Why be dumb, use smart exercise.

March 15th.

"The two most common elements in nature is hydrogen and stupidity."

Harlan Ellison

WO du jour:

Warmup joint mobility and foam roller.

Cross fit "Barbra" rounds for time.

time: 17:14 great time as I did not rest between sets, but did slow on the pullups.

40-5 reps, 32kg-10 reps, 24 kg-20 reps........ ladder rowing, then floor press
3 continous sets.

The reason why people join health clubs is to get fit and look good. However, the success rate in achieving those goals is poor, especially retaining members long term. Majority of club members, are bord or lack energy to train after only a few months of membership. You will see a new members join, attend day after day and slowly the frequency diminished as the months go by to where they are not showing up at all. Most will tell you as they come in to quit, when asked why they are leaving, you hear basically the same reply, " I am board, I don't use it that much and need to do something else. " The picture at the right is a "dumb lift"

Well I would be bord out of my scull too if I did the same dumb exercises they were doing. Hell I would not last a week! whats dumb about exercise? simple arm curl, or seated press.

Reeling back a few years, there was an Olympic weightlifter named Norm Schemansky who won 4 metals in his 25 year lifting career. After lifting to a gold metal in 1956, he came back to the US where no one met him at the airport, so he took a bus home. Thats a true story. That is also why OL lifting was never a strong sport in the US.....no support. Anyway the man was well over 220 lbs and ripped hard muscle , so when he was being interviewed just prior to his retirement, a mullet from a body building magazine asked him what kind of curls he did to get his 20" biceps. His answer, was simply, " I have never did curls, and don't know if they would help my lifting any. You see up until 1968 Olympic weightlifting was a three lift event, Press, snatch, and clean and jerk. To train for the press you did a lot of heavy rack presses so naturally your arms were engaged to the max. Most OL lifters in that era had big arms, unlike the 2 lift competition we have today.

So what your point besides asking dumb questions? The curl like many of the body building exercises are body dumb......or lacking functional challenge for total development. Without constantly increasing challenge or complexity, we stop growing. what that happen next, we just stop trying, quit, do something else. Now I not totally righting off a simple exercise like the curl, However if I was bodybuilding, I would be doing more "complexes". A complex takes several exercises, sometimes as many as 6 or 8 in a string of continuous movements without setting down the weight, however mostly compound exercises, standing close chain. Example would be a highpull, deadlift, clean, push press, and front squat, then a scots press as one set. The complex can be done as singles or double for beginers and up to 6 each for advanced.

The pricture at the right is of Vickor Sots who invented the "sots press", that is going into a full squat clean,press the weight overhead then stand. That's is what is called a very "smart lift"

One of my favorite simple complex exercise is the "Manmaker". That is performing a deadlift with a dumbell or kettlebell, clean, push jerk, squat, squat thrust, pushups and back up to a deadlift. Its a real killer cardio beside working every muscle in you body.

Being bored is an unnecessary affliction with all the exercises, and tools available. Train smart, change exercises and combinations often. Make your routines challenging by always training to add power, speed, endurance and volume. Make it a goal to lean one new exercise each week to add to your tool box of workouts. It going to take a life time to learn them all.