LONGER, FASTER, STRONGER
The 70s ushered in exercise for the masses. In the 80s came Just Do It. The 90s saw distance over impact, and the Aughts brought us the opposite with HIIT. So, what IS the best way to get in and stay in shape?
While fitness trends come and go, the desire to get in and stay in shape has remained the same throughout the years. Everyone is looking for a definitive answer to this age-old question, yet the answer seems to change every decade or so. So, what is the best way to get in and stay in shape? The answer is and always will be about finding that ideal balance of eating healthy and exercising. While eating healthy has had its own transformations (remember the pasta diets of the 70s and the dressing-laden salads of the 80s?), the physical fitness aspect of your health has and should incorporate all of the approaches listed.
Over the last several decades, exercise has taken on some interesting trends with each decade emphasizing its own unique aspect. The idea of fitness, outside of professional athletes, really came to fruition in the 70s when Frank Shorter became the first American in 64 years to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Suddenly, there was a boom in distance running among the general public. That decade really introduced the idea that fitness was a lifestyle and, if you pushed yourself hard enough, you could achieve all your wellness goals. This theme was exemplified in the movie Rocky, released in 1976, where an ordinary everyman transformed himself into an athletic hero of the greatest proportions through nothing more than sheer willpower (and snow-running, which weirdly never caught on). With the everyman/woman-as-potential-world-beater theme properly established, the 80s exploded with fitness trends. The decade became known as the “Just Do It” decade, a slogan coined by Nike. It was ushered in with the help of Jane Fonda, aerobics, and some unique and addictive fashion styles consisting of leotards, headbands, shiny leggings, and, of course, Nike and New Balance shoes and apparel. Celebrities became fitness spokespeople and movies like Flashdance reflected the times where the goal was to elevate one’s heart rate through cardio routines in order to lose weight.
Muscle wasn’t something many people thought about in the 80s as we doused our salads with 650 calories of dressing and ate rice and pasta with abandon. The Olivia Newton-John song “Let’s Get Physical” was our theme and we all wanted to “hear your body talk.” Those who weren’t into physicality were left on the outside looking in. Working out in groups or in classes became popular and if you couldn’t make it to class there were thousands of videos you could work out with at home through the magic of the new VHS and Betamax players. The premise was to work out, lose weight, and look your absolute best.
After realizing the jumping, landing, hopping, and jerking caused injuries, the 90s took a more pragmatic turn and slowed it down a bit with more controlled movements and muscle building. Step-aerobics was developed out of the need to strengthen the muscles supporting the knee in order to avoid knee injuries from the constant jumping up and down of aerobics. This became known as the body sculpting era, with cross-trainers making their first appearance in the late 80s. The 90s became a decade that emphasized strength and spot training with Suzanne Somers pushing the Thigh Master and Chuck Norris and Christie Brinkley promoting Total Gym (which was actually developed in 1974). Fitness became even more of a business with TV and radio commercials urging you to set up your own gym to work out in the comfort of your home. This equipment was designed to work and strengthen certain areas of the body and to take the place of the gyms that had begun dotting the countryside.
In contrast, today we have revisited the quick and intense bursts of exercise that became popular in the 80s, except we’re reducing the amount of time we’re doing our high impact training. Known as HIIT, or High-Intensity Interval Training, this style of exercise is used to get your heart rate up and keep it up, which in turn burns more fat in less time. Scientifically, this has been proven to cause EPOCH, or Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption, where your body craves more oxygen for hours after the workout. That’s why this method burns more fat and calories than the aerobics of the 80s. So, while this may be an effective way of losing weight, is it the best way to get in and stay in shape?
The age of technology has begun to play a significant role in our attempts to get into shape and stay that way. While the irony is not lost that our incredible technology has created a more sedentary lifestyle, there has also been a tremendous growth in health and fitness awareness, with an 87% increase in awareness of wellness tools, in fact.
In examining what is best for your own case, first realize that health and fitness has become one of the biggest businesses in the world, and, in any business, there are going to be many offerings — some of them applicable to you and others not as much.
The truth is, you have to look inside yourself, which means you have to look at yourself as an individual and not as a member of the masses. You can’t come to the correct conclusion about what’s right for you using a generalized concept that applies to the population in general. That is why some people aren’t successful in their goals. There is no single formula of exercise that is going to be successful when it comes to all body types. That means that in order to get in shape and stay that way you’ll need to figure out for yourself what it is that you can successfully make a part of your lifestyle or daily routine and then stick with it.
In order to do that, you need to educate yourself about your own body in relation to nutrition, heart rate, strength, and healing to discover what is best for you and what your own limits are. If you are overweight or have knee issues, then aerobics or HIIT isn’t going to be effective for you. If you have back issues, CrossFit might not be a great idea. In fact, injuries are the main deterrent when it comes to reaching one’s fitness goals. Eventually, we get frustrated and give up. If you’re not motivated or you feel pain, you are going to find excuses for not getting out there and doing it (“Just Don’t Do It”).
Society as a whole needs to come up with a new definition of fitness, one that involves the mind as well as the body. No matter what you decide to do, there are two things to always keep in mind; one is to prepare your body and the other is to train or retrain your mind. Since most of your weight is supported by your lower body, take the time to strengthen that area, especially the muscles in your legs, so that it will take the strain off your knees and prevent the most common and debilitating injuries. Secondly, the mind plays an essential role in how successful you are in your workouts. Retraining the mind or tricking it into thinking “I can do this, no big deal” is going to get you out there every time. Exercise doesn’t have to be painful or an annoyance. Find something you enjoy doing, become passionate about it, and do it often. That is what is going to get you in shape and keep you in shape for the rest of your life. It doesn’t matter whether it is longer, faster, or stronger. Whatever it takes to keep you motivated and actively working out is what you should concentrate on and stick with. As Russell Crowe once said in the movie Acres of Diamonds: “Your diamonds are not in far distant mountains or in yonder seas; they are in your own backyard, if you but dig for them.” The answer to how to get in and stay in shape has always been there and lies within each one of us individually. You just need to dig for it.
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