Fitness Philosopher

Still Shaking My Head in Disbelief. . .

It never ceases to amaze me when I hear somebody say, "I don't care about health -- I just want to look good."

I heard it again today and, unfortunately, I know I'll hear it in the future.  And this person even went so far to say that he'd willingly decide to sacrifice his health in order to obtain the body that he wanted.  Are you kidding me?!?!?

Would his sentiment be the same if he looked great, but was spending 25% of his life in and out of bed due to illness?

Would he feel the same way if he was lying on his death bed, wishing he had more time to walk around, looking good?  Or would he simply be thinking, "Hey, at least I'll look good in my casket."

I understand that it's entirely possible to build an incredible physique without a care in the world about personal health -- gyms are filled with members that are amazing physical specimens hosting a full spectrum of health problems.  I understand and appreciate that not every client cares to hear about the health benefits or repercussions of their training.  Plenty of people would rather just have a great training session while the trainer keeps all the underlying "important stuff" to himself.

But where did the link between health and fitness get lost?  When did individuals start willingly treating health and fitness as mutually exclusive from one another?

Have you considered that you'd benefit from training more -- that you'd have an easier time achieving and maintaining a great physique, that you'd more efficiently enhance performance -- if your body was healthier, and functioning optimally first?

Have you considered the fact that you might look better than good if you have a foundation of health underlying your level of fitness?

Learn to Stand Before You. . . Go Flying

Unless your name is Ashrita Furman and you're trying to break another record (see pic), you might want to find more fruitful (and stable) training methods.

So, I'm training at the gym this afternoon -- doing a little trunk stability work followed by a lower body regimen of reverse lunges, split squats and deadlifts --  when a man walks into my vicinity carrying a BOSU and a mini barbell loaded to 30 lbs.

This should be interesting.

He then precariously perches himself on the unstable, blue surface and begins a set of single arm overhead presses -- a challenging movement when seated on a solid bench or standing on stable ground, let alone standing on a soft, pliable surface.   He was neither stable nor graceful and I expected him to topple over, barbell flying, and take out 5 people standing around him.

What the hell is this guy thinking?

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BOSUs, physioballs, wobble boards, dyna discs, foam rollers. . . these tools have taken the fitness industry by storm over the last 10 years, with more inventions coming out all the time.  Gym floors are cluttered with them.  Group classes base entire training sessions on their use.  Trainers and clients use these implements exhaustively, playing with them because they're the next best thing to "kick your ass" or "make your training much more fun."

I used to think along those same lines during my earlier years.  I remember coming back from a seminar where I'd seen many great exercises using physio and medicine balls, BOSUs, and the like.  And I couldn't wait to get back to the city so I could use them on my clients.

Just wait until they try these exercises -- they'll be talking about them for days.

And then it hit me.  What am I using these exercises for?  And if the reason(s) for using them is good enough, are my clients ready to use them?  Will they get any benefit from them, other than the thrill of trying a challenging exercise?

Go back to the basics of what exercise is all about:  Stability.  Mobility.  Flexibility.  Strength.  Power. Vitality.  Energy reserve.  Fat loss.  Performance enhancement.

Sure, we want our time in the gym to be fun -- it's one of the variables that keeps us coming back to do the hard work.  But first and foremost, training is about progress.  Making progress, that is.  How much progress can you make when you struggle to lift more than 25% of your maximum because you're too busy pirouetting on a BOSU?

These "toys" that litter gym floors have a purpose, and most of that purpose is centered on rehabilitation, on assistance (think physioball squatting or stretching) or, on occasion, providing a difficult stability exercise for those individuals advanced enough to handle it.

As a recent study suggests, for 99.9% of the population --including elite athletes -- "stability training" on stable ground, using standard training equipment and old school exercises, is the safest and best way to achieve tangible results and make progress toward your goals.

Stick to the basics for optimal training results.  And if you're craving a bit of danger after that, grab a friend for some alternative physioball fun -- ball jousting.  (I'm KIDDING!)

You Want Cardio with That?

Overheard yesterday while I was training on the gym floor:

Client:  "What do I need to do for cardio training?"

Trainer:  "If you're lifting weights, you need to be able to sustain activity for a minimum of 20, 30, 40 or 50 (!!) repetitions.  If you're lifting and can't do more than 10 repetitions, it's not cardio.  The activity has to be sustainable.  If you're on a treadmill, you need to be able to exercise for 30-45 minutes for it to be considered 'cardiovascular training.'"

I guess I'll have to start telling my clients, after they perform a perfect set of 8 strenuous deadlifts -- with them sweating profusely, breathing heavily and trembling with exhaustion -- that they haven't even begun to train the cardiovascular system yet. . . "Hey, you've only got 32 more non-stop reps to go!" (As I duck to avoid the flying water bottle. . . )

Now, in all fairness, I'm guessing the trainer was summarizing the training methods used to improve cardiovascular endurance, and, if that's the case, there is some validity to what was said.  Prolonged bouts of continuous exercise will build up aerobic endurance.  However, the point here is that the circulatory system doesn't only experience training stimulus through exposure to slow, long distance running (biking, rowing, etc.) and/or high repetition lifting.

Your can do heavy lifting with low reps.

Interval training utilizing short duration sprints.

Olympic lifts.

It doesn't matter what you do.  Any training that pushes the body to work hard will impose a training effect on the heart that is specific to the task performed.

So, when it comes to training (in reference to the heart), the question shouldn't be "What do I need to do for cardio?" so much as, "What type of cardiovascular fitness do I want to attain?"  Know the answer to the latter question, and you'll be able to determine the type of training you need to do.