Sep 28, 2019

Pumping iron. Lifting. Weights. Resistance training. Free weights and machines. I am the generation who fell in love with gyms! I loved it and dutifully spent my days at the gym counting sets and reps and adding more and more weight. But after 15 years things began to change. Injuries were stacking up and becoming chronic and it became harder and harder to keep the extra pounds off. And I wasn’t alone. Leaders in the industry, the guys who wrote the books, were having the same problems and were just as perplexed. Guys like Lou Schuler who wrote Rules of Lifting were forced to rethink their own programs.*

No one disputes that having plenty of muscle is absolutely a good thing.

Muscle:
Protects our joints
Improves metabolism
Improves our endocrine functions
Gives our body shape
Improves posture
Strengthens bones
So what was the problem?
Traditional weight room training isolates one muscle at a time targeting too few muscles. Traditional style weight lifting simply does not use enough muscles, burn enough calories or boost our metabolism enough
Isolating muscles doesn’t necessarily translate into real strength can create an imbalance in our body and cause injuries
Lifting heavy weights in unnatural body positions and isolating muscles puts too much weight on joints and connective tissue creating chronic injuries. Especially vulnerable are the spine, shoulders and knees
The amount of time needed for real progress exceeds what most people are willing to spend at the gym
Weight lifting takes us from a resting heart rate to full exertion which increases danger of stroke, heart and retinal problems
Ego often trumps common senseIMG_2007
So what is the solution?
Full body functional exercises using hundreds of muscles
Use body weight as much as possible
When lifting weights use less weight and do more reps
Keep the ego in check!
*New Rules of Lifting and New Rules of Lifting for Abs, Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove