Real World Strength Training

This question was posed in response to this article – Your Personal Trainer Behaves Like a Doctor.

QUESTION: John, how do you transfer that information (teach people about how to become true physical living enthusiasts rather than prescribe cookie-cutter programs – read the article above if you want a more clear description) when, 1. Your ‘job’ as a trainer is to ‘tell them what to do,’ and 2. Most people have little interest or care regarding the workings of their inner selves? Any thoughts on that?

ANSWER: Josh, I don’t know if I’ve found the perfect way to do this in a client/trainer relationship yet. I don’t know if it’s possible with the current model set in the fitness industry. It may require a completely new method of approach, which is what I’m exploring via these articles. There must be another way!
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Last weekend, somebody thought it would be a good idea to randomly climb the largest mountain in the Northeast United States, home of some of the worlds harshest weather conditions, all on a whim. The idea didn’t even come up until the night before (July 4th party), about eight hours prior to our departure. I’m all for spontaneity!

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7/1/2009 – Moderate Intensity Day
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Ryan Murdock traveling in Jordan.

If you’ve been following the blog for awhile, I’m sure you know that I’m a big proponent of the Circular Strength Training system. Ryan Murdock is on the Faculty, in charge of bringing CST to the world, and he has a revolutionary way of sharing his health-first fitness viewpoints. I guarantee that you’ll learn something new by listening in on this call. Plus, Ryan is a great story-teller, and he’s gives us a glimpse into some of his travel adventures.  Some of the key points we covered include:

- How martial art will change your worldview and set you on the path of personal mastery, preparing you for all of life’s challenges. (also, why CST jives with most martial artists especially)

- Why joint mobility is Ryan’s “daily minimum,” and how he uses it to stay in tip-top shape year round.

- The best bodyweight training methods for achieving your health-first fitness goals at home or on the road.

- Health and Fitness Insights we can learn from visiting indigenous people from obscure places in the world.

- How to kill giant cockroaches that scurry around your hotel room! (one of Ryan’s stories from traveling in Burma with his girlfriend)

Listen to the interview here:

John Sifferman Interviews Ryan Murdock (54 Minutes in Length)

I want to thank Ryan again for doing this interview. It is an honor to learn from someone who carves out his own path in life and sets a fine example for us all. Be sure to check out his sites:

http://RyanMurdock.com
http://rmaxstaff.com/murdock
http://BodyweightExerciseRevolution.com

Here are some ways you can get started with CST today:

Clubbell Quick-Start Training Packages can be found halfway down this page (you can find more info about clubbells on the official site here http://clubbell.tv.com)

Prasara Yoga Introductory Package – Book here, Instructional DVD here.

Joint Mobility Training Package (more info about mobility training on my site here)

As always, if you have any questions about what was discussed on the call, how to get started, or about the products themselves, please leave a comment below or use the Contact page above.

To your health and success,

Fitness Professional and CST Student

P.S. For more information about clubbell training and prasara yoga, I recommend Scott Sonnon’s programs The Encyclopedia of Clubbell Training and his book Prasara Yoga.

Only 4 minute workouts and $14,615 - what the heck is it, again?

More guru’s, experts, and professionals would be nice – someone who can help ME.

Another supplement line with all organic ingredients would be excellent! (if it were even possible)

How about some new gadgets to buy on late night TV? I hear the booty-plasmatronic machine is a real good deal. Plus it only takes 10 minutes a week to get a chiseled body.

No? Well then certainly we could use some more websites that teach us about fitness, exercise, nutrition, and personal development. More information is always a good thing.

How about an online GROUP just for fitness – that’s a GREAT IDEA!!!

It doesn’t take a genius to prove that the current model for how to live a healthy physically-oriented lifestyle is severely flawed. All of the above solutions have been pounded into the dirt, again and again. We have no shortage of solutions like the ones above, yet we are still facing some of the most daunting crisis’ in history. Heart disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, and obesity rates are climbing faster and faster. Depression is affecting MILLIONS of American’s – that’s a lot of people that are upset about how their life is going. The statistics are frightening and the state of our health is only one of our problems!

Even with all the above quick-fix solutions, and many others, these problems are actually getting worse. Most people are walking wounded, sick regularly, and are on their way to dis-ease for the rest of their lives. A lack of resources isn’t the problem. We’ve got resources coming out of our ears, and we STILL have major health problems that aren’t getting better anytime soon. We have a fundamental problem on our hands!

So, what do we really need in the fitness industry?

That’s a hard question to answer, but I know who to ask. Ask the people who are living a life of vibrant health and abundant vitality already. Ask the people that wake up refreshed and eager to start their day. Ask the people that live and breathe pure physical living. And most importantly, ask the people that know how to help others best.
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So often, we worry about everything going on in our lives. We could drown in all the anxiety we create for ourselves. One of the best things we can do for our health and well being is to realize that life goes on no matter what – and there’s no use stressing ourselves out over the details.

Thought for the day:

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. ~Lao Tzu

Damien Tougas, of www.AdventureInProgress.com made a great comment in another blogpost the other day…

We all have only 24 hours in a day, and can only devote so much thought and time to any given thing. That is why we are looking for the quick fix, because we don’t have time for anything more than that. We want to do it all, have our cake and eat it too. What we really need to do is simplify our lives. Let go of the things that are not important so that we can have more time, thought, and energy to spend on the things that really are important.

I think that philosophy is perfected in nature. Nature is the paramount example of necessity, and nothing in nature is superfluous. Everything serves a specific purpose in order for life to continue – and it works very well, I might add. Some would say that nature works perfectly.

It makes sense that we would do well to model our own lives after this simple idea of living only out of necessity – only doing what is necessary for survival. Of course, this isn’t merely an issue of survival, it’s an issue of quality of life, too.
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QUESTION:

Hi John, I’m 43 y.o male , 1.85 m , 80kg , i discovered Tom Venuto’s BFFM ebook last February and by applying his program got rid 10 kg of fat and now I am at about 12.5% BF and in the better shape of my life from a BF point of view . I want to drop some more fat  (to less than 10% BF) and put some serious muscle on as next goals. What I realized reading your blog (but this is something i always felt intuitively) is that I miss the mobility part in my fitness, I’m much less mobile and efficient from a functional stand point that i would like and this limits my potential obviously. I liked very much your holistic philosophy to fitness and watching your videos it’s clear you have much wider freedom of body movement than most of the gym attendants or bodybuilders. I’d like a muscular body but not a stiff , just bulky one as those i see too often in the gym , I want to be ripped , muscular AND flexible/coordinated/functional. So I would like to ask you, what  do you advise me to add to my training routine (which is weight training + cardio  5 days per week )?

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