The other day, I read a comment on a YouTube exercise video, “Seriously, weight lifting is so 80’s.” The comment made me chuckle. Whether it’s true or not, I don’t know. I picture leg warmers, headbands and aerobics when I think of 80’s fitness.
Anyhow, I know the point this person was trying to make. She were arguing that a cross training program is ultimately the best sort of conditioning. The gentleman was arguing that cross training programs are too strenuous. It went on and on.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to lift weights in a gym to compare my strength to how it was when I trained in a gym all the time to now. Aside from being ABSOLUTELY bored out of my mind, I realized several things by this experience-
1. Weight lifting is very linear and heavily isolates specific muscles. No, that’s not what I realized. What I realized was that when I crash skiing moguls this winter, which I love to do (ski moguls that is, not crashing), linear, isolating movements will do nothing for me.
Traditional weight training will help me very little since I do NOT crash in a very nice linear fashion. When I crash, my body is in a contorted, upside down, ski behind my head sort of fashion.
The training that helps me the most when I ski are cross training programs.
2. Did I mention that weight training was absolutely boring compared to a high energy cross training program? I couldn’t wait to get done so I could go back to our academy and do one of our routines.
3. I couldn’t handle how depressed half the people looked. One half gazed at their muscles in the mirror, and the other half just gazed in the mirror for 3 to 4 minutes between sets.
So, was I stronger? The answer is no. Was I weaker? The answer is no again! Although I didn’t increase my strength, I increased tons of other things. I used to leave the gym pretty wiped after my workouts. I did the same exact workout, with the same exact weight I used to lift, and had plenty of energy to head to our academy and do a serious cross training workout.
Somebody reading this may ask, “Then, what did I really improve besides endurance?” It’s a good question, because it’s not an apples to apples comparison, so I will just tell you.
I used to injury myself quite a bit playing soccer in high school (hamstring pulls, groin pulls, sprained ankles, etc.) Even as a competitive martial artist, when I was younger, I was always doing something funky to my lower back. And, I did extensive weight training, even under the direction of trainers.
About 5 years ago, we adopted a new training program in our facility that challenged students in completely unorthodoxed ways. Competitive soccer puts people at risk for injury because you don’t strengthen yourself for when someone takes out your legs when you’re in a feel on sprint.
For the past few years I had been playing competitive soccer again on a men’s city league. The ONLY injuries I was ever dealing with were bumps and bruises. Never pulling a muscle, twisting a knee or an ankle. Believe me, several guys on my team and other teams were fighting chronic ailments that were being blamed on “age.”
Teaching these programs and doing them on my own have tremendously improved my endurance, core strength, flexibility, and agility. I have never been out of shape, but I can tell you this… at 35 years old, I have more energy and stamina than I did as a competitive Taekwondo athlete in my early 20’s.
That’s what this type of training has done for me. Now, what it’s done for others is very, very similar, except it’s burned fat off our students bodies like crazy. Students lose, on average, 7% bodyfat in a 10 week period of time. That’s amazing, because they do it by following an athletes diet, not some sort of fad diet for birds.
What are these programs I am speaking about?
The Ultimate Body Shaping Challenge! To learn more about this particular program, visit the following link. http://www.freekaratelesson.com/weight-loss.html
Respectfully,
Duncan Richardson
Chief Master Instructor
The Academy of World Taekwondo
Ph: 208.381.0587
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