“Why are you making me do bodyweight squats again? I want to do (insert funky stability ball/unstable/theraband squat exercise here) like that person over there!”

It’s entirely possible that this is something you’ve found yourself saying, at some point – maybe even recently. The truth is, it’s a pretty common question (generally speaking), so we decided that maybe the best way to address it is in a blog.

Perhaps the easiest way to frame it is with a little metaphor – like a modern Grimm’s fairytale, minus all the bloodletting.

Annabelle and William wanted to build a deck. So they went out, and spent top dollar for the best wood, stain, and hardware they could find, measured every piece meticulously (measure twice, cut once!), and spent weeks setting up the outdoor space of their dreams. Finally, on a glorious July 1st… they were finished! Out they walked to their new deck, favorite summertime beverage in hand, and had a seat… only to realize that there was a downward pitch to the ground. They stood up, and as they were walking towards the edge, the opposite side collapsed. William ran over, and just barely managed to catch one of the overhead beams’ supports before it landed on Annabelle, who quickly wedged a spare piece of two-by-four in to keep it upright. They sealed it off so that nobody got themselves hurt using it, and called in “Three Pigs Contracting”. After a quick assessment, they got the bad news – as pretty as everything is, they failed to spend any time, money, or attention on the foundations… so now Three Pigs had to call in “Big Wolf Demolitions” to rip it all down before starting all over, building the foundation properly, and spending three times the money and double the time to do it right.

And this is what happens in fitness all the time. People become focused on the “cool”, “fancy” or “sexy” exercises, forgetting to build the foundations.

At True North, we DO place a high value on you enjoying your training – but it can never be at the expense of both safety and results. So we spend a great deal of time in the early stages of your training focusing on the fundamentals – learning, practicing, and building the basics so that the quality is maintained throughout the program.

So what are these “fundamentals” that we speak of? Well, there are a number of different opinions out there on what constitutes the basics – we’ve chosen to break them down into the following:

  • Hinge
  • Squat
  • Single Leg/Locomotive
  • Press (Vertical and Horizontal)
  • Pull (Vertical and Horizontal)
  • Core (rotation, extension, and carries)

If these sound wordy and unfamiliar… that’s alright. Over the next few months, we’re going to be posting examples of all of these – demonstrating how by focusing on the fundamentals you’re actually on your way to (insert funky stability ball/unstable/theraband squat exercise here) like that person over there!