QUESTION:
Hello John, Thank you for your site. It is a tremendous resource. After years of running and swimming regularly (a few pull ups and push ups mixed in) but without any sort of training strategy, I’ve become more deliberate about my “physical living” over the past several months. Bodyweight training has figured prominently in this shift, as it aligns with my lifestyle and physical goals. Gyms don’t let you bring the dog along, or provide sunshine! I’ve collected a few tools along the way to add variety- a rope for climbing, homemade parallettes and adjustable straps, a timer for HIIT sprints, a sledge hammer, jump rope, sand bag, pull up bar, and balance ball. I’m learning more about the work of individuals such as Steve Maxwell and Scott Sonnon. Also, I’ve just started Intuflow.
I appreciate your emphasis on tailoring workouts to individuals. My training goals are oriented towards long term physical health. Though the idea of sophisticating movements is very appealing to me, I seek general preparedness for activities like hiking and surfing. Given these generalist tendencies, and my desire for variety and the ability to alter workouts due to weather conditions, daily schedule etc., I don’t think programs like the 4×7, prescribed workouts of the day, or alternating complementary cycles are for me. At the same time, I don’t want variety to descend into randomness.
It is difficult for a novice to wade through the sometimes heated disagreements between proponents of different training strategies. For elite athletes, the consequences of poor training can be serious and severe, but it is hard to know how and whether these arguments truly apply to someone with my goals. Since I am coaching myself, I lean towards safety, and do not push my limits in the way that an elite athlete might. I am willing to work hard, hoping to work smart, and interested in sophisticating my skills. Many programs intensely focused on maximizing particular results, however, don’t fit me too well.
I wonder whether you might provide some general training guidelines for someone in my situation. I don’t want random variety without any direction or deliberation, but I like the ability to just go on a nice run in the woods when it fits the weather or my mental state. I realize my question may eventually lead to a more intense engagement with the CST system (ideas of compensation and functional opposites), but in the meantime, are there some guidelines I can follow to fit balance variation with the desire to train safely and progress over time?
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
James
Continue reading How to Setup a DIY Fitness Plan For a Broad Range of Goals – Training Q+A
 This is a guest column by Dr. Kathryn Woodall for expressing health first. It was originally published in the RMAX Magazine, volume 7, issue 6. I thought it was such an excellent piece, and Kathryn was kind enough to allow me to republish it here for you. The knowledge she conveys in this article doesn’t come from mere education, it comes from in-the-trenches experience. You may be shocked or even scared to digest this food for thought, but I assure you that this is the reality we are facing today. We are in desperate times, and knowledge is the greatest asset we can share with each other.
“You’re only as strong as your weakest link.” You’ve heard it thousands of times, but what does it mean when it comes to your health? It means you need to identify and take care of limiting factors.
We’ve talked about how the food you eat and absorb, the movement you do, and the thoughts you think (your paradigm) all work to create ‘you.’ If those basic components create your health or destroy it should you neglect or abuse them, then those are the first places you should look for weak links. With the exception of trauma and poison, the point at which your health begins to breakdown can almost always be traced back to those three components—they can be the limiting factor when it comes to the degree of health you create and enjoy.
In this article, I’m going to give an example of how something as simple as ‘the food you eat and absorb’ can be your weakest link. I’m not presenting an actual case history—it’s just one possible scenario designed to show you how interconnected your health is.
Continue reading Your Weakest Link – is it Food, Movement, Thoughts, or Knowledge?
Since my early childhood, I’ve been notorious for doing seemingly crazy things. From running barefoot over gravel roads to swinging “those heavy bat things” for the pure joy of exhaustion to ranting on end about the cardiovascular benefits of consuming omega 3 fatty acids… I’m the guy in the group who makes people wonder [...]
*grab your free, complete workout program, with instructional video included, at the bottom of this post.
As I alluded to in The Superiority of Bodyweight Training, there is a major shift happening in the world of fitness, and more specifically, in the world of bodyweight training. People are getting tired of the old, repetitive [...]
Pop quiz, hot shot.
1. Who is the strongest of these weight lifters?
a) bodybuilders
b) olympic weightlifters
c) powerlifters
d) weekend warriors
e) it depends
2. Who is the strongest of these bodyweight athletes?
a) gymnasts
b) acrobats/dancers
c) Parkour traceurs
d) Richard Simmons
e) it depends
3) Who is the strongest?
a) bodyweight trainees
b) free weight trainees
c) Chuck Norris
d) the answer is C
e) all of the above
TIMES UP!!!
Grading will commence immediately. Switch papers and pull out your red pens!
The answer to number 1 is E, it depends.
The answer to number 2 is E, it depends.
And the answer to number 3 is also E, all of the above.
First of all, I thought you should know that Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked me in the face until I included him in the last question. Second of all, you’re probably noticing a theme in the quiz answers. Let me explain…
Continue reading The Superiority of Bodyweight Training – it’s not what you think
Note: This is a guest post from Ryan Murdock and Adam Steer, the BodyweightCoach.com experts.
While a six-pack stomach may be the most conventional benchmark of athletic beauty, functional abdominal strength goes deeper and is far more important than vanity. A strong core improves your posture and reduces the likelihood of lower back pain. It plays a stabilizing role in virtually every movement you do—from carrying the groceries or bending down to tie your shoes to throwing a ball or pulling a heavy lift. It is also the source of power generation in most athletic activities.
We’re going to build a killer core with bodyweight exercise, in as little as 12-minutes per session.
How?
By training in 6 degrees of freedom.
Training in 6-Degrees of Freedom
What the heck does that mean?
It’s a term we took from aviation, because it most accurately describes how your body moves through space.
We don’t move robotically through one plane at a time. Human movement is a complex weave through different planes and on different axes. If we take the three axes of conventional movement descriptions, we can think about moving both along and around those axes in order to take advantage of our true movement potential.
 CST 6 Degrees of Freedom
• Heaving: moving up and down
• Swaying: moving right and left
• Surging: moving forward and backward
• Pitching: bending forward and backward
• Yawing: twisting right and left
• Rolling: bending or tilting right and left
The bottom line?
Training in 6-Degrees of Freedom will kick your butt faster than any other method.
Why does that matter? It means you’ll be finished training sooner. Training in 6-Degrees will also ensure that your body remains balanced. You won’t waste time dealing with overuse injuries, or overcompensations created by doing the same repetitive movements in the same planes day after day.
That’s a brief primer on the theory. Let’s get to the program.
Continue reading The Bodyweight Glide Workout Series for a Functionally Fit Body and Shredded Core Muscles
 when are we NOT sitting? I’d like to say that I’m bringing you a nice, refreshing article about how we as a physically-cultured society are moving forward to greater heights in health and fitness. I wish that I could say we’ve made excellent progress to raise awareness, provide assistance, and solve common problems that are facing those who have trouble adopting a physically-focused lifestyle. I wish that I could tell you things are getting better. Unfortunately, I would be lying through my teeth. Even if my molars, canines, and incisors were sealed shut with quick-drying, rubber cement, the lies would burst out of my nostrils (How’s that for graphic imagery? Don’t answer that.).
I’m sorry to report to you that we are making a TON of progress – rapid progress – towards a doomsday end of physical exuberance and youthful vitality. Even with the onslaught of information that is available about living a life of abundant health and vitality, we are still managing to deteriorate faster than the pothole-laden, frostheave-strewn New England roads in the dead of our snowy and occasionally frigid winter. Where do all those property taxes go anyways?
It’s the sad truth. Even though we know that we know that we KNOW that we shouldn’t remain sedentary for the better part of the day, we still are. At least that’s what I’ve been reading lately. Statistics are statistics, and they can lie, but we’re certainly moving in that direction – the sedentary direction, that is. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I heard something refreshing in the news about health and fitness.
Continue reading Too Much Sitting = Too Bad For Your Health
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