Get off to a good start first: a new path to fitness training

Mass information in the fitness industry is a beautiful thing; allows coaches and the general population to learn at high speed. However, mass information can also lead to mass confusion. Thinking about how to train yourself and others can be a rollercoaster ride – and not always fun.

Fortunately, the intentions behind this industrial chatter are usually sincere. Coaches want to help clients achieve results, and the general public simply wants to feel better. However, amid the confusion, there is a growing need for the fitness industry to develop a common language that can be understood by both professionals and consumers. And that common language should focus on helping society move better and more often in the long run.

Changing the language of the industry may seem like an impossible task, but two principles are undeniable:

• Put the quality of movement first.
• Help people move more.

Whatever your goals (muscle hypertrophy, strength, performance, etc.), these two factors are critical for the industry to move in the right direction. A movement-based approach to training has the potential for magic and should be started in a gym class for children. The lack of a proprioceptive lifestyle enriched by movements for children is a major concern of society.

However, it is never too late to renew what Gray Cook called “movement competence”. Here is Gray’s definition of how to find the ability to move:

We test this by screening for movement. If screening reveals pain or dysfunction in the form of limitation or asymmetry, there is a problem with the ability to move. Alternatively, there is a basic problem with propensity to move – choose your expression, but make a point. Adequate competence suggests acceptable quality of fundamental movements.

Achieving the ability to move will be difficult if we focus our fitness programs solely on looking better. I am a bodybuilder at heart and I worked on it build bigger muscles and look better from his 15th year. I’ve been rewinding forward for almost 20 years and I’ve realized that my pursuit of aesthetics has left me with the wrong patterns of movement. Now I am forced to work on improving my ability to move instead of working on good looks.

This does not mean that I will never be able to deal with aesthetics, but I must deserve the right to be the only focus of my training. Building muscle is becoming increasingly important as you age, but you can still have a high level of ability to move at any level of fitness. Building muscle and strengthening should be your main goal when you start moving well.

Catalyst for change

This has been my catalyst for developing a movement-based approach to hypertrophy training. In the past, bodybuilders might have performed light static stretching, five minutes on a cardio machine, and a few heating kits before you jump into a 25-set workout chest and triceps. Young lifters without a lot of miles on the body can get away with this method for a while, but This approach can eventually leave you with asymmetries, injuries, pain and frustratingly slow progress.

You don’t have to be in your fifties to have an older age to train. As Dan John he says, “It’s not years, it’s miles.” I’ve been training hard for almost 20 years with a week break here and there, but not often. Miles are deep in this young body.

If you want to endure the game of lifting in the long run, endless sets of eight to 15 reps per body part may not be what your body needs. So what should a person chasing a physique like bodybuilding do instead of the typical split? Review and master basic human movements and do them with realistic series, repetitions and loads. If you focus on better movement first, you’ll be surprised at how quickly your body will be able to return to lifting heavy objects, often.

Collaborative design

Like any other coach or strength coach, my philosophy has evolved over the years. These days I follow the philosophy of various tried and tested methods.

Functional Motion Systems (FMS) is a useful approach to understanding the basics of movement and modifying exercises. Most people would benefit from FMS reviews. With a detailed medical history at the time of admission, FMS provides a solid foundation in designing the program. For beginners or veterans, the basics are where you start and end.

Each program of muscle strength and hypertrophy should include some variation of the following movements depending on the goal of the individual. This list is greatly inspired by the legendary Dan John:

• Push: push ups, bench press, press overhead
• Drag: row with dumbbells, reverse row, folds, joints
• Squat: cup squat, front squat, back squat, one leg squat
• hinge: dead lift, swing with kettlebells, deadlift with one leg, olympic lift
• Charged carrying: the farmer wears, carrying a suitcase, carrying overhead, carrying a sandbag
• Foundations: rocking, rolling, crawling, crawling, turkish getting up
• Core / rotation / anti-rotation: ab castors, cable pulling, chopping, lifting

New Age Bodybuilding Template

Below is a basic template of hypertrophy consisting of lifting 3 days a week for 6 weeks. Dividing strength and fitness into four to six week phases will keep your body fresh, resilient and improve overall physical fitness. This time seems to be the sweetest point, as most people have what I call “Exercise ADD”.

Software components:

1. Corrections
2. Movement preparation
3. Lift weights
4. Finisher

1. Corrections

Corrections are based on FMS and health history. For example, the perfect result for an Active straight leg is 3/3, 0 for pain. Your goal should be to achieve symmetry (score 2/2 or 3/3). If your score is 2/1, the following corrective exercises will use core and motor control to improve alternating hip flexion and extension.

• Alligator breathing: Lie in a comfortable position for 2-3 minutes. I prefer to feel the abdominal wall on my stomach. Inhale and exhale through the nose. Focus on drawing air deep into your abdomen. It may help to imagine how you draw air into your feet.
• Assisted lowering of the legs: 10 reps for each leg
• Cook lifting the hook: 5 x 10-seconds holds each side

2. Preparation for movement

Before you start exercising, take 5-10 minutes to prepare for the following:

• Kettlebell arm bars: 5 on each side
• Half-kneeling halo with kettlebellss: 10 repetitions
• A cup squat with curious knees: 5 reps
• A step forward Matrix: 6 reps
• Board to down Dog: 10 reps (not in video)
• inches Worm: 10 reps (not in video)
• Jump Rope: 2-5 minutes (not in video)

3. Lifting weights

Below are the repetition rotations for the three-day boot. Organize your week so you don’t get up two days in a row.

• Monday or Tuesday): 5 x 5
• Wednesday or Thursday): 8 x 3
• Friday (or Saturday): 3 x 8-12

The following exercise options are based on basic movement patterns:

• Push: One-handed kettlebell push-ups, one-handed bench press push-ups, push-ups
• Drag: Reverse order, folds
• Squat: Cup squat, one leg squat, front squat
• hinge: Deadlift, deadlift with one leg, swing with weights
• Charged carrying: farmer walking, carrying suitcase
• earthwork: Turkish rises, crawls and rolls
• Core (rotation / anti-rotation): McGill Big 3, rollouts, anti-rotary press outs

4. Finisher

Choose one conditioner per workout:

• Sprints on an air bike: 6-8 rounds of 30 seconds on, 30 seconds off
• Concept 2 rower: 1,000 meters
• Ski erg sprints: 3 rounds of 1 minute, rest 2 minutes between sprints
• Sled pushing / pulling: 5 x 50 meters
• Combat ropes: 8 x 20 reps for 2-handed punches. Rest for 30 seconds between sets.

Calm down

Proper recovery will provide your body with a better base for long-term muscle building. Before you jump out of the gym after a workout, go through this cooling routine:

• Alligator breathing: 2 minutes
• Nodding: 10 reps up and down and 10 reps from one side to the other
• Dogs birds: 10 reps / side
• Back: 20 reps
• Egg rolls: 20 reps
• Lifting and lowering from the ground: 5-10 reps
• Creeping baby, crawling Spiderman: every 30-40 meters

Change is here

I will always be fleshy at heart. I love bodybuilding and am amazed at the amount of weights powerlifters can move. But “pedal to metal” workouts eventually take their toll.

If we continue to direct the general public towards endless sets of split training, forcing Olympic lifting on people who are not ready and may never be ready to perform, and making the most of squats, deadlifts and bench press, a long draw may never come. Instead, let’s focus on getting people moving.