Is it just a fad?

One of my clients asked a question today that made me think back in time, quite a ways back in time, to when I was studying for my Personal Trainer Certification.  This particular client is always up for a challenge, but when I asked her to do an exercise that she despises, she asked, "I am doing this exercise, WHY?".  Perfectly legitimate question (and it was a perfectly legitimate exercise as well).  However, as I said, it made me think back to one of the first things I learned in my study to become a Fitness Trainer.

What is the purpose of this exercise?  If, as a Trainer, we cannot provide a good answer to that question we shouldn't be asking our client to do the exercise.  But just because an exercise looks or seems a bit odd doesn't mean it's not appropriate.  Beneficial exercises come in all shapes and sizes; compound moves, isolated moves, body weight only exercises, exercises with heavy weight, core exercises, etc. The appropriateness of an exercise is also based on the client's goals.  What may seem silly to one person may be the ultimate goal of another.  So as long as the exercise is safe and is effective in helping that client achieve their goal, it is an appropriate exercise.

But what determines whether something is an ill-conceived fad, or a beneficial type of training?  Again, ask yourself if it is safe and if it is effective in helping you to achieve your goals.   When we look back through time at various exercise fads or trends we will see that those that are downright silly and/or possibly dangerous are going to disappear in a short period of time, never to be seen again except perhaps in an SNL spoof.  Remember any of these?

Prancercise - Prancer WHAT?
And who dresses like that to exercise?

Sauna Suit

Since when is becoming severely dehydrated healthy?

And who can forget the Thighmaster?

They guy who invented this also invented the mood ring.

But seriously, look at some of the "new" trends in exercise.  Body weight training.  Is it really new?  Jack Lalanne was implementing body weight training 60 years ago!  And it has stood the test of time as one of the best ways to train.  It obviously served Jack well, as he lived to the age of 96.  Consider another "new" trend in training.  Kettle bells.  While some people may be adding kettle bell training to their routine for the first time, it is actually one of the oldest forms of strength training.  In the 1700s the kettle bell was used as a weight to measure grains and other goods. However, as the Russian culture views strength as an honorable quality, during festivals and fairs, vendors started swinging and lifting the kettle bells to show their strength, and quickly recognized the health benefits related to this activity.

See a pattern?  Trendy, but useless types of training are going to fall by the wayside while beneficial types of training are going to stand the test of time.  They may be "re-invented" with new and catchy names but the method behind the training remains the same.  So how does metabolic training stack up?  Metabolic training combines proven methods of training with current research.  We take exercise methods that have stood the test of time, such as body weight exercises and compound movements with dumbbells, to push you to reach a state of breathlessness and fatigue which research shows produces the greatest health benefits and the biggest fat burn.