Excerpt from The Renaissance of Exercise—Volume 2

An Excerpted Section from a Chapter in Ken Hutchin’s Forthcoming The Renaissance of Exercise—Volume 2

Inroad: Beyond the Mechanics

Initially, inroad was a foreign word for me. Ellington’s use of it  threw me at first. Then I saw the perfection of his word choice as the concept it represented was both revealing and perfectly representative of what exercise is about. I am sure that I had not considered the concept before, although I was roughly practicing it and teaching it since the 10th grade.

Inroad was solely from Ellington Darden in the early 1970s. It was not a word Arthur Jones used. And now I wonder why since inroad is the perfect way to explain exercise. And the charts I share in Music and Dance and Critical Factors are the best presentation to convey the idea.

Why didn’t Arthur use this? If he had, would he have seized upon his mistakes with speed and camming and friction and independent movement arms? Would he have changed his opinion of isometrics and moved toward TSC and FS? We can never know.

With inroad, Ellington has granted us a tool that may even go beyond his own suggestions. Once we see how to apply it, to dose it, to mediate it safely for the best outcome, then we see that it is nowhere in the realm of thought within the medical, exercise physiology, and physical therapy communities—much less the general public. It’s like quantum mechanics to someone who’s never mastered Newtonian physics. And by this measure we can
assuredly and simply test someone’s understanding of exercise.

When your doctor suggests you engage in a walking program, just ask him if it’s safe to practice inroading activity. He will go blank. He has no idea what you’re talking about. Therefore, he has no understanding of exercise. With him the difference between exercise and inroading is that he erroneously believes he knows something about the first and he correctly believes that he knows nothing about the second, although they are the same!

And going yet further—even beyond this competency test—inroad has business and legal applications that I’m sure Ellington has not considered.

In many states—like in Florida but not in Texas—special “controlled” licensing is required for so-called “health clubs,” “health studios,” and “fitness centers” and “gyms.” In reading of the statutes in these states, it is often apparent that the language does not fit what we do with SuperSlow, TSC, and FS. Therefore, we are often exempt from such special licensing. But this exemption does not fare well if the business owner has words like gym, health club, health studio, and fitness in their corporate and facility names.

[If you insist upon aligning yourself with the fitness cesspool for marketing purposes, you will bring upon yourself the fruits of the cesspool. Did you know that tomatoes commonly grow wild around water treatment plants as their seeds are not digested?]

If he calls himself an inroading facility he escapes notice as well as he should be legally exempt from controlled licensure for his actions (practices) as well.

Then, in 2020, came the Covid-19 Pandemic with its shutdowns  of “non-essential businesses.” Many “gyms” were mandated to be closed and/or went out of business as a result. And this happened because they were natural spreaders. They could not control their crowds of people. They could not enforce sanitation. They did not restrict access to one client per instructor. They did not have the control found in SuperSlow, SuperStatics, TSC, and FS facilities. However, the enforcement authorities in each state did not know of
these distinctions and thus were indiscriminate with applying the mandates to shut down.

Several exercise businesses in contact with me were saved merely because I convinced them to characterize themselves as inroading facilities, and to, in any way they could, distance themselves from the other terms. This included calling themselves exercise
facilities.

Possible questions that might be asked and answered regarding your business are:

• Do you conduct group exercise? Answer: No.
• Do you offer steady state activities (Aerobics)? Answer: No.
• Do you offer weight lifting? Answer: No.
• Do you offer dance classes of any kind? Answer: No.
• Do you offer treadmills? Answer: No.
• Do you offer calisthenics? Answer: No.
• Do you offer Calenectics? Answer: No.
• Do you allow clients to supervise each other? Answer: No.
• Do you offer stationary bicycling? Answer: No.
• Do you offer ellipticals? Answer: No.
• Do you offer stair climbers? Answer: No.
• Do you conduct yoga classes? Answer: No.
• Do you conduct martial arts? Answer: No.
• Do you offer massage? Answer: No.
• Do you offer swimming? Answer: No.
• Do you have a dressing room? Answer: No.
• Do you offer showering facilities? Answer: No.
• Do you have lockers? Answer: No.
• Do you offer gymnastics classes? Answer: No.
• Do you offer rock climbing? Answer: No.
• Do you have a whirl pool? Answer: No.
• Do you have a sauna? Answer: No.
• Do you have a towel service? Answer: No.
• Do you conduct balance instruction? Answer: No.
• Do you offer planking? Answer: No.
• Do you offer stretching? Answer: No.
• Do you have a juice bar? Answer: No.
• Do you have racquetball courts? Answer: No.
• Do you have tennis courts? Answer: No.
• Do you sell memberships? Answer: No.
• Do you service more than one client at a time. Answer: No.
• Do you encourage clients to profusely sweat? Answer: No.
• Do you allow clients to socialize during sessions? Answer: No.
• Do you allow music in sessions? Answer: No.
• Do you provide mirrors during your sessions? Answer: No.
• Do you allow jump roping? Answer: No.
• Do you allow clients to use their own equipment? Answer: No.
• Do you allow clients’ sessions to be observed. Answer: No.
• Do you allow typical workout garb? Answer: No.
• Do you employ bands and balls? Answer: No.
• Do you offer tanning beds? Answer: No.
• Do you offer a boot camp? Answer: No.
• Do you offer barre activities? Answer: No.
• Do you offer suction-cup treatments? Answer: No.

See? You’re not a gym! And, based on your business practices, you do not fall within the purvue of the usual health studio statutes, at least not within the ones I’ve read. And your service is often essential to those clients who depend on your service for joint lubrication and stability. Left unattended, they become debilitated.

Copyright © 2021 by Ken Hutchins, All Rights Reserved Worldwide

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