I S.A.I.D. K.I.S.S.

Exercise physiology has experienced a boom in popularity in the past decade or so, and with the nation's omnipresent obesity epidemic, we're finally getting the respect we deserve as a profession. As I've mentioned before, personal trainers are good for more than just counting reps, and most of us have a well of knowledge that rivals any other profession.

Sometimes, that screws things up.

When you're in possession of that much knowledge, you want to apply all of it, all the time, to show off that you do actually know what you're talking about. Pick up the latest issue of Men's Health and you're bound to see some fitness guru demonstrating barefoot one-legged Yugoslavian kettlebell chops on a balance node to work on improving neuromuscular adaptation, endocrine response, core strength, and sex drive all at the same time.

This is called the hyperextension with  dumbbell scarecrow twist.
I'm not kidding.

I don't think the smart guys over at Men's Health or magazines like it are trying to mess with us by throwing in ridiculous exercise variations like this. They just know if they printed "squat heavy twice a week" every month, people would get bored in a hurry, because the newest stuff must me be the most effective, right? And hey, they're not wrong. To quote Dan John, "Everything works...for about two to six weeks."

Whenever I get off track following the latest fad in fitness, before I take it to heart, I think of two acronyms that never fail to keep me on the right path.

The first is S.A.I.D.

 Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demand.

 In plain English: your body does what you tell it to. If you run for a long time often enough, your body will get better at that. If you lift heavy things off the ground, your body will get better at that too. If you eat Cheetos and look at dirty pictures on the internet all day, your body will adjust to do that as efficiently as possible. 

Here's the thing: each of these goals points in a different direction. Trying to do everything at once is just pulling your body in different directions, so in the end you really end up going nowhere. If you want to get stronger, focus on that. Lift heavy things, eat, recover, and realize that you can practice balancing a barbell on your knee with your eyes closed later. 

The other one is my favorite: K.I.S.S.

Keep It Simple, Stupid.

To get stronger, pick up heavy things.

To get bigger, pick up moderately heavy things a lot.

To get leaner, eat better and keep picking up heavy things. Maybe move around a little more.

To get better at your sport, play your sport a lot.

To eat more Cheetos, buy more Cheetos.

Fundamental movements are fundamental; that one's quoting Mike Boyle. Push, pull, squat, hinge, run, throw, jump, and keep a strong core the whole time. You can reach 90% of your potential just getting better and better at the basics, and that's not just limited to weight training. 

Simplify, and adapt accordingly. 

As always, go forth and lift heavy things.

Justin is a trainer at Lift Fitness and Wellness in Lexington, Kentucky. He lifts stuff. Then, sometimes, he writes blogs, like this one and the one for Lift over at liftfitnessandwellness.blogspot.com