« Low-Carb Breakfast Dilemma | Main | Neural Fitness — Is it the missing link? »

March 15, 2010

3 Things You Need To Know For Lasting Body Transformation

In fitness—as in all things—there are certain universal underpinnings that you just can't get around. There really isn't anything new under the sun. But there are ways of absorbing, putting together and teaching these principles that just work.

The problem with most fitness systems, is they only see part of the picture. It's like looking at a beautiful masterpiece with a sheet draped over it. There's only one small hole in the sheet to look through. And that one circle of the painting that's visible becomes the entire painting in the eyes of the beholder.

More progressive systems even manage to cut a few more holes in the sheet, making a slightly more complete picture. But very few manage to rip the sheet right off the painting and see the proverbial big picture.

And if you don't have the whole picture, it's really tough to make lasting changes in performance or body composition. I struggled with that for years. I would make progress and then get stomped back down by injury, overtraining or plateaus.

Luckily, I stumbled across Scott Sonnon and the Circular Strength Training system. Scott's a true searcher. And he managed to scour the physical cultures of many eras and regions, looking for those universal truths that serve as the foundation for good movement, healthy bodies, high performance and beautiful physique.

But over the past two decades it seemed that CST was a lone voice in the wilderness. However as more smart people start to understand, teach and talk about these solid fundamentals, some of the principles are becoming more mainstream.

One guy who does a great job of communicating some of these ideas in very simple terms is a guy named Kareem Samhouri. I first met Kareem in Tampa a couple months ago. When he said he had the 3 essential elements for making serious physique and performance changes, obviously I was skeptical. But when he started talking about it, I was struck by two things.

First, Kareem is passionate about his profession and also extremely knowledgeable. Second, his philosophies overlap solidly with CST! Here's a quick rundown of the three principles in the video below along with their corresponding CST principles...

1. Multi-Planar Motor Learning <-> Very close to the 6 Degrees of Freedom
2. Movement Complexes <-> Similar to CST 6 DoF Circuits
3. Muscle Balancing <-> Echos Prasara Yoga concept of strengthening in the opposite direction.

I urge you to watch the video. It'll give you an interesting perspective on principles that we talk about a lot around here—and in a language that might resonate with you and spark an a-ha moment.
(warning: at the end of this video—by some quasi-magical video voodoo—you'll be transported to Kareem's site to check out his Double Edged Fat Loss program. It's based on the principles he talks about in his videos)

Comments

kurt

those side to side, sumo and rotational push-ups look like they would be great to improving my golf swing and tempo. thanks

Posted by: kurt | March 16, 2010 at 09:43 AM

Dottie

I agree with Kurts comment - great for improving golf swing and tempo.
Thanks for the demo

Posted by: Dottie | March 16, 2010 at 10:18 AM

Dean

Are you sure he isn't a CST coach in disguise?

Posted by: Dean | March 16, 2010 at 10:25 AM

JM

I really enjoyed that. Excellent explanations and demonstrations. Looking forward to more!
Intu-flow, Prasara yoga, Flowfit, etc has changed all aspects of my physical conditioning. One of my recent delights is Floreio.. check out Ido Portal for creative and beautiful ways of moving the body that is accessible to all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4ETfy4SgBU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jheQMjNP2K4

Posted by: JM | March 16, 2010 at 11:42 AM

RICH

I CAN NOT GET THIS NO PICTURE BLACK SCREEN RICH

Posted by: RICH | March 17, 2010 at 08:12 AM

Adam Steer

Rich-You're probably missing the flash plugin for your browser.

Cheers,
Adam

PS-When you write in all caps, it seems like you are yelling... ;)

Posted by: Adam Steer | March 17, 2010 at 08:32 AM

joanna

really wanted to watch this ...but sadly just can't :( it stops about every 15 secs. just can't keep up a download rate. damn. =_(

Posted by: joanna | March 18, 2010 at 05:18 PM

hesbon

it is very nice. keep up

Posted by: hesbon | April 19, 2010 at 04:57 AM

Joliese Tan

video is very nice i got some good tips from this...plz keep posting stuff like this...thanks

Posted by: Joliese Tan | June 06, 2010 at 11:37 PM

The comments to this entry are closed.