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If You’re Moving, You’re Improving
The internet is full of people telling you how to train – and how not to. So much so, in fact, that training can oftentimes seem quite restricted and boring.
It doesn’t have to be.
As long as you’re moving, you’re improving. And with that in mind, there are a billion and one different ways to train.
Should you stay safe? Sure. Are there faster ways to get to the top? Maybe.
But our ancestors stayed strong and healthy without anyone telling them how to move. If we listen to our bodies, they will tell us what stimulus they require.
As long as you’re moving, you’re improving. So don’t let anyone tell you you’re doing it wrong.
Here are just some of the things you don’t HAVE to do.
You Don’t Have to Train in a Gym
Your body is gym enough. Better yet, why not get outside where every fallen tree can be a balance beam or a barbell. Where every ditch is something to jump over. And every rock is something to throw.
You Don’t Have to Squat
Or deadlift. Or curl. Or push up. Or pull up.
There are countless different alternatives for every movement. Instead of forcing yourself into doing what you think you should be doing, do what feels good.
You Don’t Have to Lift Weights
Or run. Or do any kind of training that doesn’t speak to you. Once again, there are plenty more options – whether you prefer rock climbing, calisthenics, swimming, dancing, sports, or some combination of the above.
You Don’t Have to Stick to One Discipline
Specialization can be dull. It can lead to imbalance. Find the perfect mix for you.
You Don’t Have to Follow a Program
Each workout can be unique and offer its own challenges. As long as you occasionally return to similar movement patters, you’ll see compound gains. If you don’t, you’ll gain in entirely different, less visible ways.
You Don’t Have to Lift More Than Your Friend
Or that person on Instagram. There’s no pressure, it’s not a competition, so go at your own pace. You’re probably better than them at other stuff, anyway.
You Don’t Need to Use Perfect Form or Full Range of Motion
There are actually benefits to using partials and short ranges of motion.
And there is no such thing as a bad exercise. You can try to never round your back when picking up a weight, but that sure isn’t how you move in the real world!
And while there is such thing as poor form that can lead to injury, this is mostly only an issue for those moving very heavy weights or doing huge sets. Doing a push up slightly “wrong” isn’t going to end your fitness career.
No one taught you how to walk but, chances are, you’re doing that just fine.
Don’t critique yourself to the point of not having any fun at all. This isn’t school!
You Don’t Have to Train Heavy or Hard At All
Don’t feel like pushing yourself to your limit? That doesn’t mean you can’t train. Lifting light weights, going for a light run… it’s all still beneficial. You don’t always need to destroy yourself!
You Don’t Have to Track Your Progress
Tracking your numbers can be a useful metric for progression. But they don’t tell the whole story, and you should never be a slave to them.
If you’re regularly putting in a decent effort, you will improve. Trust in the process.
You Don’t Have to Progress
That said, you also don’t have to improve. If you’re in okay shape and you’re enjoying what you’re doing… if you’re not getting worse… you’re doing okay!
If your training is invigorating and it helps you to fight the forces of entropy, then it’s more than worthwhile.
But even without trying, you’ll be gaining new skills and building resilience.
Because if you’re moving, you’re improving.
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Wise words
The World is our playground.
I love this article. I’m a physio and in my career I’ve met a lot of people that are afraid to move. The reason being that they might do it wrong and hurt themselves, which ironically they do by being sedentary.
I’ve literally spent 7 sessions convincing a patient to hug his leg while lying on the floor because he was afraid to flex his lower back.
We need more authority figures like you talking about this. Unless you are going to deadlift 200 kg good form is what feels good and works.
Love your content, Adam, I am working on a ready for anything program myself, I am using techniques from different disciplines.