It was some time after Crossfit had began to become popular in late 2007 that I leaned to accept that “beneficial training” would come from being uncomfortable. What do I mean?
I remember my 30 year career in barbell lifts and competitions, made me feel strong until I did my first barbell thrusters with 135lbs, followed by bear-crawls. I thought I was going to die and I felt so humiliated. At the time I could bench 450 pounds, yet could not bear-crawl 50 yards?
The hardest thing for me was to re-engineer my mind with the fact that life does not come in 6 to 12 reps, followed by a trip to the water fountain.
Life is not scripted and neither should be our workouts.
I think the future of functional training will be small indoor pools where colorful weights are thrown to the bottom and the client swims down and then picks up the weights in prescribed order.
I see more jungle gym apparatuses where people can climb and hang. How about smashing things with a 30 pound sludge hammer instead of a tire? Get an old car and let the kids beat it to death.
How about balancing for time on a log in the pool while the trainer sends waves. Now that would be fun!
How about stairs created to crawl up and down while holding odd objects?
How about Crisis Physical Training? Example: Have one hand or leg tied up on the client and have them crawl or try to move something. Those severe disadvantages can build amazing strength, confidence and appreciation for what we got.
Anyhow, that’s just a few of my thoughts.
Doug
