Priorities – Part 1: Exercise.

This whole fitness and nutrition thing can be tough.  The newsstand at your local Barnes and Noble carries no less than 10 different magazines, all purporting to offer The Program for vibrant health and physical beauty; and did I mention that each magazine contains 8 or 9 different routines (all different, of course, depending on whether you want peaked biceps or a taut backside).

Assume that you cut through the bogus stuff and stick to the proven basics.  Of course, there can be endless variations on the basic themes as well: Do I do a 5 x 5, a 10 x 3, a 3 x 6, or one set to failure?  Do I work out once a week; twice a week; three times in two weeks; once every 5 days; or every day?  Lift fast, or lift slowly?  Or just let my mood dictate my rep speed?

Let me quiet down the chatter competing for the top spot in your brain and simplify things as much as I can.  But first, an analogy:

If you work a relatively normal schedule, your weekends are free.  What do you do on any given Saturday?  After all, it’s not like you have to go to work or anything, right?  Well, your schedule during your “free time” is determined by an algorithm (or system) you run on a subconscious level.  That algorithm ranks things in order of importance to you (read: priority) and you tend to do those things that are more important to you before those things that are less so.  For example, you might opt to feed your 4-month old before you shave your pet ferret, because having a live baby is more a priority to you than having a well-shaven ferret.

It’s all too easy to succumb to paralysis by analysis and end up doing nothing when it comes to exercise.  But file these guidelines (and the order they’re presented in – hierarchy, people) in your subconscious mind and remember them when you read about the next great fitness breakthrough and are tempted to completely rejigger your diet and nutrition, yet again.

Aside:  You’ll probably note that many of these priorities are intertwined – e.g., insufficient recovery prevents progression – so you could argue that every single one of these training priorities is “most important.”  Keep in mind – there’s a difference between “most important” and “required for success.”  In Texas Hold’Em, betting is required for success, but not running out of chips is “most important” (since if you run out of chips you lose):

1) Strength – In short, train for strength.  In no particular order, here are the reasons:  Form follows function, you don’t have the time to follow Arnold’s routine (warning – slightly NSFW), and (most importantly), when you’re old, you’ll be glad you’ve got that strength anyways.

2) Progression – In short, strive to do better.  Lift more weight this week than you did last week.  Do more repetitions this time than you did last time.  Be a little better on your diet today than you were yesterday.  Read differently: Don’t do the same thing every single time (not to be confused with “Don’t do the same exercises every time.”).

3) Recovery – In short, don’t overdo it.  Stress your body via exercise, then let it rest.  Performing too much exercise is detrimental to your progress; at best, you’ll impede progress, at worst, you’ll set the stage for injury.

Next: Part 2 – Nutrition.