ADAPTATION

This thing called the “fitness and health” industry is a peculiar anomaly. It controls the public sector’s information through its own media, mediums to exercise in or with, and yet fails to give itself a failing grade of what it has created in a burgeoning obese nation. Blame for this problem is not accepted and it, this so-called “industry” just keeps giving away midnight promises that it never meant to meet.

Enjoying a healthy active lifestyle isn’t simply a luxury but something that every person should have the undeniable right to do. Yet, this seemingly “simple” right is often lost through the perverted ideas that are created by the exercise industry. What has occurred over the last thirty-some years is the new idea of obtaining an ideal body image within the confines of the gym walls and more recently at the hand of the cosmetic surgeon. Exercise, for the most part, is sadly confined to the gym environment with its weight machines, treadmills and the like all the while abandoning activities like a healthy walk outside or a lengthy swim. In fact, the modern fitness industry has signaled an abandonment of the rich concepts of using fitness to holistically better your life through an active lifestyle. And so as the modern fitness and health industry walks away from reality to create its version of another swan destined for disappointment, I make the opposite claim to return to the roots and empower your life through participation and action!

Truthfully the one major flaw in most modern exercise facilities isn’t merely equipment but simply that it lacks the naturally organic structure of unpredictable movement both large and small, that translates to real-life action. A successful fitness program adds value to your life, creates a harmoniously developed body and mind connection that will allow you to enjoy life to the fullest but also trains you to react and quickly adapt to the constantly changing situations that are a part of our life. Being able to deal with imperfect settings and the ability to “stabilize” has quickly become the cause ‘celeb of recent years in the exercise industry. Hence the explosion of exercise mediums such as the Swiss Ball which utilize a slightly unstable stimuli to promote the core stabilization and the ultimate goals of ensuring proper postural alignment such that you are able to accept, direct and redirect maximal force in a seamless manner.

Training needs to reflect this, to abandon the contaminated vision of exercise that is whored through the billion dollar health and fitness publishing arena. It needs to reflect how fitness is not drudgery, nor is the goal to look like an emaciated model that we keep being told is “optimal.” Neither are true and it’s time to return to common sense exercise, that whether you term it “functional” or not, it improves the quality of your life.

And so with business stresses and demands weighing on me and locked in a powerful snow storm I decided to take my own medicine and took “the gym” outside for a little backcountry fun. Strapping on a 20-lb Xvest under my coat for the perfect workout, snowboard secured in my backpack I began my assault up the deep powder of a tree-lined mountain. Not a mountain of anything epic but a “simple” 2 hour chest pounding, sweat-dripping walk in the clean mountain air that had the legs screaming and wondering how could the gyms be full of people on treadmills when “this” exists. Finally at the top, after stopping briefly to watch the quiet movements of a doe and her fawn along the crest line, I strapped on my trusty Santa Cruz board and carved down the thick white powder in 10 or so minutes.

In many regards the message is a simple one … to experience fitness through participation in sports. Yet physically there are some extraordinary implications of this “mountain walk.” Within training circles, rarely do many people realize that one very common theme -- whether you are the average exercise enthusiast or elite athlete -- is improving postural alignment. Postural alignment is the key whether you are heavy weightlifter or enjoying a pilates class, yet rarely does the modern weight room consider this. Often because of varied theories we get trapped into exercise controversy over certain exercises and equipment, yet few if any can match the “perfect” suitability to all training that the Xvest offers. By using it with moving action we are able to train the body with the correct posture and ensure natural and coordinated total body movement. The instability of the ground (or in this case, snow) offers additional resistance that will further stimulate supporting muscle groups that are impossible to train effectively with programmed weight room movements. Coincidentally by improving the strength of the supporting muscle groups, future weight room efforts will dramatically improve. Furthermore, used in this way in becomes the ultimate GPP (General Physical Preparation) session to promote work threshold development and strength endurance.

Take your exercise to the next level. The level in which it adds value to your life and prepares you to make the most of it.