Do you want to get fitter, taking advantage of the last advances in science?

Do you train with machines? Are you familiar with the word “isolation”? Have you heard about Integrated Training?  What about “Functional Movement”? Are you confused about the way people train?

I have recently found a great article written by Paul Taylor, who is Director of an Australian company that runs certification courses for Personal Trainers, and also expert and passionate about health, fitness and well-being.

Going by this article, I would like to give you:

-        A very simple and brief outlook on some of the last advances in training science

-        Some practical advice that you might use in your routine

• First, let’s have a look at the history of training…

In the 1930’s, much of our understanding of the anatomy came to prominence. We learned the specific actions of each muscle (Biceps do this, Triceps do that, quads are “made” to do this, etc). In the 1950’s, expensive testing was performed as a result of the polio epidemic. At the same time, bodybuilding gained ground, and the bodybuilders used knowledge of anatomy when designing programs. Nowadays, bodybuilding ideas prevail, although the majority of the population does not want to look like bodybuilders. In the 1970’s, resistance training machines were designed to allow people to isolate muscles, and increase the amount of load on these muscles. From then, it was possible to sit down while exercising!

• OK, let’s talk about NOW!

The reality shows that very few bodybuilders are pain-free. Also, it turns out that they are much weaker than traditional strong men who knew very little about anatomy and used integrated and function-based movements to strength and power. Thus, according to modern biomechanists and functional anatomists, the idea is to go back to this way of training!

• So, what is a “functional movement”?

According to Gary Gray (Physiotherapists in the US), along with Dr Tiberio and a team of researchers, the essentials of functional movement are the following:

1) Your workout should be tri-planar, meaning it should include some movement in all 3 planes: frontal (or coronal), sagittal and transverse plane.  

• Movements in the frontal plane are side to side, like Jumping Jacks or Lateral Raises
• Movements in the sagittal plane are forward and backward, a Squat for example
• Movements in the transverse plane are rotational in nature. “Base rotations”, “rotational chops” “and rotational lifts” for example

2) Your training routine should be integrated, meaning that the body should use multiple segments and joints. Forget isolation! (Biceps Curls on a Machine is not an “integrated” movement)

3) Your exercises should be mostly standing-up. Get off seats and benches.

4) Your workout should be proprioceptively enriched (less stable surface, one-legged exercises, exercises with eyes closed for example)

5) It should produce dynamic stabilisation (it refers to exercises that target your core muscles while keeping your trunk steady while you move one or more of your extremities)

6) It should use gravity and momentum to allow the system to function at closer to full potential (We must load = stretch, before we unload = contract). This is where I can introduce the concept of “fascia” developed by Thomas Myer. Fascia is “a type of connective tissue which provides the body with a network that can support, absorb and transfer forces between segments (…) It interacts with the nervous and musculoskeletal system to facilitate the flow of information that helps to load and unload structures within the kinetic chain in the most efficient manner, thereby increasing movement and performance capacity and reducing injury”

To make it simple, the “Integrated” approach aims to train the body in a way that is complementary to its design, to avoid dysfunctions and chronic pain.

So… From now, are you “Integrated” or “Isolated’?

Nathalie

Reference: 

Taylor P, ‘Isolation is Dead; Long Live Integration’, UltraFit Magazine, Issue 112, p. 48