Choose a Path...Or Make your own?...

So what do you do?

Corssfit?

Bodybuilding?

Powerlifting?

It’s one of the first questions you get asked when the topic of training routines come up, the need to categorize your workout into a particular breed of athlete or competitor. First lets go through and allow me to give you some pros and cons on each.

Crossfit:

The hottest new trend to hit the fitness world, mainly used and endorsed  UFC, and mixed martial artist, this combines aspects of lifting, running, swimming, biking, sprinting, powerlifting, pretty much you name it, probably was on some crosfit agenda somewhere. It’s a combination of all different types of endurance, and can be extremely effective in creating a more athletic and conditioned person.

Pros- Great for conditioning, applies to functional daily activities ( it will carry over into your daily life), super popular, and has a growing fan base.

Cons- Many times a cross fit workout has no set goal, its simply a laundry list of excersises and conditioning circuits without proper alignment of exercises to ensure you don’t get injured, or over train. ( This is a major con). Crossfit is basically saying get ready for anything, however if you dont specifically set a routine up and consistently train it, how can you make or measure long term progress?

Bodybuilding-

Classic bodybuilders such as Lou Ferigno, Arnold, and Frank Zane, have been synonymous with "bodybuilding". Its simply the "art" of being aesthetically pleasing. Training the body to create a perfect portrayal of the human body. Very common type of style of training with younger college aged men and women. Requisites for bodybuilding require big biceps, shredded abs, and small waist. The true measure of success in this type of training is appearance and physique, bringing the body to new levels of muscularity and leanness.

Pros- Bodybuilders are extremely dedicated and meticulous, it teaches discipline, and hard work. Most bodybuilders have a sound diet, and train very specifically to reach an eventual goal.
Cons- You must be willing to make sacrifices, each piece of food put into your mouth must be weighed and examined to ensure that its in your "macros" for the day. You must be willing to do long (in my opinion "painfully" slow steady state cardio") to reach the level of leanness required to be a body builder, typically below 7%.


Powerlifting

This is pretty strait forward; it’s the basic act of lifting, pushing, or squatting weight for competition. Power lifting meets usually require you to enter a weight class, and you compete with other people to assess the strength of each competitor.

Pros- A clear goal is set, you are constantly trying to break through training plateaus and increase your strength. You must train with a purpose to ensure that you are on track and progress with proper care and timing.

Cons- Depending on your weight class, you may have to eat...a lot....and this could add a few inches to the waist line. The big difference in bodybuilding and powerlifting is that strength competitions are not worried about how their abs look from this angle, or under that lighting, they are reaching for one thing, breaking PR's.

All this information, what to choose.....the best part...YOU DONT HAVE TO!
Don’t get caught up in a specific breed of training, incorporate all different aspects of fitness into your routine.
(if you get nothing else out of this article...get this)
The main factor in a successful training program is not if you can define it as a specific type, its if you are improving and have set goals that you are reaching.

A-lev
(Next post i will go into more detail on how I incorporate aspects of these training types into my routine and how they help reach my fitness goals)