When it comes to exercise, quality is just as important as quantity. However, it seems many people often forget this basic exercise principle. People seemed to be obsessed with: How much? How far? How fast? How Strong?…. instead of… How well? It’s important to understand that in the long-run,“how well?” will ultimately determine those other things and help people reach their goals.
However, when how well is ignored, then plateaus are often reached. This is the point at which many people try to “push more” or “train harder” and it often ends up as a decrease in performance; as well as even a significant injury that sets them way back physically, mental-emotionally, and spiritually. In a fast-paced, got-to-have-it-now world, I have only seen this problem getting worse. People are so distracted all the time, even when they are exercising; and thus are ‘tuned out’ to what is really going on in their bodies.
There is an old-school saying: “Don’t just count reps, make your reps count!”. This is beautifully said, because the more times you exercise with poor movement patterns, the more you are ‘hard-wiring’ a poor motor program into your nervous system. It can take thousands of reps to undo this poor motor program as well. So, instead of getting really good at moving really poorly, a bit more attention to just moving correctly in the first place can go a long way to helping a person stay fit and healthy and achieve their exercise goals.