Should I do this, that or the other thing? Get better fitness results with measurement.

Should I do this, that or the other thing? Get better fitness results with measurement.

The Common Questions…

–          What nutrition should I follow… Vegan? Zone? Paleo? Ketogenic? South Beach? Intermittent fasting?

–          What fitness program should I do? Zumba? Bodybuilding? CrossFit? Bootcamp? Mixed Martial arts?

So Who wants to be fit?

People who want to get fit say their goals are:

–          Weight Loss

–          Get Stronger

–          Look Jacked

–          Tone Up

–          Be Healthy

–          Improve Sports Performance

What are the benefits of fitness?

–          Improved health correlates (blood sugar, blood pressure, resting heart rate, body fat %, etc)

–          weight loss

–          muscle definition

–          getting “jacked”

–          getting stronger

–          improving sports performance

–          increased quality of life

–          longer life

It’s important to know what fitness is if we want to accomplish it. So what is fitness?

–          Fitness is: increased work capacity across broad time and modal domains. It’s measured by the standard for power… (feet(lbs))/s. 555 (ft/lbs))/s is equal to 1 Horsepower.

So we can measure it… How do we improve fitness?

–          By training, by means of any program that improves (ft(lbs))/s across broad time and modal domains.

So what is the goal of training?

–          to improve fitness (once again as defined above)

What is an exercise program?

–          A program that measures it’s quality of effort on heart rate, duration of effort, amount of sweat, being out of breath, or no measurement at all.

Why don’t exercise programs work?

–          They don’t have a goal specific to improving fitness (as defined above … measureable), how can you improve something without defining #1 and #2 without a measurement of it.

What is a training program?

–          Training programs have a measurable goal, have a plan to get to that goal and utilizes the appropriate movements and tools to accomplish that goal.

Why training programs work but don’t work great?

–          Not all training programs are constantly taking feedback on how well they are working, the methods have to continue to improve. Most training programs do not include fitness as it’s primary goal… Ex physique, strength, weight loss. These goals can be attained with programs specifically for those, but results will be limited without advancing the methods and having a varied approach… in short plateau will happen.

What defines a great training program?

–          A great training program has fitness is the goal, there is a plan to achieve fitness(as measurable by means listed above), uses the right movements, includes intensity via technique, is constantly measuring, remeasuring and improving methods via feedback loop.

What seperates it from the rest?

–          A great program is self-perpetuating, never void of growth, constantly vigilant in learning, looks beyond dogma, takes measurement of methods, eliminates other variables… It is training by using the scientific method.

SO why CrossFit Jungle Gym?

–          CrossFit (designed by evidence to improve fitness as defined above most): Constantly varied, functional movements, executed at high intensity.

–          We have measured and learned many programs to accomplish specific goals, we run numerous challenges and measured results, we prescribe based on the individual and their goals, we reevaluate every 3 months sometimes shorter. We are constantly learning. We do science not sweat, not do more, we make efficient use of time towards fitness and we make better gains than anywhere else… because we measure fitness not any other BS.

Your take aways…

–          Should I eat vegan or zone?

o   Be your own experiment for your fitness… or come train with us and we’ll tell you how our experiments went.

–          Bootcamp or Zumba?

o   Be your own experiment for your fitness… but if your instructor looks cross eyed when you ask how you’ll know if you improved your average power output… come on over and we’ll discuss it.

–          Is sweating important to my fitness goals?

o   If you aren’t measuring your fitness as described above, and measuring your sweat output… you’ll never know if more sweat is improving your fitness or not, you can be the first to measure (be sure to let us know how it goes). Or you can book an no sweat intro and discuss your goals with a coach.

–          IF you aren’t measuring your fitness how can you ever decide what is working and what isn’t… looking sexy is not fitness, losing weight is not fitness, running a marathon is not fitness. Having or acquiring those things may be a benefit of fitness however having any of those attributes not necessarily mean you are fit and healthy either…