Fitness - July

Who programmes your training?

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. We tend to do the exercises we like the most more often and the exercises we like the least less often, if at all.

This can pose a problem though. Chances are, the exercises you like are the ones you’re good at or feel comfortable with, and comfortable doesn’t get the best results. Sticking to the same old routine because you like it may not be the best course of action.

I believe that almost everyone should have their training programmed for them. Partly because most people don’t really know what they’re doing and would benefit hugely from having their training planned by an expert who does know what they’re doing; and partly because it’ll force you to do some of the things you’d otherwise avoid.

I’ve been a PT for 17 years now and I know a lot about programming, but even I work best when that’s taken out of my hands. 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 really challenges you and pushes you out of your comfort zone.

I like strength work, but I know my fitness could be better, so being told to go and run, something I don’t consider myself too good at (because I don’t do it), really benefits me. Likewise, if you’re “not good” at squats or you don’t like them, it’s likely because they’re HARD and you’re more comfortable on a leg extension machine or similar.

So, if you’re told to do squats (assuming you’re able to perform them correctly of course), it’ll really help to push you forwards in your training. You don’t need to do everything you hate all the time, but including stuff you find challenging in your routines will definitely help. Staying in your comfort zone definitely won’t. Even if you push yourself hard on the exercises you choose to do, you’ll likely benefit from doing something different for a while, something you’d normally avoid because you find it difficult. Especially if it’s completely different to your normal routine (like 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 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