I once heard Mike Boyle say if you ever want to get fit, simply go to your nearest commercial gym and do the exact opposite of what everyone is doing. I decided to put his theory to the test at our general student fitness facility this past week.
1. Commercial Gym Choice: Laying down and lumbar flexion
I think this exercise choice can be summed up best when I heard one kid ask another,”Are you sure this is suppose to hurt like this?”
Opposite Choice: anything not involving lumbar flexion including front bridges and McGill’s Big Three.
(ahhh, sweet back relief)
2. Commercial Gym Choice: Slow Paced Jog
What’s the definition of crazy? Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I’ve never understood why people continue to jog at a slow pace for hours on end and then act surprised when they haven’t lost any weight or end up injured.
Opposite Choice: it was a nasty Boston day with snow and sleet so elected to stay inside and join the herd of runners on the treadmills except choosing to ramp both speed and incline upwards while jumping on and off in 30:30 second sprint intervals.
3. Commercial Gym Choice: Partial Body Weight Movement
During the aforementioned sprint rest intervals I couldn’t help but notice on the woman on the treadmill beside me. Her treadmill was set to the highest incline possible with both hands on the front rail holding on for dear life! I’ve never seen anything like it before – it was as if she was in a hurricane and the rail at the front was her lifeline! Not to be outdone, the guy on the stair climber just down from her had the reverse-extended-elbow lock on each hand rail suspending his body weight overtop of the moving stairs below. If you choose to utilize any type of “cardiovascular” equipment be sure to move your own body weight and not have the machine help you out.
(ok, so she's not hanging on for dear life, but why is she hanging on at all? Is it that hard to walk?)
Opposite: I was still sprinting without holding on so I figured this one was covered.
More tomorrow....
Art Horne is the Coordinator of Care and Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team at Northeastern University, Boston MA. He can be reached at a.horne@neu.edu.
