This past Saturday, after a morning’s work at Main Line Health and Fitness, I was invited to visit the newly completed fitness center of a nearby university. The facility looked to be about 15,000 square feet of workout space, similar to the third floor of MLH&F, and was filled with equipment. Upon entering, directly to the left were several rows of cardio machines, at the far end, free weights and to the right, weight-stack strength training machines. There were 50-75 students working out. My guess is that there was a ratio of 65-35% females to males. The sun shone brightly filling the room up with radiance. However satisfying the ambiance, there was a harsh, disturbing reality that totally darkened the atmosphere.
The cardio equipment was comprised of mostly elliptical machines and treadmills. Nearly every machine was in use, ONLY by females! At the far end of the room, the free-weight area was, as expected, purely male. And to the right, the weight-stack strength training machines, a complete line of Nautilus “Nitro,” stood empty. It should be understood that the Nautilus “Nitro” line of machines is NOT a “high-end line of equipment.” It is not near the quality of the MedX machines at MLH&F, yet alone the one-of-a-kind MedX Medical Machines that isolate the very vulnerable spinal muscles. However, used properly, these machines will stimulate dramatic results. Not once were these machines put to use by ANY student in the hour visit.
It was a totally segregated arena-girls to one side, boys at the far end, nobody on the other side. That was only one problem-the minor one. The real problem, a total disaster, was the apparent ignorance of every participant.
My critical (cynical?) observation is that the state-of-the-art of fitness in this country is marching steadily backwards. It is as if nobody has learned anything of substance about what type of exercise STIMULATES RESULTS-positive results, valuable to everyone.
Let’s break this down logically and physiologically. My speculation, supported by an on-the-job involvement in fitness of nearly fifty years, is that women for some baffling reason are shackled by myths and misconceptions concerning progressive exercise, and the life-changing value therein. Endless hours are spent on any and all aerobic exercise, often culminating in skeletal related injury BEFORE cardiovascular or weight loss benefits are realized. This is NOT an intended condemnation of aerobics, per se, but of the exorbitant amount of time given to one phase of fitness, which inherently over-stresses one or two major joints of the body- the hips, including the most vulnerable muscles of the body, the muscles that extend the lumbar spine (lower back) and the least efficient joint on the body, the knee.
In the free-weight area, approximately 15-20 young men were picking up barbells, “spotting” each other, and consumed in conversation between sets. Equally remarkable and sadly pathetic was that every male was performing some variation of a bench press. Not a single student was working his lower body and hips, the strongest, most powerful body parts. Why? I will leave that opinion to you. But, I will offer a hint. Lying down on a bench is far EASIER than squatting down or pulling up with a heavy resistance. Weights were being thrown around with such explosion that one could only conclude that these students spend little or no time in physics classes learning the relationship of force and structural integrity. At MLH&F, for 30+ years, we have stated loudly and accurately the obvious. If force produced exceeds structural integrity, injury MUST occur. Young people, both female and male, will ultimately learn the hard way that “joint stress accumulates silently.” What we “get away with” at 20 will haunt us at 40 and throughout the balance of life.
This leads us to the Nautilus machines sitting empty and seemingly labeled with the “scarlet letters”- “No Respect!” Females stuck in aerobics, males opting for free weights, attitudes that are both perplexing and defy common sense. For females, it is the weights (both machines and free weights) that raise metabolism, strengthen bones, firm muscles, (which in turn firms fat) while NOT building large muscles. A generation of young males, bowing to commercial interests, has collectively come to the conclusion that ONLY free weights build muscles, as if the nervous system can actually differentiate the overload placed upon it. Please! Two conflicting sex driven ideologies, BOTH WRONG, which leaves the BEST result-stimulating tool, Nautilus machines, as the “outcast”, of no value.
Unlike the parallel universe described above, the real truth should be obvious to anyone seriously seeking it. In order to get the greatest value (RESULTS) from exercise, the ultimate goal must be to improve functional ability-greater strength, cardiovascular ability and flexibility, safely and efficiently. This can and SHOULD be the result of ONE all-inclusive workout. It has been the signature statement at MLH&F for over thirty years. Using MedX or Nautilus machines, choose 10-14 exercises, starting with the largest muscular structures of the body (hips and thighs), and work down to the smallest. After a “break-in” period of time, your goal is to move quickly from one exercise to the next, working each exercise to the point of momentary muscular failure, the inability to perform another repetition in good form. Though you are moving quickly from one exercise to the next, the movements themselves are performed slowly and smoothly-no jerking the resistance, thus, no injuries. This is the ULTIMATE way to exercise! Training intensely in this manner will build the strength necessary to participate in all of life’s demanding activities. Moving quickly from one machine to the next will take the heart rate up and keep it there; thoroughly working the WHOLE BODY without the impact forces inherent with many aerobic activities. Utilizing MedX or Nautilus, unlike free weights that offer little or no stretching, will greatly increase flexibility and range of motion.
In summary, it is my guess, that somewhere along the line the “culprit” told us that exercise “has to be fun or else we won’t do it”! Someday, the truth will win out (somehow, it always does). Exercise, real exercise that simulates RESULTS is NOT meant to be fun. It is merely the means to the end. The end is your quality of life! Aren’t you worth it?
Post cathartic comment: On the record, there WAS a single female trainee, who teaches law, who DID work hard on the ignored Nautilus circuit. She drew many curious stares from everywhere with her “game face” on, and no-nonsense approach. And on the same record, there was one other undeniable fact: she was the best-built athlete in that room, merely two months after delivering her second baby!
