The Death of ‘Functional’ Fitness
The trend of ‘functional’ fitness aims to train exercisers with movements that are supposedly more likely to carry over to practical everyday uses. However, in doing so, many ‘functional’ recommendations contradict long-standing, well-researched and evidence-based practices in fitness, to the detriment of their followers. Unfortunately, there is something that functional fitness is uniquely good at - gathering attention on social media via highly viral, unusual movements likely to attract attention because of their novelty.
Simplicity Is King, and Muscle Confusion Is Garbage
In general, you’ll get better results from following a simpler routine more consistently, rather than constantly varying and changing your routine. Fad workout routines based around “muscle confusion” can work, but will generally provide you inferior results to simpler and more consistent routines. Serious lifting athletes rely on ideal the routines and strategies which have been developed over the years, and focus on practicing a small number of movements repeatedly, rather than constantly varying movements.
Sweat Is Not Related To Fitness Results
In most situations, sweat isn’t well correlated with the quality of your workouts or the results you’re getting. In fact, in many cases, chasing excessive sweating could result in decreased results, if you were trying to optimize for sweat alone.
How To Find The Right Personal Trainer
Often, it’s a challenge to find the right trainer or coach - and not due to any failure on your part, but simply because there are limitations that make it a naturally hard process. In this article, coach Meg breaks down the guidelines you should follow to ensure that you’re making the right decision, and finding the right trainer or coach.
Fitness Is Boring
Contrary to expectations, a good fitness approach is actually pretty boring. It’s not about pushing hard and being intense - it’s about finding a slow, sustainable approach that you can stick to for many years consistently. Over time, small incremental changes add up to bigger results.