The Assumed Objective Versus The Real Objective In Exercise

The Assumed Objective
Versus
The Real Objective
In Exercise

By Ken Hutchins

In Volume I of The Renaissance of Exercise, I detail the differences between the assumed objective and the real objective in exercise. This distinction is neither intuitive nor automatic. And its grasp by the instructor as well as by the exercise subject is as fundamental to the understanding of exercise as is the mastery of phonics for learning to read and write.

Those of us who can read and write, especially write, just do it—often in a haphazard, sloppy way. We certainly don’t think out the phonics of our actions, never mind the more-immediately-present imperatives of proper grammar, sentence construction, and spelling. The phonics are buried deep in our elementary-school brains—taken completely for granted—assumed. And this assumption is special to the daily function of reading and writing (not so much speech).

More distinctively, the phonics assumption is resident in us after years of practice. It is the successful and intended result of organized conditioning that usually occurs at an early, formative age.

With exercise as well, we observe a basic assumption. And this assumption is not special to exercise. It is not the intended result of organized conditioning, but rather it is the unintended result of disorganized conditioning.

Note the RenEx video and articles on the subject of inroad and inroad theory. In these discussions, inroad theory is contrasted against steady-state philosophy. As you might recall, inroad is a term for momentary fatigue. And the inroad theory indicates the process whereby inroading crosses a threshold to stimulate a muscular growth mechanism.

The real objective in exercise is operational in and exclusive to the inroad theory. The assumed objective is operational in and not exclusive to the steady-state philosophy.

The real objective in exercise is to inroad the momentary strength of the muscle to stimulate a growth mechanism.

Of course, if we find a way to stimulate the growth mechanism without the inroading process, the real objective might become reduced to “stimulate a growth mechanism.” Until that fantasy is fulfilled, however, the real objective includes the process of inroad.

The assumed objective is to effect work volume. In more tangible terms, it is to lift the weights, to keep the machine going, to perform with more repetitions and weight.

Note—very important!—the two objectives are in conflict! To accomplish the real objective, you necessarily obviate the assumed objective. And to accomplish the assumed objective, you necessarily obviate the real objective.

The assumed objective is rather ubiquitous in human activity. It is epitomized by the more-is-better mentality that permeates society on every level and in every domain. It is not just the underpinning of steady-state philosophy and the justification for daily marathon workouts where subjects pace themselves to avoid inroad and seemingly to avoid attaining muscular failure (volume philosophy). It reflects the imbalanced behavior to deliberately overeat food or to starve into anorexia. It reflects supposed superior benefits by overdosing medications. It reflects the mentality to practice piano 16 hours a day to achieve perfection. It reflects many venues of extremism that are too numerous to mention, including the natural inclination to justify recreation as exercise. This is why the assumed objective is also sometimes referred to as “the erroneous objective.”

The assumed objective, i.e., the more-is-better mentality, is practically hardwired into our attitudes, sometimes for the better. It often connotes a kind of diligence and perseverance on some levels in some applications. But it particularly becomes obstructive to learning the correct performance of any particular exercise.

In any exercise it is natural to externalize…to think and to behave to make the exercise equipment do something. Externalization is the incorrect approach to an exercise and is a symptom of the assumed object.

Extremely Important!: The correct approach is to internalize… to think and to behave to make the body perform the proper action. The machine is relegated to merely go along for the ride.

The most serious exigencies of the conflict between the assumed and the real objective occur at momentary muscular failure. It is at this instant when the subject pits his intellect against his instinct. It is at this instant when he grapples with the idea that exercise is not the fun that recreation should be. It is at this instant when his emotional side panics with his erroneous imperative to make movement occur. It is at this instant when his nervous system loses its sense of position and, hence, loses its sense that movement—change of position—might or might not be occurring. It is at this instant when the exercise is most painful, his pulse rate and breathing highest, and calm, controlled, intelligent communication and reasoning is unlikely. The intellect wins very few contests against the instincts! Hence, the distinction between the two objectives must be understood before this instant occurs, not in the heat of the moment!

We expect a subject who does not understand the real objective of the exercise to be difficult, if not impossible, to instruct. We expect him to break form at every opportunity in order to defeat the equipment and, hence, to avoid the inroad stimulation and its benefits. We expect him to lapse into babbling justification to perform more exercises, because he avoids doing the necessarily few in a deeply-enough-inroaded manner. We expect him to be combative and unreceptive to instructions due to his high frustration level—a frustration due to behavior consistent with the assumed objective when applied to the real objective. Like water and oil, the two do not blend.

In contrast, a subject who thoroughly internalizes the real objective often needs a minimum of instruction once taught the exercises. The proficiency of performance often directly reflects the degree of this understanding. This underscores the instructor’s responsibility to properly convey these concepts to his subjects.

In addition to these explanations, I tell subjects, “Bear in mind that proper strength training is the only endeavor that you will do in your life wherein the more proficient you become, the more difficult, not easier, it becomes. And as it becomes more difficult, you must remain emotionally stoical.”

Tagged as: High Intensity Training, Ken Hutchins, Renaissance Exercise, RenEx