2010 Predictions In The Training World
Greetings,
I just finished reading an article on some 2010 fitness predictions from other fitness trainers. It was a good little read but I wanted to comment on a few of them, both good & bad.
1. Some predict a movement that returns to bodybuilding-focused programs. I for one am vehemently against such nonsense of the bodybuilding movement. I, like many of my generation, first sought out training information in the general bodybuilding magazines out there, only to find out they are filled with nothing more than 50% supplement ads and little useful information that always seem to contradict itself. One article suggests ways to build muscle, while the other one down a few pages will tell you ways on how to shed all that fat you gained on your quest to build muscle. I hate that crap. I sense a lot of others do, too, because the same questions keep popping up from people to me via the internet. I guess the ones who really want to TRAIN for performance and not for vanity will still be avoiding the bodybuilder style programming because its not for their needs. I don't see this happening in my eyes, because it will just be a fad like it always is.
Note: the difference between a fad and a reality is usually sports-related. Case in point: someone may start working out for vanity reasons, and later on will focus more on a sports performance end, such as running a local 5K. The Running Bug then hits them. Maybe later they want to do a triathlon, and pretty soon, they don't care what their body looks like, they care how it performs. Thus, the fad of looking good turns into a reality of performing better instead.
2. Some say that interval training is on the way out, and that regular cardio workouts will 'return' once again to become popular. I don't know HOW something that is both boring, and based on out-dated science (long, slow training at ploddling paces) is somehow going to make a comeback! I have explained it over & over again: the person who works out based on the "more is better" time principle will simply run out of available time to workout, and won't get anywhere in their training as a result. Yes, they may cover more distance, but they won't really be getting any faster or performing better in the end. Plus, people who have been fed this BS for years as the only way to workout, and have tried it with no real success in the end, they will not fall victim once again to the inadequacies of long & slow training programs. Interval workouts are here to stay, they have ALWAYS been around, its just now they are getting to the forefront as a leader in human performance improvement.
3. A lot of people say there will be a movement to start working out in the "Y Generation", due to this Twillight movie saga craze and some actor who is in it, who happened to put on apparently 20-30 pounds of muscle for his role. I'm sorry, but if trying to look like a 20-something actor is your only motivation to workout, you got some issues....This may come, but it will never last. Vanity-based training goals never have an end-point! I wish more people would get that. More people get obsessed & lost in the world of training because they seek out things that maybe they just can't get: the looks of another human being. "I want T.O.'s arms!" they say, or "I want a six-pack like that actor does!" and the people saying this have NO Freakin' CLUE that you just can't do someone else's exact workout and expect the same result. I've always referred to Pope John Paul II's quote of how people are "unique, precious, and unrepeatable", in how I deal with people's goals. Each person should attain to seek out their own improvements, not someone else's mirror image.
4. Kettlebells will increase more in popularity. This one, I'm in full agreement on, and have been waiting on a lot the past few years for it to really hit mainstream. With my own training, I have used kettlebells as a means of not only getting my body stronger, but as a way to help improve my overall conditioning for running improvement. I made my e-book, Kettlebolics, in 2009, because I believed in the use of kettlebells as a way to help improve performance for runners. I wanted to bring more awareness of kettlebells to people in the running world.
Those were just a few on a list of things I read. Another one that stuck out was the prediction of many big-time commercial gyms will end up failing, and the small-time trainer or gym owner will fill that need. I can see that happening. I think if more smaller gyms with a personalized approach were available, we'd see a lot more people using gyms in a smarter fashion, instead of getting sucked into year-long contracts and no care for their own well-being in the end. It just becomes a money race: who can secure the most money out of the most people. The greed of all these big-time gyms will probably end up consuming them and shutting some of them down for good. That's fine by me, because most of those gyms mislead more people than they help if you ask my opinion on it.
So, what are my predictions, in a nutshell?
1. Running will see a rise in participation. I think there will be a rise in more & more local 5K's to do, because they are cheap to put on, bring in a lot of people for the local economy, and what would a summertime festival be without a 5K going on, right? It's only a 3.1 mile course to setup, its basically done in less than an hour or so, and doesn't take a ton of manpower to make it happen. 5K's bring the local & regional people to a community, which helps the community in showcasing itself a bit more. Everyone wins in this case, the city, the community, and the runners win, too.
2. Kettlebells will be more accepting in the training world. I touched on this previously, but for people looking for a bang-for-their-buck piece of equipment, kettlebells deliver so much bang its immeasurable. In today's tough economy, the kettlebell is hands-down the winner in all-around strength & performance improvement as a bargain choice.
3. Kids will participate in less sports, but perhaps spend more time on getting better in the ones they do. I just caught a local article on this topic on how 3-sport athletes are on a decline and 1-2 sport athletes are becoming more of the norm. I think most kids today are being stretched too thin with trying to get better in all 3 sports, so they cut back to just 1 or 2 to focus on. This is a touchy subject with me, because I have seen both abuse of this, and benefits of this, with playing 3 sports a year. Most of it comes down to parents pushing their kids into sports they don't want to be in, as far as abuse of it goes. There are others who excel in one, and mainly participate in the other 2 to help them enjoy their main excelling sport a lot more. So, all in all, if kids will play less sports, I at least hope they spend quality time getting in better shape for the ones they do. I just hope that more go out for Track & Cross-Country...a lot of kids could benefit a ton from Track & Field.
Those are 3 that come to mind for predictions in 2010.
In other news, my workouts this week are going fine. My treadmill run on Monday was good, I had a great weight workout last night, and this afternoon I did a kettlebell power routine of 1 arm clean & presses for 10 minutes. I got 150 total with my 35 pounder. That left me feeling pretty good afterwards. Tomorrow will be another strength day on my agenda. Recently, I finally hit my goals of attaining a 5RM estimate for a 200# bench press, and a 5RM estimate for a 300# deadlift. I wanted to hit those numbers in January and I got them in early December. I don't care if people think those numbers are 'weak' or 'strong', they are my numbers and that's all I need to worry about, I just want to get them up throughout 2010.
Until next time...
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com
I just finished reading an article on some 2010 fitness predictions from other fitness trainers. It was a good little read but I wanted to comment on a few of them, both good & bad.
1. Some predict a movement that returns to bodybuilding-focused programs. I for one am vehemently against such nonsense of the bodybuilding movement. I, like many of my generation, first sought out training information in the general bodybuilding magazines out there, only to find out they are filled with nothing more than 50% supplement ads and little useful information that always seem to contradict itself. One article suggests ways to build muscle, while the other one down a few pages will tell you ways on how to shed all that fat you gained on your quest to build muscle. I hate that crap. I sense a lot of others do, too, because the same questions keep popping up from people to me via the internet. I guess the ones who really want to TRAIN for performance and not for vanity will still be avoiding the bodybuilder style programming because its not for their needs. I don't see this happening in my eyes, because it will just be a fad like it always is.
Note: the difference between a fad and a reality is usually sports-related. Case in point: someone may start working out for vanity reasons, and later on will focus more on a sports performance end, such as running a local 5K. The Running Bug then hits them. Maybe later they want to do a triathlon, and pretty soon, they don't care what their body looks like, they care how it performs. Thus, the fad of looking good turns into a reality of performing better instead.
2. Some say that interval training is on the way out, and that regular cardio workouts will 'return' once again to become popular. I don't know HOW something that is both boring, and based on out-dated science (long, slow training at ploddling paces) is somehow going to make a comeback! I have explained it over & over again: the person who works out based on the "more is better" time principle will simply run out of available time to workout, and won't get anywhere in their training as a result. Yes, they may cover more distance, but they won't really be getting any faster or performing better in the end. Plus, people who have been fed this BS for years as the only way to workout, and have tried it with no real success in the end, they will not fall victim once again to the inadequacies of long & slow training programs. Interval workouts are here to stay, they have ALWAYS been around, its just now they are getting to the forefront as a leader in human performance improvement.
3. A lot of people say there will be a movement to start working out in the "Y Generation", due to this Twillight movie saga craze and some actor who is in it, who happened to put on apparently 20-30 pounds of muscle for his role. I'm sorry, but if trying to look like a 20-something actor is your only motivation to workout, you got some issues....This may come, but it will never last. Vanity-based training goals never have an end-point! I wish more people would get that. More people get obsessed & lost in the world of training because they seek out things that maybe they just can't get: the looks of another human being. "I want T.O.'s arms!" they say, or "I want a six-pack like that actor does!" and the people saying this have NO Freakin' CLUE that you just can't do someone else's exact workout and expect the same result. I've always referred to Pope John Paul II's quote of how people are "unique, precious, and unrepeatable", in how I deal with people's goals. Each person should attain to seek out their own improvements, not someone else's mirror image.
4. Kettlebells will increase more in popularity. This one, I'm in full agreement on, and have been waiting on a lot the past few years for it to really hit mainstream. With my own training, I have used kettlebells as a means of not only getting my body stronger, but as a way to help improve my overall conditioning for running improvement. I made my e-book, Kettlebolics, in 2009, because I believed in the use of kettlebells as a way to help improve performance for runners. I wanted to bring more awareness of kettlebells to people in the running world.
Those were just a few on a list of things I read. Another one that stuck out was the prediction of many big-time commercial gyms will end up failing, and the small-time trainer or gym owner will fill that need. I can see that happening. I think if more smaller gyms with a personalized approach were available, we'd see a lot more people using gyms in a smarter fashion, instead of getting sucked into year-long contracts and no care for their own well-being in the end. It just becomes a money race: who can secure the most money out of the most people. The greed of all these big-time gyms will probably end up consuming them and shutting some of them down for good. That's fine by me, because most of those gyms mislead more people than they help if you ask my opinion on it.
So, what are my predictions, in a nutshell?
1. Running will see a rise in participation. I think there will be a rise in more & more local 5K's to do, because they are cheap to put on, bring in a lot of people for the local economy, and what would a summertime festival be without a 5K going on, right? It's only a 3.1 mile course to setup, its basically done in less than an hour or so, and doesn't take a ton of manpower to make it happen. 5K's bring the local & regional people to a community, which helps the community in showcasing itself a bit more. Everyone wins in this case, the city, the community, and the runners win, too.
2. Kettlebells will be more accepting in the training world. I touched on this previously, but for people looking for a bang-for-their-buck piece of equipment, kettlebells deliver so much bang its immeasurable. In today's tough economy, the kettlebell is hands-down the winner in all-around strength & performance improvement as a bargain choice.
3. Kids will participate in less sports, but perhaps spend more time on getting better in the ones they do. I just caught a local article on this topic on how 3-sport athletes are on a decline and 1-2 sport athletes are becoming more of the norm. I think most kids today are being stretched too thin with trying to get better in all 3 sports, so they cut back to just 1 or 2 to focus on. This is a touchy subject with me, because I have seen both abuse of this, and benefits of this, with playing 3 sports a year. Most of it comes down to parents pushing their kids into sports they don't want to be in, as far as abuse of it goes. There are others who excel in one, and mainly participate in the other 2 to help them enjoy their main excelling sport a lot more. So, all in all, if kids will play less sports, I at least hope they spend quality time getting in better shape for the ones they do. I just hope that more go out for Track & Cross-Country...a lot of kids could benefit a ton from Track & Field.
Those are 3 that come to mind for predictions in 2010.
In other news, my workouts this week are going fine. My treadmill run on Monday was good, I had a great weight workout last night, and this afternoon I did a kettlebell power routine of 1 arm clean & presses for 10 minutes. I got 150 total with my 35 pounder. That left me feeling pretty good afterwards. Tomorrow will be another strength day on my agenda. Recently, I finally hit my goals of attaining a 5RM estimate for a 200# bench press, and a 5RM estimate for a 300# deadlift. I wanted to hit those numbers in January and I got them in early December. I don't care if people think those numbers are 'weak' or 'strong', they are my numbers and that's all I need to worry about, I just want to get them up throughout 2010.
Until next time...
Run Strong, Run Fast...
Run So As To Win!
Coach Rick Karboviak
http://1MileNation.com
http://ASAPWorkouts.com
Cool,
This is a good post busting some of them untruthful myths for working out...
Thanks for bringing this up
Reply to this