Effective Training Methods Since the 1970s

Want to see something cool? You see, history gets fuzzy. We forget. When you look back over the last fifty years perspectives have changed a great deal about fitness, but those developing functional strength and capacity haven’t. 

Here’s a brief overview..

1970s – Jazzercise: the fitness community was talking about this high intensity dance party as a method for developing remarkable fitness. The trend exploded based on the main selling point that a single 60-minute sessions could burn up to 800 calories. 

1980s – Aerobics: the focus shifted away from Jazzercise to the Richard Simmons and Jane Fonda’s regimes that promised high heart rates and lots of sweat. The high energy sessions were the first to reach mass appeal on VHS, so men and women could train aerobics in their homes. 

1990s – 8-Minute Abs: While step-aerobics continues the methods that prevailed in the 1980s, marketers unbundled training into well packaged conceptual based programs like the Ab Roller and 8-Minute Abs. After all, everyone wants washboard abs. 

2000s – Spinning/Kickboxing: Enter group training concepts like kickboxing and spinning classes. The good news with these developments is that humans learned quickly that training alone at home is tough and the group dynamic has distinct motivating power. 

2010s – P90X/TRX: Since the 1970s, the center of the bell curve in fitness successfully avoided resistance training. With P90X and TRX training, the fitness work was beginning to go crazy about the power of added resistance. 

There’s one common theme here, however. In any period mentioned above, the folks that were lifting heavy weights 2-4 times per week in basic patterns (squat, hinge, push, pull) would be earning the most remarkable performance improvements. Isn’t it curious that the fad at the center of the bell curve continues to change, but the strongest/most capable men and women are earning this capacity essentially with the same methods since the 1970s. 

See you in the next fifty years!