The New Age of Fitness
First and foremost I am not going to tell you that my training philosophy is the right way to go, every trainer out there has a different way to train and that is ok. I like to think of personal training as an art form. Every personal trainer’s views and exercise selection are different. I have just been around the fitness industry for 15 years and I am starting to notice a change. And the clients that I train are starting to notice this new approach to fitness as well.
Exercise is all about whole body integration. Gone are the days of bodybuilding routines, where you focus on two body parts a day, now they are full body routines with a push exercise, followed by a pull exercise which the NSCA adopted in their training protocols years ago.
It is going down this path because research has shown that it is most effective. All your muscles are connected in different fascial lines- just read Anatomy Trains by Thomas Myers
Besides all of that most people hate exercise so they want to spend as little time as possible in the gym.
There are new equipment out there to make exercising more fun and also more challenging. I am going to list off a few in particular.
ViPR- ViPR stands for Vitality, Performance and Reconditioning, ViPR is meant to load the body and you are working in all sorts of different planes of motion that you just can’t get from a bench.
The TRX Suspension Trainer and the TRX RIP Trainer- The TRX suspension trainer focuses more on proximal stability and distal mobility meaning every single exercise you do you are working the core the whole time. This makes you stronger than you ever felt possible and the RIP Trainer focuses more on dynamic mobility, so both of these tools kind of compliment each other. Also the TRX Suspension trainer was created by a Navy Seal how more bad-ass can you get?
Kettlebells- There is something with kettlebells that no one can put a finger on. Kettlebells make a person run faster, longer distances and lift heavier. This is called “What the hell effect” It’s like you get your flexibility, strength and cardio all in one exercise like performing the kettlebell swing. Doesn’t matter if you are young or old everyone can benefit from kettlebells that’s why it’s so vital in my training philosophy.
The Power Plate is an acceleration trainer. It looks like a vibration machine but it’s not. One of the reasons is because it osculates in all three planes of motion(Up and down, side to side and front to back), and your typical vibration machine only vibrates in one. Also acceleration training is different because it allows to train the body with more ease than it would by just lifting loads such as dumbells. The Power Plate removes the load and replaces it with acceleration so if you want to make an exercise harder, just increase the acceleration. Just look at Newtons Force law F equals mxa.
By incorporating this type of training it would be a great solid base especially if you want to lift heavier in your three lifts, (bench press, deadlift and squat) or if you want to lose weight. (A client of mine lost 32 pounds in 12 weeks) or an athlete or you just want more fun in your workouts and get away from the “meathead” philosophy.