MINI REPORT: Weight training really hasn’t changed since the 1800’s. We pretty much figured it out then and perhaps it’s one wheel we don’t need to re-invent as of yet. Our bodies are pretty much the same as they were before and loading them worked fairly well with a bunch of movements then and it still works really well today. 

So why do we keep trying to re-invent the weight training wheel?

Maybe trainers are just nuts and they want to screw with clients and give them lots of funny, awkward exercises? There’s probably some truth to this. 

More likely, we think this creative exercises are doing more for us whereas in reality, chin ups are tough and we know deep down that anyone who can do a chin up has some genuine strength. 

So with that, let’s look a little deeper into what you should be doing in your weight training program.. 

Should You Do Plain “Old” Exercises?

YES, you absolutely should or better put, you must. The plain old exercises you’ve seen a million times are VERY effective. They are basically the most effective at building muscle and when it comes to weight training your body, that’s what you’re after.

You can do some functional or more athletically challenging exercises towards the end of the workout but make sure you do the heavy lifting pun intended exercises first. They will build your body the most and that’s what you need likely more than anything else.

Why Weight Train?

By the way, this is a huge need among our increasingly sedentary populations in the west. We are becoming incredibly inactive and lazy. This can lead to a host of issues you’ve likely heard about in the news but more importantly, it makes us weak vs. the world around this and this increases injury rates. 

Yes we don’t want to get fat but we really should be more concerned about getting weak and injured. This can really make life challenging and possibly affect our ability to work, play, find a mate and so much more. 

But are These Exercises Functional?

Yes. Once again, someone who squats or lunges even with a little bit of weight is going to get a great core workout. You can feel free to to tell the gentleman above that he has a weak core but I’m not going to. The fact is that he likely has a really strong core.

Think of this way..

The plank has no weight, 4 points of contact with the ground and no need to control the body as it moves. The plank is completely static whereas the person squatting has to manage so much more. It’s not even close. 

I don’t have anything against a plank. It’s still an exercise. BUT! It’s just a relatively easy exercise and you’d have to do it a lot and modify it a lot as you get stronger to get something out of it. If it’s really challenging for you, great! Keep doing it, there’s nothing wrong with this approach but keep in mind, it’s not training your legs which kind of matter a lot more for balance, functionality and strength in the real world. So make sure you cover them far more than just doing planks all day.