I was in a local health club in Manchester today, not something I normally do as most of my training is based on things like bodyweightweight exercises and kettlebells that I own and can afford to because they take up so little space and extremely versatile.
Right now I am in the process of doing some heavier strength work that requires more weight, something which my shiny newish Honda Civic cannot take.
While I was in there with my own plan and head down getting my workout done I could not help but notice the number of people that generally “go through the motions” as far as their routine goes whether it was for fat loss, fitness or muscle.
Items that fall into this category go something like this…
No program as to what they are doing. No clear directionas to what they are expecting, no comparison on what they did last time. If you are not progressing with your performance then you will normally not progress in terms of your fitness and shape.
Longer bouts of rest. A lack of a plan while training will invariably lead to longer rest as there is no routine to follow. What to do, in what order, how long to rest, what to do next…
An imbalanced program. Wandering around aimlessly invariably leads to a workout not being balanced across the body. One example is working the mirror muscles more often such as the chest and arms and front thigh. This will have an effect on both the productivity of the workout and calories burnt and also help cause issues with posture and movement.
Generally going for popular exercises. Over compensating on these on a regular basis will lead to postural and movement dysfunction. These can be the mirror muscles
Choosing easier options. All clubs tend to be heavily biased with machines and other pieces of equipment that make the exercise simple and easy in comparison to utilising your own body and controlling your movement. This is less productive and in worst cases lead to injury.
A lack of resistance program within the program. Too much reliance on cardio machines. Personally speaking I hardly ever to never use them unless it’s sports specific (rowing machine) or to perform high intensity interval training (bike and rowing machine). Other CV machines do not complement efficient fat burning and tend to be boring and tedious, there lies the reaosn why a lot of people quit when the results do not match the inteded hard effort put in on the treadmill.
A lot of chatting. Not to be a miserable SOB but chat away if you’re there to socialise. If you’re there for results, have your training plan there with you and stick to it. The socialising can wait till the end.
Get a notebook and jot down your routine for the week as you know it should be (on another day I’ll discussthe merits of program design). Include exercise, sets, repetitions, time spent working and time spent resting and stick to it. Results will come a lot sooner when you plan rather than leave it to the flip of a coin.
Till next time, be great!
Mike
Dream, Act and Succeed
