There are SO many options for working out and exercising right now. The bottom line is – anything that gets you moving on a regular, consistent basis is generally a good thing. Exercise, to be sustainable over the long period, must be enjoyable. Punishing yourself at the gym is a very short-sighted approach. Participating in something that “feels good” but does not move you any closer to your health and fitness goals WILL NOT WORK either. It can be difficult to be consistent. But, being consistent with something that you later discover is not productive, or even counter-productive, is spirit breaking.
With SO many exercise options available, it is more important that ever to be aware of what is NECESSARY to succeed.
The underlying principles of effective exercise are fairly easy to identify. There are 3 broad, general principles in any effective exercise regime:
- you must stimulate/build/maintain muscle mass
- you must eat in a fashion that enhances health, not jeopardizes it
- you must keep your net negative stresses low so the body can have enough energy to adapt to the stimulus
Returning to these 3 fundamental truths of exercise regularly throughout you career will help ensure that you make net positive progress.
As always, the devil is in the details. Number 1, “you must stimulate/build/maintain muscle mass” is such a big item to tackle, yet so simple. An argument can and has been made that total muscle mass is associated with longevity (how long you live). It has been empirically proven that once muscle mass drops below a specific level, death is guaranteed. So, if you wish to stay on the planet, you may want to heed this simple advice – your exercise program must at least MAINTAIN muscle mass. You, as a human being, are going to suffer a steady and predictable loss in muscle mass for the rest of your life. UNLESS you STRENGTH TRAIN to address that inevitable loss.
The research shows over and over and over again that CARDIO is NOT an effective way to maintain muscle mass. If fact, regular cardio, in the absence of any significant resistance training, causes a LOSS of muscle mass over the long term. This will be a troublesome fact for many of you, especially the camp that believes “I just need to get started on some cardio and then I will think about adding resistance training”. This is a flawed and inefficient approach. You will be better served by doing resistance training first, then cardio. Many exercise options, claiming to include strength training, are fundamentally just cardio. Group Strength and Conditioning Classes are a great example of an exercise option that is really just cardio, not strength training. There is no strength training benefit of dancing around with light weights.
There must be some element of resistance training in the exercise program, but do not get caught in the trap of thinking that resistance MACHINES are an effective option either – they are not. A circuit of resistance machines as the anchor of your resistance training will keep you unproductively going in circles for the rest of your exercise career. Body weight and dumbbell movements are the default regime for anybody completely new to resistance training, or someone returning after a layoff. There is a well established methodology here and you must heed it, or forever waste your time.
You must, reliably and consistently, stimulate your muscle mass to keep it on your frame. Even your grandparents knew this simple fact: “if you don’t use it, you lose it”.
Really, there are many, many, many people who want to exercise effectively, but most have just never had a proper introduction and lack the fundamental understanding necessary to construct a proper program. Get some help. Find someone who understands resistance training and take some lessons. Doing your own research on the internet can lead to many wasted hours and mind-numbing confusion. Put yourself among other people that are already exercising properly. Successful people in all walks of life UNDERSTAND that surrounding yourself with the right people and putting yourself in the right environment is a CRITICAL element to success. Nobody succeeds ALONE.
Are you surrounding yourself with the right people? Are you putting yourself in the right environment?
When you have the fantastic opportunity to see and emulate what successful people in a specific area are doing, your OWN SUCCESS will just be a matter of time.
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