If you’re seeking advice on the best way to build strength and improve your fitness, you’ll find what seem to be a lot of conflicting opinions.
Should you do CrossFit, Organge Theory, or F45?
Is yoga better than pilates? And what about barre classes or tai chi?
Anyone with an interest in a specific type of workout is going to tell you that theirs is the best.
Proponents of traditional weightlifting will insist that it’s the tried-and-true method.
Olympic weightlifters promote their discipline.
Others insist that kettlebells are the way to go.
Or maybe team sports is where it’s at.
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the options and opinions.
I haven’t missed a daily workout in over 11 years. Unlike many people out there, I don’t have a stake in any particular method.
If you’re wondering where and how to get started and how to make working out sustainable, here my 3 simple tips to help you cut through the cacophony of opinions:
(1) What’s Best is What’s Best for YOU At This Time
Truth Number 1: All training is specific.
I learned this wisdom from my trampoline coach, and it applies to life beyond fitness too.
If you have a specific outcome you are working toward, like running a marathon, completing a triathlon, or competing on American Ninja Warrior, focus most of your workouts and training what will help you achieve that outcome.
(2) Mix it Up
Truth Number 2: Despite what you might hear from various “experts” online, there’s no “magic” workout that will give you all the results you want and need. It’s crucial to mix it up.
I’m a yoga teacher, and I’ll be the first in line to tell you that yoga alone is insufficient to build strength. I encourage my students to also hit the weight room.
My personal fitness regiment includes a mix of yoga, weightlifting, CrossFit, walking, flying trapeze, trampoline, kettlebells, swimming, pilates, and probably other things I’m not thinking of at this moment.
The principle that training is specific also comes into play here: if you’re aiming to be well-rounded in your fitness, you will want to mix up your workouts.
Training with a barbell will help you get stronger with barbell lifts. But it will also mask compensation patterns. To reveal and correct those patterns, you’ll want to hit dumbbells sometimes.
The body adapts to a particular stimulus; if you want to create an agile body, you need to change the type of stimulus you give it.
In addition, we have different needs at different times. Having different forms of exercise will help you avoid burnout from fitness in general.
(3) Do What You Find Fun
Truth Number 3: We are more likely to stick with something if we enjoy it.
Most people don’t sustain a workout practice because they do what they think will be the “best” workout for a particular short-term goal. They sustain what they enjoy.
This is perhaps the most important advice if you want to create a sustainable relationship with your fitness routine:
Do what you enjoy. What’s fun for you?
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