I see females who regularly pick up their 22kg child and carry them into a supermarket, after pushing their child for an hour around in a full shopping trolley weighing over 30kg in total they perform a farmers walk with their shopping bags weighing at least 10kg each. I then see them in the gym picking up 2kg dumbbells to do a 20 minute routine because they want to ‘tone up’ and lose weight.
I see men running on a treadmill for 40 minutes followed by three sets of heavy dumbbell bicep curls everyday and in conversation they tell me that they want to grow muscle and lose belly fat.
Can you spot where they are going wrong?
They are not challenging the goals that they have set themselves. In fact, they can meet their goals just as easily outside of the gym.
Depending on weight and speed this man can burn around 300 calories on a treadmill. Yet with the correct portion control could manage a calorie deficit without using a treadmill. And struggling through a few ego bicep curls won’t grow muscle as not enough growth hormone (HGH) will be stimulated in his workout, so a daily squat and pressup routine after a good night’s sleep would be more beneficial to begin with.
The female is way short changing herself if she thinks that the 2kg dumbbells is enough for a Romanian Deadlift. I perform squats and deadlifts regularly at home just by tidying away my kids toys. A Super Mario Mansion is a good 10kg. I’m squatting as I take the clothes washing from the washing mashine and I get a decent HIIT routine by simultaneously clearing the dish washer, making four breakfasts, two cups of coffee, a juice and a glass of milk each morning whilst running back and forth from the kitchen and dining room.
So when I go to the gym I need something more challenging than what my daily life is giving me anyway. I’m in a pool of sweat after taking three bed sheets off and remaking them all. I have leg DOMS after a couple of hours gardening and I’m knackered after an hour playing football with the kids thinking I’m Neymar JR. Give me 150k deadlifts any day!
To get the changes that we want and to meet the goals that we set ourselves then we need to do something about it and that often means looking at what we do in our formal exercise routines. If you are a fairly sedentary person then walking an hour each day is a great way to start. But I’m really talking to those who are already hitting the gym hard or have home workout routines yet are getting frustrated by their returns.
Ask yourself honestly, do you do enough in your workouts to elicit change? Do you do the right stuff to get the changes that you want? Are you fuelling your body enough or too little?
Always remember, with every workout programme tell yourself ‘If it isn’t challenging me, it isn’t changing me.’ Give your body a reason to change but most of all give yourself a reason to change, because until you believe in the process your body won’t either.
Never Give Up PT 