Thursday evening I roll out this month’s specialty workshop, Made to Move.
Attendees will be subjected to a rigorous battery of physical challenges to the point of complete muscle & organ failure and — ultimately — physical & emotional collapse.
Kidding. Though that could be fun to watch.
What everyone will get is real, scientifically-valid information on exercise & movement put together in a format that everyone can understand and that everyone (be they a couch potato or seasoned athlete) can use to reach their fitness goals. You’ll learn, in exact detail, what you’ve been told about exercise that’s wrong, how your body expects you to move for health, and the single-greatest thing you can do to make exercise a habit.
Oh, and it’s catered. Register here.
In honor of the occasion I decided to interview Luan Nguyen, Director of Training at Iron Tribe Fitness to get his take on a few key questions. Some of his answers may surprise you.
1. In your opinion, what’s the biggest issue America has when it comes to exercise?
“Exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains ones physical fitness and overall health and wellness. The main issue that I run into far too often is that athletes/general public will choose just one type of exercise, focusing on just one aspect of fitness. While this increases their morale and self-confidence because theyre are sweating and moving and they now have the mindset of “its better than doing nothing,” this leads to detriment in their overall fitness in the long run. We all agree that just beginning to exercise is great! But dont stop there! Learn new sports and be comfortable with being uncomfortable! Workout in a way that challenges ALL of your capacities and not just doing what you are good at or what is comfortable. For the endurance runners – Great, you can run. Now go work on your heavy lifts and become explosive and powerful. Add plyometrics, olympic lifting and sprints into your routine and it will make you a better runner! For the powerlifting athletes – Great, you can lift heavy. Now go add runs, swims, and jumping rope into your routine. Mix in movements such as box jumps, handstand walks, and rope climbs so that you become more agile, flexible and can workout for longer than ’3 sets of 10 reps’ at a time.”
2. What are some of the biggest misconceptions you hear about fitness?
“Women telling me that they do not want to lift heavy because they will gain too much muscle. So they lift a 10lb weight for 100 reps and wonder why they are still weak and flabby after years of doing so. Also, this proves to be non-functional to everyday living. When have we ever needed to lift a light object for multiple, multiple reps to where we feel the need to train that way? I can’t think of any time or example. But hopefully, you can see real quickly how being strong and able to lift heavy can benefit situations such as changing a car tire or moving a couch. And guess what? You can’t build that strength by sticking with the 10lb weights, nor will you be bulky just by doing so. Exercise Science classes should be a mandatory class for ALL college students regardless of their major. Society would be better for it.”
3. If there was ONE thing you’d like to see people change about their exercise regimen, what would that be?
“For the general population, I would want to see a regimen that is broad and inclusive to movements, lifts, time domains, metabolic pathways and skills. In other words, don’t specialize and get comfortable with just one type of exercise. Routine is the enemy.”
4. You’re a CrossFit guy… what makes CrossFit so special?
“Crossfit is special because it does not focus on one idea of fitness. It punishes the specialist and exposes any weaknesses that we have as athletes by measuring and recording the performance of each and every workout. If we are all striving to reach optimal ‘fitness’ we have to first define WHAT IS optimal fitness and identify the components that make up optimal fitness. The results of any program must be tangible, measurable and repeatable. Crossfit’s approach is one that is broad and inclusive, challenging and increasing one’s performance in all capacities. Leave your egos at the door because you win some and you lose some. ‘It is what it is’ with Crossfit. The accountability of the program allows for athletes’ results and fitness levels to be very transparent to their classmates.
5. What do you say to people who claim that CrossFit is dangerous? Exclusive?
“Olympic lifting, running, rowing, and gymnastics are not ‘dangerous’ in the public eye. However, when you put them all together and call it Crossfit, why does it become dangerous all of the sudden? Just like any sport, there are risks and there are ways to prevent and minimize the risk. Learning the techniques in Crossfit are just like learning the techniques at a gymnastics class or a weightlifting class. Crossfit classes are written and designed to train the elite athlete. For someone new to Crossfit, they should properly learn the movements and scale the weight or the volume of each workout and slowly work their way up the the prescribed workout format. Too often, I see egos get in the way and athletes not wanting to scale when in reality, scaling the workout back would have prevented their strained bicep when they tried to do 100 pull ups right out the gate simply because it was in the WOD (workout of the day). This is simply a matter of the athlete’s ego and pride, not the program. This program is infinitely scalable for anyone’s fitness level. Another reason I stand behind the safety of Crossfit is predicated on the fact that there are far fewer external elements that you cannot control. It’s not a contact sport so the worry of collision with another athlete is minimal compared to football, soccer, basketball, and wrestling. Bikers must worry about oncoming traffic. How dangerous is that? According to many resources, the most injury prone sports are recreational basketball, soccer, baseball/softball, and cheerleading. With some understanding, people will see that Crossfit is indeed very safe.”
6. What are your thoughts on fit-at-home programs like Insanity or P90X?
“They are a great tool to get someone started on their fitness journey! The best tool for overall fitness? No. But they do create the momentum needed in the right direction for someone who doesnt have all of the coaching and equipment resources available.”
7. Do you think that “30 minutes of cardio” is sufficient for fitness in today’s world?
“Thirty minutes of cardio alone? No. 30 minutes of constantly varied, funtional movements done at high intensity all while increasing work capacity across broad times and modal domains? Absolutely.”
8. For someone who gets little (or no) physical activity, what’s the best way they could get started?
“At the basic level, I would recommend getting started with a program such as “Couch to 5k.” A step better would be to begin a program such as P90X or Body For Life. Ideally, they join a Crossfit Gym. Finally, they join Iron Tribe Fitness.”
What do you guys think? I value your feedback, and I know Luan will too.
Calm down ladies...
Got more questions for Luan? He can be reached at 205-874-6300 or at luan@irontribefitness.com
Very well thought out and educational answers; and I agree exercise science should be a core class in college. Not that 1 hr Health class but a real exercise science class that focuses on nutrition as well as exercise. Probably should be done in high schools as well.
Great job Luan!!
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