Secrets of Strength Training

The Best Exercises For A Healthy Balanced Body

I am often asked the question, “What are the best exercises to do get in the best shape ever?”
Well, that is a very loaded question and if you ask 10 different coaches, you will get 10 different answers.  The thing that I have found is that too much time is spent worrying about the specific exercise instead of the movement or functional activity that you are trying to accomplish.  Instead of bogging yourself down with the hundreds of exercises you should do, ask yourself “What do I need to accomplish?” Since very few of us compete in a strength sport that may require a lot of assistance moves, we can whittle down our needs to:  Strength, muscular balance and conditioning.
Strength is going to be important for just about everyone and by strength I mean that you are working with a load that you can only do 5 repetitions with. Why? Well, using resistance will help with bone density which is important as we age.  It helps us keep the tone in those muscles.  Remember, doings things repeatedly with a 5 lb weight is not only boring but your body will regress once it figures that it does not have to get better.  It gets used to doing many repetitions at a low weight and you stop making progress.  Strength training will also make some other aspects of conditioning much easier which will give you the opportunity to work harder in your sessions.  Sorry, folks the house always wins.  You have to lift heavier weight!!
Muscular balance is necessary because again as we age we are all prone to things going south.  There are groups of muscles that get progressively weaker with age, (read: saddle bags and Aunt Jennies, and any other part that you can think of) and muscles that progressively become tighter.  It is our mission to seek out both enemies and stop their advance at all costs.  This is usually done with some form of yoga or my favorite, the Turkish Get-Up.  Both techniques will stretch and tone your muscles so that you can get more bang for your buck.
Conditioning is just what it implies.  We must be able to perform activities for a long time at a relatively moderate intensity.  No matter your pleasure whether it is running, tennis, basketball or swimming, we should be able to put it all together to do these activities for a long period of time without feeling like we are killing ourselves.
Now that you have the reasons for training you can ask, “What do I train?”  The first thing is to train the movements.  The following is a list of movements and their examples that are essential to human development or survival (n.b. free weights or bodyweight only)l:

• Pressing overhead:  Military Presses or Handstand push-ups
• Pressing horizontally:  Floor presses or any variation of push-up.
• Vertical Pulling:  Pull-ups and rope climbing
• Horizontal pulling:  Rows and good old fashioned tug of war
• Squats:  Enough said!  1 leg or 2…You decide
• Deadlifting: Pick up something heavy from the floor.
• Rotation: ½ sit-ups , medicine ball throws, Russian twists
• Running:  Personally, I don’t think it should be done without a ball involved but this is one of those skills that we should keep, you choose how you want to execute it.
• Explosive Movements:  Cleans, snatches and pulls with a bar or kettlebell.  Jumping is in the list as well but be careful.

The last question is “How do I put it all together?”  My answer is always…It depends.  Again, what do you want to accomplish?  One lift a day? …Maybe two to four lifts?  Are you training for strength or conditioning?  Remember that strength should be done with a very low volume and it shouldn’t take very long to finish.  Conditioning could include timed sets or whatever you decide, but you can be creative.
Finally, within all of this training learn how to rest and do something else that interests you. If you follow these steps you can be well on your way to designing your own at-home training program.

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