Too often in our industry, we see people who come in the studio in their fifties that were the cause of their own demise in their 20’s and 30’s due to improper exercise practices. I would say you have two types. You have Johnny Pecs who is all about the big chest, biceps, shoulders, abs and you have Sally Sue who works forty hours a week and then takes classes at her local Orange Theory three times a week.
I found myself today thinking if Johnny Pecs or Sally Sue knew that their workouts are actually making their situation worse would they change how they work out? Johnny Pecs completely throws his body out of balance because he doesn’t believe in working his legs and he works the front of his body twice as much as the back of his body and wonders why he has shoulder problems and his joints hurt from lifting heavy weights all the time. Then there is Sally Sue, who’s shoulders are rounded from sitting at a desk all day and her hips are tight and when she goes to class she rows improperly for thirty minutes because her shoulders don’t work right or runs on the treadmill with already tight hips and they only get tighter and then finishes with thirty minutes of weights and never does any mobility work to open up her joints so her body constantly gets tighter.
The thing is that I don’t think people know that what they’re doing is hurting their bodies long term. People assume because they’re burning calories and working muscles that it’s a good thing. I guess it’s better than sitting on the couch, but it’s not half as good as it could be if these people understood what their issues are and how to fix them. This is the problem with the fitness world today. All the individuals with the knowledge of how to help people are not selling people what they need. They’re selling SEXY!
The majority of classes and workout facilities in this country are geared toward high-calorie burn and vanity. The problem is most people in this country are overweight, have all kinds of lingering joint issues, and we throw them into high-intensity workouts with no ability to control their bodies. They just try and stay alive while beating the crap out of their bodies with no control of body parts all while being starved for oxygen. The goal for most of these people should be getting their bodies to move better than when they came into the gym an hour ago and just being pain-free. The same goes for everyone in the free weight section lifting for a vanity with horrible alignment and form and no sense of keeping the muscles of the body balanced. This means opening up the chest and shoulders, loosening up the hips, getting the spine to move in all directions, turning on all the muscles in the back of the body that are firing minimally while sitting at their desk all day.
Our classes are all about teaching and training you to become a more capable human mover.
At PFS, we are here to educate people and put them on track to feeling better and looking better without ruining your bodies in the process. We are all about teaching the fundamentals and not skipping steps even if that means you have to do some things you don’t want to do. That means you might have to do some stretching and I’m not talking about a three-minute warmup before you go heavy. Also, you can’t wake up after taking twenty years off and think because you want to lose some weight that you can just jump back in the ring starting tomorrow. Prepare your body for the exercise it is about to encounter and you will win long term. WE teach people how to train with intention, alignment, and an understanding as to why they’re doing what they are doing. Your body is priceless and we treat it as such!