This topic is so huge I’ve been having a lot of trouble deciding what to use and what to leave out. I left the majority of it out so you must understand this discussion is woefully inadequate and, like with the diet, I will try to convince you the ideas I subscribe to are the better way.
In the world of strength training there are two basic schools of thought. Today’s most popular programs are based in the school that views the human body as a collection of individual muscles that should be trained in isolation to produce sculpted growth. Carrying this rule of specificity* to the extreme are the bodybuilders. The folks who build huge muscles because they can. It is 100% aesthetics to the detriment of grace, fluidity and even functionality.
Next come the Crossfitters. A driven group who may spend almost as much time recovering from their workout related injuries as they do training. That is all I have to say about that.
Runners run.
A more progressive movement, but still a part of the same school that has gained wide acceptance and is favored by the general population is the concept of functional fitness. Functional fitness adds many more compound movements in the interest of preparing the body to move better through life in general, Posing or walking up and down stretches of beach in a bathing suit is not going to help you change a flat tire, run for a bus, carry in groceries, or play 36 holes of golf. This is a better more practical approach but at the end of the day aesthetics still rule.
Another school of thought, the one I subscribe to, stems from the notion that the human body is one large muscle with many connections and must be trained as a unit. Everything is connected and strength training must be treated accordingly to avoid imbalances that lead to injury. This school says it is mobility that is king, not aesthetics. With movement the aesthetics will certainly come but are viewed as a byproduct of increasing movement sophistication which is the real goal. This school is where gymnasts, dancers, martial artists, rock and ice climbers, mountaineers, and free runners reside.
Real strength is measured in different ways and muscle size is a poor indicator. Muscle density is better.
Absolute strength - The amount of force that one can exert under external stimulation. (Electrical stimulation)
Maximal strength - The amount of force one can exert under voluntary circumstances
Explosive strength - The ability to express significant tension in minimal time
Speed strength - The ability to quickly execute an unloaded movement or a movement against a relatively small external resistance
Strength endurance - The ability to effectively maintain muscular functioning under work conditions of long duration
Reactive strength - The ability to quickly change from eccentric to concentric action. (Landing on the ground and quickly jumping up)
Starting strength - The amount of force that can be developed at the beginning of a movement.
Acceleration strength - The ability to quickly increase force at the beginning of the contraction (The time it takes to complete a movement)
—Ross Enamait
The law of specificity states one must train to acquire specific qualities. Training to make gains in one type of strength does not guarantee you will acquire gains in another. If you want to excel at power lifting, you must train to power lift. If you want to excel at golf, you must golf, and if you want to excel at running you must run.
So where does mobility come in? Why is this so important to us as Human Beings?
The answer may surprise you.
The reason the human brain developed the way it did was to increasingly sophisticate our ability to move. Our intelligence was spawned from movement. We are the best movers on the planet. Unfortunately we are also the best posers.
Why do we have brains? The mindset of mobility-based body weight training, calisthenics, is simple. If you cannot efficiently and effectively move your own body weight through space you have no business lifting weights to create unnecessary and movement inhibitive bulk.
Body weight movements, or more correctly
Calisthenics, has never really taken off for the same simple reason the diet of human beings has not. There is no money to be made in this. The amount of equipment required is minimal and relatively inexpensive. Most can be made at home. Exercise is big business. Expensive equipment, gym memberships, protein shakes, specialty foods, meal plans, personal trainers… all unnecessary. Human beings were born to run, jump, squat, climb, pull themselves over obstacles, push things away, swing, and protect their upper bodies from harmful rotation, and to forage over large distances. Not perform endless repetitions of biceps curls. Without mobility all is lost.
So you see, mobility training is the opposite of specificity training. A mover seeks elite specialization in nothing. A mover seeks to be above average in everything but excel at nothing.
Ido Portal on CrossfitToday there is a renaissance of mobility-based fitness programs. Following are examples of the movement culture as it exists today and a few that pit old school aesthetic-based strength training against new school mobility-based strength training. These mobility-based movements may be new to you. They are not gender specific.
Ido Portal Connor McGregor training with Ido Portal - Oh btw, Nate Diaz, the guy who beat McGregor, is vegan
Ido is amazing but he’s mistaken about diet The great Sebastian Foucan Bodybuilder meets Parkour MovNat FlowFit Prasara Yoga-Dragonfly transitions Pasara Yoga is not about the poses. It is about the movements between the poses. It is about the flow.
The Street Workout Street workout vs power lifting The better you can move, the better you can play Some Free Stuff. Free Is Good.Free Recuper8 program with Pain Free Mobility Book and RESET techniques Intu-Flow Beginner joint mobility Antranik.org Beginner workouts with Zuzka The 30/30 Ido Portal Squat Challenge Ido Portal Beginner Routine Learning to move with baby Liv A few Programs Worth Checking IntoConvict Conditioning - An old school body weight development system that begins with a program for the most deconditioned among us
Primal Stress- An enormous body of work
Gold Metal Bodies - Gymnastic exercise
Never Gymless- A no nonsense approach to old school body weight movements
Intu-Flow- Joint mobility drills
Ageless Mobility Package. Includes Intu-Flow -----
Introduction to Ageless Mobility FlowFit - An extraordinary progressive program that begins with at a level that is available to the most deconditioned among us and progresses to expert.
TACFIT If interested in a TACFIT program please message me before ordering. There are many programs which will cause confusion and I also have access to deep discounts.
Lentil Meatballs with Indian Fenugreek Sauce
The Recipe
