Many times people over complicate there fitness just like there nutrition, I dont know if its because were led by example from social media, or we all believe we should be athletes in our own right.
Athletes are exactly that they dedicate there lives in the persuit of some form of sport, where as for every day folks whos whole objective is to keep of body fat, stay supple and stay strong these methods are not really required.
Now im not saying that you shouldnt follow what the top athletes are doing, You should as the methods they use are obviously worth trying to replicate as there at the top of the sport. Why wouldnt You?
The problem lies in where we start, athletes have gone through what is known as building the base, They have done a lot of background work to ensure that there bodies can cope with the demands and rigors of the training. One of the most common signs i see with my clients and most people in the gym is lack of core strength, you’ve possibly seen it that one person who constantly wears a weightbelt?
Why is core strength so important? Im not talking how many sit ups you can do, That is a precursor to absolute core strength but actual core stability, The ability for the trunk of the body to stabalise under load, To stabalise through position and finally to stabalise through motion.
Listed below is my top 6 pillars of Fitness for Health. ill explain a little about why you should really be putting these first if you truely want to maximise your Health and improve your skills towards fitness.
Metabolic conditioning aka Stamina
The first thing we need to improve is whats know in the cross fit world as the engine, what drives us forward and for us thats the body, and its ability to utilise the energy systems, There are in fact 3 energy systems
Creatine Phosphate system also know as the ATP-Pc
Anerobic glycolysis
Oxidative or Aerobic
I will cover the function of each of these in greater detail in a later post, What you need to know is that for the body to function we use in some form 1 or all of these systems to provide energy, And we can train the body to become better adapted to using a certain pathway.
The reason this is the first thing we must train is because without being able to draw the potential from what gives us the energy, We would literally stand still. Just like buying a bigger car with a higher spec engine to get us from A to B smoother and faster or to deal with an increased load. (see the correlation)
2. Flexibility
Second comes flexibilty or Mobility as most of the social media now dictates, If you cant move into the positions nessasary to complete the exercise, Why are you wasting time training through half the plane of motion and limiting the amount of results. You wouldnt turn up for work finish half a job and be happy with it so why do we do this with our training? Being able to use a full range of motion will not only save you time in the gym but also save your body. Taking the time to stretch and mobilise the body early on in your fitness journey will save you money on physiotherapy and future proof you as you age
3. Stability
These 3 things build the foundations upon which the rest ground there feet. Ever had a shoulder injury or lower back pain? its most likely caused by a lack of stability during the exersise or an imbalance structurally.
Being in the center of all this is the core its responsible for protecting the spine and the organs, generating power and moving us through space. If you cant hold a plank for 90 secs its a good indicator that you need to improve your core game.
4. skills
learning to correctly do the exercises before we start to add load is a must for anybody of any level in there training we call this skill work, as it takes learning the skill to optimise the end result. now you have your ground work laid out by practicing the 3 pillars above this should become smooth and easy. skills vary in execution from the easy like a shoulder press to the hard like the handstand press up, going through from the basics of the movement and progressing this way will make sure you stay injury free, make sure you keep progressing and get everybody to ask you the secrets.
5. Endurance
Whats the difference between Stamina and Endurance even though they ultimately lead to the same conclusion, I have Endurance as its own skill after Stamina as i believe stamina is more bias towards constant motion and the ability to use the energy pathways and Endurance is how long you can last dealing with load or a high motor unit skill, how efficient you are at a given exercise the amount of sets and reps your able to recover from and how your body deals and responds to the load. example of this would be you start with 3 sets of 10 reps on the deadlift with 60kg as you progress you increase your Endurance and can do 3 sets of 10 reps with 100kg.
6. Strength
The last persuit but often to many times peoples first, Strength is the number one reason people often start to lift weights and exercise in the first place, We all hold a high regard the the strongest people on the planet. Unless your able to use the strength optimally and use it to relate to everyday tasks your wasting your time. I mean thats the whole point in getting strong is to make everyday tasks easier, if thats your goal and you want to live a fitter healthier life, making sure youve got your foundations laid well will maximise your efforts, Cut down your gym time, minimise injury and make training easier.
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