Simple is better
In ALMOST all things health and fitness, simplicity reigns supreme
Not a lot of universal truths in fitness
There are very few things in the world of health, fitness, training, and nutrition that hold universally true. There’s no one diet that will give universal results. Every individual will end up with slightly differing form on most movements. There is no one strength training program that will work for everyone (though the Sylvester Strength online group does a bang-up job of getting close).
There are simply too many variables to account for here. I can’t even begin to count how many time’s I have answered a client’s question with my favorite two words:
It Depends
And the answer is that it really does depend, regardless of the question. Everyone has differing genetics, cellular health, past exercise and nutritional habits… the list can go on.
That being said there are a few key tenants that I like to live by when teaching this stuff to others. One of them is the subject of this post: Simplicity.
I truly believe that this field is made to be overly complicated way too often. Maybe it’s a product of social media and Instagram fitness influencers trying to look flashy and trendy. Or maybe it’s the slew of young coaches constantly flooding the field, eager to reinvent the wheel and be the latest and greatest.
Ultimately, simplicity will always trump complexity. We train to get more out of life, to move better, to have better longevity, and all too often get hung up on the process of it all.
And while there is beauty in the struggle and value in process goals, the outcomes is what we are really after.
And the best way to get to those outcomes is by MASTERING THE BASICS.
Consistency vs variability
Many trainees want to be entertained by their fitness programs to keep themselves mentally engaged. I TOTALLY understand, as I have often struggled to stay consistent in the gym as well.
Constantly changing the stimulus, however, is not the way to go about staying engaged.
As an example, if you change the exercises you do every workout session, you’ll check the variability box quite well. It will be MUCH harder to become skilled at any one movement though, and progress will become much slower. Learning to squat, for instance, is not usually a skill that can be learned in one session, and it will be hard to progress the intensity for that squat.
Instead, I preach consistency and progression, rather than constant variability.
In the case of the squat, I would much rather a trainee do the same squat variation (preferably the barbell back squat if possible) once or twice a week for 4-6 weeks or more.
That trainee will become much more proficient at the skill of the movement, versus if they only saw that movement every few weeks!
Movement skill and repeatability
“Repetition is the father of learning”
Repeating anything is foundational to becoming skilled at anything, and movement skill is paramount to producing results for the long haul. In the example of the back squat, the trainee that performed that squat twice a week for 6 weeks will have done potentially HUNDREDS of reps in that time.
Movement is learned quite well by spreading many reps over time in this way! As long as that trainee had a solid base form (and maybe a coach cueing them on what to do and what not do) they will have learned how to overcome many of the intricacies of performing good squat reps.
Those reps will become more and more repeatable, allowing the athlete to scale the movement in volume, intensity, frequency, and more. That’s when the magic starts to happen, supporting CONSISTENT quality movement.
And movement is medicine, after all!
Extends to habits, diets, and more
This philosophy extends to pretty much any exercise, and can be scaled over time to produce the long term results that most people want!
And it’s more than just exercises too. It extends to core health habits, nutrition, sleep, stress management… but more on that later.
The key takeaway here is, consistency and simplicity is always best in all things health.