Putting Exercise into Perspective

by Johnny Nguyen

This month FIT is be hosting the Norcal Open weightlifting meet. Lifters of all ages will compete – women and men, beginners and seasoned. If you won’t be participating then I hope you’ll be a spectator, because it will be big.

After the last competitive weightlifting meet hosted at FIT, a friend asked if this isn’t bad for the image of the company, displaying a bunch of people lifting extremely heavy weight to win medals. He had a point. The answer is… maybe. But we feel that weightlifting, running, cycling and most sports represent what FIT stands for: An active lifestyle. It’s not just about weightlifting, but also about any activity that gets people off the couch and moving their bodies. So we try to support athletic events at any chance we get.

In the past, FIT has hosted running and cycling races, competitive events in which many people like you and I participated and gave our physical best. Twice we’ve hosted the annual national Crossfit event, “Fight Gone Bad,” raising thousands and thousands of dollars to benefit prostate cancer research. We will continue to host athletic events of all levels. It is in our company’s DNA, and we’re very proud of it.

But I would like to bring something to the front at this time. The Norcal Open weightlifting meet is a competitive event, and like most athletic competitions, participants will perform physically at, or above, their physical limits. And, just like athletes of any competitive sport, they will assume inherent risks. Soccer, football, tennis, marathons, triathlons and almost every popular sport in America have their share of risk and injuries.

Here is the kicker though: Statistically, Olympic-style weightlifting (which you’ll see at the Norcal Open) has some of the lowest number of injuries per hour of participation – lower than soccer, tennis, running and most other sports into which even most sane people are willing to put their children.

But I am not making a case for Olympic-style weightlifting, or for any other sport, for that matter. I am merely pointing out that the risk of injury goes by degrees: the higher the physical output, the greater the risk. The best way to not get injured is to be a couch potato. But that is not an option for reasons I should not have to mention.

When we take something that is otherwise healthy (e.g. weightlifting, jogging, tennis, dancing, etc.) and turn it into a high-level competitive activity, the risk of injury goes up. It is the nature of being active. (Relevant pop-culture trivia: Dancing with the Stars’ Cristian de la Fuente suffered a torn biceps ligament during a competitive dancing routine while Derek Hough received a neck injury during a dancing rehearsal.)

But we realize that most people workout with us to get healthy and fit, and that is what we are about. We use elements from multiple sports to deliver the health and fitness that people seek. This includes running, jumping, pushing, pulling, throwing and lifting. The typical fitness program – which millions of people have used for decades in commercial gyms – is borrowed from the sport of bodybuilding since the 1950s, as well as from the Iron Sport of the early 20th century, used primarily by circus strongmen and later by strongman competitors and strength athletes. The same stuff once used in circus shows is now endorsed by thousands of medical doctors.

The exercises are the same whether you’re a competitive athlete or a busy CEO who wants to get fit; the difference is in the load and intensity. For example, my client, a petite mother with two children, uses 77 pounds in the clean and jerk to build strength and power and burn calories, while a competitive weightlifter might use 300 pounds to win a first-place medal. This same client of mine runs 3 miles for aerobic fitness, while a marathon runner runs 26.2 miles for personal satisfaction and bragging rights.

The means to get fit are the same as the means to win medals; the difference is in their load and intensity. The next time you watch a sport displaying some of the world’s best athletes, remember that they too were probably using the same exercises you used in your last session to become fit.