Workout twice this week then maybe get another one in next week, then I think i'll go 6 times the following week cuz I want to make sure i'm down for the wedding i'm going to be in.... Sounds familiar??
Today, I want to touch on something that I don't think everyone quite understands.
Getting in shape doesn't happen by spending 3 hours a day for two weeks strait at the gym! By the end of two weeks strait of working out you will be so sick of being at the gym that you won't want to step foot in a club or even think about working out for another two weeks! Then what? To be honest, if exercise isn't something that you have been doing for a while I would say that working out every day is a "no no" for you. Don't be afraid to start with just a few days per week until you and your body can adjust to the commitment of your new fitness program. Realisticlly, it's better that you exercise two days a week every week than it is to go 6 this week, 2 the following, and 5 the next.
The reason why I say this is because the human body, while designed to adapt and overcome, works best with consistency. The more consistent you are with your fitness, food habits, sleep habits, anything habits, the better your body will be able to adjust and give you the results that you're looking for.
So yes, I said it! Don't workout everyday... If it's not something that you can do consistently every week you're better off getting to the gym a litle less and actually making every week count.
So you just walked into the gym, took off your coat, put on your gym shoes, and are ready to get started. As you walk to the fitness floor you see two people who came in just before you starting their workouts. The first person is sitting on the floor leaning forward reaching for their toes. The second person has been jogging in place and just started performing a movement you heard the trainers say is called "high knees".
What now? How should you start your routine? What's better?
The first person, sitting on the ground reaching for their toes, is doing something that we've all heard about before, stretching. Believe it or not, Stretching is NOT something that you should be doing before your workouts. When you stretch you forcefully are lengthening your muscle tissue. While good for your flexibility, it's not so good for preparing to exercise.
What you really want to be doing in order to be best prepared for your workout is perform what is called a dynamic warm-up. A dynamic warm-up is done by using your own body weight to get ready. A great dynamic warm-up will not only prepare your body to move, but it will prepare you to move in all directions. Front to back, side to side, and even diagnally. A dynamic warm-up will actually activate your muscles by increasing your internal temperature and start helping your muscles to "fire" on all cylinders so that you'll be able to get the most out of your workouts.
My favorite dynamic warm-up includes; high knees, butt kicks, skipping(forward and back), shuffling side to side, and lunges with an upper body rotation(forward and back).
Now that's not all that goes into making the best dynamic warm-up, but it's a really good start!
Give it a try for your next workout and see what it does for you. Good Luck!
P.S. it's not supposed to be really easy. It's supposed to make you sweat and help challenge your body to get better.
This morning as I updated one of my clients achievements it got me thinking about how to stay motivated and how to keep going strong month in and month out. Since starting my career as a trainer i've always preached about and been a BIG believer in tracking your progress. Not only does doing this keep you focused on what you can keep working to improve but it gives substantial evidence to note whether or not what your doing for your exercise program is working to help move you forward. For my clients we keep on a strict schedule of re-recording our progress every 4 weeks. I believe in this timeline mostly because it keeps the results fresh in our minds and allows us to keep our nutrition on track (talk more on how and why in the future, stay tuned). My best advice to you today would be to start recording your progress immediately if you're not already doing so. Try including a few things such as; a 1 mile run, how many push-ups or sit-ups you can do in 1 min, maybe even how many of something you can do all together without stopping. Make sure that you at least get a picture and some tape measurments so that you can show your eyes the evidence. We all know that our biggest critic is ourselfs so make sure that you SEE the difference.
Until next time,
-Dave
