Fitness in the gym: do I need to make basic exercises harder?

Champion’s expert wellness coach Andrei Semeshov talked about the fashion for “tricky” exercises and explained that difficult is not always effective.

Being a jock is no longer in fashion, judging by what I hear from my acquaintances, read in thematic blogs, and see in the gym. It was in the 90s and early 2000s when people came to “rocking gyms” after seeing posters of Arnold Schwarzenegger. Today, the vast majority of people do not strive for excessive hypertrophy at all. In fashion – relief and functional body. And if the relief is more about diets and calorie counting, then the trend for functionality often makes me smile, and sometimes even outright fear for the performer.

Why shouldn’t exercises be more complicated?

I consider squats with a barbell on an unstable support to be the quintessence of “functional training”. I have seen variations when a ball is placed under one leg and the second one remains on the floor. Some people manage to assemble a construction of two rollers, on which they put a board, take a barbell and try to squat on this wobbly construction.

I have one question – why? What function are they trying to develop in themselves? The principle “what you train, you train” has never been abolished. So, in my life I have never once faced the necessity to perform squats, trying to balance on an unstable support and holding the weight at the same time. I assume that the vast majority of people have not either.

The question is why develop such a “valuable” skill? And at the risk to your health. Squats by themselves are a very difficult exercise, categorized as traumatizing, and here the risk is multiplied additionally. In such conditions, it seems easier to damage the spine than to strengthen it. Or at least to make a lot of bumps on your head and to walk in bruises, while the skill will be formed, and the performer of the exercise time after time to rise from the floor and again climb on his rickety platform.

One might assume that such, ahem, fancy techniques allow one to become more agile, coordinated, or enduring faster and better (?)? Actually, no. More precisely, of course, they do, but in exactly one single movement (squatting on the ball). For everything else there is a set of time and science-proven complexes of exercises and training methods, among which you will surely find one that will allow you to effectively achieve the desired conditions.

Why do we invent new elements?

Then why are we drawn to “reinvent the wheel”? First, we have always been drawn to finding the magic pill that will cut all corners and achieve what we want in the shortest possible time. To systematically build a dream body week after week in the gym and in the kitchen is long, banal and boring. So we run to buy a can of “fat burner” and try the “secret” exercises.

The second reason is boredom. Indeed, exercise in the gym for a lot of people get bored pretty quickly. Today you bend your arms with a barbell or dumbbells, and tomorrow, and in 10 years. Of course, you want to diversify this routine. And I fully welcome such an approach. But only under an important condition – before you break the rules – learn to play by the rules.

After all, no one can forbid anyone to squat standing on one leg on a ball. But before that, I would suggest you to master classical exercises, refine your technique and see the progress. It is very likely that this will be enough for you.

What exercises should I classify as “classical”?

Find on the Internet “Anatomy of Strength Exercises” (for the fair sex there is even a variation – “Anatomy of Strength Exercises for Women”, although the first version will do just fine) by Frederick Delavier. For each muscle group – several dozen variants of load. For the first time should be enough without the risk of getting bored with variety and routine.

By the way, there is no need to saturate your program with a large number of different exercises for the same muscle group. The choice of a particular movement and apparatus is a very minor component of success. I know athletes who perform at the highest level who have not changed the set of exercises for years, varying only the weights and the number of repetitions. They simply learned to feel their body and chose the movements that give them the maximum benefit.

Can I become functional by training “classically”?

It depends on what you mean by “functional”. You can only do a beautiful and coordinated one-arm push-up while standing on your head by systematically practicing this very skill. Once again – what you train, you train. The most dexterous acrobat, perfectly owning his body and doing unimaginable tricks, as easily lose a fight on rapiers to a novice fencer. Equally as a titled chess player will hardly offer worthy resistance to the average (but regularly practicing!) backgammon player.

If we return to functionality in its everyday sense, then a combination of strength and aerobic training will do the job perfectly. For example, a couple of days a week you can spend time on weights and dumbbells and go to group classes once again. Or go for a run in the park. Or go out to the playground with the bars and turnbuckles.

What do I do if I don’t know how to work out in the gym?

I often receive videos in messengers, where people frankly freak out in gyms.

It never occurs to me to write back, “Ha-ha, what a moron.” Anyone who has found the strength to get up from the couch and take care of himself is worthy of admiration. Yes, sometimes strength training seems deceptively simple: here is a training machine, here are dumbbells – take and do. However, there are many nuances, safety equipment, after all. Therefore, the profession of a gym instructor is not about serving pancakes and holding a phone and a towel. However, you can open the Internet and read/watch about exercise techniques, variants of exercise combinations and so on. There is nothing super complicated. It is not Newton’s binomial. Everything is like in life: either pay money (personal trainer) or spend time on self-education. The intermediate option is to join an online program. Today you can easily find a quite sane option for a small amount of money, or even for free. You just have to be willing.