Lots of us have a hard time staying on the exercise bandwagon. We have periods of time where we train really hard or consistently, followed by periods of little to no exercise.
Despite what your favourite Instagram-mer says, some of this is actually totally normal. Life moves through peaks and troughs, and any responsible training programme should follow those same fluctuations. If you find yourself adopting an all-or-nothing approach that is preventing you from making any progress over a long period of time, it might be time to make some changes.
Note: Of course, not everyone trains for a specific goal and may not be looking for “progress” per se – you may just be exercising to move as opposed to getting stronger. That being said, I still think the changes I have listed below could improve your relationship with exercise.
There has never been a better time to get injured. Yes, injuries can be scary and painful, but our understanding of injury mechanisms has never been greater.
There are so many resources out there that provide a clear route back from injury and advise you on how to manage pain.
By Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash
My own understanding of injury management has gone through somewhat of a revival in recent years. Looking at the way best practices have changed regarding injury reads like a Hot or Not:
Hot
Not
Understanding that pain is a complex emotion influenced by a variety of factors.
Thinking that all pain is linked to a mechanical fault in the body.
Helping people expand their comfort zones by graded exposure to different challenges.
Using “corrective” exercises to “fix” an issue.
Viewing medical scans as the final authority in injury diagnosis.
Understanding that many “injuries” picked up in scans are also present in people with no symptoms.
It’s safe to say that injury and pain are too complex for me to discuss specifics here, and you should definitely consult with healthcare professionals if you need help managing pain or injury. However, here are some general principles I’ve learned from other professionals, client experiences, and my own injuries.
Step aside, Buzzfeed. You’re not the only one who can do a personality quiz.
A personality quiz is a great way to pass the time. That’s especially true as the weather gets colder and the days get darker. But when was the last time a personality quiz taught you something about your training? More importantly, when was the last time someone used Halloween monsters to talk about your training?
Well, look no further. This short quiz will delve into your training habits to see which Halloween monster you have the most in common with. Not only that, but each answer tries to pinpoint the area of your training you could stand to improve upon to unlock that next level of training goodness.
Here are three more fitness finishers you can try for your workouts. As before, I’ve explained what elements are important in each workout so you can customise them to your needs and gym layouts.
If you missed the last post, I discussed my definitions for fitness and conditioning there. I also provided three other example workouts, so if you’re looking for more fitness inspiration you should check it out.
Anyone who has read the title of this blog will know that I tend to focus on strength training. I’ve spoken previously about how this training can be hugely beneficial for a number of reasons that extend beyond the desire to make your body look different. That being said, there is another aspect of training that can play a huge role in how we move, perform and feel: conditioning.
What is Conditioning?
Conditioning is training that prepares you to perform under a specific set of circumstances. Because these circumstances can vary from person to person, the definition of conditioning will vary from person to person. For example, the conditioning that a 100m sprinter needs is different from that of a footballer.
By Logan Weaver on Unsplash
In many circles, the term has become synonymous with “fitness,” but fitness is another one of those terms that has a pretty broad definition. To understand if you are fit or not, you need to ask yourself: “fit for what?”
However, it is possible to take a very broad approach to conditioning and fitness. I’m going to avoid delving into energy systems and sports specificity in this blog. Instead, the conditioning examples I provide will be geared towards general preparedness for everyday life.
All of the finishers you see here will work on one or more of these principles:
Tolerating the discomfort of being tired/sore;
Not wanting to die as soon as you get out of breath (we’ve all been there);
Building up muscular fatigue;
Completing whole-body tasks such as pushing, pulling, carrying, etc.;
Improving your ability to do repeated bouts of work with reduced recovery;
Avoiding overly sadistic and risky forms of conditioning.
The most important part of conditioning is that you do not need to wreck yourself by the end of the workout. Training should be about making you better, not just making you tired. I’ve previously referred to this desire to beat yourself up in the gym as “The Rocky Mentality.”
If there’s one thing that I think most people are missing from their training, it’s the inclusion of one short workout per week.
I think it’s fair to say that most of us visit the gym for around one hour or more. Whether this is because this number matches with our lunch breaks, or because it feels like a length of time that makes the trip “worth it,” this is a pretty standard length of time for a workout.
However, you can reap a host of extra benefits from doing shorter workouts, too. I’m not going to claim you can get everything done in 15 minutes of training, but adding one to two 30-minute workouts into your week could be a game-changer. This could come in the form of an easy workout at home, a quick trip to your local gym, or walking with a friend (if you’re not sick of those by now!).
By Samuel Girven on Unsplash
Here are some of my arguments in favour of short workouts:
If you’ve been training for some time now, it’s natural to want to get a sense of your strength levels. We all want to quantify our strength progress, and this can lead to wanting to know how much you should be lifting in a given exercise. This is where strength standards come into the picture.
Strength standards are predictions of what weight you should be lifting, typically based on bodyweight and experience. For example, you may have read that high-level athletes should deadlift 2-2.5 times their bodyweight, squat 1.5-2 times their bodyweight, and so on.
I’m always reluctant to set strength benchmarks for my clients. Don’t get me wrong – they can provide something to aim for, and it can feel super-rewarding to hit these numbers, but they’re not always helpful. Here’s why.
As the name “Ready Steady Strong” suggests, I started this blog with the aim of making strength training more accessible. This blog is usually aimed at people in the first 1-3 years (ish) of their lifting career, but I’m ashamed to say I never took the time to discuss the most common gym terms.
After over a decade in the gym it’s easy to forget that people who train regularly have their own gym language. Don’t be daunted if you don’t know all the lingo yet though – you’ll come to understand these gym terms in no time.
People often want to understand the difference between strength training and hypertrophy training for muscle growth. It’s an important distinction, because some people want to change their physiques while others just want to lift heavy things. Some people want both!
Gaining strength without gaining muscle might be appealing to athletes who compete in specific weight groups, whereas some people are more interested in aesthetics than strength. It’s important to understand the difference between strength adaptations and increased muscle so that training can be more targeted.
By Steinar Engeland on Unsplash
When discussing the difference between strength training and muscle growth, it’s useful to think about what changes occur to our neuromuscular system and our muscle physiology. I’m going to try to explain this with an analogy.
I’m not a great runner myself, but I’ve helped a number of athletes optimise their strength training for running. Whether cross-country is your thing or you prefer being on a track, or even if you favour a triathlon, these exercises will help improve you running performance. You’ll have to wait your turn if you’re a sprinter; we’re focussing on strength training for endurance running today.
