Let's say you're going for a run. 

Let's say, like a lot of people, that's your whole workout program:  you lace on the running shoes, walk out your door, and pound the pavement for 30 minutes or so.  And say you do that 3-6 days a week.

Lots of trainers would stop you right there.  They'd say, "Hey, you moron, you're much better off doing twelve sets of three descending sets with a drop-set 3428-tempo, five compound exercises, making it part of a periodized program and part of this nutritious breakfast!"

Charts and graphs would fly.  Studies would be cited.  Hearty back-slapping would ensue.  Soon you'd be convinced that if you keep doing what you're doing, you will surely end up up a fat, heart-attack prone, penniless slob being fed through a tube while watching reruns of F Troop.

I'm not going to go into all that.  Not because I doubt all the assertions that "there's a better way," but because, well, who am I to tell you not to do something healthy that you find enjoyable?  I'm certainly not going to tell you not to run.  I can tell you about "optimal" till the cows come home, but who am I to confine you to a dusky gym for five hours a week when all you really want to do is hour-long hikes through the woods?

Look, I may want a sports car body:  zippy, peppy, and high-performance.  I might be willing to put it up on the blocks every few weeks, feed it expensive fuel, and take it out on the track several times a week to blow out the gunk.  But most people don't want the hassle.  They don't want to deal with frequent breakdowns and all the attendant fretting.  They want a Honda Civic:  dependable, long-lasting, low-maintenance, decent-looking, high resale value.

My gut feeling is that lots of trainers are out there trying to sell high-performance bodies to people who just want Hondas.

Example:  when I was on vacation a few weeks ago, I did a quick workout session with my almost 70-year old father.  The guy's in great shape.  He's slim, he's mobile, he's athletic.  His posture's good. He's pain-free.  He's even got a touch of new muscle definition going on in his upper body.

But guess what?  He hates gyms.  And in his basement is about 300 pounds of free weight from my high school days that he never touches.  He asks me if he can sell the stuff every time he sees me.  Nostalgically I always say no, and he grins, shakes his head, and says okay, he'll concede the storage space to my clunky and cobweb-covered DP weight set for yet another year.

So how does Dad stay in shape?  He runs two or three miles a day.  He plays tennis.  In the last couple of years he's taken up sculling.  He does these things MODERATELY.  He's never run, or wanted to run, a marathon.  He does his exercise, and goes on with his life.

When I first started this training thing, I'd deluge him with advice:  you've got to train more intensely, you've got to work on your mobility; you've got to weight train, sprint, work agility drills, and blah blah blah.  Partly I did it so he'd think all these certifications were actually teaching me something, but for the most part it was the zealotry of the converted.  I was evangelizing.  His eyes would glaze over and the next time I saw him he'd be back to his old tricks.

Recently I've realized that he's been right all along.  His exercise program is exactly what he needs, and has served him beautifully.  

So this time when I was working with him, I thought, well, what does he need?  What's the minimum exercise prescription I can give him that will yield the biggest gains?

And I figured it out:  he has difficulty with his shoulder mobility, so I had him do wall slides and the traffic cop drill.  He has tight him flexors, so he does reverse lunges, with overhead stretching and/or twisting, as well as floor bridges.  His IT bands are tight, so he does walking crossover stretches.  And he'll do some dynamic calf stretching* and a plank or two for good measure. The whole thing takes him less than five minutes, and he's out the door for his run. 

When he gets back, he does a yoga sun salutation three or four times, coordinating the movements with his breath. 

And that's all.

Now:  if he wanted to look like Brad Pitt, this isn't what I'd have him do.  If he wanted to run in a master's 5k, that's not the program I'd give him.  But it's just right for him.

And if you like to run, and don't have a lot of time or energy for warm-ups, cool-downs or stretching, well, it's just about right for you too.

*This video shows a static calf stretch; pre-workout I suggest doing this and other stretching movements dynamically--moving in and out of the stretched position multiple times, taking just three or four seconds per stretch.