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To Get Fit, You Need to Get Strong

Face it, most of us aren't complete athletes. We lack the strength to make us fit, and we follow cultlike exercise programs. But there is a cure: Listen to renegade coach Mark Rippetoe, grab a barbell, and get back to basics.

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(Photo: AmmentorpDK/Thinkstock)

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believes the is confusing you. Worst of all, they鈥檙e doing it on purpose to nab your cash.

The man doesn鈥檛 have a degree in exercise physiology or a PhD after his name. Instead, the owner of in Texas has more than 35 years of experience training weight lifters and their coaches. In 2009, he cut ties with CrossFit after developing the company鈥檚 barbell program and became the first coach to give up his credential鈥攚hich is why you鈥檝e likely heard his name.

The reason he left is surprisingly simple and immediately appealing: Strength is the core of fitness. Without it, you won鈥檛 be a fast roadie, confident MTBer, or strong skier. The problem with most exercise programs, Rippetoe says, is they鈥檙e cultlike and single-minded. Sure, the community vibe helps keep you training (and a happy customer), but it鈥檚 not going to make you a stronger all-around athlete.

鈥淚f I鈥檓 a yoga instructor, I鈥檒l tell you the most important thing about fitness is flexibility,鈥 Rippetoe says. 鈥淚f I鈥檓 an aerobics instructor, I鈥檒l say it鈥檚 cardio. And if I鈥檓 CrossFit, I鈥檒l say it鈥檚 everything. My position is strength is the basis for all physical interaction in the environment. If you鈥檙e not strong, it doesn鈥檛 matter how conditioned your heart and lungs are if you can鈥檛 get up off the pot.鈥

The way to get strong is simple, Rippetoe says. All it takes is five barbell moves and progressive loading of weight over time. The moves: squats, presses, dead lifts, bench presses, and power cleans. Those exercises will allow the body to move anatomically while making every muscle stronger, even if they鈥檙e the only moves you ever do. 鈥淥ne of my pet peeves with the modern approaches to fitness is they vary exercises,鈥 Rippetoe says. 鈥淭hey confuse the whole concept of training and exercise.鈥澛

Exercise, Rippetoe says, is physical activity. 鈥淲e do it for the effect if produces today.鈥 Training, on the other hand, is a 鈥減rocess of acquiring physical adaptations that satisfy your physical requirements in the future.鈥 It鈥檚 the difference between a daily jogger and someone training for a marathon. The daily jogger has no other goal than feeling good today; the marathoner鈥檚 daily runs are targeted toward performing her best on race day.

鈥淔or most people, exercise is just fine,鈥 Rippetoe says. 鈥淏ut when you decide you want more out of the process, the process must be planned. Each workout becomes important because it fits into the process.鈥

At first, Rippetoe鈥檚 distinctions might seem pedantic. And his list of moves are more powerlifter than 国产吃瓜黑料 athlete, but he鈥檚 on to something. Few of us are complete athletes. We鈥檙e strong on the bike but can鈥檛 do a pushup. Or we鈥檙e the master of the WOD but can鈥檛 run more than a mile. And even fewer of us train for specific events or goals.

That combo, then, is what makes his ideas so compelling. Knowing the difference between training and exercise is the key to staying healthy (making exercise a part of your lifestyle), peaking to perform (training with a purpose), and avoiding the injury-causing and money-wasting fitness fads.

鈥淩ise above the platitudes of the fitness industry,鈥 Rippetoe says. 鈥淭hink about what you want and plan to acquire what you want so you can spend your time and money more efficiently.鈥

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