#personaldevelopment
We’re all stuck in these bodies.
The following are the most basic, simple movements the human body does. The smart athlete will train, with weights, in these movement fields.
In order of importance:
Weighted Carry
Squat
Hinge
Pull
Push
Through my experience most lifters and athletes believe the reverse order is more important. That’s why you always see people benching, asking what their bench is, or what they can deadlift. When rather, if you can clean and press a 70 pound dumbbell, with proper form, THAT’S strength. But nobody talks about that movement nor do you see such movements at your local gym.
This is why America has a waistline problem.
Most athletes are doing the wrong movements in the gym, forget about intermittent fasting, sleep and eat poorly. Good luck building a strong, resilient body with those habits.
I too made the mistakes of focusing on isolation exercises, bench, cardio and bent over rows all the time at the gym. I still gained some strength, but nothing compared to the gains I’ve been experiencing since altering my training regimen.
My time in the gym has even decreased after optimizing my training toward compound movements across the weighted carry, squat, hinge, pull, and push bodily principles.
At 29, I’m the strongest I’ve ever been. More flexible than ever. Performing at the top of my game across all sports. Sleeping well. No pain.
Even soar muscles are becoming a thing of the past. I’ve discovered a smart lifter should only exert 60-90% of their max effort in any one session at the gym. …I do get soar after picking up knocks from a competitive soccer games or eventful day snowboarding. But hardly from weight training. If I do experience soar muscles after a weighted training session, that’s a sign I lifted too much weight.
Again this is counter advice I’ve been told growing up. But based on my experience and my research, I’ve found that if you’re soar, you’ll lift less often, and therefore experience minimal strength gains.
For example, I could max out my squat and deadlift in one session yielding 10-25 reps. Then take 5 days off recovering from the work out.
A better strategy I’ve found is to aim for 50-65 reps per session exerting 60-90% of your max effort. Rinse and repeat this for the rest of your life for real strength, healthy joints, fast recovery, and better sleep.