacities is more beneficial than mimicking a stroke on land. Deficiencies in any of those components will still be present, and depending on the exercise, they may then be loaded. As physical therapist Gray Cook famously said, "Don't put strength on top of dysfunction."

It is encouraging to see the sport of swimming increasingly embrace weight room training. Utilizing a first principles approach in programming could significantly improve the effectiveness of training, compared to just mimicking swim strokes.

References

1. "Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future," Ashlee Vance.

2. “Elon Musk’s Mission to Mars,” Chris Anderson, Wired.