Hey! – Rob here
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Your Daily Health Fix today is about …Β
Choosing the right type of exercise . . .
What’s the most important type of training – Strength Training or Aerobic conditioning?
Perhaps the most common question by fitness newbies and begginner clients. The TL;DR? If were to only do one type of exercise training forever more, the choice should be mobility training.Β
Why? Biomechanical mobility, also known as “flexibility in strength,” is the interplay of a joint’s range of motion and the strength, coordination, and flexibility of the muscles, ligaments, tendons, and other connective tissue surrounding it.
By focusing on full mobility, you’ll build strength (and muscle masss) along with an increase of aerobic capacity. This training won’t make you the strongest (or most muscular) you can be, nor it will it provide you the highest level of aerobic endurance – but statistically, it will give you the best return on investment for longevity of movement abilities and associated metabolic health benefits.
What is functional training?
Functional training is a holistic approach to fitness that respects our evolutionary biomechanical structure and works to optimize it. It includes exercises that incorporate integrated movements that work across multiple joints and planes of motion. It focuses on pre-conditioning, rehabilitation, and maintenance of normal human levels of overall fitness. Functional training is not sport specific, solely focused on aesthetics, the mimicking of household or work activities, or tied to a specific workout or equipment brand. It is based on understanding human biology, biomechanics, and evolution – our primary movements being standing, walking, running, throwing and hitting.
How to get the best of both worlds?
It’s as simple as including an element of mobility conditioning, and an element of aerobic conditioning into the same workout. For example; Take one slow controlled strength exercise that works your full range of motion, and pair it with a fast interval exercise. Pair a Single Leg Deadlift motion with 30 seconds of intense Squat Jumps; Pair a ‘wood chopper’ style rotational movement with 30 second Sprints; pair a Shoulder Flexion exercise with a minutes frontal plane Speed Skater Hops. The combinations are endless.
None of this is to say that combined training is a replacement for separated exercise programs as part of a broad and well planned fitness routine, but it will allow you to build and maintain a decent level of fitness and ability in a relatively small allocation of exercise time each day.
. . . That’s it for this dose,
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Until the next time – Stay Motivated!πͺπΌ
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Rob
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