Preparing for Anything — Why Index Funds & These 6 Exercises is All You Need
Free Gains in Finance & Finance — Here’s How
If “fitness” is the ability to do a task, but we don’t know what said task is, how do we choose exercises to prepare us for anything?
Free Gains and the Big Six
The exercises we choose would need to improve our ability to move into and out of compromised positions (mobility), the need to apply a lot of force (strength) and the ability to move our different parts of our bodies at the same time (coordination).
In episode 15 of the Platform to Perform Podcast the Mindful Mover’s explained his concept of “free gains”; meaning you improve in exercises or events that you haven’t specifically trained for.
In my Avoid Get Strong Quick Schemes I explained how 5 sets of 1 rep of the mixed grip chin up, saw me increase my weighted chin up to 42.5kg without ever touching a weighted chin up. This is a prime example of a “free gain.”
Phillip and Martina Chubb (aka The Mindful Mover) also discussed their regressions of their “big 6”, 6 exercises which they have tested extensively and believe provide the best “free gains.”
- Handstand push up
- One arm chin up
- Front lever row
- Planche push up
- Squat
- Nordic leg curl
Accomplishing their “big 6” movements probably puts you in the top 5% of the world for mobility, strength and coordination.
The S&P 500 — The Financial Equivalent of the “Big Six?”
Personally, I’d whittle the big six down to a squat pattern, a hip hinge pattern (such as the deadlift) and learning to sprint for the lower body.
Upper body wise a vertical pushing movement (handstand push up variations) and vertical pulling movements (think chin up variations) tend to cover a lot of ground too.
Finally, I’d have some form of getting off the ground or breaking a fall, and a variation of carrying load for distance and/or time.
Working on regressions of The Mindful Mover’s Big 6 (plus sprinting!) are probably the fitness equivalent of investing in the index fund representing the top 500 American companies (otherwise known as the S&P 500).
It won’t cover you for every and all eventualities.
For example, you might be thinking, what about other successful economies?
At the time of writing this China is the world’s next largest economy behind America, and if you follow the course of history with reserve currency (a fancy word for describing which of the world’s currency is the strongest) then the Chinese Yen will probably take over at some point in my lifetime.
However, given that the American economy makes up such a large proportion of the world’s economy, the phrase when America sneezes the whole world catches the cold, springs to mind.
It’s not so much that other exercises or investments don’t have value, but more, are they worth their time to learn about?
Vilfredo Pareto’s 80:20 rule suggests that 80% of your results are driven by 20% of your efforts; profiting from property requires skill, cashing in on crypto requires timing, and selecting specific companies is closer to gambling than investing (for the average person).
You absolutely could explore other exercises, but these might turn out to be the exercise equivalent of liabilities (taking money out of your pocket), whilst the big 6 plus sprinting, are the exercise equivalent of putting money in your pocket, plus compound interest.
