I was doing my own workout this morning--which I occasionally have time to do these days--and I realized I was bored stiff.  Though I generally disparage it, I sometimes find myself gravitating towards a pretty traditional bodybuilding-style program:  do a set; feel the burn; rest; add some weight; do another set.  A lot of standing around, sauntering to the water-fountain, subtly checking on the state of your pecs in the mirror. It's not the best all-around workout, but it can be good for the fragile ego of a guy like me.

On one particular exercise, I realized I was using a weight that I'd been using on the same movement since my college days back in the early '90's.  Yup, today I was one of those guys.  I pictured myself in forty years, still heaving around the same weights--or maybe less--still returning to the same tired program, trying to hold onto the few extra strands of contractile tissue I'd built as a youth. 

There's nothing wrong with bodybuilding.  I mean, I got into this whole fitness thing because I wanted to look like Stallone in Rambo, so I can hardly cast judgment.  But the kind of training that builds maximal muscle size is very specific, and, I'm coming to realize, not good for much else besides looking a particular way.

Yesterday I talked with Sean Burch, who I mentioned in this space last week, and he had this to say about bodybuilding-style training:

Bodybuilding was one of the first popular fitness methods, but it's a business profession, really.  If you want to become a bodybuilder, great--it's just like becoming a basketball player:  a specific kind of training for a specific context.  But if you want to be functional; if you want to do things in everyday life, that's what fitness is to me.  Most bodybuilders can barely move their arms.  That's their thing, though, and that's great. 

But to use that format with everyone, to say that's the best method for everyone's training, is totally wrong.  Everyone's unique and has their own goals, and for most people, that's being functional and healthy.  Being able to play with your kids when you're 60.  Feeling energized all day.  Being able to do athletic things like run five miles or participate in a mini-triathlon at the drop of a hat.

Burch's point is well-taken.  We're in a weird middle-ground period in this industry right now, somewhere between How To Get Big Guns and How To Live a Long and Healthy Life.  These two approaches aren't the same, Joe Weider, and it's time we, like Mr. Burch, finally acknowledged that.