Training
Why Effective Exercise Goes Against Evolution
When talking about eating well and exercising, it’s rarely an uplifting conversation. We talk about how difficult it is to create healthier lifestyle habits. How hard it is to convince people to put down the calorie-dense treats. How tough it is to motivate people to move more and follow a consistent workout routine. Why? Because making these choices are not in our DNA–and nor is a solid technique in the gym. Benny Price explains.
Biologically speaking, a balanced diet and a well-executed exercise routine is completely counter-evolutionary because we were programmed to desire and consume the food that provides the most efficient way to take on and store energy. For example, if we’re trying to avoid starving to death, eating broccoli is a strange thing to do when there are chocolate biscuits available. As for burning calories unnecessarily? Why would we do that? Save your energy for fleeing from danger or chasing your dinner, and stick to the sofa until that time comes!
We often think that if we overcome this mindset and convince our clients to get to the gym for a good hard session–the battle will be won. However, this doesn’t consider the evolutionary elements of the exercise itself.
Originally, our brain’s primary job was to solve movement problems and make it as easy as possible to move/ catch/ lift/ carry things (check out ‘The Real Reason for Brains’ on YouTube). The brain achieves this by manipulating our relationship to resistance, so that we may recruit as many of our muscles as possible (and preferably the larger ones to generate more force).
As well as attempting to recruit the most possible muscles, clients will also likely use inertia to help them begin each rep to try and overcome the brief moment of struggle to initiate the movement and give the weight momentum. Once started, the rest of the concentric lift is much easier. And the eccentric portion of the lift, is the client likely to control that? Well, why would they? That’s meant to be the ‘rest’ between reps, where they can just let the weight fall while they prepare themselves for the next one.
The obvious problem with swinging concentric and uncontrolled eccentric moves is that they involve significantly less muscle tension – and this is exactly what we came to the gym to get more of! In addition, these movements increase what we’re trying to get less of – forces on our joints.
Evolution tells our clients to use as many of their muscles as possible to move the load as quickly as possible. Good exercise technique, though, requires our clients to control the movement, both in the concentric and eccentric phase to maintain controlled tension on the muscles operating the moving joints.
Every single rep is a battle. A battle to not ‘throw it’. And the more tired someone gets, the more tempting it becomes to give in. That’s where we – as Trainers – come in.
With every rep, we’re ensuring they keep their attention focused on the joints they’ve got to keep still while remaining laser-focused on anything they’re letting slip. With every rep, we’re asking them to resist the urge to ‘just move’ the weight, and instead to stay focused on using the right muscles to do so. In other words, with every rep, it’s us (the Trainer) against their instincts.
The reward? More efficient, more effective, and more engaging exercise, which ultimately leads to more consistent results and less injury.
