One thing that has been a constant problem for me over the years is explaining to medical practitioners our methods for helping people to overcome serious injuries and regain their life. The very first thing they say is that there is no scientific research to support your findings. There has been several great books and articles that have explored this topic before (see , et al Research alone is not sufficient to prevent sports injury ) but I have posed this question as it relates more specifically to our training studio based in Melbourne Australia. Even though many of our programs and methods are based on research papers and studies, and we have hundreds of testimonials and even case studies that have proven these to work for a long time (almost 15 years now), we are still looked upon as something of a rogue and not validated due to a lack of medical qualifications. Recently the Google core update on the internet reflects the information on our website in exactly the same way and moved us down the rankings in internet searches that we had previously ranked very well with. Google has a hard time understanding how a particular injury can relate to so many things. It wants to have an algorithm that gives a specialist answer. And unfortunately it is not just Google who thinks like this as this is the thinking applied by most people and is supported by research that also uses this same reasoning. I must make it clear we use scientific research all the time and most of our programs are based upon this, however, it is through practical application that all of our best solutions have been discovered. This article I wish to explain how we currently use research and the danger we place by relying too much on what science has to say.
There are so many exercise choices available to use for improving your health and fitness but which ones are the best to use? It is impossible to give an absolute answer to that question for it depends on so many factors such as age, goal, injury, sport, time and skill to name just a few. Having said that there is certain exercises that personal trainers, strength coaches, and various experts in the health and fitness industry know are the “game changers” and the movements they want their clients to spend the most time doing. To help you understand this we will take a look at 20 of the most common exercises used in most gyms today along with many of our most popular movements and provide each exercise with a rating to help define its position in the hierarchy of importance.
Of all the exercises used in the gym the single cable push is right up the top in our rankings of movements to master. Many people think of this as an exercise to increase strength in the chest and shoulders as it shares the timing of the push-up and bench press exercises. However it is very unique in that it has so many moving parts with multiple joints and muscles all demanding perfect positioning and timing in order to execute the movement effectively. Many of these joints and muscles are also the common weak areas in many people, making it a perfect choice for improving stability, strength, and importantly their movement. This particular exercise is used extensively in our programs for rehabilitation with shoulder and back pain, along with foundation training for older adults wanting to improve quality of movement and strength. But it also is a key component of our training with elite sporting athletes for athletic success as this exercise shares the key attributes needed in running and throwing! This article we are going to explain exactly what this exercise does, how to complete it perfectly, various progressions to use, and most importantly why we rate it so highly. Enjoy.