July Thoughts - 2026
What’s really important in terms of how we train?
The science is incomplete.
A study that seeks to show the benefits of strength training with weights will of course lead to the conclusion that maintaining muscle mass and bone density are of paramount importance. Many people die after a fall in their 70s or 80s when a bone breaks and blood loss leads to an immediate death, or even after recovery, the loss in mobility results in a relatively fast decline through the final months or few painful years of life.
No one wants to go down from a broken hip, so we might argue that strength training is the solution. If it protects us from such a common and unpleasant demise, how could we say strength training isn’t the key to it all?
But then, a study seeking to show the power of running and aerobic training will demonstrate that this type of training is protective against various forms of cognitive decline. No one wants to go brain dead. Even if your body continues to work perfectly, if your mind isn’t there, you can’t take advantage of anything physical. So aerobic training sits a tier above strength. It must be the king of physical training, right?
Well, any trainer who is worth even half of what they charge their clients knows that if we can’t get our bodies into a position, we can’t express any sort of power or movement, regardless of our strength, or how well we understand the goal cognitively. So this might lead us to believe the number one thing we need is to stretch, or do ‘mobility’ training.
Unfortunately, science can only tell us how each modality, or each loss of ability, presents itself in terms of statistics. It cannot assign a value to the quality of existence that we maintain over our lifetimes. Even more frustrating, for the average person, these three elements - strength, aerobics/mental capacity, mobility - are only scratching the surface of what our bodies are capable of.
Our bodies are a system of systems, all intertwined and supporting one another. We cannot separate our basic movement capacities, and we must not forget that these capacities permit further abilities like rhythm and elasticity, hand eye coordination, balance and awareness…
This is why more and more I allow myself to simply maintain basic strength in my body and save time for less sexy, or at least less popular, types of movement. I want my body to function as well as possible day in and day out. It’s more important for me to feel good than to be able to show off.
Specification should be temporary. It is the absolutely best way to cultivate a single characteristic, but it also blocks out time from other areas of ourselves that will slowly atrophy over the years if we don’t pay attention. If you’re reading this and you are even past the age of 30, you are no doubt already starting to realize how fast the years can slip by.
How do we manage? What’s the answer?
I don’t pretend to have THE answer. We are all adults here and we realize we are coming into today with a full life behind us. Some of us specialized in different areas, so our needs will differ not only by degree, but in kind as well. Just remember the parts of our body that don’t get used will decay. Neglect them long enough and they will be gone forever - unrecoverable.
The only hard stance I’ll take is that we need to pay attention. We must move with intention. If you are running, you should be paying attention to how your feet strike the ground, acknowledging your posture, and keeping your breath under control. Strength training should be done with precision and you should move how you intend to, not how the exercise or weight forces you to. This list could go on endlessly, but hopefully at least this point is clear.
Cultivate a variety of characteristics. Dig deep into what you train with focus and detail. Learn the movements and connect with your body. Regardless of what you choose to do, take this intense focus and presence into your practice and you will be treating your body with the care and respect it deserves.