TRAINING
Fitness
Likewise, modern fitness alchemists
are searching for ways to improve their
fitness, but for the most part, unlike
their medieval counterparts, seldom
change their components. They revert
to the familiar, the old earth, air, fire
and water of the gymnasium: push-ups,
weights, machines, and treadmills,
all in the same old proportion, pattern
and order as they have for years.
Time for a re-think, a creative approach,
something inspired and mixed, and
not just the same-old, same-old.
Medieval alchemists believed that everything on
earth was comprised of four elements: earth, air, fire and water
but they also believed that there was a fifth, mysterious element that would transform dross or base metal into gold. This
fifth puzzle piece was known as the quintessential element
and they searched for centuries for the elusive constituent. The
search inspired creativity as these early scientists mixed various
substances in hope of discovering the secret.
10 | whiteoaksclub.com | spring 2016
Coincidentally, the day before I wrote
this piece, a dedicated member of our
club talked to me about changing up his
routine which has been pretty traditional
in content and style. His strategy was
to attend as many different classes as
possible and he asked if I were teaching a Tabata class the following day.
After the early morning class, I asked
if he’d found what he wanted from
the class. His answer was that he had
attended several classes over the past
couple of weeks and found each class
was very different. He’d experienced
a number of different approaches,
techniques and styles that would
allow him to change up his morning
routine, which then, might no longer
be called routine. Now that’s a creative
approach! Good for him for exploring!
Let’s have a look at some simple
but creative approaches to refresh
that same-old fitness routine: