workout – Page 3 – Never Give Up PT

Practice Falling Over And You’ll Be The Best Faller Overer Ever

We’ve all heard of the phrase ‘Practice makes perfect’ right?

Well as much as I agree with the sentiment, I’m going to explain to you what it actually means to me. Because it comes with a caveat.

I believe that you can practice something really badly. You could be perfectly bad at it I suppose, but I don’t think that is the purpose of the phrase ‘Practice makes perfect’.

I’ll use the bench press as an example. Repeating the bench press incorrectly each day will undoubtedly cause injury. Shoulder injuries around the rotator cuff, which are muscles and tendons that surround the shoulder joint, are very common due to poor technique.

I have seen some very impressive weight being pushed in the gym but with horrendous form! Form doesn’t just allow us to actually train the muscle that we are supposed to be training, but it helps us avoid injury.

Practicing correct form AND doing the right things specific to your goals is important. My son wants to practice a rainbow flick in the garden for an hour each day because he has seen Neymar do it. I go through this technique with him for a certain length of time because he enjoys it and then I encourage him to move onto his practical skills. Pass and move, target practice, ball shielding and tackling are all part of the game that he will need to do withing a match. There has to be a sensible mix of the fun stuff and the stuff that gets the job done!

Awards for playing football, not for rainbow flicks

It’s like the row of dudes training their nightclub muscles in front of the gym mirror every day. A pumped up bicep made up of sarcoplasm (blood and water) bulging from their T-Shirt looks good and probably makes them feel great. Fine. But over working the bicep instead of training all of the muscle groups equally will not provide an overall athletic, healthy and practical body. The older they get, this will become apparent. Age can be unkind and pumped up biceps won’t hide the years of neglect in other areas.

And as for my son, unless he becomes Neymar or goes into the circus he will probably never need to perform a rainbow flick for any great purpose (even Neymar gets booked for doing it).

I always say to my trainees ‘practice, practice, practice’. It’s not always popular when I prescribe yet another 5 sets of squats for them to perform but it is necessary. I know that they have good form and I also know that, through progressive overload, they will continue to get better and stronger.

I fear that the regular gym goer won’t ask a PT or gym staff about good form anymore. Either there’s no point in asking because they don’t really know (watch them train themselves, I wouldn’t ask some of them how to lift something heavy above my head) or it is perceived that a PT will try to sell you their services. Often this is true, they’re at work after all. But if you find a dedicated fitness professional they will happily discuss gym form with you. It should be their passion. So ask one who you see regularly and doesn’t seem pushy with their sales. Who knows, if they impress you and you feel that you can progress with them as your coach then you might choose to have them as your PT.

So don’t continue doing something wrong. It’s not impressive getting a PB if it means you put your back out. Start practicing doing it right and make progress injury free.

Becoming Process Focussed, Not Outcome Focussed

I want to share with you the difference between a Process Focussed attitude and an Outcome Focussed attitude. Because when you can give yourself a little tap on the shoulder and remind yourself of the process then the outcome will eventually happen. I promise.

It All Needs A Process

I am so, so good at this in the gym with myself and my clients. I focus entirely on the process. That is my job. It’s what I am trained and disciplined in. But outside of the gym I have goals that I want now…right this second! And in frustration of not being able to get them right now means that the process gets crumpled up and torn like a handy pocket road map that has been stomped on during my tantrums. Had I kept a level head, the road map would still be intact and it would be easier to follow. The tap on the shoulder from myself, a professional, a partner or a friend can work wonders in working out the process for anything. A career move, a life skill, family life and health and fitness goals. It all needs a process.

Sometimes we just see a 10k run, a dress size, a one rep max or a weight loss target. The finer details of how we are getting there is the real key.

In football, the skill isn’t knowing that you need to score more goals than the opposition, it is how you’re going to do it. You can give any sporting example of this and it remains the same. The process needs to be the focus. The outcome harbours great rewards, but without the process you won’t get there.

Frustrations Of The Outcome Focus

So I’m not getting on my high horse here and telling you that I do everything perfectly and you need to step up. You might be able to help me find my process in other aspects of life with your skills. But I’m here to talk about fitness goals. And I’ve been prompted to give it a mention because the gym is full of outcome focussed people. They press, lift, run and jump without any attention to their process. They just want the results. And this can lead to frustration and in many cases injury.

And when you figure out a process for one thing, other parts of your life can begin to take shape too. Have you ever experienced getting a promotion in your career and found that your relationships in your private life improved? You have followed a process and met deadlines, hit targets, gave your colleagues morale boosts or took them under your wing and you got rewarded in your promotion. This made you feel good in other aspects of your life too.

It’s the same in your fitness goals. Once you begin a process in your fitness goals then you begin to focus on your day to day tasks that make up the little wins. And it’s not just about doing this in a gym. Imagine going for a walk with a friend or a partner away from the daily grind. Here you can discuss your ambitions, your feelings or put the world to rights. You feel great and you’ve managed a few thousand steps as well. Make this a regular exercise and you have started the process for your mental and physical health.

Becoming process focussed takes away the big issue that seems, at times, unobtainable…the outcome. To grow muscle you can’t just lift heavy stuff a lot. To lose weight healthily you can’t just eat less. To get a job promotion you can’t just turn up to an interview. To make a relationship work you can’t just add them as a Facebook friend. You need to work hard at a process that works to get the things that you want.

Small Victories Are Important

Focussing on the outcome will keep us bitter and when we have no way of getting there we give up. In my Coaching App it’s exactly what I do for hundreds of people. I’m the tap on the shoulder that reminds them of the process and enables people to reach their goals without even realising. That’s because they have enjoyed a journey that took them way beyond the anxieties of ‘ needing to lose a couple of stone’. They did that, but also found that they were in control of their life much more than when they had no direction. It became a foundation for their success. Focus and celebrate the small victories. It’s those that become the big ones.

Thank you for reading my article. If you need further advice on where to begin with your fitness process then do get in touch. I might be able to help.

Take Your Protein Pills And Put Your Gym Kit On

I’m not sure that had David Bowie brought out a song about taking protein and going to the gym, it would have catapulted his career to the great heights that it did. An astronaut traveling into space might have been a bit catchier. And who am I to argue with the Goblin King?!

I do, however, feel that I have the better insight into navigating us through this wretched Labyrinth of the fitness world. I’ll stick to that instead of trying to write a chart topping song.

The Research

What we currently know is that an active adult consuming 2000 calories per day will need 10% – 35% of their calories to be protein, or 50-175 grams. If you are training most days I would aim at the high end of that guide.

The Reason

Protein could be the defining difference between hitting your goals or them being forever eluding you. For weight/fat loss, protein adds satiety which keeps you full for longer. For muscle gain, it provides the amino acids to repair and rebuild.

The Good Protein Sources

Protein needs to be of good quality. I often joke as I’m eating pizza that is has protein in it. But I know that the processed cheese that lathers the top of my very tasty treat is not the quality my body needs. Instead I need to choose…

* lean meat- beef, lamb, veil and pork

* poultry- chicken, turkey

* seafood- fish, crab, prawns, mussels

* Eggs

* dairy- milk, Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese

* nuts and seeds- almonds, walnuts, cashew, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds

* Legumes and beans- lentils, chickpeas, tofu

* Protein drinks and bars

Every mealtime is an opportunity to get good nutrition and protein into your body. A poor nutritional meal is an opportunity missed. Most of the above can be sourced relatively cheap and can be added as a snack or incorporated into most nutritious meals.

I have often said that in my previous articles that I’m not reinventing the wheel when it comes to Personal Training. The majority of us don’t need meal planners written out for them. It is just common sense armed with the research available to me, but it means that we must get the basics right, and if we do, the journey won’t feel like you’re lost in a labyrinth. Instead you’ll be dancing in the street.

David Bowie on the set of his 1985 classic The Labrynth

My Own Rep 420 Journey

I rarely create a programme plan for my trainees that I wouldn’t attempt myself. Despite following my own programme religiously for a number of years (with two years off for Covid restrictions) I decided to begin the Rep 420 Challenge.

I’m currently in a slight calorie deficit hypertrophy phase of my own programme, so the Rep 420 isn’t a million miles away from that. Changing it up slightly is always exciting and rewarding both mentally and physically. For me, something new to attempt in the gym gives me that funny zippy feeling in the belly. The adrenalin keeps me going back for more.

How The Rep 420 Works

* The 420 reps is one workout which takes around one hour.

* It is a full body workout using just free weight (dumbbells, barbell and kettlebells).

* Rest periods are short and most rounds are completed as supersets.

* There are 7 exercises which will be performed over 6 sets in total. The end result is a huge amount of reps and a kick ass workout!

But that’s just one day! A second 420 reps is performed on another day plus at least one isolation workout (I plan 2/3 isolation sessions on top of two 420 workouts) per week.

The high reps will contribute to muscle adaptation, sarcoplasmic and myofibrilic hypertrophy and a firm nod towards fat burn as long as I stay within my calorie deficit.

I have a few trainees currently trialling a 420 workout with a view of launching this programme next month. Contact me for details if you’d like to trial it. I always appreciate the feedback.

Thanks for reading!

shay.pt@hotmail.com