Edna and Joe may have different “sport-specific” goals. She wants to be able to pick up her grand kid and to get up from the floor with no help and no groaning, should she decide to get down there to play with him. She aspires to stand up from a chair spritely, to walk strongly, without fearing of falling and breaking her hip.
Joe’s goal is to be able to sprint with his 100-pound kit, quickly move in and out of different shooting positions, negotiate obstacles without blowing out an ankle or a hamstring, carry a wounded brother-in-arms.
Different as they appear, Edna’s and Joe’s goals rely on the same elements: mobile hips and knees, powerful legs, a stable trunk, a well “knit” body that moves as a unit, rather than a “collection of body parts.” Once these general demands are met, specific skill practice may be needed—the Ranger needs to know how to correctly pick up a wounded comrade—but that becomes a piece of cake once the fundamental movement patterns are there, along with mobility and general strength.
There are many ways to develop these fundamental qualities. For instance, one could take up yoga to get flexible (despite a decided lack of squat type poses), get strong with the powerlifts, and go to a physical therapist to attempt (in vain, unless the PT’s name is Gray Cook) to make everything fire the right way.
Edna might get her arm twisted into yoga, but Joe would just as likely take up interior decorating. In the same vein, Edna would rather join a gun range than a powerlifting gym.
Joe would be game to powerlift. Fortunately, many US military bases in most unfriendly places are equipped with barbells. Unfortunately, combat stress does would not leave much adrenaline for heavy squats. And when he tried it, Joe almost let his team down as he was hobbling at half speed with sore quads on a night mission.
It would not occur to either Edna or Joe to seek out the services of some “movement coach.”
There are other ways, but most of them are just as cumbersome and unrealistic.
Enter the kettlebell. Edna can easily afford one or two and Joe has them in his deployment kit.
The Swing, the Get-Up, and the Goblet Squat are the three most beneficial exercises anyone could do—period. Some might need to add other moves, but they must be planted on the foundation of these three whales.
The Swing fills the hips with power and the back with vigor. The Get-Up makes the shoulders resilient and the abs bulletproof. The Goblet Squat unlocks the hips and puts a spring into one’s step. Muscles appear in all the right places while fat beats retreat.
When done correctly and progressively, these exercises are exceptionally safe. They are beyond safe—they are “antifragile,” to borrow a word from Nassim Taleb.
“Customization” is just a euphemism for “differentiation” in the business world. The only “customization” you need is the size of the bell.
You are the nail; I rend you the hammer.
