Exile on Exercise Choreography
About three years ago, the stars aligned and I had the good fortune of experiencing The Rolling Stones live in concert for the first time. Baked into the overall feeling of excitement, a layer of skepticism was discerned before the show started. Would the iconic idea of The Stones mirror their current reality? Could the expectations of over 80,000 people at Giants (MetLife) Stadium be satisfied by a band of septuagenarians? Are rock gods mortal?
Needless to say, the show transcended any preconceptions. Their vibration opened a portal through time and space. Mick Jagger was 25 years old if you only allowed yourself to the possibility. Song selection was one of the many ingredients comprising the witches brew that cast this spell. Here is the setlist along with the year each song was released from that evening, 08/01/2019:
Street Fighting Man ‘68
Let’s Spend the Night Together ‘67
Tumbling Dice ‘72
She’s a Rainbow ‘67
You Can’t Always Get What You Want ‘69
Sweet Virginia ‘72
Dead Flowers ‘71
Sympathy for the Devil ‘68
Honky Tonk Women ‘69
Slipping Away ‘89
Before They Make Me Run ‘78
Miss You ‘78
Paint It Black ‘66
Midnight Rambler ‘69
Start Me Up ‘81
Jumpin’ Jack Flash ‘68
Brown Sugar ‘71
Gimme Shelter ‘69
(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction ’65
The Rolling Stones formed in 1962, they have released 25 studio albums and recorded 422 songs. On average they have been performing the above anthems for over 50 years. Yet each note was felt to come from a place of novelty rather than rote memorization. As if the artists were seeing their work for the first time, under a different light.
“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”
— Marcel Proust
Taking a turn now off of the stage and into the gym; what lessons can be gleaned from playing the classics? A foundation in the basics is paramount towards attaining a level of mastery. We have to earn the right to experiment with new material and even then it has to stay true to its roots. The structural design of the body determines how it will function. Through practice we can discover that certain exercises are fundamental to our physical blueprint; a sort of weight lifting best-of album. Exercise selection alone will not determine adaptation but can tilt the outcome in a particular direction. The following list will lean towards increases to strength and/or hypertrophy (muscle growth). A mechanical synergy for efficient force production is created under optimal settings. These are of course subjective tracks under the working title, ‘The 8 Tentacles of Resistance Training’:
Squats — if the gym were a place of worship the squat rack would be its altar, bicep curlers occupying this sacred space; repent and thou shall be saved.
Deadlift — the long femur crowd should feel free to step inside a hex-bar and avoid the bloody shins.
Stiff-Legged Deadlift — contract the glutes from their slumber in the Catskills and cancel the Brazilian butt lift trip to Tijuana.
Bench Press — Monday's.
Row — grip and rip.
Overhead Press — required to perform the Gorilla Press Slam + Running Splash finisher of The Ultimate Warrior.
Lat-Pulldown — because pull-ups are hard.
Trunk Rotation — my inner meathead did a double take on this one as well but hear me out. Virtually every trunk muscle participates at some point in the range of spinal rotation. Also great for cracking linear frames of reference.
The above compilation will traditionally be categorized as compound exercises. Depicted commonly to involve the deliberate motion of two or more joints this definition feels imbalanced by an inherent movement bias. Equanimity requires further description; compound exercises involve the deliberate motion of two or more joints and the stability, both internal and external, of the non-moving segments. Mobility and stability share an inverse relationship. If the number of joints involved becomes superfluous, force output will be down regulated. This can happen both intentionally and unintentionally.
Squatting involves motion of the hip, knee, and ankle in addition to the internal stabilization of the spine. Tension producing capabilities will be reduced if the spine were to become unintentionally flexed (rounded) at any point in the range. Or we could choose more motion intentionally by combining the squat with an overhead press. Knowing that optimal settings for each of these exercises will be sacrificed to perform them concurrently. Depending upon the goal this might be entirely appropriate. But goals based chiefly on the outcome of the motion can take on the form of externally motivated exercise choreography. Potentially binding our ideas of progress to the introduction of more and more movement or new exercises altogether. Where does this road end? With all of us pedaling furiously in a virtual spin class while haphazardly lifting dumbbells? Movement memorization barely scratches the surface of true exercise comprehension.
To be clear, there is no such thing as ‘the best’ exercise(s) without repeatedly asking the questions; for whom and under what circumstances?
Acquiring knowledge of the body can release its more subtle notes. Directing our attention inward can spark a ‘this is that’ mindset. As opposed to ‘this is it’ and moving on to the next best thing. How deep does the squatting rabbit hole go? I’ve been doing them for close to 30 years and there’s still so much to learn. The benefits of ‘changing things up’ are real but we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Numerous variables can be modified to stimulate desired adaptations: sets, reps, weight, volume, range of motion, tempo, rest intervals, intention. The art of training is born from designing exercises to meet the individual needs of the person. Not from requiring people to meet the designs of the exercise.
“Making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity.”
— Charles Mingus
Each body has a unique story to tell, similar to a well constructed album when the pieces come together. I prefer pushing play and allowing the time to listen from open to close. Maybe place it on the shelf for a bit before coming back around to it. Did the music change or was it something in us? The ineffable is missed when we skip around from track to track seeking out our new favorite. And if things start to feel repetitive, well you can’t always get what you want but there’s always a digitally remastered version just around the corner. Whatever that means.