Thursday 28 November 2013

Bored? No results? When is it time to change your workout?


Changing your training routine reap the rewards!

What method is best? When to change it? How to structure it around your goals?

Why mix up your training ??! Not only to give your body a shock but to give your mind some mental stimulation and change!

Today I ventured back to my old stomping grounds the athletics track, after being a competitive sprinter was years its daunting going back to something that used to be so familiar.

I didn't expect much after 2 seasons off and no speed work at all after injuries but coped much better than expected. We did 10x 100m sprints with a walk back recovery. Only about 0.5-1.5 second off what I used to do for that session with a little more recovery.

Just shows how resistance training benefits not only lifting weights! With more muscle on my hamstrings and glutes I actually felt more powerful although my lactic tolerance has decreased significantly which was to be expected haha.

Not only that but I remembered why I loved running, fresh air, burning legs, breathless exhausting but mentally relaxing and soothing once complete, 8 weeks out from comp and I aim to include 1 track session per week in my program :)

People may think competing in a bikini or bodybuilding competition means you can't be "sport or athletically fit" just goes to show you can! It also shows that we work our butts off everyone is constantly finding new ways to challenge there body to change and strive to make there weaknesses there strengths...success in the sport doesn't come easy!




Often we get complacent in our workouts and just want them over and done with after a long day, often forgetting about the importance of tempos/speed/timing of the exercise. TEMPO is key, it is the time under tension of the muscle in either the concentric or eccentric phase of movement. TEMPO can change a workout, it can make it amazing or ruin it if done incorrectly.

People often ask what are the best exercise for fat loss, for muscle gains etc and the answer is there isn't! Its all about how you train, how you fatigue a muscle, how it recovers, the period of rest you give it and the overall time under tension of the exercise as well as how you load certain movement patterns.


How many reps should I do? How long for? How many sets? What exercises?? How much cardio????

I have had a lot of inboxes lately in regards to the above questions around training and many more and I would love to share my personal philosophy to training with you:

Ask yourself about your current training routine/program:
1- Does is challenge you? this can be neurological, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and even sensory: To challenge your body and cause it to change either for growth, fat loss or athletic goals it needs to be challenging in some form. This challenge can be created by focusing on the variable of your training e.g reps/rest/tempo or speed/recovery/exercise choices/timing of exercise/timing of training around nutrition etc.

There are infinitive variables when it comes to training that that is why there is no blanket "Best training routine" for this or that, its all individual and variable based as well as ultimately how you train mentally.

Some clients I find function more mentally and switch on on small simple slow controlled programs where they can focus on activate muscle efficiently while others may benefit more mentally from varied exercises and changes to keep them engaged. It has to be client centred, not one of my clients will ever be on the same program for this reason.



2- Does is ultimately change you?
Is your program based on the specific changes you would like to make within your body from training. This means if your training for a bodybuilding competition and your in a growth and shape phase and your training power lifts, explosive, fast, large muscle groups? Will this change your overall shape to how you would like it? Possibly, but things should be considered such as for growth cell volume, swelling, atrophy, hyperplasia etc. If your goal is fat loss does your nutrition also reflect goals, time under tension etc. Will it change you if you not eating clean? Probably not or not as fast as you would like.

Other factors to consider:
- Does it fit with your lifestyle? is it achievable?
- Does it account for injuries or factors that affect your training
- How accountable are you for your nutrition?
AND MANY MORE

Basically what I'm saying is that there is n perfect program for fat loss or hypertrophy etc if it is not done correctly, targeted to the individual and aligned with sufficient nutrition to fuel the ultimate goal from it.

TRAIN SMART= GET RESULTS