Fitness and Fads

By Bruce Cohn
Concord Journal, March 2003
 
A strength and conditioning professional for whom I have great respect once replied when asked about a certain type of training, “Everything works; it just doesn’t work for very long.” This is a good caveat to keep in mind when people are getting swept up by the latest fads and ‘quick fix’ approaches in fitness.

What we are talking about is the body’s unique ability to adapt. Any activity that is different from your normal routine--riding a bike, lifting weights, stretching a muscle beyond its resting length or even walking to the store instead of driving--stimulates your body’s cells. What you initially experience as soreness is, in fact, an adaptation response to this overload. If you continue the activity over time you find you are able to ride longer, lift more, stretch farther and all without getting as tired as when you started.

That is the good side of our incredible adaptability. However, over time and with continued practice, what was once overload becomes the norm and you stop making gains. People reach a plateau and become frustrated with their lack of progress or bored with their routine. This is when it becomes crucial to vary your workouts.

At best, new fads in fitness show us new possibilities for stimulating the body’s adaptation response. Trying something different can help shake up your routine and get you out of your exercise rut. Training in circuits, using different types of resistance or cardiovascular equipment (cross-training) are helpful for maintaining and improving both your fitness and interest level.

But too often, we are told that the latest fitness “craze” is all we have to do to maintain fitness. Not only does this fly in the face of exercise science (remember the body’s remarkable ability to adapt to change), but it panders to our worst instincts. We would all like to find that “magic bullet” that enables us to increase muscle and lose fat by working out 15 minutes a day or once a week. But there is no simple solution to achieving fitness and one size does not fit all.

It certainly would be comforting to believe otherwise. Our lives are so hectic and time so precious that the thought of a quick and easy fix to improve our fitness and health holds great appeal. Perhaps the answer lies in embracing the need to continually stimulate our bodies and minds through change. By varying our workouts and the way we think about them, we can begin to add not only “years to our life” but “life to our years.”

Bruce Cohn is the Strength and Conditioning Coach at the Middlesex School in Concord. He runs FIT-TO-GO Total Sports Conditioning and is a nationally certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist. Bruce can be reached at 781-316-0061 or brucegym@rcn.com.