Its getting
to the time of year now where people inevitably put on a bit of excess weight,
so come January ,the gym seems the place to go to lose that extra weight and
get into shape.
Fair enough
…. A lot of other people go there and it quite often pops up in conversations.
They have nice shiny equipment, people to talk you through an induction and write
you a BASIC programme (I use that word lightly) you may occasionally see others
sweating whilst using the shiny equipment along with some occasional grunts and
groans depending on the individuals drive to succeed. The TV’s are on and the
guy in the tight t-shirt behind you is taking unrewarding breaks inbetween exercises so he can check his ‘guns’ out in the range of mirrors the gym has
provided. All this in an air conditioned facility where the latest music hits
are pumping out of the surround sound.
''Yea this
is where I need to be'' You Think !!!
Following
the initial excitement of joining the gym and telling everyone about it, the realization of what you have signed up for sets in and it starts to lose its
appeal. As you often hear the gym has a shelf life for many, usually about 2
months – not much good when gyms usually sign you into a 12 month contract,
people stop going and still pay the direct debit anyway.
Why is
this? Why do people give up after a few months even though its still costing
them money?
One of the
biggest reasons is that you get absolutely NO Nutritional Advice or Plans – you
are effectively left to fend for yourself as soon as they have you as a member. Another reason is that the gym is a
very lonely place for someone who has never exercised before and dosent really
know where to start.
As I just
mentioned, you will be given an induction on how the machines work and a basic
programme dependent on what you want to achieve, what he / she failed to mention
is that they just performed a Blue Peter impression of ‘heres one I made
earlier’ and just put your name on it. So that’s the programme sorted now for
the Nutritional side of things ….
If you
follow my Facebook / Twitter you will notice that the majority of things I talk
about are related to food. 75% - 80% of your potential success is down to the
food and drink you consume. Not only quantity but quality aswel.
Why they don’t
offer any sort of advice is mainly down to the fact that no body on the gym
floor is qualified enough to answer them, Personal Trainers are the people you
see training people, the instructors that are just walking around cleaning
things and answering questions have minimal knowledge on things like this and
cant give you any in depth advice or plans. Nutrition is such a key part in any
physical changes and the fact that the gyms give you absolutely no advice is a
poor show in my opinion.
ANYONE can
get fit. If you move a bit more than you usually do then you are getting fitter
– your body is pumping more blood around the body and your muscles are
functioning more than normal. This is all good but if you really want to change
your body shape then you need to be addressing what is eaten along with
effective workout routines.
Sure people
lose weight, body shape initially changes when you first attend the gym and
start exercising, but as I said above your body is suddenly doing something its
not accustomed to and the body reacts and changes to this new stimuli. Awesome –
a few pounds down In the first week!
However is
you continue with the same programme that you were given originally, working at
the same intensity after a few weeks your body will get used to that – it wont
need to expend as much energy or calories to cope with it and the results will inevitably
dry up.
For some,
results are very slow, even when they stick with the gym for 6 months plus.
The reason ….
Yep, people
do things that don’t challenge them!
Walking on
a treadmill … this should be a daily occurrence, not something you choose to
get fitter or to push yourself.
Reading a
book or watching TV whilst riding a bike.
Doing 60
minutes on the cross trainer and pretty much getting off in the same state that
you got on.
You need to
push yourself and be raising your body temperature – not keeping it at the same
level. Move your body in many different ways using as many muscles as possible
if you actually want to change it. Im talking about movements like Squats, Deadlifts,
Presses, Lunges, Jumping and Twisting.
Use free
weights like Dumbells and Kettlebells, after a few weeks of this type of
training staying in the 15 – 20 rep range and taking small rests – increase the
weight and decrease the rep range to 12 – 15 reps and SLIGHTLY increase the
rest periods between sets.
Stay well
clear of the nice shiny weight machines. Why?
They move
in a fixed range of movement – something that our limbs don’t.
Take a
shoulder press for example, you sit on the machine then push your arms up and
down, your body is moving at exactly the same angle each time you push it.
Compare this
with lifting a heavy box up onto a shelf at home … its not going to move in the same range as
a machine. Its going to wobble, left, right overhead etc if you use the fixed
range machines too often – you will only
work specific muscles in THAT particular movement pattern or range. So when you
come to lift the box, chances are you could cause injury because you haven’t trained
the muscles in an unstable environment that you would get by using free weights
(Dumbells / Kettlebells)
Another
MAJOR thing you need to think about is this;
Most people
are sat down from the moment they get up. Breakfast then train, bus or car to
work, sit down when they get to work, then again at lunch, get back in the
car and go to the gym and …….. sit down on the bike or on a machine !! No
wonder people have bad backs, hunched posture and pot belly's Everyone is shrinking!!!
Stand Up, Reach, Twist, Jump – make yourself longer and leaner!!!
When performing
cardio, look to perform short, sharp intervals. Rather than going through the
motions on the rower for 20 minutes. Set it up for 200m, row flat out on a
medium to high resistance, rest for 40 seconds then go again another 5 – 10 times.
Then you will know you have pushed yourself!
The other
side of poor results is the lack of motivation or accountability. After a days
work, pushing yourself through a tough workout isn't a massive priority for
many. Finding a gym buddy can help this and will help keep you on track with
workouts as you will feel bad about missing them if you're letting someone down.
Just make sure the session doesn't turn into a social event.
If any of
the above are ringing true then do something different!!
Gyms can
work for people, if you're motivated, have a structured workout plan with
progressions for when your body adapts, you are able to push YOURSELF to the
limit and have a sound nutritional plan at home.
Many people
turn to Personal Trainers when they realize they are seeing nothing from just
signing up to a gym, so in the long run it works out a lot more expensive as
they are paying for a gym membership aswel as extra 1:1 training – with gym
prices now a days that’s usually an extra 1 or 2 Personal Training sessions per month that you could of had.
Common sense
says that it would be easier to hire a freelance PT straight away, who should give
you nutritional advice from the word go and make sure your workouts are
constantly different and progressive, then when you reach your goal, reassess
the situation rather than buying into a 12 month contract.
A freelance
PT will also work around you and your lifestyle whereas a PT in a gym can only
work around the hours they are working that week and try to fit you into that.
Whatever you
decide to go with, make sure you stick with it and give it a good go. The human
body doesn't change overnight.
REMEMBER:
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