We train for many reasons. Peak performance in sport is often a target. You might work out to improve your strength or muscle development. Maybe you exercise to increase your VO2max. Others engage in sessions to enhance their mobility. All of those things are good…in fact they are great.
The objectives of training are indeed many. The intention of becoming and remaining an optimally functioning human, over a long and healthy lifespan, is foundational in our community. At TLA, we value the 5 Capacities of Athleticism. Strength, speed, power, agility, and endurance. They all matter. That’s why we utilize the Athletic Capacity Rating System (ACRS) in our coaching and training programs. We can assess an athlete to make sure she is at baseline levels in every area. Then we can bias training to further improve several capacities to moderate or high levels, in accordance with sport requirements, body type, and individual gifts or characteristics.
Discussions on physical training for longevity are becoming increasingly popular. I’ve been engaged in that conversation for over 40 years. I’m pleased to see many current thought leaders emphasizing the power of exercise for health, performance, and longevity. Statistically, it’s our most efficacious tool. Sleep, nutrition, mental health, and environmental optimization are also incredibly important. But functional ability, in athletics and daily living, is most attributable to consistent, effective, and intelligent training.
The two big elephants in the longevity training room are muscle and aerobic fitness. To be more specific, muscle mass (hypertrophy) and strength and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) are those pachyderms. The camps split a bit regarding which one might be more valuable, but both are extremely well-supported by extensive research. People who have enough muscle and strength along with good cardiorespiratory fitness maintain a higher functional status and life participation, far longer than sedentary individuals. Active versus passive. Motion is life. Life is motion. A body in motion stays in motion. Use it or lose it. Those and other similar sayings may seem trite, but they are true.
At this point I want to get on my soap box. There are many authorities and influencers who are very passionate about outcome driven training for building muscle or maximizing aerobic fitness. While those traits are absolutely essential for longevity, they aren’t the only two things we should be working towards. I’ve talked before about how speed, power, agility, and a form of endurance I call all-day durability are equally important. I’ve also pontificated about movement as play, freedom, and a joyous expression and celebration of able-bodiedness. But there is another thing we should be thinking about.
And that’s movement competency. Being good at moving. Using exercise as an opportunity to practice and refine the skill of movement. Getting a transfer, or carryover, to life and sport. It’s one thing to use good form or technique in an exercise. That’s obvious. But it’s another thing to use your training to not only keep all your movement patterns intact, but to be a shape-shifting, free-flowing, graceful beast.
I’m bringing this up because I see a lot of folks (always have) who are deeply invested in one or only a few of the “camps” of training. Lifters who are jacked and swole but don’t move very gracefully. Runners and bikers who are great at going in a straight line but are stiff, weak, and multidirectionally incompetent. Yogis who are limber as hell but lack stability and move in a wandering, poorly controlled manner in the presence of gravity, speed or load. In any of those (and other) examples, doing too much of one thing eventually leads to ineffective movement and increased risk of injury and joint degeneration.
I’m not suggesting that any of these folks need to give up what they love, or even move it from a primary to a secondary position in their repertoire. Sports, body types, and preferences matter. Nobody should tell you that you shouldn’t or can’t do what you want. But we should add in just enough offsetting movements that balance the body, preventing it from becoming one-dimensional and prone to injury.
Movement is a skill that is meant to be practiced. At the risk of being labeled a heretic, I’d like to suggest a few changeups that I believe we all should consider from time to time.
- Every resistance exercise, or workout, does not always need to be only directed at strength or hypertrophy. Occasionally, lighten the load, change positions, and explore different ranges of motion. Experiment with control and execution. Make resistance training a “motor learning” experience. Probably for most folks, using some alternative variations in just a couple exercises, once or twice a week, is plenty.
- Cardio should not be schleppio or crappio. Just because you could schlepp along with crappy form doesn’t mean you should. Once in a while, shorten your overall duration, and use low/moderate intensity intervals to practice technique. Some diehards will fight this concept, preferring to just go harder and look at only zones, HR, etc. But backing off a tad and making it “prettier” can actually improve performance and decrease injury risk. Most endurance sports are rhythm-dependent. Rowers, runners, cyclists, nordic skiers, swimmers (distance as well as sprints), and others benefit greatly from smoothing things out now and again.
- Mobility work of any type, whether that is incorporated into the warmup of a team practice or a yoga class, is critical to address mobility deficiencies and to maintain adequacy. But how much one does (or should do) depends on how limber and well-moving you already are. Some need a lot. Others need only a little. We must get away from the thinking that “you just can’t stretch too much” (although I’ve heard a lot of coaches, trainers, and athletes say that exact statement). We need enough. More may not be better. If you find yourself feeling more like a wet noodle than a powerful, springy athlete…sub in some isometrics, plyometrics, and resistance work here and there.
- Chronic fatigue is sometimes called a syndrome, and for good reason. The seeking of exhaustion in every workout is a recipe for disaster. In fact, seeking exhaustion in any training session is potentially ill-advised. Sure, our programs should have “something of substance, fitness-maker” workouts that provide high stimulus for desired adaptations…and that will leave us temporarily fatigued. But a good training plan will space these sessions out and have ideal recovery periods and sessions. Often, a trainee will get caught up in looking for that regular beatdown. He’ll end up compromising gains and jeopardizing health. And…will inevitably employ shitty form. Get in the habit of planning to walk away from several sessions per week feeling refreshed and revitalized. View your workout as more of a movement practice than a max stimulus for hypertrophy or raising your FTP.
Everything we’ve discussed has led us down the road of – you guessed it – the MOVEMENTSMITH. Someone who owns every position and who has mastery of motion in every direction. This is another foundational principle at TLA. Don’t just move, although that’s a great place to start. Move well…better…best. Then and only then…move more. We need to be MOVEMENTSMITHS if we are going to have any chance of staying Hard to Kill. That’s not just on the playing field…(as I always say) it’s in the game of LIFE. Fighting back the (Grim) Reaper. In the end, he gets us all, but MOVEMENTSMITH Lifetime Athletes hold him off longer. Fo ‘sho!
Shameless plug time. Let’s say you like hearing all this talk and are jazzed up to incorporate more movement competency into your training. You want higher levels of athletic performance. Lower risk of injuries. Better health. Poetic movement that others readily recognize and admire. But maybe you don’t know how or where to start.
That’s why I developed the Training Tribe. T2 is a nationwide, online group coaching and training system like no other. Uses an Annual Training Plan (ATP). Balances the 5 Components of Athleticism with Block Periodization among strength, speed, power, agility, and endurance.
T2 is available exclusively in The Lifetime Athlete App, the Ultimate Fitness for Life Platform for the Evolving Human. You get workouts for every day of the week (although we usually rock a 6-day split, always keeping an easy recovery option in there), Courses, weekly MasterClasses, daily Notifications and Tips, coaching support, and an interactive community. For less than the price of a coffee a day.
We work on movement competency all year, but we’re getting ready to jump into our 2-month Agility Block in December and January. This block places a high emphasis on those MOVEMENTSMITH components. You can learn more about T2 at thelifetimeathlete.com. Same goes for the App. Or you can just Get the App in the App Store and on Google Play and get started improving your movement competency right away.
Thanks for joining me today. I wish you all the best in your journey of movement.