Today’s post is from Adam Steer of Better Is Better.  Adam, a wellness coach and international fitness speaker, offers a helpful take on exercise that perfectly fits On Simplicity’s theme of getting more out of less.

We all know how important exercise is.  It bolsters our physical vitality and fortifies our mental and emotional well being.  If this is true, why do we resist it?  Beyond the obvious answer of physical discomfort, which is quickly overcome and even embraced once momentum is gained, perhaps the litany of complications we impose on exercise is to blame.
Woman on yoga ball
Most of us assume that physical activity requires a compulsory commute through rush hour traffic to arrive at an overflowing gym.  Once there, we stand around waiting for our turn on busy machines full of blinking lights and endless dials.  When we finally do get a machine, we feel like we’re on show.  And all this is yours for the low price of your yearly membership dues, your activation fee, and your obligatory tithe to the protein powder patrol.

The Alternative to Complicated Exercise Programs

This catalog of benefits does not bespeak the simple life.  So what’s the alternative?  You could build yourself a home gym with an array of expensive equipment to clutter up your living space.  Or you could use what countless physical cultures have been using for centuries: the weight of your own body.

Many ancient forms of physical culture built physiques and vitality using nothing but bodyweight exercises.  Your body is a timeless tool for all your physical conditioning needs, and it comes with the added advantage of portability.  After all, you carry it with you wherever you go.  It’s free.  It doesn’t take up much space.  And it’s the only tool that allows you complete and free expression of your physical genius in 6 Degrees of Freedom.

Bodyweight exercise is rapidly reclaiming its rightful place in the fitness world.  And with the economic uncertainty of 2009, its popularity is soaring.  But many are driven away in short order by boredom.  Vanilla-flavored bodyweight training programs are often just rehashed compilations of endless push-ups, sit-ups and pull-ups.  That’s a real shame, since innovative and imaginative examples of bodyweight exercises abound, if you know where to look.

Digging into Bodyweight Exercise

Perhaps the most accessible source of innovative bodyweight exercise routines is the Circular Strength Training® system (CST).  In fact, CST founder Scott Sonnon has probably produced the most complete bodyweight conditioning circuit on the market today: FlowFit®.  In the few years since it has been out, the reviews and the results have been phenomenal.  And the best thing about his FlowFit® program is the simplicity of an infinitely sophisticated routine.

That’s the whole point. Exercise does not have to be stupid to be simple.  FlowFit® and other good exercise programs evolve with the trainee to encompass ever more sophisticated movement patterns without overloading the system with too much, too soon.  Everyone begins at a level which can be performed with technical proficiency and with moderate effort.  And then we each evolve at our own pace.  That’s the hallmark of the CST principle of Increasing Sophistication.

3 Tips for Keeping Your Exercise Simply Sophisticated

1. Don’t just do more, do better. Watch this FlowFit® clip on YouTube for ideas on how your exercise selections can become more sophisticated as you progress.  Rather than just doing more push-ups, do a more complex version of the push-up.

2. Use Incremental Progression. Fly under the radar of your own defenses.  Both your body and your mind will throw up barriers to prevent you from doing movements it perceives as too difficult.  But inch forward a little bit at a time and you’ll surpass what was once overwhelming.

3. Be limited only by your imagination. Turn-key solutions like FlowFit® and the new Bodyweight Exercise Revolution are great places to get the ball rolling.  If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, start watching gymnasts, break dancers, circus acrobats, and other athletes and performers that do incredible things with their bodies.  Of course, you may not be able to copy the movements, but you can look at the components and imagine what little bits you could borrow and perform on your living room floor.  It’s a lot more fun than doing push-ups.

4. Pick a performance goal and make a plan. Don’t just work out.  The whole idea of working out is a one-off notion that lacks direction and focus.  Instead, think of training.  Each session is another step toward an overall goal.  Perhaps you would like to be able to do a pull-up.  Or maybe you’d just like to be able to get up effortlessly from the floor.  Pick some exercises that contribute to that goal, and put them together into a weekly plan.  Aim for three sessions a week of approximately 30 minutes each and you’ll soon be zooming towards achieving your new goal.

[Editor's Note: I love this idea! Instead of trying to fit into a generic model of fitness, we can find ways to exercise that create meaning in own lives. Simple and powerful.]

No matter what mode of exercise you choose, keep it simple, but not stupid.  Challenge your neuromuscular system with increasingly sophisticated movement patterns.  Not only will you build yourself a stronger, faster and more beautiful body, you’ll reap the benefits of improved coordination and skill, which are directly transferable to the real world demands of life and sport.

How do you keep your exercise simply sophisticated?

Adam offers a sampling of the FlowFit® program for new subscribers to his Momentum Training News, which you can find at Better Is Better.  He is a wellness coach in Quebec City, a Head Coach and international speaker for the Circular Strength Training® system, and co-author of the popular Bodyweight Exercise Revolution.

Creative Commons License photo credit: adria.richards

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