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Set aside outdated ideas about strength trainingDate: 21.05.2007
Posted by: Anabolic Info Team United States
Last week I wrote about the two most common mistakes I see people making among those who regularly exercise.
Those mistakes are not performing any strength training - or at least not correctly - and overdoing their cardiorespiratory exercise. Exercise physiology is now a well-studied science and, as such, there are far better methodologies to training than most people perform today.
Why would I say that many people do too much cardio like jogging? Isn't that impossible? The main problem is most sports and many jobs are anaerobic in nature, requiring activities like sprinting and strength training to make both skill and fitness related improvements. The point is, for many people who exercise to get in better shape for work, sports or just life itself, there is a more efficient way of training.
Long bouts of cardio - especially without strength training - can cost valuable muscle tissue and damage joints, and the cardiorespiratory benefits simply don't require the long times and distances many people put in today. As a matter of fact, most runners who don't regularly strength train have very low levels of strength, power, balance, coordination and agility. These are all necessary aspects of the skill-related components of fitness that many once thought only athletes needed. We all need these components for our jobs, hobbies, sports and the physical requirements of life itself such as yard work, changing a tire and staying optimally healthy.
As mentioned in last week's article, strength training (weight lifting) is often either not done at all or done incorrectly. Many runners' even hold on to the ancient 1960 philosophy that strength training hurts their running or makes them tight and inflexible.
Just as with anything else, there is a right way and a wrong way to strength train. Ninety percent of people who do strength train have no idea of what they are doing, and the age-old bodybuilding style of lifting is as common today as sand on the beach.
Strength-training machines are also still popular with the idea that older people, the injured and inexperienced must use machines to be safe. Not true. Free weights using both power lifting and Olympic weight lifting techniques can be used for everyone. Whether you are elderly, very young, injured, a school teacher or a SWAT team member, the benefits are waiting for us all.
I'm certainly not suggesting everyone go out and start heavy squatting or trying to perform an Olympic snatch today. I am suggesting, however, there is a much better way of strength training and performing cardio that will not only help you to look and feel better but also help you perform better at your job, in sports and in everyday life. It just requires being open-minded and finding the right person to get you started safely and effectively.
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