Post by Julio on Apr 30, 2008 10:16:57 GMT 8
AN EXERCISE IN FUTILITY
Some of the most popular moves are also the least effective
Michael Boyle
Gravity is our greatest enemy in life. At a very early age, generally somewhere in our 20's, gravity begins to attack us and attempts to drag parts of us to the ground. Most of the time, gravity is only able to grab a part like a stomach or a butt and make it sag or stick out.
The aging process is really a long-term battle against gravity. If we look at the elderly we see people who have lost the strength of their anti-gravity muscles and, have begun to succumb to the forces of gravity. As we age we get shorter, heads fall forward, butts disappear, stomachs protrude and breasts sag. Losing the battle against gravity is responsible for all this. As we age it seems like everything from our head down is trying to reach the ground.
Strength training is the best method to prevent gravity from literally dragging you down. We need to train the anti-gravity muscles responsible for upright posture. Proper training can counteract the effects of long periods of sitting and hunching. Improper training can magnify the problems. When I see an office worker come into a weight room and do a workout that consists of bench presses, curls, and crunches I cringe. These folks are shortening the muscles that are already shortened by their hours of seated work. They are making a bad situation worse, not better.
What is an anti-gravity muscle? An anti-gravity muscle is a muscle that acts to keep us upright. Unfortunately, many of them are on the back side of our body, never to be seen and never to be trained in our "mirror oriented" health-club training programs. Others are on the front side, but are consistently trained in a manner that actually accelerates the process of destroying our appearance. The quadriceps are antigravity muscles, as are the spinal erector group (the muscles of the lower back). These muscles are designed to keep us on our feet and erect.
Why do so many training systems have us training sitting down or lying down? The best answer I can come up with is that it seems easier to sell exercise if you put a person in a starting position that they perceive as comfortable. Most machines allow you to sit or lie. They attempt to isolate muscles and make exercise safe.
I'm just curious. If we are consistently becoming less healthy do we need exercise that's designed to be easy or, exercise that is designed to be hard? If we get injured by a simple activity like lifting a child or stepping off a curb, do we need exercise that is designed to be "safe"? Training the "mirror muscles" of the chest and arms may make you feel better and may make you think you look better. Unfortunately, they are doing nothing for the aging related postural changes that we are all under-going.
Training the anti-gravity muscles like the spinal erectors, scapula stabilizers, quads and glutes will actually improve posture and appearance. We need more squatting exercises and fewer leg presses, more rows and fewer bench presses, and we need to totally lose our fascination with crunches. Thousands of crunches just magnify postural distortion by pulling the ribs down. Most of the mirror muscle training may actually detract from a person's appearance by consistently shortening the muscles of the chest and arms. The pecs are tight, causing the shoulders to round and the arms to appear lengthened. Is this why we are training? Don't end up being the person at the gym who appears more simian than human.
Gravity's effect is magnified by long periods of sitting. Unfortunately, for many people sitting with poor posture is a way of life. Think about this. A man or woman sits all day in an office, slumped over a desk. After work our, worker heads off to the gym to "train". Training consists of a spinning class and some weight work, primarily bench presses and arm exercises. Do you think that we have done much to counteract the forces of gravity that were at work all day? Probably not.
Seated posture will cause the hip flexor muscles to shorten, so will exercising seated on the bike in spinning class. Seated posture will cause the muscles of the upper back to become long and weak while the chest muscle get short and tight. Do you think our bench press workout will help to counteract these changes? Probably not. Think about how you train and, more importantly, why you train. If you train to be healthier and to improve your appearance, you may not be doing things the right way.
Some of the most popular moves are also the least effective
Michael Boyle
Gravity is our greatest enemy in life. At a very early age, generally somewhere in our 20's, gravity begins to attack us and attempts to drag parts of us to the ground. Most of the time, gravity is only able to grab a part like a stomach or a butt and make it sag or stick out.
The aging process is really a long-term battle against gravity. If we look at the elderly we see people who have lost the strength of their anti-gravity muscles and, have begun to succumb to the forces of gravity. As we age we get shorter, heads fall forward, butts disappear, stomachs protrude and breasts sag. Losing the battle against gravity is responsible for all this. As we age it seems like everything from our head down is trying to reach the ground.
Strength training is the best method to prevent gravity from literally dragging you down. We need to train the anti-gravity muscles responsible for upright posture. Proper training can counteract the effects of long periods of sitting and hunching. Improper training can magnify the problems. When I see an office worker come into a weight room and do a workout that consists of bench presses, curls, and crunches I cringe. These folks are shortening the muscles that are already shortened by their hours of seated work. They are making a bad situation worse, not better.
What is an anti-gravity muscle? An anti-gravity muscle is a muscle that acts to keep us upright. Unfortunately, many of them are on the back side of our body, never to be seen and never to be trained in our "mirror oriented" health-club training programs. Others are on the front side, but are consistently trained in a manner that actually accelerates the process of destroying our appearance. The quadriceps are antigravity muscles, as are the spinal erector group (the muscles of the lower back). These muscles are designed to keep us on our feet and erect.
Why do so many training systems have us training sitting down or lying down? The best answer I can come up with is that it seems easier to sell exercise if you put a person in a starting position that they perceive as comfortable. Most machines allow you to sit or lie. They attempt to isolate muscles and make exercise safe.
I'm just curious. If we are consistently becoming less healthy do we need exercise that's designed to be easy or, exercise that is designed to be hard? If we get injured by a simple activity like lifting a child or stepping off a curb, do we need exercise that is designed to be "safe"? Training the "mirror muscles" of the chest and arms may make you feel better and may make you think you look better. Unfortunately, they are doing nothing for the aging related postural changes that we are all under-going.
Training the anti-gravity muscles like the spinal erectors, scapula stabilizers, quads and glutes will actually improve posture and appearance. We need more squatting exercises and fewer leg presses, more rows and fewer bench presses, and we need to totally lose our fascination with crunches. Thousands of crunches just magnify postural distortion by pulling the ribs down. Most of the mirror muscle training may actually detract from a person's appearance by consistently shortening the muscles of the chest and arms. The pecs are tight, causing the shoulders to round and the arms to appear lengthened. Is this why we are training? Don't end up being the person at the gym who appears more simian than human.
Gravity's effect is magnified by long periods of sitting. Unfortunately, for many people sitting with poor posture is a way of life. Think about this. A man or woman sits all day in an office, slumped over a desk. After work our, worker heads off to the gym to "train". Training consists of a spinning class and some weight work, primarily bench presses and arm exercises. Do you think that we have done much to counteract the forces of gravity that were at work all day? Probably not.
Seated posture will cause the hip flexor muscles to shorten, so will exercising seated on the bike in spinning class. Seated posture will cause the muscles of the upper back to become long and weak while the chest muscle get short and tight. Do you think our bench press workout will help to counteract these changes? Probably not. Think about how you train and, more importantly, why you train. If you train to be healthier and to improve your appearance, you may not be doing things the right way.