How often do you head to the gym with every intention of giving your all in your 'workout'?
Many people don't even do that and are content to just mince around on exercise bikes with magazine in hand whilst catching up with Coronation Street on the widescreen.
However, there are those who are willing to work as hard as they can in order to finally see some results for their endeavours.
The problem is that often these committed few fail to see the fat loss / strength / endurance improvements they believe they deserve and one can only feel sorry for them as it can be very frustrating!
The problem is not that they are not trying hard enough, or doing enough hours of exercise but that what they are doing is misdirected or even not directed at all.
It's the difference between training and working out.
If you're still not quite with me on this one here are my classifications of those who train and those who 'work out'. The differences should become clear!
Working out:
- Getting in gym sessions when your social life and work schedule allows
- Heading to the gym with no plan other than 'some weights and some cardio'
- Having no idea what the purpose of your session is and what the effects should be in the short-term and long-term
- Taking rest breaks according to conversations that need to be finished or according to the slight increase in fatigue in your legs
- Doing what is accepted as usual practice at your gym due to fears of standing out
- Doing whatever gets a sweat on for an hour, rather than what will build a lean physique over time
- Trying yet another workout as per the magazine and jumping into a fourth new program in as many weeks
- Saying any of the following phrases out loud or to your friend...
"Do you fancy..." "Shall we do some..." "I think I'll do (insert your favourite exercise) because I don't feel like (insert very effective exercise that you don't like)"
Training:
- Treating exercise time as being just as important and set-in-stone as that crucial client appointment
- Having a training session that shows clear progression from last week
- Knowing exactly how this particular session will move you closer to your long-term goals
- Understanding that some training may not have immediate sweat factor or make you 'sore the next day' but will accelerate your training much quicker in the long-run
- Knowing when to go hard and when to back off a little
- Walking in to the gym reminding yourself what the goal is, when you want to achieve it and why it's important to you.
- Mentally rehearsing how you want the training session to go based on knowing exactly what exercises you are doing and for how many sets and reps
'Chasing sweat' from the word go in every 'workout' is probably the biggest mistake made by most in trying to get a great body.
The fact is that there are certain types of 'training' which may not cause massive amounts of sweat but which will make you much more athletic, healthy, stronger and have better body composition in the long-run.
This includes:
- Flexibility work to enable you to perform exercises through a full range of motion and prevent injury which will obviously halt progress
- Muscle activation exercises to make sure your body is doing what it's designed to do
- Heavy strength training and sprints with plenty of rest to enable certain energy systems to recover fully. These will enable you to lift heavier weights in the long-run increasing potential for higher levels of calorie burning and a better looking body, or break through sports performance plateau's.
Don't get me wrong, there is clearly a time for sweat drenched training for many reasons from fat loss, to detox and muscle endurance.
However, making sure this isn't the sole focus of your exercise time is the difference between training for a clear goal and just 'going to the gym'.
Sessions with no real theory behind them are also great to throw in every so often simply as a mental challenge, especially for those involved in sports requiring strong mental resolve and self-belief but these shouldn't be used on a daily basis for the sake of going home shattered.
The truth is that no-one has ever got the best results they could whether it be for fat loss, muscle building, extra speed, more endurance or anything else without knowing what their overall goal is, what the plan is session by session to get there and how to train for it.
So next time you go for a workout ask yourself three questions before, during and after the session.
"What do I want and need to outcome of each part of this session to be?"
"If I string 4 weeks of such sessions together, what will the overall outcome be and what will it mean to me?"
"What would that guy/girl who inspired me to do this with their results, do at this moment?"
This last question is an important one and one I find very powerful.
"What would that fitness model / athlete / champion / rival / person who inspires me do right here, right now?"
If all the steps you take are based on the answer to that question, you cannot fail.
Enjoy your results!
Many people don't even do that and are content to just mince around on exercise bikes with magazine in hand whilst catching up with Coronation Street on the widescreen.
However, there are those who are willing to work as hard as they can in order to finally see some results for their endeavours.
The problem is that often these committed few fail to see the fat loss / strength / endurance improvements they believe they deserve and one can only feel sorry for them as it can be very frustrating!
The problem is not that they are not trying hard enough, or doing enough hours of exercise but that what they are doing is misdirected or even not directed at all.
It's the difference between training and working out.
If you're still not quite with me on this one here are my classifications of those who train and those who 'work out'. The differences should become clear!
Working out:
- Getting in gym sessions when your social life and work schedule allows
- Heading to the gym with no plan other than 'some weights and some cardio'
- Having no idea what the purpose of your session is and what the effects should be in the short-term and long-term
- Taking rest breaks according to conversations that need to be finished or according to the slight increase in fatigue in your legs
- Doing what is accepted as usual practice at your gym due to fears of standing out
- Doing whatever gets a sweat on for an hour, rather than what will build a lean physique over time
- Trying yet another workout as per the magazine and jumping into a fourth new program in as many weeks
- Saying any of the following phrases out loud or to your friend...
"Do you fancy..." "Shall we do some..." "I think I'll do (insert your favourite exercise) because I don't feel like (insert very effective exercise that you don't like)"
Training:
- Treating exercise time as being just as important and set-in-stone as that crucial client appointment
- Having a training session that shows clear progression from last week
- Knowing exactly how this particular session will move you closer to your long-term goals
- Understanding that some training may not have immediate sweat factor or make you 'sore the next day' but will accelerate your training much quicker in the long-run
- Knowing when to go hard and when to back off a little
- Walking in to the gym reminding yourself what the goal is, when you want to achieve it and why it's important to you.
- Mentally rehearsing how you want the training session to go based on knowing exactly what exercises you are doing and for how many sets and reps
'Chasing sweat' from the word go in every 'workout' is probably the biggest mistake made by most in trying to get a great body.
The fact is that there are certain types of 'training' which may not cause massive amounts of sweat but which will make you much more athletic, healthy, stronger and have better body composition in the long-run.
This includes:
- Flexibility work to enable you to perform exercises through a full range of motion and prevent injury which will obviously halt progress
- Muscle activation exercises to make sure your body is doing what it's designed to do
- Heavy strength training and sprints with plenty of rest to enable certain energy systems to recover fully. These will enable you to lift heavier weights in the long-run increasing potential for higher levels of calorie burning and a better looking body, or break through sports performance plateau's.
Don't get me wrong, there is clearly a time for sweat drenched training for many reasons from fat loss, to detox and muscle endurance.
However, making sure this isn't the sole focus of your exercise time is the difference between training for a clear goal and just 'going to the gym'.
Sessions with no real theory behind them are also great to throw in every so often simply as a mental challenge, especially for those involved in sports requiring strong mental resolve and self-belief but these shouldn't be used on a daily basis for the sake of going home shattered.
The truth is that no-one has ever got the best results they could whether it be for fat loss, muscle building, extra speed, more endurance or anything else without knowing what their overall goal is, what the plan is session by session to get there and how to train for it.
So next time you go for a workout ask yourself three questions before, during and after the session.
"What do I want and need to outcome of each part of this session to be?"
"If I string 4 weeks of such sessions together, what will the overall outcome be and what will it mean to me?"
"What would that guy/girl who inspired me to do this with their results, do at this moment?"
This last question is an important one and one I find very powerful.
"What would that fitness model / athlete / champion / rival / person who inspires me do right here, right now?"
If all the steps you take are based on the answer to that question, you cannot fail.
Enjoy your results!