Crawl Before Run.....

As I venture deeper into the amazing world of fitness, I am constantly reminded of the many avenues and opinions to be offered. Abundant research has been done to show many of the diverse exercises and their benefits (or lack thereof), along with various pieces of equipment and their benefits (or again, lack thereof). I am constantly asking myself, "Where do I start?"

Have we gotten too far ahead of ourselves here? The more experience I gain with amateur and professional athletes, I am continually amazed at how much we forget the basics of movement. How can we expect people to perform exercises with weight overhead, when they don’t even know how to feel their wrist without looking at it?! On a daily basis I am forced to watch so called "trainers" teach movements to their clients that the client's minds and bodies simply cannot comprehend. Then, it's off to a machine so that we can really target and isolate that muscle group.

What?! Who are you kidding?! I must admit, I myself used to follow the path of machine training with a goal and emphasis on how sore can I be, but let's face it, I got smarter.

With each and every client I take a look at what movement patterns they are/are not struggling with, and develop a program around those patterns and individual goals. For example, why have a person perform lunges when they can’t even squat correctly? A lunge (or split-squat) is a great exercise; however it is still a more challenging variation of the bodyweight squat. Practice the basics first, and then move along gradually.

It never ceases to amaze me either about how curious people tend to be about what it is that my clients are doing, yet no one has the courage to ask. “Why are they doing a small lunging pattern in many directions?” (I can see the mouse wheel turning in their head.) Or when people’s clients tell me, “Those kettlebells look really fun, but aren’t they bad for your back? My trainer doesn’t teach me any kettlebell work.” Wait a minute, isn’t part of my job as a Fitness/Movement Coach to help prevent injuries? Definitely not to create them!

In any case, some movement is better than no movement, but there are definitely ways to train smarter! In the meantime, get out there and get moving!

Good Luck and Great Health!