Can a viewpoint that goes against the science of fitness add injury to insult?
Decide for yourself and compare these articles: The Death of Dumbells and The Truth on Fitness |
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I normally wouldn’t rattle my saber at yet another opinion piece on exercise. What would be the point? Like many people, I am fatigued by the sheer amount of fitness “myth busting” social media tips, articles and vocal pejorative statements I am innundated with on a daily basis. By the sounds of it, every author is quite sure that everything we know is wrong, and we better get with the program, (THEIR program of course!) if we have any intention of reaching our goals.
However, there is a time when something comes across my desk that is so egregious, that it needs to be recognized. As a member of Equinox, I was disturbed to find this letter written to me by Geralyn Coopersmith, who is the head of the Equinox Fitness Training Institute (EFTI), the branch of the company responsible for educating their training staff. In this article, Mrs. Coopersmith quoting another fitness industry educator, Gray Cook, shares her OPINION that body weight training, which is among the latest fitness industry trends, is not only superior to using selectorized resistance training equipment (i.e. machines) , but, she implies the use of such machines can actually injure us! |
When talking about the benefit of bodyweight training, Mrs Coopersmith states that “they can’t be faked...either you have the skills to do them or you don’t” as if this was a positive! (Which btw, is not entirely correct, if you have ever walked down a street you see that humans have multiple compensation strategies to get them from point a to b, which they will also use to perform these type of exercises) So, what if I, or like many of my elderly clients, don’t have the skills or strength to do them? Should we not even bother to get off the couch again?
Or...would it make more sense to actually use a piece of selectorized equipment, where one can start with an appropriate load and progressively challenge themselves further, to the point where their morphology could actually change enough so that if one CHOSE to do a bodyweight exercise requiring enough strength to move a significant percentage of bodyweight they would be able to do so? The claims that selectorized equipment are simply “Idiot proof” contraptions and bodyweight exercises somehow address and improve our limitations are just ignorant. If instructed properly, one would see that the inherent restraint built into selectorized equipment could be used quite strategically to different targets, with differing joint torques, at different loads and at different speeds, making them incredibly useful.
Also, it should not be lost on any other members of Equinox that the majority of the club is taken up by, you guessed, selectorized equipment! What kind of message is Mrs. Coopersmith sending? Our dues are sky high because Equinox buys all the best equipment, but, if I use it I’m actually only going to make myself weaker and worse? Also, how comfortable should I feel getting advice from an Equinox trainer on how to properly use a machine if this is the view of them being handed down from the top? It is an educator’s job to put aside personal bias of what he or she may personally LIKE, in the light of objective information.
Let me be perfectly clear here. There is no debate about which is better, machines vs bodyweight exercises. In a full spectrum training program, (which is a topic better addressed at another time) they each have their place, just as a hammer and a wrench each address a certain need inside a full tool box.
Just my opinion of course...
-GG
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