Training is essential to any programme of exercise to reduce weight, reduce fat mass or gain muscle. It really does depend on your fitness background, your desired goals and your familiarity with exercise for you to start training.
A good starting point is to understand that you don’t need to train every day or in fact understand the importance or recovery and consistency. Many gym members and clients come to us panicking that they didn’t come to a class or train today and end up feeling guilty about it. Stop and rethink your strategy is the best advice we can offer.
Gym Newbie
We have all been there, we made the decision to join the gym to get started on being healthier or getting in shape. Well Done. That took a lot of effort and was a brave step, feel proud you made a decision that will have a massive impact on your life. The gym is not scary, it isn’t a monster because every other person in there no matter how long they have trained isn’t perfect or knows everything. Your safe zone is the Personal Trainers and Fitness Coaches that work there, their bank of knowledge and experience is the best for you to apply a consistent approach to your training.
We would suggest booking an induction with your gym team, checking out the Personal Trainer boards and getting in touch with one for a free consultation or stepping into a few classes to get a feel of your current fitness and meet the gym team. Many members of the gym enjoy classes to get to know who they might work with in the future or just to maintain a consistent approach to being in the gym. Being held accountable by someone else can have a lasting long-term effect on the way you approach your fitness.
Regular Gym Goer
Yep you will become one of these eventually, you’ve been in the gym now 6 months, you got that routine together, you’ve been to classes, you downloaded that free programme and yet you still don’t feel like your smashing your goals or seeing an effect on your body.
Well there is nothing wrong with that even the best gym goers find that their programmes become boring or stop having an effect on their progress. It is essential you make a plan. A programme of exercise should last 4 – 6 weeks with you adapting the weights you use or the number of reps. Then you may change the programme entirely to keep things fresh.
Even when it comes to classes, 4 weeks on one class on a regular day then change the day and the class. Sometimes changing the instructor so going to cycle for 4 weeks on Monday then 4 weeks on a Friday with a different instructor can make the session more intense and train your body differently. If you are unsure speak to a member of the gym staff or go talk to that Personal Trainer you think would be right for you. If you don’t ask, then you’ll never know what could be.
Experienced Gym Goer
Training needs to be consistent, focused and accountable towards your long-term goals. Sometimes even though you have been hitting the gym for months or even a few years following a programme, you can get into habits which stop you progressing. I walk the gym floor many times and see people working harder than they need to or I see bad form creeping into workouts. There is a solution ask a professional for some advice.
Personal Trainers vary in expertise, style of training or understanding of different concepts. What I will say is no one person knows everything about fitness. As a personal trainer my goal is to build on knowledge and offer advice to others to ensure they make progress and sometime skip having to fail in order to succeed. Trial and error can sometimes lead to demotivation. Every Personal trainer has something to offer you, no matter how long you have been training. Sometimes the smallest of advice such as a form correction or a different look at nutrition can take your training to the next level.
Why not book in for a free consultation to talk through your current condition, what you are doing and see what we can offer you. it may be the best decision you make. Having a personal trainer once a week means you can go from being great to being amazing.