Some random Friday musings….
“How Much Ya Bench, Bro?”
This common question heard in every gym everywhere is a perfect example of how people view fitness from the wrong end of the telescope.
You know the way if you look through a telescope you can see for miles, but if you turn it around it’s more like a magnifying glass, you can only see a tiny amount of a things very close.
Focusing on how much you lift is exactly that, looking through the wrong end of the scope.
Instead focus on what lifting that amount will allow you to do.
Will achieving X amount of weight improve or detract from my performance. Will spending energy on this stretch really improve my performance? Will those few extra miles really give me that edge I’m looking for?
These are the important questions.
It’s not about what you can do in the gym. It’s about what the work in the gym makes you capable of doing in the outside world.
To quote the record braking powerlifter, Mr Andy Bolton:
“Don’t leave your best in the gym”
Here’s Andy’s world record deadlift, the first man ever to beat the 1000lb barrier:
Styles, systems, tool and methods
Hard style vs kettlebell sport Kung fu vs Karate Powerlifting vs Weightlifting Front squat vs back squat Sprinting vs long distance running Cardio vs strength Crossfit vs everyone else
Whatever endeavour we are involved in we love to argue the minutia. And in the end, it really doesn’t matter a damn.
Who gives a shit if you do Pull Ups or Chin Ups, so long as you’re doing the best version of the exercise for where you are to get you where you aim to be.
Is the Hard Style Kettlebell Swing better than the Girevoy Sport softer swing? For some people yes, others no.
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter.
If it works for you, then it is good.
If something works better for you, then that is better.
It’s why you hire a coach, so they can look at you, delve into their tool box and pull out the right exercises, in the right order, in the right dosage to get you closer to where you want to be.
If a coach can only do one thing, and makes all their clients do that one thing, they’re not a coach, they’re not a teacher or a trainer. I’m not sure what they are. An interactive DVD would give you as good a service.
I get it that we, as a species, are tribal and look to fit in with a group as it aids our chances of survival. Not that fact is relevant anymore, we hardly need to worry about survival, after all, you are reading this using the internet on your computer or mobile device, I’d say you’re doing a good job of surviving!
Nothing is better than anything else.
Fitness training and exercise selection is like a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock
Everything beats everything.
Or to quote legendary strength coach Dan John:
“Everything works some of the time, nothing works all the time”
Food for thought.
See you in the gym
Dave Hedges
Comentários