<#strength>Modern-fitness

  Training in a modern fitness center

Training in a modern fitness center is very difficult. The atmosphere is more social than beneficial for training. Most fitness center members want three things. They want to be more physically fit. They want to be lean. They also want to add functional strength to their daily lives. We will look into some approaches to all of these goals. Attainment of these goals is not simple or easy. Each of them will require work.

Fitness is meeting the needs of everyday life, and emergencies, with ease. This is one thing for a competitive weightlifter and quite another for a soccer mom. We all have our own lives to live. Some must maximize absolute strength just to survive. Others need to be as energetic as their children until after the kids go to bed. Absolute strength feeds all of these ends. I say more than any other component of fitness. Here are the components of fitness as I see them (this list is not inclusive of all possibilities, take it easy internet warriors):

1.      Absolute strength

2.      Dynamic strength

3.      Strength endurance

4.      Starting strength

5.      Static balance

6.      Dynamic balance

7.      Cardiovascular endurance

8.      Local muscular endurance

9.      Nutrition

10. Recovery (second to second, minute to minute, and year to year)

11.  Sleep

12.  Mobility/flexibility

13.  Neuromuscular coordination (timing is everything in life) 

14.  Sports psychology

15.  Being an ambassador for your sport

None of us has enough time on earth to train all of these aspects equally. Scientific work has been done which allows us to train each aspect sufficiently and make maximum performances a reality. Hire a qualified coach.

Skinny ain't lean!

Getting lean is a common goal for those looking to become more physically fit. Most Americans can stand to lose a lot of fat. Losing fat and getting lean are not the same thing. Muscle is lean tissue. Adipose tissue is fat. Additional muscle is leaner.  Losing fat is skinnier. From a Great Depression perspective leaner is synonymous with scrawnier. The Great Depression is long over. Leaner indicates more muscle.

Be strong. Do not just look strong.

Functional strength is a common term in current vernacular. If you have read my posts you realize I believe all real strength is functional. Functional is plain language; it means useful. Agility work was the label swapped with functional strength. It did not need to be traded. Functional strength is a wide opened term including a mixture of accessory work. Medicine balls, agility ladders, cable set-ups, rings, and cones are used to train what we in the field for more than five years call agility work. Agility is the change of direction with power.

Being physically fit is relative. Each athletes requires different skills. A marathon runner may be in top shape and his/her fitness will be completely impractical for a weightlifter. Common language includes fit, lean, and functional strength. These terms are part of physical fitness. There is much more to physical fitness than three terms. There are no fewer than fifteen parts of physical fitness.

Get stronger!                                                                                                docsgym@live.com