I’m going through the gym turnstile by the entrance. Through the crowd of sweaty people at the other end of the gym I spot the bench press. It’s free. I know it won’t be for long. There’s only one and it’s very busy. It’ll get snapped up very soon.
I give a smile and a nod to anyone I know and try to casually weave my way through to the bench. Half way there. Still free.
I’m feet away from it, my eyes light up, jacket comes off as I approach the bench like john Travolta swaggering closer to his Olivia Newton John and then…bosh! Some dude claims it. I was inches away but I couldn’t use VAR on this one. He got there a second quicker than me. No arguement from me. I try to hide my disappointment and slide over to the Smith machine without anyone noticing my missed opportunity.
Of course, it’s January. The season of new year’s resolutions, good intentions and packed gyms. I train in a decent kitted out gym for it’s size, but the equipment soon gets taken up and the one and only bench press never stays free for long. I improvise instead. I’ve got too many gym years behind me to let that distract me from my training. And I know, come February, the numbers will drop off and the gym won’t be so busy.
But why is that? Why, without fail, do I know that these members with their new year’s resolutions will not be back around mid February? I have an idea. Maybe more of an educated guess. And if you look at the evidence it actually makes sense.
Back in the 1930’s an endocrinologist called Hans Selye theorised that muscle needed continual stress to adapt. And this stress needed to be of varying intensity and volume. As these theories were tested and repeated with great success, athletes and trainers discovered the art of periodization. It was understood that if we keep doing the same thing without knowing how to adapt or when to do it, we hit a plateau. Results start out great. Muscles grow quickly for a beginner. We develop speed and our fitness improves quickly. Neural adaptations peak at about 4 to 6 weeks of training. The body shuts down. As far as it is concerned it has done it’s job and we aren’t telling it otherwise.
So a new gym goer with no periodized structure starting on the 2nd of January will be thrilled at their progress in the first few weeks, but by mid Feb they are becoming confused and demoralised by their lack of gains. Their body wants to make further changes. It’s very willing. But they don’t train for such changes. They plateau. A plateau for a seasoned gym goer is the challenge that gets them out of bed. A plateau for a new person in the gym can be the sign of their gym membership getting cancelled and me being able to bench press when I want.
I talk lots about mental health and the benefits of exercise, therefore as far as I’m concerned no workout is a bad one. But without the correct knowledge and information, a trainee will miss out on these mental health benefits because they give up. The information is often spurious in gyms and even those trying to find out how to train correctly are misled by poundshop PT.
I’m not proud of this, but I know that I will be proved right about the gym numbers as we get to the end of February. I’d rather the numbers were high all year round, even if I miss out on my bench press. As a PT I need busy gyms. And this year more than ever, our gyms should be busy all year round.
Never Give Up PT 