Hello and welcome to my inaugural blog post. It is something I have been meaning to do for a while now but have only just found the time to do so!
With this in mind I have purposely steered away from making the post something akin to a Kate Winslet Oscar acceptance speech - long, rambling and self indulgent and deliberately opted for something more John Bercow-like...short and to the point!
Back in 2003, the US and UK's invasion of Iraq certainly divided public opinion. Some of the British public whole-heartedly backed the invasion, in search of weapons of mass of destruction. Others vehemently detested it. Whatever view you take there can be little argument that neither Bush nor Blair spent much time planning for what was going to happen in Iraq once the invasion and subsequent war had reached it's conclusion.
With this in mind I have purposely steered away from making the post something akin to a Kate Winslet Oscar acceptance speech - long, rambling and self indulgent and deliberately opted for something more John Bercow-like...short and to the point!
Those of you that know me, will be aware that exercise and politics are big interests in my life (not the two most obvious bed fellows I know!) which is why for my first post, I have included the two (well tried to anyway!).
Back in 2003, the US and UK's invasion of Iraq certainly divided public opinion. Some of the British public whole-heartedly backed the invasion, in search of weapons of mass of destruction. Others vehemently detested it. Whatever view you take there can be little argument that neither Bush nor Blair spent much time planning for what was going to happen in Iraq once the invasion and subsequent war had reached it's conclusion.
This lack of planning may not be a good way for a government to run it's foreign policy, however it may be good way of designing your exercise programme!
PROCRASTINATION IS THE ENEMY!
I have lost count of the times people have asked me endless questions about what is the best form of exercise for them. Unfortunately they get way too bogged down and confused with the clever marketing surrounding the latest exercise craze.
They want to know whether they should be doing HIIT training, functional training, tabata training, kettle bells, battle ropes, fixed weights, machine weights, cross-fit, box-fit, or flippin' whatsit! There are endless exercise modalities out there and it is not surprising that people suffer from what I call 'paralysis by analysis'. They spend so much time thinking about the pro's and con's of each type of exercise, they become so paralysed by this information overload and end up doing nothing at all in fear of doing the wrong exercise.
They want to know whether they should be doing HIIT training, functional training, tabata training, kettle bells, battle ropes, fixed weights, machine weights, cross-fit, box-fit, or flippin' whatsit! There are endless exercise modalities out there and it is not surprising that people suffer from what I call 'paralysis by analysis'. They spend so much time thinking about the pro's and con's of each type of exercise, they become so paralysed by this information overload and end up doing nothing at all in fear of doing the wrong exercise.
This is where the Bush and Blair approach works just fine. Sometimes you just need to go out there and get on with it, to borrow Nike's strap line - Just Do It! Choose an exercise you enjoy. If you like going for a long run go for a long run, forget that high intensity interval running leaves you with a potentially longer post exercise calorie burn. If you like spending time in the gym using the Smith machine forget that free weights may be more functional. If you enjoy pounding the streets, go run the streets, forget that the treadmill may be kinder to your knees.
Please do not get me wrong I am not saying that these training methods do not have their place in a well-rounded exercise plan but for the average person wanting to get fit or increase their activity, doing something, anything, is incredibly more beneficial than doing nothing at all. Within reason there are not many (if any) exercises that are more dangerous to the human body than doing no exercise at all.
If you are into your gym workouts forget about following the same training regime as the muscle-bound hulk who trains beside you, grunting and groaning and smashing the weights around, the chances are he's on steroids and therefore you will never be able lift or recover as quick as him. If you're into your fitness magazines forget about following the exact training regime as the cover model, these models are so genetically gifted he/she would have that physique (or very close to it) if they followed almost any half decent weight lifting programme.
Choose something you enjoy and go out there and enjoy it. Exercise should be fun that way you are more likely to stick to it and do it for years to come as opposed to some people I see who train their backsides of doing stuff they absolutely hate. Sure it may be effective in terms of reaching their exercise goal but because they do not enjoy it, they can not maintain it so any improvements are soon lost!
THE MAIN POINT TO REMEMBER:
Choose an exercises you enjoy doing - You are much more likely to keep doing it!
HOWEVER:
Having said that, if you do still want to some detailed information on training methods forget about listening to your sister's milkman's uncle who used to train in the 1970's. A good starting point is to refer to the position stands produced by the American College of Sports Medicine.
These position stands are produced by scientists who analyse all of the available research on a given topic and give their well educated view. A much better starting point than putting blind faith in what the bloke down the pub tells you to do!
Thanks for your time.
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