Bodybuilding’s influence came onto the scene in the late ‘70s, early ‘80s, and correlated with the explosion of “health clubs” drifting from the West to the East coast. Many people for the first time began training in various fitness programs and in these training facilities they started using machines. The invention of selectorized variable resistance machines, credited to Arthur Jones, enabled minimally trained, minimally supervised people to train en masse.
The format was simple. After a brief orientation exercise participants were shown ten to twelve basic exercises meant to train the entire body. The exercises were laid out in a pattern from large to small muscle groups, starting with the legs and ending with the upper body. The entire body was trained in one session in a recommended time of 45 to 60 minutes. High intensity was emphasized for, theoretically, maximum stimulation of the muscles in the shortest period of time. This was great for business, getting people moving along efficiently. The training did not require a lot of staff or supervision, kept labor costs down, and the allure of developing the perfect body had members joining in droves. But, was it good for the members’ health?
In general, the machines were designed to isolate muscle groups for strengthening and provide frames or platforms to hold the weights in place. This alleviated the body’s need to stabilize weight through the range of motion. In natural human movement, stabilizing muscles hold the body in place so that a movement, or movements, may occur without one collapsing.
For example, in order to lift a glass of water, the muscles that close the hand must contract and hold. The muscles that bend the arm must flex. Most importantly, yet perhaps least obvious, are the stabilizing muscles meant to hold the arm bone in place as it bends.
Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law of Motion states, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In order to understand the importance of stabilization and how it works, we can keep this law in mind.
The weight of the glass of water is transferred to our bodies as we move it. The limbs that do the moving have to be held in space securely enough so that we don’t drop or spill the contents. The heavier the object we encounter, the more force translated to us. All of this must be managed before an object can be put into motion, otherwise we can’t do what we want.
Muscles of your trunk connect to your legs, ultimately connecting you to the ground. Your center is the frame from which your movement begins. In other words, imagine you are bending your arm, but you have no back? The arm would fall to the ground, with no center you have no leverage and your body falls to the floor.
Isolation exercises are not functional because they break the body into pieces. The body works together like a symphony, not a solo act. The normal kinetic chain is disregarded in isolation training. What is missing is the training to move properly as one unit, harmonizing with environmental forces, notably gravity and friction. Muscles that balance and synergize are not included in the exercise regimen. In order to learn and utilize correct body alignment, additional training is required. This doubles the training time, at minimum.
• Alignment in movement is key to injury prevention.
• Proper body mechanics, while moving without artificial supports that replace stabilizing muscles, are essential to the development of power that can be used.
• The body wants to put as many muscles on a single task as possible, making it easier to do by providing more assistance and sharing the load. Training in isolation is counterintuitive.
Isolation exercises increase the strength and development of one muscle group without respect to the opposing muscle group on which they depend. It is very difficult to balance the body while training in this manner and is a recipe for injury in the long term.
The term “free” refers to the unfettered nature of the resistance tool. It is attached to nothing, unlike a variable resistance machine that holds the weights in neat stacks and provides an exact frame designed for very specific pathways of movement. A free weight is only limited by your imagination, your ability to hold it, or attach it to you and the limits of the body’s capable range. The weight must be stabilized by the weight lifter. Because of this, most free weight exercises are more functional.
The body building application of free weights is a very small niche in the virtually limitless application of free weight training. Applied free weight training is beneficial to both men and woman of all ages. Functional strength training can help women have an easier and healthier pregnancy and recovery period. It can also potentially prevent osteoporosis. Seniors can maintain their strength to stabilize their musculoskeletal system and prevent ambulatory degeneration.
Tips
Don’t do split routines. Do train the entire body in a session. Select your exercises to complement positively influencing your lifestyle and enhance specific activities.
Train according to the law of specificity of function. You can do what you train to do or, in other words, just because you can run well does not mean you can bike well and just because you can run well does not mean you can swim well, and so on.
Do not train only for esthetics. This is one of top causes of muscular imbalances, which may lead to injury and dysfunction.
Train the muscles that push and pull. Train your front and back, top and bottom, side and side like they depend on each other, because they do! It is very difficult, if at all possible to balance the body’s musculature with isolation. Compound movement exercises inherently accomplish this because the body is strengthened as it is meant to be used. When you train your body properly, it will naturally change depending on what activities you emphasize. You will come to resemble what it is you do.
You are what you do.
Have a question? Ask fitness expert Emory M. Moore Jr., founder of Embora and the EM
Technique, at info@embora.com
