Professional bodybuilding in the 1980’s was probably the worst thing that ever happened to strength training. Since the eighties, amateur bodybuilders, the dilettantes of exercise, have doomed coaches to answering the ineffective question, “What does that work?” People have come to accept that isolating muscles with dozens of exercise machines and carefully selecting toe angles during lunges are essential to getting in shape. This folly has complicated training and skewed innocent folks’ perspectives about exercising.
No more! Here’s the skinny on why you can’t ever quite pin down what is worked by the movements we use at the Shop, why you keep getting stronger in lifts you don’t train, and why it all hurts so good:
It works everything.
If you did farmer’s walks Monday, did you ever find it difficult to do sit-ups or run on Tuesday? If you worked heavy push-presses, it may have been a mystery why Russian Twists or box jumps were so hard the next day. As every one of you has probably discovered in your time with us, heavy squats seem to make everything harder.
From master strength coach Dan John: “In training, remember the body is one piece.” That is the secret! Carrying something for hundreds of meters or pulling your body through space to put your chin over a bar; pushing a big weight over head or plucking it from the ground; whatever the task, the body is one piece. Every part works together in a beautiful, complex, synergistic dance so you can jump, twist, throw, push, and pull with grace.
We pick movements at the Shop that are whole-body in nature which require you to transmit force from your toes through your trunk to your hands. In doing so, you can lift more weight. That means you’ll get stronger more quickly. And, ultimately, that means you’ll achieve your goals faster, whether to shed some fat or dominate in disc golf.
The first step to building a better body and becoming more capable in every area of life was realizing there was a better way than the machine-and-treadmill gym membership approach. (So thanks for being with us!) The next step is breaking free from the myth that effective exercises train this or that muscle. In everything you do, from squats in the warm-up to kettlebell snatches in the conditioning, remember that the body is one magnificent piece and we are here to help you develop the whole thing.
Someone asked about the Turkish Get-Up once — when the class was scheduled to perform 15-20 get-ups during a circuit. “What does this work?” At a loss for words, I could only think to joke, “Ask me tomorrow.”
That is probably the correct answer. So if you’re ever curious yourself just what muscles we’re working out at the Shop… ask me tomorrow.
**You can train with Coach Dunte Tuesdays and Thursdays during Fusion n’ Go! You’ll definitely know which muscles you worked after 30 minutes.**
