The One Exercise I Would Do...

Categories: Blog May 21, 2017

Have you ever been asked, "If you were on a desert island, what is the one exercise you would do?" I have. If you are like me, your first question might be, "How big is the island?" Or, "What's on the island?" Or, "I am by myself? Do I have a volleyball?"

Maybe the intent of the question could be better conveyed if it were asked like this: What is the one exercise you have to do - the one movement that makes your life better?

Have you ever thought about this? If you could choose just one movement, or exercise, to do for the rest of your life, the one that brings you joy, or the one that you believe to be the most valuable, which exercise would it be?

I know what mine would be, and it probably isn't what you think. For me, given my experience with Original Strength, I believe I would choose walking. WAIT! Not just walking, but walking with a weighted backpack (you might call this rucking). And, I would also have indian clubs, small hammers, or long dowel rods in my hands to load my shoulders as I swing my arms.

You thought I'd say crawling, right?

Here's the deal, we are truly made to walk, and walking is supposed to be the "every day reset" that should keep us STRONG. You'll just have to trust me on that. Anyway, loaded walking is a reflexive strength training bonus - it is a reset but the extra load enables you to become more physically able to conquer life's challenges.

When you wear a "heavy" backpack, gravity and the weight of the pack team up together to pull you backwards. Reflexively, involuntarily, your center muscles fire to keep you upright. If you hold clubs, hammers, rods or whatever in your hands and swing your shoulders while you walk, you are feeding your nervous system more information from the light load in your arms AND you are deliberately using all four of your limbs to walk, keeping your body reflexively tied together; like crawling, but standing up.

Loaded walking, as I've described here, generates reflexive tension and reflexive muscular reactions similar to crawling. Every step is a reset, a strength building/keeping/enhancing reset. It keeps you able to live your life with strength, power, grace and mobility. How? It builds legs like pistons, abs like stone, a heart and lungs that do not tire, a fast, efficient nervous system, and a healthy brain. Who wouldn't want all of that?

It also allows you to get out and see your world. You can walk on different terrains and experience nature. You can take in the beauty all around you; the sights, the sounds, the smells, the feel... And, I know beauty is relative, but to a person who spends all day in a cubicle under artificial light, even skyscrapers and a little glimpse of sky can be breath taking.

Anyway, and again, walking is the one "exercise" we were designed to do every day. It is THE reset. To load it, enhances its results.

This is MY one exercise I would choose because it brings me joy and it allows me to also experience a great deal of other things that give me joy; it keeps me strong and able. This is also the one exercise I make sure I do every day. To be true, I vary how I do it, but I do it every day because it is that important to me. It actually makes up the majority of my strength training.

So that's my one "on a desert, on Mars, in the city, in the country, with a volleyball, in the sand, in the grass, up a mountain, down a valley, with a friend, or alone" exercise. What's yours?

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