13 May 2013

...is it really?

You know that saying, 'be careful what you wish for?'
Fitness fanatics have been calling for a 'health revolution' and a 'health epidemic' for years, trying to get people aware of their diets, into gyms and onto the fast-track to a healthier life.

Alas, here we are!
The Australian 'health industry' has never seen better days - people are spending a larger proportion of their disposable income on supplements and training regimes and the such.
But are we training correctly? 
Most people even fail to raise the more important question - why are you training?

Gold Medal Bodies is a blog that specifically targets anyone interested in gymnastics for strength, conditioning, fitness, aesthetics, etc. Being an enthusiast myself, I'm always reading their guides and I own a pair of their gymnastics rings.

Today's Daily Quota is an article titled 'Getting in Shape - How much conditioning do you really need?'
One of the ironies of the modern 'fitness epidemic' has been that we are all training to either look good, or for purposes that have little to no practical benefit to us.
CrossFit teaches you how to explosively lift a relatively big weight, repeatedly, until fatigue - which might possibly help us lift our backpack into the overhead compartment. On the bi-annual occasion that we end up on a plane.
Tough Mudder gets us training to run extremely long distances and crawl through mud and avoid barbed wire before going back to our desk jobs.
I, personally, find my training most employed whilst standing in a moving bus; and even that is pathetic. 

Some people train for conditioning - so pile on the resistance.
Others train for efficiency - so aim to minimise effort. 
Some train for cardiovascular ability, others for practical strength, others for aesthetics. 

So ask yourself - What are you training for?

READ IT HERE