More work out now than ever. But are they healthier for it?

More people are working out than ever before in the history of the world. Surely the world is healthier for it? That depends on whether you define the human body as a unidimensional or single system organism, or if you take a broader perspective.

Based on what is promoted in media (legacy and social), most take a unidimensional perspective.

If you are training for fitness and your cardio-vascular system improves does that mean you are healthier? If you are training to improve body composition and your body fat drops or your muscle mass increases does that mean you are healthy?  Marketing suggests so. Or at least the perception promoted in marketing suggest so.

An alternative perspective

I have a different perspective, one that I appreciate requires broader thinking and may be less acceptable or at least counter to the marketing perspective.   If one system improves however in doing so another system declines or degrades, is the sum a healthier outcome?

For half a century I have felt obliged to include focuse on a system referred to as the neuromuscular system, and in this journey have learnt the value of this system. That in itself may not be a controversial concept; however, I have taken it one step further and coined the term ‘Neuromuscular Optimization’,[1]  [2] complete with scaffolding to explain how to move towards this condition. My perspectives is this system is often the one that pays the price when physical training is engaged for whatever specific purpose, and that when this is degraded this loss needs to be weighed against the gains in other systems before one can determine if the collective outcome is a healthier one.

This requires broader considerations, and a departure from a unidimensional perspective.

The German-American philosopher Herber Marcuse suggests a theory that advance industrial societies of all government structures seek to control and integrate individuals through consumer comfort, technology and mass culture. He referred to is a ‘one-dimensional’ society that is encouraged to use one-dimensional thinking.[3]

If you believe that positive changes in one system of the body in isolation equate being healthier, then perhaps Marcuse’s theory is supported, where he speaks of the loss of ‘negative thinking’ where one might otherwise consider one could or should be.

I believe we can improve all systems concurrently, and in times we cannot, I propose we can avoid damaging other systems whilst still promoting single system improvement. If we are aware of the losses in other systems. And as I said above, it is more often than not the neuromuscular system that pays the price.

Factors to consider in supporting the neuromuscular system

If you have an interest in this broader perspective on health, and specifically protecting the neuro-muscular system, you can consider the following original theories:

1. Neuromuscular Optimization – Reasons behind this theory
2. You can be gaining and losing at the same time – Short \-term gain and long-term loss
3. Dysfunction before you are aware of it – Models of neuromuscular dysfunction
4. Tension producing vs tension reducing – Balance in neuromuscular tension
5. A conspiracy? The suppression of stretching
6. For every pushing movement there needs to be a pulling – Balance in strength training program design
7. Prioritization – A perspective to balance out the training
8. Length, tension, stability and posture – A model of the factors that contribute to joint health and Neuromuscular Optimization
9. The shape in which you load – The importance of technique
10. What does your future look like?

1.Neuromuscular Optimization – Reasons behind this theory

[The following is an abridged extract from the Get Buffed! V book.] [4]

When I set out as a coach in 1980, I thought I would be dealing exclusively with performance enhancement. That expectation quickly changed, first with my own serious injuries and then with the needs of the athletes. It turned out that one of my greatest teachers in understanding how to optimize nerves and muscle function and therefore optimize hypertrophy (a fancy word for making your muscles bigger) and strength was my concurrent focus on injury prevention and rehabilitation.

I concluded that the pathway to optimal hypertrophy, strength and metabolism was through the optimization of the joint and connective tissue health – which in turn determined the nerve firing, blood flow and connective tissue condition.

This optimization relies on the condition of the neuromuscular system in conjunction with the musculoskeletal system.

The following are key lessons that contributed to my forming the Theory of Neuromuscular Optimization:

• There is no line in the sand between injury prevention and performance enhancement
• Injury prevention is performance enhancing
• There is no performance enhancement in the presence of dysfunction of the joint

There is no line in the sand between injury prevention and performance enhancement

… I wrote many times that there’s injury prevention and there’s performance enhancement. Well, I’ve tweaked that a little bit. There is no line between them. If you improve the function of a joint, you are enhancing their performance. If you fail to improve the function of the joint, or you contribute to the dysfunction of the joint, you are decreasing their performance. There is no line in the sand.[5]

Injury prevention is performance enhancing

There isn’t a lot of validity or justification for me in going about performance enhancement stuff or body beautiful stuff in the first instance. Now, a lot of people who don’t want that, that’s their choice. If you have a philosophy to decide, it would be to solve it. So I never seek to improve their athleticism and their fitness, but I’ll tell you what, improving their injury prevention qualities makes them a better athlete. It improves their performance straight away. They have performed better, they have fatigued slower, they have more strength, more power. [6]

Performance enhancement does not require specific performance enhancement training. I suggest it occurs as a result of reducing dysfunction in the so called ‘injury prevention’ training. 

There is no performance enhancement in the presence of dysfunction of the joint

Performance enhancement training can only be performance enhancing when neuromuscular dysfunction has been eliminated, and no new dysfunctions are being created. From my perspective therefore, very little of the strength training being conducted globally is truly performance enhancing, despite the intentions. [7]

[8]

2. You can be gaining and losing at the same time – Short-term gain and long-term loss

It’s difficult to perceive but whilst you are enjoying short term gains, consider whether you are creating long-term losses?

Could you be creating an injury through your training? Even though you are getting bigger, stronger, and leaner and really enjoying it?  Sure can – in fact I usually judge how long the average person has been training for by giving their bodies a quick once over visually – the more advanced the postural ‘flaws’, the longer they have been training!  Sad? Yes, but fairly accurate.[9]

This risk is exacerbated by this conclusion I reached: 

There is a very simple but powerful lesson I have learned from my years of personal and practical application.  The muscle done first is done best…don’t under-estimate its power.  The power is magnified over time.  So, if you don’t see the impact over a few months, don’t panic – at worst it will be obvious over a year or more!  The simple example is the person who does their favorite body part first in the week and first in the workout – every time!  The more this goes on for, the more the imbalance becomes![10]

It’s not impacts that we should be as concerned by in relation to potential injury – rather out training decisions:

Injuries in any sport are an error in training decisions, but in strength training they’re even more an error! [11]

It’s critical you understand the long-term implications of your training decisions. I appreciate that many of you believe you don’t have the knowledge to accurately assess this situation.  You do however have access to my teachings, where I have aimed to provide in a clear and concise manner, information that will educate you to design better programs and make better training decisions. You can learn from my teaching, which has had the benefit of hindsight and long-term observation. [12]

Most injuries are caused by poor decisions including inappropriate matching of training load to the individual at a particular time. In every training session decisions are made that will ultimately cause or prevent injuries. This is where injury prevention should occur – in the training decisions in every-day training, not in a clinical setting. Ideally, the athlete is educated in making optimal decisions. [13]

 I believe that all injuries, or generally speaking, the injuries are created by the decisions we make in training. Which makes it even more evident why physical therapy has limited contribution. Because no matter how good the physical therapy is, if you don’t change the decisions that caused injury in the first place, it’s pretty redundant.[14]

3. Dysfunction before you are aware of it – Models of neuromuscular dysfunction

I produced my first Model of Dysfunction in 2003 [15] [16] [17] [18] and updated it in 2018. [19] [20]

• Dysfunction
• Discomfort
• Pain
• Injury
• Surgery

The risk for you is the first stage, ‘Dysfunction’, because for most it’s happening without you being aware of it:

This can be a lengthy process, depending on the training stimulus and other stresses on the body. What I suggest is that this phase is the phase that occurs over the longest time period, relative to the other four phases.

This phase is the period during which anyone relying on detectable signals (e.g. pain or injury) is at a loss, as there are no obvious signals. There is a downward trend that is measurable, but only if those performing the assessment had the awareness to look for subtle changes. In other words, this is a period of naïve bliss, typically referred to as the ‘short-term’ adaptations, where the initial conclusion is that great things are occurring, because the initial interpretation or adaptation appears positive. [21]

4. Tension producing vs tension reducing – Balance in neuromuscular tension

[The following is an abridged version of a chapter from a book published in 2018.] [22]

I have developed a concept I refer to as Tension producing vs. tension reducing, which is relevant to understand the critical role of stretching. I divide all training into ‘Tension producing’ or ‘Tension reducing’ training.

Tension producing training increases connective tissue (including muscle) tension and reduces connective tissue length.

Tension reducing training decreases connective tissue (including muscle) tension and increases connective tissue length.

Generally speaking, the number of hours of Tension Reducing training needs to match the number of hours of Tension Producing Training. Obviously, this is a generalization, however an excellent guideline. The keys to the real impact of the tension/length outcome are how much the Tension Producing training tightens and shortens the connective tissue, and how effectively the Tension Reducing training softens and lengthens the connective tissue. [23]

5. A conspiracy? The suppression of stretching

I described the reduction in stretching popularity and application as suppression:

 …consider stretching. Before 1995 – again for those old enough to remember – the world of sport and bodybuilding was ambivalent. Do it or don’t do it, no one was too bothered. However, as the consumer interest rose … and the tipping point became apparent, strategies were put in place to dampen the enthusiasm for stretching.

And that is almost too soft. Stretching became vilified, with allegations ranging from you will get injured if you engage in pre-training static stretching, through to one that appeared to be more effective in achieving the goals of those who seek to control your thoughts and actions – it will make you weak.

As a result, a whole generation of athletes and Get Buffed! ™ trainees stopped stretching. [24]

I been speaking about the ‘conspiracy’ against stretching since the late 1990s:

Are these people aiming for this – to potentially make themselves redundant?  Or is there a tendency to reinforce frequent and long-term injury treatment patterns?[25]

It’s a conspiracy! I say this only partly tongue in cheek. I actually don’t believe physical therapists and similar professionals would really like to see zero injuries. After all, what would they do for a living then? [26]

I believe that there is a vested interest in ensuring that you do not stretch.   And if that’s not a conspiracy, I don’t know what is. [27]

Why isn’t flexibility promoted as well as it should be? Why isn’t flexibility done as much as it should be done? Because no one’s worked out how to sell the equipment to it. How many different stretching devices have you seen? You’ve got the Van Damme where you wind yourself out. And you’ve got one other. I’ve seen two or three, but they quickly worked out they weren’t selling. So, what do they do? Who’s promoting you to flexibility? No one because they can’t make any money out of it.[28]

I take a different approach to stretching, one that I have maintained consisantly for five decades: 

Always prioritize flexibility first, because flexibility is the key. Without flexibility, if you don’t have the range, you can’t have the posture. If you don’t have the posture, you can’t have the gait. If you don’t have the gait, you can’t run and perform. It all comes back to your flexibility, your length and tension. That gives you the function. [29]

In my opinion, the most important physical quality for your lifelong health is flexibility. Yet, it’s being socially suppressed. The number one thing that throughout your life you should do is flexibility. When you’re 89, if you maintain your flexibility throughout your life, it’ll be the best thing you ever did. [30]

Let me make this very clear to you. This is the most underrepresented physical quality in the world. This is the most neglected physical quality in the world….[31]

What does flexibility offer?  Optimal flexibility enhances function and length.  Function is the ability to recruit the muscle.  Length is the range of movement available. [32]

6. For every pushing movement there needs to be a pulling – Balance in strength training program design

I shared this message in the late 1990s – it’s simple, yet still ignored:

Balance:  all things being equal, and independent of any specificity demands, the selection of exercises should show balance throughout the body.  For example, for every upper body exercise there would be a lower body exercise.  For every upper body pushing movement, there would be an upper body pulling movement. For every vertical pushing movement there would be a vertical pulling movement.  For every hip dominant exercise there would be a quad dominant exercise.  And so on. [33]

It’s a simple concept and the only accepted confusion could be between a ‘Quad Dominant’ and a ‘Hip Dominant’ exercise, terms I created as part of the ‘Lines of Movement’ theory.

Now, a little additional clarification before I go on. I refer to muscles or workouts that are predominantly anterior thigh as being quad dominant, and those that are predominantly posterior thigh as being hip dominant. The following is a hip dominant routine that balances out the previous quad dominant routine. [34]

As a guide, I categorize a multi-joint lower body exercise as hip dominant if it has a significant degree of trunk flexion (placing the glutes on stretch) e.g. hip break lower bar squat, deadlift.  If it involves a vertical or near-vertical trunk (e.g. lunge, knee-break squat), I categorize it as a quad dominant exercise.

I make this distinction clear and simple from the 1990s:

Any lower body exercise where the trunk remains at or above 45 degrees of flexion, I loosely call a quad dominant exercise e.g. Squat.  Any leg exercise where the trunk is flexed greater than 45 degrees, I loosely call a hip dominant exercise.

 So, a lunge is a quad dominant, and a leg press a quad dominant – the later dependent upon the back support angle, but for all purposes of this working definition, a quad dominant exercise. [35]

7. Prioritization – A perspective to balance out the training

When I arrived in this ‘profession’ the term prioritization described a workout that targeted a specific muscle group. I sought to provide a more in-depth viewpoint on proritiztaion in strength training, how to use it for the better, how to avoid the downsides of it.

 Prioritizing muscle groups in strength training refers to which muscle groups are given or receive priority.  Irrespective of whether you intend to prioritize any muscle groups, prioritization will occur.  This is reflected in a greater effort and a superior adaptation for those muscle groups prioritized. This occurs because greater neural and metabolic reserves are available to those muscle groups prioritized.  It is important to recognize this concept, use it to your benefit, and avoid the downside associated with failure to alter which muscle groups receive prioritization over time.

Key issues in prioritization of muscle groups include:

Prioritization of muscle group

1. By sequence:
2. Within the workout.
3. Within the training week.
4. By volume.

• By load.

1. Load potential.
2. Percentage of maximum load. [36]

 If or when you realize you have created an imbalance through not appreciating the fuller perspective of the impact of prioritization, you can seek to correct it:

When approached to create a training program for an athlete, I listen intently to what the athlete says.  Of equal importance I look at how the athlete presents – their flexibility, tension, muscle balance, and joint control.  I can give them what they verbally request – but preferably after they get ‘their house in order’.  I see no sense on building on shaky foundations. [37]

Injury history/prevention needs: If you give adequate priority to injury prevention, you may find the need to select certain exercises to address any muscle imbalance.  You may find therefore you use a lot more unilateral and DB exercises in the early stages of the program, irrespective of whether they are immediately and apparently specific. [38]

Another strategy I have developed to address imbalances is what I call ‘Reversing and alternating exercise sequence.

So here is what I suggest: start every 12-week cycle with a workout order which is the reverse of what you want in the final stages of the program.  And slowly revert that order during the 3 or 4 stages of the 12-week program, until the final stage is the order you really prefer.  The advantages of doing this include: 

• You give priority training to muscle groups you would normally neglect, and gain added size and strength from doing this.
• You address muscle imbalances and reduce the incidence of injuries.
• You train the smaller muscle groups in isolation; and
• You create extra variety in your training. [39]

8. Length, tension, stability and posture – A model of the factors that contribute to joint health and Neuromuscular Optimization

I have identified the following factors that constitute Neuromuscular Optimization:

• Length
• Tension
• Stability
• Posture

This is what determines joint health: length, tension, stability, and posture. If you fail in any of those four, you’ll never get the end result. Posture puts it all together. [40]

My inclusion of length, tension, stability and posture, and the joint relationship theory I share above, are a great place to start. [41]

This is what determines joint health: length, tension, stability, and posture. If you fail in any of those four, you’ll never get the end result. Posture puts it all together. [42]

9. The shape in which you load – The importance of technique

There is more to the way you lift than you appreciate. I have come to the conclusion that the way you lift shapes your posture.

One of the most common causes of unintentional imbalances is the technique or the way in which a person executes their strength exercises.  This variable is one that I suggest is far more damaging than most appreciate, and far more common. The world appears completely oblivious to this risk factor.

Technique is a variable of transfer and will be discussed further in that context. This discussion as it relates to technique is within the context of understanding the potential collateral damage in the way strength exercises are conducted to avoid creating further imbalances that will lead to increased dysfunction.

The shape in which you load is the shape that you adopt. [43]

I have come to the conclusion after many decades of observation and reflection that….The shape in which you load is the shape which you adopt.

What does this mean? It means that if you take a third person view of your body as you lift and ask yourself – is the shape under which my body is contracting to deal with the load the shape I want to live my life in?…Look at this way – I suggest that just as clay can be heated in a kiln relatively quickly, the forces at play under strength and peak contraction in the body have the same effect. [44]

10. What does your future look like?

I have for a number of decades now expressed my concern about the future for those who train like everyone else.

…there’ll be a separate retirement home for people who’ve lifted weights. There’ll be a separate retirement home for former athletes. And then there’ll be the separate retirement home for former Cross Fitters… [45] [46]

When your children retire, there will be dedicated retirement villages for athletes and former athletes. They will have more lifts, more Zimmerman frames, and they’ll have a ready supply of joint replacements. [47]

What I see now, and this is what I want to talk about, is that there are more injuries being conducted now than in the history of the world. I believe that there will be separate retirement villages for athletes, and there’ll be another one for Cross Fitters. [48] [49] [50]

I strongly suggest you need to consider your future, and decide if this is fate you want also.

Conclusion

The number and percentage of the Western World engaging in working has grown has continues to do so. On the surface this may be seen as positive and the assumption that greater health is being produced. I suggest the injury statistics tell a different story. I encourage you to consider a multi-dimensional approach to reviewing your training, to avoid any future ‘surprises or disappointments. You have a number of things to consider in the points raised above.  We can’t change the world’s trends – but you are in control of your own training decisions.

 

 

References

[1] King, I., 2026, Get Buffed! V – Get Optimally Buffed, Chapter 2 – Neuromuscular Optimization (Book)

[2] King, I., 2026, Get Buffed! V – Get Optimally Buffed, Chapter 7 – Program design for Neuromuscular Optimization (Book)

[3] Marcuse, H., 1964, One-Dimensional Man: Studies in the Ideology of Advanced Industrial Society, 1^st Ed., Beacon Press, USA

[4] King, I., 2026, Get Buffed! V – Get Optimally Buffed, Chapter 2 – Neuromuscular Optimization (Book)

[5] King, I., 2018, Does powerlifting transfer to sport? SWIS Convention Canada, 28 Oct 2018

[6] King, I., 2000, Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Series, (DVD)

[7] King, I., 2018, Ian King’s Guide to Strength Training – Part 3: How to Transfer, Chapter 12 – Strength training variables affecting transfer, p. 147-148

[8] King, I., 2026, Get Buffed! V – Get Optimally Buffed, Chapter 2 – Neuromuscular Optimization (Book)

[9] King, I., 2003, Ask the Master, p. 87

[10] King, I., 2002, Get Buffed! II (book), Ch 1 – Designing the Get Buffed! II Workout, p. 13-14

[11] King, I., 2003, Out of Kilter II – No more back pain , t-mag.com, 31 Oct 2003. (Article)

[12] King, I., 2004, Get Buffed!™ III, p. 10

[13] King, I., 2005, The way of the physical preparation coach – Ch 13: Injury prevention and rehabilitation, (Book), p. 34

[14] King, I., 2016, A coach’s guide to preventing, identifying, managing, and rehabilitating lower back injuries, SWIS Presentation, Canada

[15] King, I., 2003, Out of Kilter – Pt 1: How to Identify and Correct Imbalances, t-mag.com, 3 Oct 2003. (Article)

[16] King, I., 2003, Out of Kilter – Pt 2: No more back pain , t-mag.com, 31 Oct 2003. (Article)

[17] King, I., 2003, Out of Kilter – Pt 3: End needless knee pain, t-mag.com, 28 Nov 2003. (Article)

[18] King, I., 2003, Out of Kilter – Pt 4: Stop shoulder pain cold, t-mag.com, 19 Dec 2003. (Article)

[19] King, I., 2018, Dysfunctional training, 3 May 2018 (Blog)

[20] King, I., 2018, Ian King’s Guide to Strength Training – Part 3: How to Transfer, Chapter 4 – Function vs. dysfunction, p. 23-52

[21] King, I., 2018, Ian King’s Guide to Strength Training – Part 3: How to Transfer, Chapter 4 – Function vs. dysfunction, p. 23-52

[22] King, I., 2018, Ian King’s Guide to Strength Training – Part 3: How to Transfer, Chapter 13 – Implementation strategies, p. 167-176

[23] King, I., 2018, Ian King’s Guide to Strength Training – Part 3: How to Transfer, Chapter 13 – Implementation strategies, p. 167-176

[24] King, I., 2026, Get Buffed! V – Get Optimally Buffed, Foreword (Book)

[25] King, I., 1997, Winning & Losing, p. 26

[26] King, I., 2003, Out of Kilter – Pt 1: How to Identify and Correct Imbalances, t-mag.com, 3 Oct 2003. (Article)

[27] King, I., 2009, Barbells & Bullshit DVD or Audio Series

[28] King, I., 2010, It won’t sell, 8 Oct 2010, YouTube

[29] King, I., 2000, Injury Prevention and Rehabilitation Series (DVD)

[30] King, I., 2010, Barbells and Bullshit – Challenging your thinking, Pt 2of 10 – Current dominant influences on training

[31] King, I., 2011, Flexibility – You can’t do it until we decide, YouTube

[32] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed!™ (Book), p. 111

[33] King, I., 1998, How to write strength training programs (Book)

[34] King, 1999, Limping into October Pt. 2 (now showing as ‘Hardcore Leg Training – Part 2’)
T-mag.com, Fri, Sep 24, 1999

[35] King, I., 2003, Ask the Master, (book), p. 18

[36] King, I., 1998, How to Write Strength Training Programs (book), Prioritizing Muscle Groups, p. 85-86

[37] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed!™ (Book), p. 110

[38] King, I., 1998, How to Write (Book), Exercise selection

[39] King, I., 1999, Get Buffed! (Book), Ch. 15 – What order should I do my exercise in, p. 79

[40] King, I., 2016, A coach’s guide to preventing, identifying, managing, and rehabilitating lower back injuries, SWIS Presentation, Canada

[41] King, I., 2005, The Sacked Back, Part I – Dealing with training related back injuries, t-mag.com, Fri, Feb 04, 2005

[42] King, I., 2016, A coach’s guide to preventing, identifying, managing, and rehabilitating lower back injuries, SWIS Presentation, Canada

[43] King, I., 2018, Ian King’s Guide to Strength Training – Part 3: How to Transfer, Chapter 7 – Unintended imbalances

[44] King, I., 2016, the shape in which you load is the shape that you adopt, 15 July 2016

[45] King, I., 2015, The Stop Injuries in Strength Training Video Series, Pt 10 of 10 – Analyzing muscle balance in strength training programs

[46] King, I., 2018, Zero Tolerance to Injuries Video Series, Pt 10 of 10: Analyzing muscle balance in strength training programs

[47] King, I., 2017, Child to Champion Seminar, Cape Cod MA USA Thu 9 Nov 2017

[48] King, I., 2015, Strength Training and Injury Prevention. 2015 SWIS Conference 13-14 Nov 2015, Toronto ONT Canada

[49] King, I., 2015, The Stop Injuries in Strength Training Video Series, Pt 1 of 10 – Introduction to Injuries in Strength Training

[50] King, I., 2018, Zero Tolerance to Injuries Video Series, Pt 1 of 10: Introduction into injuries in strength training