There is an ancient technique among loggers in American states. Those who have ever seen logs being transported by water, such as when logs are assembled from the forest where they were harvested and dropped into a river to swim down stream and then be lifted off at the factory, the technique is easy but very ingenious. An average guy would not transport more that ten in a day, for most will lie across the wrong way, others will block the flow, others will get out of the water and mostly, others will assemble together and then stop somewhere creating a dam.
But professional loggers in the industry have over the years developed a very effective and wise way of clearing huge log-jams in the water. In this they are able to send large logs, thousands of them in a day down the river. What they have learned and therefore do, is to go at some intermittent points downstream and identify a huge log, just one which is repositioned in such a way that prevents others for jamming. This is the kingpin. It is just a single log, which if accurately re-positioned even slightly, restores the orderly flow of other logs down the river.
That is the idea, as simple as that. And in a much similar way, body builders must find their personal kingpins that help accelerate and rejuvenate the rate of progress enroute a body building program. This might be the area where the body builder is more conversant with, an area where the body builder is more willing to engage than others, a muscle that is stronger and more developed than others, a habit that is more ingrained than any other or a technique that has been perfected. One example is a body builder who is just so addicted to smoking and cannot do without it. He would do anything, or fail to do anything, just for a smoke.
This can be taken as a weakness which finally delimits gains in a body building. If so, then the body builder needs a lesson from the loggers. Consider this. If it is a must you smoke, just for an example, whet about putting conditions on when you smoke. One cigarette after successfully achieving such and such predetermined intensity, is a trick, isn’t it. If you hate cardio and still know that they must be part of your training, then what about getting on the gym and bringing the workout to conclusion with the promise that you will have a puff after the training is done? The smoking, negative as it is, has in this case been used as a kingpin.
It does not have to be that extreme but each of us has weaknesses and strengths. The kingpin approach recognizes the weaknesses and the strengths and then uses the strengths in pursuit of the weaknesses, so as to build up a comprehensive training regimen. By using strengths to overcome weaknesses, the kingpin approach helps you maintain training and remain focused on the goal without delimiting omissions.
