Do you know precisely what you are trying to accomplish in the gym? An improvement in your overall health, better quality of life, to just look better naked? All worthy goals in my estimation. BUT can we, should we, first clearly define exactly what we are striving for, and then aim with laser-like precision in order to generate a program that is guaranteed to get us to the promised land? YES please.
If we truly want to get the most out of the handful of hours we invest each week in our strength training, we need to clearly understand our objectives and what we must focus on. These are my intentions, my goals for myself and the clients that trust me to guide them on their journey. There are just five pieces to this puzzle. If you are in this for the long run, want to live your best life possible, in your strongest, healthiest body, these should be your goals as well.
Number One
We should train in a way that maximizes our range of motion in every joint in our bodies. You may have noticed that grandma and grandpa don’t seem to move with the same fluidity they did when they were younger, you may have noticed your own body becoming more stiff and restricted than it used to be. Sadly this loss of functional range of motion and flexibility is the natural progression for most of us. There are many reasons for this, not least of which is amount of time most of us spend sitting in chairs, on couches and in cars, etc. BUT this is not our fate! I am more flexible and have access to a greater ranger of motion throughout my entire body at 41 than I ever did before, even as a child. I have clients in their 50’s that I’ve worked with for years, that have rediscovered greater mobility than nearly all the new clients that walk into my door in their 20’s and 30’s. This is possible for all of us, this takes deliberate work, this improved mobility needs to be one of our pillars
Number two
We must aim to maximize the strength of every muscle in our bodies throughout a complete range of motion. Step one is to restore the full range of motion of every joint. Step two is to strengthen every muscle that contributes to our complete range of motion, that is our birthright as human beings! Becoming strong throughout our entire range of motion is what hits the "save button" on the mobility improvements we gained from step one, and generates sustainable, functional mobility for life.
Now, there is a time and place to train specific parts of a movement, but our primary objective in the gym should be becoming strong in every aspect of natural human movement. In practice, when we identify a part of a movement that is weak and lacking mobility, we must dedicate extra time and attention to build up these weak links in our kinetic chain. The squat is a perfect example that I commonly see. So many of us struggle to bend our knees beyond 90º when squatting and too many of us are willing to just accept this limited range of motion, sit back and watch as we our movement becomes even more restricted over time. After first addressing some flexibility and/or mobility restrictions in step one, we must find a way to achieve a deeper squat (likely with assistance) and specifically challenge this weak part of the range of motion and bring it up to speed. Becoming strong throughout our entire range of motion makes us more functional humans and improves the quality of our lives.
Number three
To become the best versions of ourselves, we must aim to minimize any disparities in strength and range of motion between different muscle groups. At this stage of the game, we identify the muscles on one side of a joint and/or side of the body that are relatively stronger or weaker than the muscles on the other side. Commonly we see people that are relatively strong in their quads (front of the thighs) and much weaker on the backside (in the hamstrings for example). We need to get those hamstrings up to speed if we want to achieve our full strength and mobility potential! Every human movement requires a symphony of muscular contractions on both sides of many joints and once again we must deliberately strive to eliminate any weak links in our chain. If we want to be able to get up out of a chair or off the floor with ease when we’re 80 years old, we must identify these disparities on opposing sides of our bodies and specifically train these weak links in our kinetic chain in order to achieve our full potential.
Number four
Gaining real strength and functionality requires us to train in a way that increases our ability to perform all basic human movements (squat, hinge, lunge, push, pull, carry, and travel) under a variety of stresses, ie under load/weight, with speed, with increased stability demand (ie. isometrics) and under fatigue. At this stage of our process, we will have improved the quality of all our movements and are ready to deliberately apply stress to those movements in a way forces our bodies to grow muscles, increase overall strength and become the badasses we were all born to be! This is the step that too many of us go straight into, before addressing steps 1-3. That is a mistake. Too many people with either jump right into heavy and/or fast lifting that only strengthens poor movement patterns, reinforces a progressive loss of functional range of motion and increases risk of injury, OR they recognize their poor quality of movement and compensate by training with such light weight and low intensity that they'll never see any gains in strength and/or muscle mass. No bueno. First, we must master steps 1-3, earn the right to train hard, heavy and fast, and then we can gain real, functional strength that improves every aspect of our lives.
Number five
Every part of our training in steps 1-4 must be deliberately designed to minimize our risk of injury. Transforming our bodies and becoming the best versions of ourselves takes time and consistent effort. If we get injured and have to spend any meaningful time on the sidelines, we fall further away from our ultimate goals. That is unacceptable and must be avoided at all costs. Rome was not built in one day, and neither will you build your dream body in any one training session. While it is very true that the greater the intensity of our training, the better and faster we will achieve results, but we cannot afford a heightened risk of injury in pursuit of finding a short cut to our goals. Keep this in mind. Always.
If you’re ready to get serious about improving your health in 2023 and want a complete training program that will deliver all the above, do me and yourself a favor and drop your email address in the box below, subscribe to my Twitter and Instagram, and hit that little heart icon. I am here to help.
Michael
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