Superior Fitness

With all the advice, workouts, methods and philosophies about strength, conditioning and fitness out there... How do you develop a physical training program that is right for you? First of all, there are may reasons to get involved in a physical training program... and you must first determine yours is you are to choose correctly. Some people's physical training program are targeted toward muscle growth, others toward burning fat, others toward gaining strength, others to meet general fitness goals, etc. I personally believe a physical training program should be used to improve the physical abilities of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, power, speed, flexibility, balance, coordination, agility, accuracy and toughness.

A physical training program should improve the physical abilities that are needed to face the challenges of sport, work and life with excellence... basically, allowing us to become better suited human beings for the unpredictable environment in which we live.

Here are the guidelines I use to develop, analyze and evaluate my physical training program:

1) A physical training program should commit to functional strength, superior conditioning and fitness excellence OPTIMIZATION... Not muscular size and aerobic conditioning MAXIMIZATION. Your physical training program must address the improvement of all the physical abilities... and not just one physical ability at the expense of all others. The sad fact is, most people get caught up in becoming the best at one particular physical ability... and completely ignore the others. Who cares how strong you are when the life challenge calls for balance and flexibility. True physical fitness is a compromise between all the physical abilities and the seamless transition from on ability to another.

2) A physical training program should continue performance improvement through deliberate variation of training methods, intensities and stresses... Not monotonous, unsustainable and long term routines. There is no one best, one size fits all physical training program that universally fits everyone's goals, needs, abilities and limitations. Use variety to produce an environment that keeps the body improving... long term routine will only bring about limited results.

3) A physical training program concentrate on quality physical training and proper technique and then increase the quantity of your training... Leave your ego out of your workout program. Your physical training program is where you work on your weaknesses and seek improvement... and not a place to show off. Make sure to perform the exercises correctly before increasing the quantity.

4) A physical training program should focus on core strength and developing a body that functions as one complete unit... Just say "no" to machines. Isolation exercises on machines teach you to do isolation exercises on machines... a skill which is of little value in the real world.
Make your core strong by including it in all your exercises and use the body as one complete unit... just like you would in the challenges of sport, work and life.

5) A physical training program should train movements through compound exercises, single limb and alternating limb exercises... Not muscles through "isolation" exercises. Who cares how big your muscles are if you can't use them to complete a task in the real world. Train movements that translate into real world performance improvements.

6) A physical training program should train muscular strength, muscular power and muscular endurance for functional strength improvement... not muscular size for appearance. Strength training should address all aspects of strength... and not be treated as the secondary effect of size seeking. It is better to be stronger than you look... Than to look stronger than you are.

7) A physical training program should train the anaerobic, anaerobic lactate and aerobic energy pathways for superior conditioning under the greatest set of circumstances... Now only one energy pathway for "specialized" conditioning. Metabolic conditioning training should address all the energy pathways for versatile conditioning. Extreme aerobic conditioning is not the measure of fitness excellence. Sport, work and life challenges are made up of intense flurries of activity broken up be periods of less intensity and rest... not one long, continuous, monotonous, rhythmic activity.

8) A physical training program should train the physical abilities of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, power, speed, flexibility, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness for fitness excellence... Not just one or two abilities creating unbalanced fitness performance.
True fitness is not the maximization of one physical skill at the expense of all others... But the optimization of all physical skills in fluid interaction. Fitness is a compromise.

9) A physical training program should fortify your strengths while concentrating on improving your weaknesses for the greatest over-all fitness improvement. It is a waste of valuable physical training time to spend all your energy trying to improve your strength while your weaknesses go untrained. Greater fitness improvement can be made by turning your weaknesses into newfound strengths.

10) A physical training program should be personalized, short, intense and frequent. Keep the training sessions short and intense for the best results... but don't forget to throw in some medium intensity, medium duration and high intensity, long duration training for variety. Varying your workouts this way will allow you to work out more frequently without the fear of overtraining and injury... and prepare you for a greater amount of physical circumstances in the bargain. Ultimately, any physical training program must be personalized to the goals, needs, abilities and limitations of the individual. These are the guidelines I use to keep my physical training program on track and the physical improvements coming that will allow me to meet the challenges of sport, work and life with excellence. So how does your physical training program stand up to these guidelines?

Labels: 24 hour fitness, bodyweight training for fitness, fitness, fitness exercise, fitness sports, superior fitness

When I look at the physical fitness industry today it is painfully obvious that the industry is more concerned with maximizing specific skills than building better humans.

Basically, the fitness industry has been divided into two fields... muscle growth and aerobic ability.

But make no mistake about it, physical training is about becoming an improved human, better suited to meet the challenges of sport, work and life with excellence under the greatest amount of circumstances.

Physical training is not about maximizing muscle growth so you look good in your t-shirt or the ability to sustain long, monotonous aerobic activity.

To become a better human, you must use your physical training for physical fitness optimization... not physical skill maximization.

Physical fitness optimization is the acceptable and deliberate compromise of competence and ability to perform in ALL the areas of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness to produce optimum performance results under the greatest amount of circumstances

Yes... physical fitness optimization is the understanding that true physical fitness is a compromise.

Your fitness level is comprised of your ability to perform using all the physical abilities mentioned in a seamless and coordinated fashion to complete any task at any given point in time.

Physical fitness is not, and should not, be measured by the physical skill maximization of just one of these skills.

True physical fitness has to do with your physical ability to perform the widest variety of tasks under the greatest diversity of circumstances... not maximizing one physical ability to perform one task under controlled circumstances.

Strangely, the trend seems to be to use physical training to maximize one physical ability at the expense of all others... actually making the person less fit.

If you spend all your training time improving only one facet of fitness... your weaknesses will greatly outnumber your strength.

You will have become so specialized that you are unfit for most circumstances encountered in sport, work and life... and I am sure that was not your goal when starting a physical fitness training program.

Let's get one thing straight...

I am not against muscle growth and aerobic capacity... I am against the fitness industrys unbalanced focus on muscle growth and aerobic capacity at the expense of true physical fitness.

Isolated muscle exercises performed on limited motion machines combined with extended aerobic sessions is not the path to strength, conditioning and fitness excellence... no matter what the fitness industrys marketing machine says.

Commit yourself to strength, conditioning and fitness optimization if your goal is to develop performance improvements in all the 10 physical skills and produce a body that performs as good as it looks.

If your current physical fitness workout program is designed more for physical skill maximization... change it!

Because there is one thing that I know for sure...

If you have functional strength, superior conditioning and fitness excellence there will be times in sport, work and life that you need them... and if you dont, there will be times when you wish you did.

Labels: 24 hour fitness, bodyweight training for fitness, fitness, fitness exercise, fitness machines, fitness sports, superior fitness

Fitness is a complex term. This is why when you ask someone for a universal definition of fitness you usually get something vague like this, "Fitness is being fit". Don't believe me, ask someone (even fitness professionals). But once you understand the true nature of fitness, I'm confident you'll see why bodyweight training for fitness should be a part of your over-all workout program.

So, let's begin with my definition of physical fitness!

Fitness is the acceptable and deliberate compromise of competence and ability to perform in all the areas of cardiorespiratory endurance, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance, accuracy and toughness to produce optimum performance results under the greatest amount of circumstances.

You'd better read that again to make sure you get it.

As you can see, fitness is more than being strong. It is more than having powerful heart and lungs. Fitness is the ability to use all your physical abilities simultaneously and seamlessly to overcome physical challenges. And bodyweight training is an excellent method for training for over-all fitness!

Normally, people seeking fitness focus on only one or two of the physical abilities needed to be fit. Or, they base their training on the RESULT of being fit, like burning fat or building muscle. You see, having muscle or being lean does not necessarily mean you are fit! However, being fit usually manifests itself as a strong, muscular, lean body.

There are three types of challenges you'll face in sport, work and life.

1) The challenge requires you move your body to successfully complete the task
2) The challenge requires you move an exterior object to successfully complete the task
3) The challenge requires you to move your body and an exterior object to successfully complete the task

And to make things more complicated, the challenge can require any of the physical abilities of fitness and in any combination. As you can see, being able to move your own body is needed for two of the types of challenges, and therefore should be trained accordingly. Bodyweight training is that important.

Think of it this way, there are so many abilities to train in order to be fit, you need a versatile tool capable of training them all. And there is no better tool than your own body. Bodyweight training can effectively target all of the physical abilities needed to be fit.

Compare bodyweight training to weight training. Bodyweight training is a much more accessible and versatile form of training. Don't get me wrong, I like weight training and think it superior for some types of training. I just think bodyweight training has more to offer in terms of improving all the physical skills of fitness.

So, if you want to truly be fit, you need to improve all the physical abilities of fitness. Bodyweight training for fitness should be a part of everyone's physical training program. Because when you are truly fit, you'll not only meet the challenges of sport, work and life with excellence, you'll look great too!

Labels: bodyweight exercise, bodyweight training, bodyweight training for fitness, calisthenics