Train Your Weakness, Not Your Strength!
by Serkan Yimsel, CHEK Exercise Coach, NCEP Exercise Therapist

Functional strength is the type of strength that is transferable to sports (i.e., golf, tennis) and/or to the activities of daily living (i.e. gardening or household chores). Unfortunately, not every exercise move or machine provides us with these benefits.

Consider for a moment, if we could go back in time about 2000 years, how could the bodies of early man use the gym machines of today? Would his favorite shoulder press machine aid him in protecting his food or family from other people? Or, could his favorite leg extension machine help him outrun a wild animal in a matter of seconds, then quickly climb up a tree to survive? Some might think that these scenarios sound a little extreme, since we don't live in an environment that requires these abilities. Of course to some extent, you are right.

However, I have another example for you. Imagine a 45-year-old mother carrying grocery bags to her car. As she steps off a curb, she sees a truck backing up towards her 5-year-old son who is currently distracted by a pet walking across the street. This mother needs to quickly and effectively recruit her both lower and upper body muscles to release her bags, step off the curb, bend/reach then lift her son and move back to a safer location, maintaining her balance at all times. How could she successfully accomplish this and prevent an accident if she has only worked out on a seated leg press machine with slow and steady repetitions?

Most traditional machines/body building exercises work only single muscles instead of creating cooperative work across the other muscle groups. But our central nervous system knows nothing of individual muscles, only of movement.¹ You cannot selectively fire your chest, shoulder or arm muscles while you are pushing a heavy door or furniture.

Additionally, consider that most bodybuilding exercises are performed on machines, requiring no activation of postural muscles, minimal activation of stabilizer and neutralizer muscle functions, and certainly don't require that you maintain your center of gravity over your own base of support at all times. There's not much need to activate stabilizers and postural muscles when sitting on a machine with a huge base of support that is bolted to the floor!²

One of the main reasons why people prefer to work out on machines is because they are considered "safe." Since most seated or machine exercises support us via pads and guide the load on a fixed or semi-fixed axis of motion, they don't require high levels of neuromuscular stabilization and postural efficiency. This explains why most people have a hard time lifting the same amount of resistance on a seated leg press machine vs. during a free-form squat, or they can pull down a lot of weight but they can't do one pull-up.

Unfortunately, being safe at the gym setting doesn't translate to being safe while we are carrying our grocery bags or bending over to tie our shoes. That's why most people don't hurt themselves while they are working out; they hurt mostly outside the gym. This is especially true if you have certain postural imbalances and/or decreased neuromuscular stabilization (due to prolonged hours of office work, decreased overall functional activities, or working out predominantly on machines).

Inability to perform functional movement patterns such as squats, lunges, push-ups or pull-ups with good form should not be an excuse to continue an exercise routine that is 90% machine-oriented. This should be considered a weakness, or an imbalance and is best to be corrected.

Cable Free Motion® machines, free weights and stability ball exercises would help you to train your weaknesses by allowing you to work in an environment that has a greater carryover to the functional activities of daily living. (i.e., applies a variety of postures, 3-D movements and different speeds). However, it is very important for the exerciser to get a fitness evaluation from a skilled corrective exercise specialist (such as a C.H.E.K. Practitioner) to improve his/her postural alignment and core stability prior to attempting to load his/her body during these functional exercises.³

Geneticists say that it takes about a 100 thousands years to change the human genome one tenth of one percent. So, it's pretty safe to say that we are all basically still cave men and women -but now we wear clothes and drive cars!

In conclusion, when starting an exercise program for general health and fitness or sport, you must ask yourself what physical abilities your leisure, work or sport environments require, and select exercises that will support those abilities, not diminish them.

Train your weakness, not your strength!

Yours in Health,
Serkan O. Yimsel