It’s All About That Base

Are you one of those people who is willing to do whatever you need to do to get into shape, but every time you start a new program or join a new gym you find yourself overwhelmed, confused and/or injured. You feel like the roadblocks not only derail your progress but further damage your overall confidence and self esteem. It’s almost like the more you try, the harder you fall. You aren’t alone. Between all of the conflicting information and dogmatic approaches, it’s hard to see the forest through the proverbial trees. There is a better way.

The best way to start a new program and be on your way to your optimal strength is to take it one step at a time. It helps to have a fitness professional in your corner, but that isn't always an option for some people. Begin your fitness odyssey at your pace and start from the ground up.

I’m going to say something now that is the opposite of what is currently the most popular train of thought – stay in your comfort zone. I’m not saying stay smack dab in the middle of your comfort zone, but definitely stay on the outskirts of said zone. Your central nervous system doesn’t like the way you’ve trained in the past and has asked me to tell you to fix it. If you keep your body happy and without fear of injury, you are less likely to get derailed and more likely to find some sort of success. Let’s be honest, it takes dedication and hard work to make significant changes, but you have to start somewhere. It starts with a base.

The first place to start with your strength is at the bottom. What I mean is that strength should be built from the ground up. How many times have you seen someone squat and it makes you cringe? Trust that response. As we get older, we lose the ability to know what right and wrong feels like. Wrong is not usually pain. Wrong is typically a lack of engagement of a group of muscles. What we don’t lose is the ability to know what wrong looks like. Wrong looks wrong.

When you see a movement and it is visual poetry, whether you know what it is or not, it’s probably been executed correctly. When you look at an exercise and it looks like it should hurt or makes you want to shield your eyes, it’s wrong. Trust your instincts on this one because you don’t have to know what someone is doing to know that it shouldn’t be done that way. I’m not telling you to have them stop what they are doing immediately (unless you are related to them and then by all means make them stop), I’m saying don’t do whatever it is the way they are doing it. If it’s been awhile since you’ve been at the gym, start simply with a plank. I’m not saying hold a plank for two to four minutes at a time; I’m saying 10 seconds of all out bracing ever fiber in your body. We should start with a plank because strength needs to start in the core, closest to the middle of your being. The practice of active planking is taught in a wide range of disciplines, and basically you hold this plank for 10 all out seconds, disengage and re-engage to do it again and again. This has been shown over and over again to be the most efficient way to begin building the cylindrical strength around the core that we should start with.

Once you are confident with the plank, pick another movement to master. Start with the squat maybe. Keep that tight plank from your hips up, and start to purposefully will your rear end between your knees and then stand up again. Be deliberate in your movements. Then start some pushing movements. Again begin in a tight plank and push yourself away from something. Keep your plank through the movements, and make sure you don’t collapse anywhere in your body. Start against the wall, move to a counter and continue until you can do a pushup from the ground. Remember to start with that base of support in the plank and strength and stability will follow.

#health