A few years ago, a lifting injury that I had ignored for quite some time finally became too painful to handle. I sucked it up and had the surgery that I had been dreading for years. I was out of commission in terms of lifting, any vertical movements and all forms of my regular conditioning. I was at a loss of what I could do to keep those hard earned gains I had made. This is far from the point of this little golden nugget I have been sitting on for a while that I have wanted to get off my chest.
So what did I opt for to retain what I had gained, for it to be minimally invasive you ask??
That's right, I returned to our "conventional" friend Mr. Elliptical, the greatest low impact invention ever!?? Or is it?
Here is what I noticed in my many, MANY hours of riding that devil's contraption. First off, the manner that these machines are used is so lackadaisical that it's no damn wonder these people have to ride them for hours to still not see any improvements! Men, women, kids are all texting on their phones, chatting with each other about this, that and the other thing, and 95% of them have yet to break a sweat after riding these cyclical mind game machines for endless periods of time.
Now as I understand it from my clients and anyone I have ever spoke with about exercising, the biggest problem with it is a problem of time constriction. So let me get this right…. you think you need hours on the elliptical in order to elicit the best possible gains from your body? Did you listen you your self when you said that out loud? Say it again, "DO I REALLY NEED HOURS ON THIS MACHINE TO GET INTO THE BEST SHAPE POSSIBLE"??
HELL NO! Is my answer. You need less then 30 minutes if you know how to work your body. Train it to move, make it feel uneasy in the angles it's on, jump, dip, slide, push, shuffle, and chop your way to a better you in less time. If you don’t know how to do it, there are tons of people in the wellness community just chomping at the bit to show you all these amazingly effective and fun techniques to do so. There is also this little thing called YOUTUBE! Hello??? Come on people, we need to wake you up! Get you lively! Make you MOVEEEEE!
I bet each of you will smile more when you finish a movement session like that then you WILL EVER GET WATCHING DAYS OF OUR LIVES/TMZ on the elliptical.
You think that you have to do the same generic motion thousands of times because that will change your body into its optimal composition? You think that kicking the treadmill to the highest angle it can go on, holding on for dear life, and reading a book is a way to get a sufficient workout? Come on now...you must be crazy!!
WHERE IS THE DISCONNECT?!?!?!
There is no reason that you should have to spend countless hours training your body to not see the results! Did you know professional body builders only lift 45-60 minutes MAXIMUM at a time.. and that's their job!
What are they doing that your not? Think about it? The lackadaisical approach that is being taken by 99% of those in the gym IS NOT helping you meet your needs to get you the goals you want.
The wise words of Chris FLO simply put, "In order to get what you want, you have to train for what you need". If you want to be a body builder, then train in the way a body builder would... HEAVY, HEAVY, and uhhh? Oh yea HEAVIER!
If you want to be a great athlete (Yes. there’s a difference between bodybuilders and athlete lifting styles (shhh don't tell anybody ;)), then you must train your body in harder then you would exert in sport. Train your body on proprioceptive skill building, handling loads at different vectors, absorbing and exploding instantaneously, challenging the body in the air, or on one leg. This will train you to be a better athlete, not curls for the girls or a million crunches.
This whole little blurb all comes full circle dedicated to the women, men, and children exercising in an archaic fashion. As a society, we always look to become more efficient. Cars to planes, Boom-box to Iphone. Simply put, its human nature. Why not train your body in a way that is efficient, effective, and gives you what technology is based upon which is the FREEDOM TO DO OTHER THINGS? Now you’re getting back the one thing in this world that once it's gone, it's gone. That my friend is TIME.
Now that you have lots of time on your hands, lets talk about why its good to get off the elliptical, spin bike, and those other treacherous isolation machines. Impact is our friend. However impact can also be an enemy. Too much impact breaks ligaments, tendons, cartilage, muscle and bone. On the other hand, just enough tells our body that we need to remain vigilant, strong and ever ready to tackle uncertainty that lies ahead in our daily life. By doing this we have just created an internal janitor position for our body (Body weight exercise, Plyometrics, Suspension Training, ect.), sweeping away cobwebs, keeping our halls squeaky clean(Veins, Arteries), and ensuring that our structural foundation (Bones and Muscle) is solid and ready to take on the forces of gravity and wear and tear.
This part is specifically designated for you women out there. As you get older your BMD (Bone Mineral Density) decreases. So what do you do for it? You take "Boneva" or one of those pills to help retain that ever important BMD. Wrong!!!!
As I said before you need to impose demands/stressors on your body so that it changes for the better! You need to step away from that zero impact elliptical and start moving around on all planes. Induce stressors onto your body so that it realizes it must adapt to handle the forces put upon them. MANY, MANY, MANYYYYYY studies show that strength training is the most optimal way to have women retain and gain bone mass. SO, why are you doing the lowest possible impact exercise for your body and then polluting it with "doctor prescribed" pills?
I don't get it! Why do you repeatedly do the same workout time and time again? Yet you have no changes in your bodies composition, be it Lean mass gain or fat mass loss? Come on now. We are on the precipice of a brand new frontier in the wellness industry. SOOO many new ways are available to train the body that were not before. There are much better ways to decrease your workout time, increase the changes in your body and optimize your lifestyle! So why are you not doing it?
Be well my friends,
-Oz
So what did I opt for to retain what I had gained, for it to be minimally invasive you ask??
That's right, I returned to our "conventional" friend Mr. Elliptical, the greatest low impact invention ever!?? Or is it?
Here is what I noticed in my many, MANY hours of riding that devil's contraption. First off, the manner that these machines are used is so lackadaisical that it's no damn wonder these people have to ride them for hours to still not see any improvements! Men, women, kids are all texting on their phones, chatting with each other about this, that and the other thing, and 95% of them have yet to break a sweat after riding these cyclical mind game machines for endless periods of time.
Now as I understand it from my clients and anyone I have ever spoke with about exercising, the biggest problem with it is a problem of time constriction. So let me get this right…. you think you need hours on the elliptical in order to elicit the best possible gains from your body? Did you listen you your self when you said that out loud? Say it again, "DO I REALLY NEED HOURS ON THIS MACHINE TO GET INTO THE BEST SHAPE POSSIBLE"??
HELL NO! Is my answer. You need less then 30 minutes if you know how to work your body. Train it to move, make it feel uneasy in the angles it's on, jump, dip, slide, push, shuffle, and chop your way to a better you in less time. If you don’t know how to do it, there are tons of people in the wellness community just chomping at the bit to show you all these amazingly effective and fun techniques to do so. There is also this little thing called YOUTUBE! Hello??? Come on people, we need to wake you up! Get you lively! Make you MOVEEEEE!
I bet each of you will smile more when you finish a movement session like that then you WILL EVER GET WATCHING DAYS OF OUR LIVES/TMZ on the elliptical.
You think that you have to do the same generic motion thousands of times because that will change your body into its optimal composition? You think that kicking the treadmill to the highest angle it can go on, holding on for dear life, and reading a book is a way to get a sufficient workout? Come on now...you must be crazy!!
WHERE IS THE DISCONNECT?!?!?!
There is no reason that you should have to spend countless hours training your body to not see the results! Did you know professional body builders only lift 45-60 minutes MAXIMUM at a time.. and that's their job!
What are they doing that your not? Think about it? The lackadaisical approach that is being taken by 99% of those in the gym IS NOT helping you meet your needs to get you the goals you want.
The wise words of Chris FLO simply put, "In order to get what you want, you have to train for what you need". If you want to be a body builder, then train in the way a body builder would... HEAVY, HEAVY, and uhhh? Oh yea HEAVIER!
If you want to be a great athlete (Yes. there’s a difference between bodybuilders and athlete lifting styles (shhh don't tell anybody ;)), then you must train your body in harder then you would exert in sport. Train your body on proprioceptive skill building, handling loads at different vectors, absorbing and exploding instantaneously, challenging the body in the air, or on one leg. This will train you to be a better athlete, not curls for the girls or a million crunches.
This whole little blurb all comes full circle dedicated to the women, men, and children exercising in an archaic fashion. As a society, we always look to become more efficient. Cars to planes, Boom-box to Iphone. Simply put, its human nature. Why not train your body in a way that is efficient, effective, and gives you what technology is based upon which is the FREEDOM TO DO OTHER THINGS? Now you’re getting back the one thing in this world that once it's gone, it's gone. That my friend is TIME.
Now that you have lots of time on your hands, lets talk about why its good to get off the elliptical, spin bike, and those other treacherous isolation machines. Impact is our friend. However impact can also be an enemy. Too much impact breaks ligaments, tendons, cartilage, muscle and bone. On the other hand, just enough tells our body that we need to remain vigilant, strong and ever ready to tackle uncertainty that lies ahead in our daily life. By doing this we have just created an internal janitor position for our body (Body weight exercise, Plyometrics, Suspension Training, ect.), sweeping away cobwebs, keeping our halls squeaky clean(Veins, Arteries), and ensuring that our structural foundation (Bones and Muscle) is solid and ready to take on the forces of gravity and wear and tear.
This part is specifically designated for you women out there. As you get older your BMD (Bone Mineral Density) decreases. So what do you do for it? You take "Boneva" or one of those pills to help retain that ever important BMD. Wrong!!!!
As I said before you need to impose demands/stressors on your body so that it changes for the better! You need to step away from that zero impact elliptical and start moving around on all planes. Induce stressors onto your body so that it realizes it must adapt to handle the forces put upon them. MANY, MANY, MANYYYYYY studies show that strength training is the most optimal way to have women retain and gain bone mass. SO, why are you doing the lowest possible impact exercise for your body and then polluting it with "doctor prescribed" pills?
I don't get it! Why do you repeatedly do the same workout time and time again? Yet you have no changes in your bodies composition, be it Lean mass gain or fat mass loss? Come on now. We are on the precipice of a brand new frontier in the wellness industry. SOOO many new ways are available to train the body that were not before. There are much better ways to decrease your workout time, increase the changes in your body and optimize your lifestyle! So why are you not doing it?
Be well my friends,
-Oz
OZ- couldnt have said it any better myself.. great job and well written.
ReplyDeleteThanks mike. It just gets me nutty when people complain that they have no time outside of work to exercise...what? Come on now. Put down the remote for 20 minuets and make moves. Anyway, thanks for the comment back. I am going to keep them coming as often as possible. Talk soon!
ReplyDeleteBe Well,
Oz