Exploration: the final category of training
Boldly go where you haven't gone before.
A few weeks ago I introduced the idea of the 4 categories of training (Capacity, Strength, Flexibility, and Exploration) as buckets into which to divide training time, and guideposts we can use to direct training goals and interests.
As a reminder:
Capacity: the ability to do more stuff
Strength: the ability to do harder stuff
Flexibility: the ability to do stuff in greater ranges of motion (ROM)
Exploration: the process trying new or different stuff
Two weeks ago we discussed Capacity: the foundational trait of fitness upon which we can build the remaining skills of Strength, Flexibility, and Exploration. Last week we talked about Strength and Flexibility: intention-specific skills that direct our training.
This week we’re going to talk about Exploration: an approach to training that is more lense than category. I call it a category for ease and consistency, but in reality it is more of a way to look at and interact with training than a training method.
Exploration
Exploration is a much more nebulous and generalized category than Capacity, Strength, and Flexibility. While Strength and Flexibility are the intentional pursuit of definable qualities to be used in a specific activity (or activities), and Capacity is the development of resources to support the pursuit of Strength/Flexibility training, Exploration is, well, exactly what it sounds like: exploring. Non-specific movement done for movement’s sake.
The fitness industry would have you believe that all movement must be done or a purpose: bodily transformation, the obtainment of athletic skills - even exercise to get better at exercising, but the reality is that most people who exercise, especially those newer to the hobby or people who don’t really like exercising (*gasp*), don’t have hyper-specific goals in mind. They just want to move more to feel better, and try different stuff.
One of the most important reasons to exercise is to increase our movement variability: doing different stuff so that it’s not such a shock to our system when we do something different than the limited spectrum of movement in which we engage on a daily basis.
Exploration is exactly that: trying out new and different positions, patterns, and movements. It doesn’t have a set intensity, nor a specific goal. It’s general movement. It can be used in tandem with The Elements of Movement to produce a lot of different types of movement, but it’s not as focused on developing specific qualities as the other categories of training (Capacity, Strength, and Flexibility). That doesn’t mean you can’t develop those qualities while Exploring, it just means they probably won’t be as highly developed since you’re not specifically addressing them.
Exploration is a lens through which to view training. It can be used to discover new ways of moving, or find different ways of viewing well-tread movements.
Put quite simply: Exploration is just trying out different things.
If you liked this series of articles, get in the comments and let me know if you’d like to hear more about this approach to training.