Less is more

German-American Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe popularized this phrase “Less is more”, which refers to minimalist approach in design.  He is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of modern architecture. How can this striking three words be related in our modern day fitness activity?

Fitness today is booming from people joining competition, tournaments and races – from running marathons, ultra marathons, badminton, tennis, Zumba, cycling, Cross fit, Yoga, swimming, basketball and triathlon. Sometimes, however, athletes lose their focus on the real purpose of why they indulge themselves into sports.

Running is the easiest sport to get in to and is such a big in thing now in Cebu and the whole Philippines. There are 21km half marathons almost every month, full marathons almost 4-5 times a year, and fun runs ranging from 3km, 5km, 10km and 12km happening every weekend. Some runners jump from 3km to 21km in just span of 2 to 3 months, which will do more harm than good. Some even jump to the full  marathon in less than one year. And others even to go to the extent of running an ultramarathon (above 42km to 250km and beyond) almost every month. Sometimes even back-to-back every weekend.

In crossfit, I saw a social media post (not cross fit page) on a newbie girl trying to do 150lbs dead lift. Why dead lift such a heavy weight? Unless you want to become a professional ‘kargador’, there should be specific reasons why you do this kind of movement and it should relate to usual daily activity or a sport you are preparing for. There are a number of crossfit boxes now in Cebu and only a handful are affiliates. Cross fit competition is so popular in the US where one’s endurance is tested to the limit. But sad to say that there is an ongoing debate that it is one of the fastest-growing, injury-prone sports. One should know his or her limits. Crossfit is a workout that fires your metabolism and continues to experience afterburn effect after each workout. By just using your body weight and perfecting the form is already doable on achieving overall fitness and good health. For better and safer crossfit experience, I suggest you drop to a local Crossfit affiliate box in Cebu like The Pintados and Subtero. They may also check out www.crossfit.com for the affiliates listing.

In triathlon there is sprint distance (750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), Olympic distance (1500m swim, 40km bike, 10 km run), half ironman (1900km swim, 90km bike, 21km run) and the full Ironman.  Sometimes, triathletes jump from sprint, Olympic distance and sign up for the 70.3 Half ironman while even signing up in the full Ironman. Joining a full IM is a whole year commitment and not a joke. Then you need deep pockets, the registration alone will leave a big hole in your bank account plus the traveling expenses. I have known some of my friends who are down with injury just weeks and months before the actual race.

Even in Yoga, a lot of injuries are caused by people trying to do head stand so fast and too soon. Being flexible is good because it is an integral part of being fit. On the contrary, joints that are “overly flexible” can create issues of instability and possible injury. An increase in muscular strength surrounding the joint can often improve the stability for those individuals. Just like strengthening muscles with specific exercises, you can improve your flexibility and range of motion.

Most endurance athletes are surprisingly weak. Sure they can finish a marathon, an Ironman, snatch a 200lbs dead lift and bench press or even do a 200 km ultramarathon, but none of this means that they are strong and stable. Maybe they are strong in will and determination. But by simply asking them to perform a one-legged squat, single leg plank or single leg hip lift, more often they can’t do it.

Back to the approach of Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, “Less is more”. The  minimalist approach in fitness is ‘do less and gain more’.  So whatever sport you are in you should start strong, stay strong and finish strong, but always remember why you are doing it in the first place”. Doing more is not the answer in making you stronger, faster and fitter. Doing less of wasting of your energy and minimizing potential injuries like long run, bike, swim, too heavy too soon, and more time spent improving your muscle, muscle recruitment, strength, flexibility, stability and in turn you will be able to move powerfully and efficiently. Remember that Fitness is not about losing weight, or having a 6-pack abs or who finishes first in a race. Fitness is about getting stronger, fitter, and healthier. Its main essence is improving one's quality of life.

Sideline: Good luck to our very own Filipino Xterra pro Joseph Miller, who is now in Albay to compete. Ditto with the Australian Pro Ben Allen. Good luck mates! Congratulations are also in place to Metafit coach Dandy Maturan for finishing first in his 20-25 age group during the first Cebu City Triathlon held last January 25, 2015. The same goes to  Henry Fritz Co and Philip John Canedo for finishing the race.

Today is the last day of Metafit Cebu Fitness boot camp Phase 1, Camp Phase 2 will resume February 16, 2015. Metafit will be opening 10 more spots to those who want to join the biggest fitness boot camp in the country. You can log on to www.alanchoachuy.com for more details.