Inclusion > Optimization
Inclusion over optimisation
Like many other trainers, I enjoy spending too much time arguing about the semantics of program design online. It’s so easy to get buried in the weeds about optimal nutrition protocols, timing, when to train, where to train, what to do, how to do it, why to do it, etc etc etc. That’s all well and good, but we often forget one pretty important point…
Most people don’t even train.
Most trainers will agree that the most optimal plan of action is the one you can stick to for a long period of time. To fully succeed at any goal in the gym, you have to spend years at it, adherence is king. With that in mind, the specifics don’t really matter so long as you’re in the gym working hard. If you’ve committed for a while, sure you can make adjustments to optimise.
All that being said, we personal trainers and fitness professionals should move the conversation away from optimisation and towards inclusion. 20-25% of adults meet the minimum activity guidelines for both cardiovascular and resistance training.
Our energies should be spent on destigmatising fitness culture and removing barriers to participation in exercise.
With that in mind, here are the most common barriers to participation and how we may remove them
1. Time commitment
2. Fear of injury
3. Fear of exclusion, self consciousness
Time
A lack of time is the most common barrier to participation we hear from people who don’t participate in regular exercise. There are a few things we can do, the first is to disseminate best practices about the minimum effective dose of training.
Exercise for novice trainees follows a dose-response curve, literally anything is better than nothing. One set, one minute, once per week, whatever you can do will yield positive adaptations over time, and it’s a hell of a lot more than doing nothing. Not only this, but only doing what you can will help sow the seeds of habit that are key to long term commitment to a healthier lifestyle.
The second time based barrier to participation is the inclusion of lengthy, time-wasting activities. I’m a huge proponent for short, simple warm up strategies that save time and energy. An effective warm up can be visualised using the RAMP protocol, where an ideal warm up Raises body temperature, Activates muscles to be trained, Mobilises relevant joints, and Potentiates motor units involved in the movement pattern. This might sound complicated, but it boils down to increasing your preparedness to do work in the short term, and can also be achieved by doing low intensity repetitions of the movements to be performed. For example when I go to squat, I just need to squat with an empty bar for a few reps to raise my body temperature, get my quads, erectors, glutes “activated”, mobilise my knees, hips, and spine, and potentiate knee and hip flexion.
Another time killer in the gym that needs to die is stretching. It does not improve performance or mitigate injury risk, it’s net neutral at best and net negative for performance at worst. Similar to the RAMP protocol, if you want to stretch for increased flexibility/ mobility, just lift weights. You’re still bringing muscles and joints to end range, but you also get the additional benefit of strength training. Bit of a no brainer to me?
Fear
Let me be clear, resistance training is very, very safe.
Competitive powerlifters can expect to face 2-4 acute injuries per 1000 hours of training over the course of their career. Compare that to around 40 - 60 acute injuries per 1000 hours of training faced by athletes participating in popular team sports like Gaelic football and rugby. In the gym you typically move in one plane of motion at low velocity with self selected loads - a recipe for a safe time indeed. In fact resistance training is so safe, that 99% of calls to the emergency room with regards to resistance training come from slips, trips and falls. If safety is a concern in the gym, watch where you’re going and clean up after yourself.
The biggest fear factor I hear from people in and out of the gym, is the misconception of lifting technique and injury risk. Human movement does not comply with our own arbitrary standards of good movement. The body will adapt to the stress placed upon it so long as it is prepared for it. In this vein, the vast majority of injuries in physical activity are a result of poor fatigue and load management. Lifting more than what you’re capable of, doing too much too soon, not recovering properly will all lead to a decrease in preparedness and a subsequent increase in injury risk if you’re not careful. Preparedness can be thought of as an acute measure of your ability to express your fitness, your ability to do a task. It depends on a host of acute and chronic factors both in and out of our control, including training history, sleep, nutrition, and genetics. In order to reduce your injury risk as much as possible, just don’t train like a dick.
Compare all of this this to the near guarantee of cardiovascular, metabolic, and musculoskeletal issues faced by those who choose a sedentary, inactive lifestyle. Heart disease remains the biggest killer in developed nations, metabolic syndrome severely decrease the quality of life and life expectancy of affected individuals, and as the Irish population gets older and older, the prevalence of debilitating musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis and osteoporosis erodes physical independence and mental health.
If you think the cost of action is steep, think about the cost of inaction.
Contempt
While many of us know the gym to be a very welcoming, social environment, it’s still widely regarded as an intimidating social minefield. Anecdotally I’ve known many people to avoid the gym, or even avoid starting on their fitness journey over self consciousness and the judgement of others.
How can we reduce this barrier to participation?
Trainees starting out are often concerned with looking silly, like they haven’t a clue what to do. I’m sure we’ve all been there at some point. What could help this is to consider that most people in the gym are far too self obsessed and concerned with what they’re doing to even notice you. Even with that, starting off on your health and fitness journey is so much more important than the opinions of naysayers. I would not consider the opinion of someone who judges you for trying to better yourself.
Enlisting the help of trainers in the gym, or your own coach will expedite the initial learning curve immeasurably. We’re very lucky in Ireland to have such a stacked roster of experienced online coaches who can help you reach any goal you may have. Although it can be costly, the amount of time and energy it will save you is staggering. It could easily be the difference in you reaching your goals or not.
In my mind, a significant responsibility rests on the shoulders of experienced trainees. Most of us should remember how daunting it can feel starting off, to stick out like a sore thumb in your brand new gym gear you got for Christmas with your towel and industrial size water bottle. We should use the experience and perspective we have garnered to make the gym a more welcoming place for beginners, and those who traditionally feel ostracised from the gym environment. The gym is for every gender, shape, age, size, background, and ability. We should all recognise and appreciate the bravery it takes to be vulnerable and set out on the path of self improvement. Try not to be weird, try not to give unsolicited advice, don’t be judgemental, don’t laugh at people or record them. Simply put, don’t be a dick.
It should be noted that the gym may not be for everyone. There are plenty of forms of exercise, something for everyone. We’re so lucky today to have access to a huge range of individual and team sports, different modes of resistance training, and an infinite library of like minded practitioners across the internet. Know that if you feel like the gym isn’t for you, that’s ok, there are plenty more options out there.