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Of course the fitness industry has already rediscovered these clubs and sells stylish items under the 'functional fitness' category. But the more 'functional' a
by UweSchmidt 7y ago
Of course the fitness industry has already rediscovered these clubs and sells stylish items under the 'functional fitness' category. But the more 'functional' a workout gets, the more one could wish there was real, physical work to be done, the kind of work that reveals muscular deficiencies despite regular gym workouts (often hand strength and endurance when working overhead) and gives a different sense of accomplishment and satisfaction: shelves built, home improved, practical skills acquired.
- skookum 7y ago> ...shelves built, home improved, practical skills acquired. Shoveling snow/dirt/other substances, chopping wood, pushing wheelbarrows, or loading trucks would be better examples of real-world equivalents to the more-maligned functional exercise regimes, but there's only so much of those most of us have opportunity to do. Apart from adding sheer volume it's also a little harder to build a progressive overload program around those types of activities.
- thaumasiotes 7y ago> there's only so much of those most of us have opportunity to do For most of those tasks, someone else will pay you to do them. The problem isn't a shortage of opportunity.
- dirtyid 7y agoThere's a reason we try to automate repetitive manual labor - it's dangerous and detriment to long term health. The whole of human existence has been a long march towards minimizing labour though we've definitely overshot to the point where disease of affluence has become our foremost public health challenge. That said, cultivating fitness in modern society should focus on the least amount of labour for maximum individual and public health benefits. An hour of strength training, some cardio per week to build individual durability and cardiovascular health is probably the most sensible prescription. A common anecdote between people who deadlift 600lbs and build houses for a living is how much pain they live with in later life. On the topic of clubs, these are surprisingly good prehab tools for shoulder health.
- im3w1l 7y ago> A common anecdote between people who deadlift 600lbs ... is how much pain they live with in later life I haven't heard those anecdotes and I'm curious. Where is the dividing line between building your body up and wearing it out?
- gerdesj 7y ago"Where is the dividing line between building your body up and wearing it out?" From personal experience: roughly aged 50 (give or take, probably give.) That's without farting around with big weights. 600lbs is about 270 kilos. There is no reason for your body to need to deal with moving weights like that unless you are in a competition or trying to save a life. Hence it is not built for loads of that magnitude on a regular basis. Running with an 80-100 lb pack/load on your back and holding a 20 lb lump is a reasonable load to put on a very fit body, aged up to say, around 40. Your local Army, Marines, etc will know better than me what to encourage here. Try this lot: https://www.paradata.org.uk/unit/infantry-training-centre-catterick https://www.paradata.org.uk/unit/infantry-training-centre-ca... for example. I'll just suggest that for most people, messing with weights like that are simply daft. We are not fork lift trucks. In the rest of the world, 25 kilos is considered a normal one man lift. Humans as a species are designed for endurance, not huge loads.