FITNESS - JULY Who programmes your training?
throwing some running in if you usually lift weights or vice versa). Working your strengths is great and you can make good progress there, but working your weaknesses will really benefit you all around. Improving your cardio will help with lifting weights. Improving your strength will help with running or swimming etc…
It’s fair to say that everyone has exercises they hate. Squats seem to come pretty high on the list for many, as do burpees. Personally, I hate running.
but if my coach tells me that’s the workout for today, then I’ll put my shoes on and run 5k. More often than not, it’s the stuff you find the most difficult that will benefit you the most. The stuff that We tend to do the exercises we really challenges you and pushes you like the most more often and the out of your comfort zone. exercises we like the least less often, if at all. I like strength work, but I know my fitness could be better, so being told This can pose a problem though. to go and run, something I don’t Chances are, the exercises you like consider myself too good at (because are the ones you’re good at or feel I don’t do it), really benefits me. comfortable with, and comfortable Likewise, if you’re “not good” at doesn’t get the best results. squats or you don’t like them, it’s likely because they’re HARD and Sticking to the same old routine you’re more comfortable on a leg because you like it may not be the extension machine or similar. best course of action. So, if you’re told to do squats I believe that almost everyone (assuming you’re able to perform s h o u l d h a v e t h e i r t ra i n i n g them correctly of course), it’ll really programmed for them. Partly help to push you forwards in your because most people don’t really training. know what they’re doing and would benefit hugely from having You don’t need to do everything you their training planned by an expert hate all the time, but including stuff who does know what they’re doing; you find challenging in your routines and partly because it’ll force you will definitely help. Staying in your to do some of the things you’d comfort zone definitely won’t. otherwise avoid. Even if you push yourself hard on the I’ve been a PT for 17 years now and exercises you choose to do, you’ll I know a lot about programming, likely benefit from doing something but even I work best when that’s different for a while, something you’d taken out of my hands. normally avoid because you find it difficult. Especially if it’s completely I’d never decide to go and run 5k, different to your normal routine (like
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It can be hard to programme everything you need into your training, you either miss out on key elements, or you do a bit of everything and not enough of any of it to see progress. Try to do something you’d ordinarily avoid, that you think or know will benefit you, at least once a week – your other training won’t suffer from this, it will actually benefit from this. Swap just one of your workouts a week. The stuff you find the hardest is probably the stuff that will benefit you the most. And as always, if you need help with this, or anything else training or nutrition related, get in touch and we can chat about your options. Mark www.MBonlinePT.com @MarkBroadbentPT
