Use it or lose it.
Exercising is like a power tool. If you use it properly, it helps you to ‘function’ better, but if used incorrectly, it can cause you serious harm.
Perhaps the two most important observations we have made in our 25 years of coaching folks are the following:
- People want too much, too fast. They do not even attempt to start gradually with anything. Mostly this happens because no one really understands how underconditioned we are in our ‘big-city’ lives.
- People can’t imagine – even in their wildest dreams – the potential that lies within them on the long run with some persistence. According to a recent study on the bones of the Cro-Magnon Homo-Sapiens Sapiens, each one of them would have been able to outdo most possibly every Olympic champion in their own sporting event. Those folks were genetically exactly like we are today, not even a tiny difference between them and us…except for how they spent their time… they moved around a lot.
As long as you exercise on any equipment with a fixed access of rotation or you do not exercise three dimensionally, you are simply not doing anything for yourself, you are only harming your musculoskeletal system.
The amount of ridiculous ideas circulating out in the health and fitness world today is uncanny. Most of these ideas come from the 60’s and 70’s bodybuilders, or the 80’s aerobic instructors. Therefor we have a few recommendations to contemplate on to keep yourself at a safe distance from harmful practitioners:
- Does your wellness provider performs a serious assessment with a client before starting to work with them? If you can keep track of and count the amount of questions they ask you, then run…
- Stay away (or run) from anyone who uses the words ‘method’ or ‘style’ when it comes to wellness. The body works in a logical, neurological, physiological, and spiritual way. Each client requires a unique approach based on their present overall condition, no one fits into any box of methods.
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If you asked your doctor, chiropractor, physical therapist, nutritionist, group sport therapist, trainer, psychologist etc. to take off their shirt, what kind of sight would you see? Would the sight be the representation of health and well being or not. If the answer is not pleasant then, again, run… If you preach health, you must be healthy. How could anyone help another if they can’t even help themselves? This is a good sorting mechanism when you deal with even family doctors. Paul Chek likes to bring up this point frequently with great wisdom, and I echo his voice in agreement.
Briefly, in a short paragraph, what can you do?
Well, first of all stay away from any equipment with a fixed access of rotation or which are bolted to the floor… basically a large portion of the things you see in a big commercial gyms.
Then, under careful instruction, but as frequently as you can: toss, throw, wrestle, hop, jump, climb, kick, swim, crawl; use cables, wobble boards, Swiss balls, TRXs, ProFitters, TotalTrainers; lift barbells, dumbbells, medicine balls, cattle bells, Bulgarian sandbags; learn to chin up and dip; constantly discover and use new sport related equipment; be able to squat, lunge, twist, bend, push, pull, walk and run well and dynamically under any circumstances.
In the case you need some help to do all the above and some, please feel free to connect with us.
