Putting the Fun Back in Training

By Bruce Cohn
Concord Journal, March, 2004
 
I remember when I was first asked by one of my friends about applying the principles of training that I use to condition athletes to help adults get into better shape. My immediate response was to begin making mental lists of what types of exercises would be appropriate to help adults become more functionally fit. It wasn’t until later that I realized the key component of my training was staring me in the face: having fun while you work.

Certainly the young people that I condition at the Middlesex School and FIT-TO-GO work hard and are serious about becoming better athletes. They have to if they want to get bigger, faster and stronger. But there is a common thread of play in all of their workouts that we adults would do well to remember. Otherwise, trying to get in shape becomes drudgery and just another “to do” on an already overcrowded list.

Some of it has to do with the kinds of “toys” that are available to athletes and the average person looking to get more fit. Inflated body balls, resistance bands, agility ladders and medicine balls enable us to train our bodies in the way we use them during our daily activities. Not only are they challenging to work with, they promote a sense of fun which is reminiscent of the way we played as children.

The body ball is a perfect example. Originally developed as a toy in the 1960s by an Italian manufacturer and sold throughout Europe, the ball was first used for rehabilitation in Switzerland and introduced to physical therapists in this country in the late 80s. These balls have made their way from the world of rehabilitation to the mainstream of fitness training. They’re durable, relatively inexpensive and can be used almost anywhere.

I use the body ball for warm-ups (rolling forward and back on them is great fun), core strengthening, stabilization, stretching and as a weight bench. But it’s not just their versatility that makes them so appealing, it’s the challenge of keeping the ball from rolling out from under you while you sit or lie on it that brings a smile to so may of my clients’ faces. People transcend the feeling of working at fitness into something that is both playful and incredibly effective.

The same is true for so many of the other training tools that we utilize. Drills that improve foot speed and agility done on a nylon ladder placed on the floor or grass quickly transform into games that we remember from a lifetime ago on the playground. Just as tossing a weighted medicine ball or challenging your balance by standing on a foam pad or air-filled disc improve your fitness while putting some fun back into it.

In the past, I have made no secret of my disdain for working out on expensive weight training equipment. Such equipment isolates movement in a single plane allowing you to lift weight by moving a body part back and forth without ever learning how to stabilize your own body weight. This is not how we move in the real world and, moreover, it’s boring. The number of people who don’t enjoy their workouts or simply stop doing them is surprisingly high.

Much has been made of the growing epidemic of obesity and inactivity in America. Super-sized meals and sedentary lifestyles are having a disastrous effect on our waistlines and our health. And while fitness experts can preach all we want about the importance of exercise, we must face the fact that the message is not reaching too many people.

The explosion of participation in youth sports has been one response to this crisis. This has led to the growth of sports conditioning and fitness training for kids of which I have been a part for much of my career. Most parents hope, at the very least, to instill a lifelong interest in physical activity in their children. There is an implicit trust that play teaches valuable life lessons. Perhaps it is time to come full circle.

We adults have to remember that we too need some play in our lives. I have seen it in the smiles on golf courses, tennis courts and in the classes and private training sessions I have run. As I often remind myself and my friends: while fitness can add years to your life it should also add life to your 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.