Strength and Conditioning vs. Fitness Fads

I have two Strength & Health magazines from the 1930’s. You may have seen them, they’re hanging in the bathroom at the gym. While there are some silly headlines like “Cigarettes, do they give you a lift?” There’s equally, if not more, headlines that hold up to what we know today. “Facts in Progressive Training,” reads like an intro to a strength and conditioning textbook. My favorite part, however, lies on the back cover. It’s an advertisement from York Barbell Company. 

The advertisement claims: The strongest men, the best built men of EVERY nation are barbell and dumbbell built. Underneath the headline it reads, “The barbell and dumbbell system of training by graduated, progressive methods are the accepted methods of building real strength and muscle, the world over. 

That advertisement was published in 1935. Since then, at least, we’ve known that the strength and conditioning principles work. Barbells and dumbbells, when following a progressive, thoughtful program  will make you strong, promote healthy muscle growth and stave off injuries. Why is then, each and every year we have to create another “thing” to get us fit? 

We’ve created so many fads. Step aerobics, Orange Theory, F45, P90X, Insanity, Six Minute Abs, TotalGym, Peloton, and The Mirror are just the first ones that come to mind. We’ve known strength and conditioning works. Period. Why do we keep trying to reinvent the wheel? Purely for novelty. To keep our minds engaged and hope that we can distract ourselves all the way to achieving our goals. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there is no shortcut. The sooner we all realize there isn’t an easy way or that the next flashy thing isn’t better than an old rusty barbell, the healthier, more fit and happier we’ll all be. All you need to do is look at the obesity and health statistics of the country to know we’re doing it wrong. We can do better and in order to do that, we need to do what’s always has worked (and always will), classic strength and conditioning.

Justin Miner

@justinminergain