Strength training tops the exercise list

Editor's note: Adam Rees is founder of GRIT Gym, a gym based on results, creating a culture and lifestyle of performance, strength, health and freedom. 

Exercise gets thrown around as anything that involves being outside or moving.

Personally, I have a tough time calling gardening, walking, jogging or biking exercise when it's really transportation and recreation.

Are there benefits? Most definitely. Is this the beginning of exercise? Can be. Is it the end? Not even close.

What exercise helps us most?

Humans are naturally extremely good at long steady-state cardio. We need steady-state cardio, just not as much volume as we've been gold.

We are slow and weak — so what do we need more of?

We need strength, tons and tons of strength training. We need weight training appropriate for each individual body and joint at a weight that is appropriate for the individual. Most people who are lifting are lifting far too heavy to even progress.

And if we are so good at maintaining this steady-state pace, what would our bodies do with fat? Would they be more or less efficient with calories moving at a steady pace?

They're already awesome at it, so what kind of training would burn more calories and more fat faster?

Something we are not efficient at.

This is where interval training would come in to play. This is the fastest and best way to burn fat and calories.

We burn calories, and fat, during steady state, too. Just not as fast.

There are plenty of other benefits to steady state cardio, like the thickening of the wall of the heart, in a good way that is. And the effect on the autonomic nervous system that lets you recover faster, sleep better and generally be better able to relax.

The trouble is in the repetitions. We don't need the volume of repeated repetition when we can get all of the benefits from doing this type of training one day a week.

We hold on to our cardiac shape for 30 to 45 days. We hold on to strength for almost one week. And we hold on to speed for three to five days. So strength train at least two days a week, do intervals at least once a week and steady-state cardio once a week.

Strength is the one underlying category that must be incorporated into exercise. It is just not optional. It is the difference maker in the ability to freely experience your life the way you want to live it and it's slowly eroding away as we age unless we consistently work at it.

• Contact Adam Rees at Adam@GritGym.com