Workouts: There’s No 1 Size Fits All Workout
One thing I’m frequently asked for as an Austin personal trainer by clients, as well as prospective clients, is for a workout plan. Workouts and workout plans can be found virtually any and everywhere. You don’t need to hire a personal trainer to hand you a random and/or formulaic “to do list” for the gym. That’s a waste of time and money. What you really want to do instead, is to get the beat workouts for your goals, as well as your body. That is not something that you can find on the internet, in a book, nor with just any old random personal trainer.
There are as many different types of workouts as there are goals, medical conditions, limitations, and levels of ambition. For example, if you are a cyclist and are interested in competing for a big race, or just want to tackle a huge and grueling ride, you’ll obviously have to train for it. How you train for that ride will be dictated by how far advanced as a trainee you are, what imbalances you are faced with, and how much time and effort you will be devoting to your goal. If, let’s say, you will be competing in 8 months in a world class bicycle race and have met the rudimentary criteria to do so, your training would be substantially different than someone who is competing in a powerlifting event or a swim meet.
You have to train sport specifically if you are to succeed at whatever event or goal is in your sights. This does not mean there is a lack of cross training, nor a common ground. Everyone from speed skaters to bodybuilders, must incorporate flexibility training, for example, within their workouts in order to achieve success as well as reduce the risk of injury. Leg workouts for cyclists are also on the agenda for swimmers, and so on. How exactly they will train their legs depends upon a multitude of factors, such as what exactly they’re training for, their level of fitness, their genetics, imbalances, etc.
For general health and fitness workouts, there is no shortage of routines and formulas posted all over the internet. These may provide entertainment for some, or present a novel idea to another, but they should be taken with a grain of salt. If you download a fitness app and it has you raising the poundages and repetitions incrementally because of the algorithm installed by the computer software engineering department, as opposed to by your personal trainer, you might want to question not only the validity of such a program, but the safety of it as well.
The best workouts are the ones that suit your body ideally. They are hard to find generically, but not overly difficult to construct once you have some data on the client and a feel for how they react physically to their workouts. The best way to go about finding workouts, is to feel your way through one. For example, ignore the cliche 3 sets of 10 stigma that is pervasive in every gym. Instead, ask yourself if the weight is right, and the form is good, could you have gotten more repetitions? Maybe 13 is your lucky number. Then again, perhaps you should shoot for 9. Forget cliches and stereotypes, but rather listen to your body and if you have a good one, listen to your trainer. Then and only then can you develop the best workouts for you.
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Andy
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