4 Pillars of Fitness

What are the 4 foundations of overall fitness?

ENDURANCE--STRENGTH--FLEXIBILITY--PROPER NUTRITION

ENDURANCE is the most basic of the first three pillars, holding up strength and flexibility. Any two fitness pillars without the third are an incomplete package.

For example, having Strength and Flexibility without Endurance is like being a firecracker that is impressive for just a second, then pops and fizzles out.

Strength and Endurance without Flexibility is like week-old taffy: it’s strong, and when you pull on it, it doesn’t move much. That’s fine if it’s just candy, but you want your own body to employ a full and complete range of motion.

Endurance and Flexibility without Strength is not usually a problem. I don’t think you can be truly flexible with a high endurance level and yet be basically weak. Exercises that promote endurance and/or flexibility bring density and pliability (and thus strength) to your muscles.

Weight Lifting, the most common exercise method in modern times for people seeking to gain strength, DOES build strength, but does not develop endurance and flexibility. Some weight lifters supplement their weight training with cardio training, usually running. This is better than not supplementing with cardio at all, but there are so many ways to train your entire body for endurance, that if running is your only stamina-training method, then you are missing out.

To proceed with our example, a weight lifter runs twice a week to build endurance, but what about flexibility? Stretching a couple of minutes before and after a run or a workout is hardly the same as dynamic stretching. Now, even if George the weight lifter runs twice a week and stretches 30 minutes after every workout, not only is he missing out on the full range of endurance and flexibility training that bodyweight exercises provide, but he is having to invest an incredible amount of time to develop these three pillars!

Natural exercises that develop all three aspects of conditioning simultaneously make a whole lot more sense, give you a much wider range of flexibility and stamina training, AND save you bundles of time! Not only that, weight lifting in the long run will cause joint problems, something bodyweight exercises have been known to heal--yes, heal. It's fine if you want to supplement your routine with some weight lifting to shape out some muscles, but the wisest way to train by far is to make natural exercises the bedrock of your conditioning.

To skyrocket your strength and endurance, check this out:

The Naked Warrior by Pavel Tsatsouline.

To Skyrocket your Flexibility, you must check out

Extreme Flexibility products by Pavel Tsatsouline.

Obviously, Proper Nutrition, the fourth pillar, is ab-so-lute-ly essential. You are what you eat, and if you feed your body junk, you will not be at your optimal health, plain and simple. It is amazing how many people actually get off their rumpus and exercise (good!) but completely overlook (or just choose to ignore) the need to wean themselves off of junk food and onto natural foods permanently. I mean for life. Natural eating is not a fad diet by any means; it is simply and honestly the healthiest lifestyle you could choose to live. For more in-depth information on how to eat properly, venture on over to my A Common Sense Approach to Eating. page, and give these excellent Natural Diet and Nutrition products a whirl!

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