Eight Pound Life

Think about the rest of your life. Literally think about how many days you have left. I'm hoping you have to squint so see that far down the timeline. With the time you have left I want to ask you one question:

How much weight can you pick up if your life depended on it?

Put aside the rumors that if necessary, you could lift a car off a loved one because adrenaline would give you Hulk strength. This is nonsense, the best most of us could do in that situation is yell louder at the 911 operator.

I just want to get you thinking about your programming the same way you look at your 401k. The money you're hopefully socking away helps, but what body you bring to retirement will determine how you spend it, no?

Antiquated movements or movements unattached to a plan do more harm than good. Everything done in the gym needs to contribute to life outside it. If it doesn't, don't go. A well thought out program includes planned progressions. Every workout is a stimulus that the body adapts to, so the next time we do it, we do it better. An exercise that doesn't lend itself to be progressed in more than weight or intensity doesn't make sense. Unless it makes your arms look better, then do it.

Any and all exercises can be justified if you answer one simple question: What will I do better in a month after doing this exercise?  If the answer is that exercise, the net gain for improved life functioning is zero. A harsher reality is that if you have a history of re-injury, your exercise program might be at fault.

Chain gyms and run of the mill training certifications forgot the best part of fitness: Everyone brings a unique body with a unique set of movement patterns and compensations to the table. Cookie cutter workouts and machine circuits are too one size fits all. In our attempt to make fitness quick and foolproof, we lost the real message:

Exercise is supposed to enhance, not hurt. Too much intensity breeds poor form, lack of intensity breeds ambivalence. Do it or don't, just don't waste your time in the middle. Remember to simplify things whenever you can. Muscles are either bigger, smaller, or the same size. So keep what you have, lose it, or make more, those are the choices. We know that losing muscle is a bad idea; it slows the metabolism, makes you weaker, and you have less energy. Maintaining is fine, IF you look exactly the way you want...anyone...anyone...Bueller....

So when I ask you how much weight you can lift I mean how much weight does life present you with? If you regularly need to pick something up, but can't, your training doesn't mimic your life. Can you lift one side of your couch? From the floor, on your back, can you stand? How long does it take?

If you only train with eight pound weights you can only expect an eight pound life from your muscles. Hopefully, everything you encounter in your day is eight pounds or less. By the way, a shovel full of anything is at least twenty pounds, so unless your weather forecast is sunny and eighty, three hundred and sixty four days a year, you'll encounter inclement weather, and eight pound weights don't get you ready to dodge eight pound hail.

Exercise that mimics life is a program that adopts movements you might need to access while pumping gas, mopping the floor, or chasing a curiously quick two year old. Mothers, how many bends and twists do you make in a day, with a kid in your arms? Respect.

Single plane movements on a machine or in front of a mirror with eight pound weights are a waste of time because you don't live an eight pound life. Exercise is prep for the: THIS IS NOT A DRILL moments I hope you never encounter.

But if you do...ain't it nice to be ready?