Thread Movement answers "Does exercise have to be challenging to be beneficial?"

Proem:

"Challenging"

Why does an exercise have to be challenging for the client to benefit?

Brushing your teeth isn't hard

But it yield benefits

Everybody is trying to get on the next level

But working out is not a video game

There are real consequences

To pushing it.

The bigger

The stronger

The faster

Needs to be challenged

Let's just get it in

Feel good

Feel clean

Be renewed

And mobile

Goals are great 

But the ultimate goal is

To keep it moving

Prose:

Just because an exercise is easy, doesn’t mean it hasn’t any value. We are so conditioned to apply the “harder, faster, stronger” motto to our physical training and while there’s room for that approach, it doesn’t have to be your only approach. The goal is a healthy, resilient body. Unless you are training for something beyond that specific goal (athletic performance, endurance racing, or professional dancing) you may be punishing yourself for no reason if you eliminate everything “easy” from your fitness repertoire.

You can do a workout that isn’t challenging and still have benefits. Just because something is physically easy doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done. Cleaning your room is easy and still benefits you. (i.e. you know where things are, you know how things work, things are easier to get to, etc.)

1.     The value of easy for maintenance- if you include moves you consider easy, you will be more enabled to maintain a consistent exercise pattern which is by far the biggest predictor of success in training.

2.     “Easy” might mean enjoyable- make sure you aren’t cutting out exercises because you believe in the no-pain/no-gain theory. You may be eliminating things your body enjoys and would benefit progress in other areas of training.

3.     Breaking down things so they are “easy” allows for better focus and less frustration in the learning process. (See the post on agility to see how this applies to the simple two-step.) Doing this can actually shorten your learning curve in the long run

4.     If you allow some easy in your workout you build positive associations with exercise which makes you more inclined to do it consistently and provides less drain on your will-power so that when you are tired, or stressed you may consider turning to exercise to recharge your battery.

5.     Easy is healthy for the body- you reduce the potential risk of injury when you don’t tax your body every minute of your workout. It allows for active recovery. Incorporating some easy moves means your training session doesn’t continually tax your system into fatigue and set you up for a higher likelihood of injury.

6.     Easy is actually good for your nervous system- data to back this up

What could easy look like in your workout:

Thread footwork

Thread mods- standing and groundwork

Flow

Light/easy weight on reps