Henry David Thoreau wrote in Walden, “Our lives are frittered away by detail… Simplify, simplify.” To which his mentor-friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson, (supposedly) responded, “One ‘simplify’ would have sufficed.”
Einstein (Albert, not Frank 😉) has also been paraphrased as saying that “everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler”.
These brief anecdotes illustrate at least a couple ideas: First, humans tend to overcomplicate. And, second, simplifying is often easier said than done.
The former idea is one that crosses my mind whenever articles like “The 20 Best Leg Exercises of All Time”, “How to Get Bigger Biceps in 13 Quick and Easy Steps”, and “10 Best Ab Exercises for Building Muscle” roll across my news feed. (All are real articles, BTW.)
These types of articles feed on our desire for novelty. But they also distract us from the idea that focusing on a few key movements can produce the results we’re after while also requiring a smaller time commitment and producing more enjoyment throughout the process.
What are those movements? Well, that’s where the “simplifying is easier said than done” part comes in.
On one hand, it’s hard to go wrong with a single, multi-joint exercise from each of the following categories:
- Upper body push (e.g. push-up, military press)
- Upper body pull (e.g. pull-up, row)
- Squat (e.g. goblet squat, back squat)
- Hinge (e.g. deadlift, kettlebell swing)
- Rotation (e.g. get-up, windmill)
- Carry (e.g. farmer, weighted pack)
On the other hand, we could simplify even further by choosing a few exercises that cross multiple categories. For example, a single-kettlebell clean & jerk covers the first five categories above and can be used to improve strength, endurance, and body composition depending on the weight, rep, and rest protocol applied.
Alternatively, get-ups and kettlebell snatches can do the same while also improving shoulder and lower back resilience. In either case, add the occasional ruck (i.e. a hike with a weighted pack), and you’ve covered a lot of bases.
In yet another vein, some exercises produce unexpected “what the hell” effects (i.e. results that don’t initially seem to align with the exercise’s typical outcome) and can be used either independently or as a small part of a larger program to produce various outcomes. Kettlebell swings, get-ups, and sprinting come to mind here, but other options and combinations also certainly exist.
Of course, as Einstein implied, oversimplification has its downsides too. Choosing a single exercise or activity that has little carryover to our goals, performing too few reps with too little weight, or approaching training with a distracted attitude will fail to produce results as much as inconsistency bred from complexity.
So where’s the line?
It’s different for each of us, so I can’t tell you specifically. What I do know is that making effective adjustments to an overly simplified plan is easier than doing so with an overly complicated plan. And since “easier to follow” leads to “consistency” which leads to “progress”, I’ll suggest that “simple” is the best place to start.
Putting it into practice
Consider where you might be overcomplicating some part of your health and fitness routine. (If you’re human, chances are good that you’re doing it somewhere. I know that I am, and I’m the one who wrote this tip!)
Is it with your training? Your nutritional strategy? Sleep? Stress management? The standards you hold for yourself given the other responsibilities in your life?
What’s one thing that you’d be willing to try in an attempt to simplify one of those areas?
Write that down. Seriously, stuff becomes more “real” when we see it instead of just thinking it.
Then implement. It might be effective, or perhaps not. But you’ll learn something either way, and that learning will lead to future progress.
What’s more simple than that?