Do you exercise properly?

I see that at the gym , people with phones in hands looking at Facebook and just leasurely walking along on treadmills no inclination to push themselves. Also people doing the random exersises with no particular ryme or reason. Waste of there time and money.

I think a trainer needs to be able to structure a programme that suits you and what you want to achieve. Anyone who asks lots of questions before you start should be worth looking at. If they just hand you a programme, you're wasting your time and money.

So this is an interesting topic and one I talk to other trainers about a lot. Below are a few of the things I often see.

What Brian said is a big one lack of a goal is huge, people go to the gym to "make fitness" not exercise or achieve anything just to simply look like they are doing something. This is also a big gripe I have with many styles and types of training too its more about the activity and not the goal.

In relation to the above being seen in the gym and taking Instagram snaps and not being there to actually do anything.

MANY people think they know all they need about training. (Most of the best coaches I know would never even say this) This also often leads to bad form / structure to training and often injury then people stopping training. This often means no program no structure and no pushing yourself.

Not following a program or having a coach. Some world class coaches I know also work with other coaches to program their own training.

Many go to the gym to lose weight and dont ever fix their diet then get disheartened and quit.

Most people in the gym just want to feel like they "worked out" and ignore all structure and progressive overload (aka building up to their level slowly) for a simple example go into any gym and see how jam packed a spin / HIIT class is. Even though most would be better off lifting and doing some mobility then working up to this slowly.

There are dozens of other points I could go on about but those are some of the top ones that come to my head.

On the how to pick a PT / Coach question here are the things I personally consider as well as clients who I refer out.

1. Do they have experience in the area your interested in eg powerlifting coach who teaches powerlifting well.
2. Do they have a proven track record with clients.
3. Do they have a proven track record with regular people, athletes dont count unless you are one.
4. Do they program to you individually not just your goals but also your day to day life this is key for most people.
5. Do they structure programs with progression in mind.

Again dozens more things I could mention but these are some that stand out.

With relation to appearances of coaches this one is simple do they have either a massive understanding of the area and coaching it or were they previously able to do the skills your looking at.

Some guy who is very fit can be great but if he hands you a copy of his program its useless but if he knows how to take a beginner to his level thats ideal. Some of the best coaches I have ever met have been older and or not in particularly great shape.

As a coach said to me before "would you rather learn from a world champion of the coach who created that world champion?"

....... wrote: »

So what kind of goals should people have?

For me I started going to the gym to get functionally stronger and stop injuring myself in everyday life because I was so weak. Also to get better cardio fitness. And to improve the situation re some old issues like a triple operated knee.

What goal you have is a very individual thing and also depends on how far you want to go and what training styles you enjoy.

Powerlifting has some pretty well laid out strength standards eg 2x bodyweight deadlift etc

I would add in be able to do pull ups, dips and pushups.

Cardio for general fitness would be to reduce resting heart rate and improve heart rate variability score.

Then for you knee it would be to make sure you mobility is ok and any structural issues are dealt with and trainined eg stability of the joint.

All of the above would be stuff a good coach should program for you thought.

People often confuse powerlifting the sport with lifting weights for general fitness. For example in the studio I work from there are plenty of women who lift and some 60-70+ who also do it.

I gave powerlifting as the example as it has well structured strength standards for men and women of all shapes and sizes to work towards as well as nicely programmed progressions for them. It is also often quicker to do and very effective.

The thing is not many women are interested in these things yet the most common thing I hear from women is "I want to get toned" which the full sentence is build muscle tone. Which if you want useful strength is best done with the above mentioned. But again like I said have a goal and know what it is you want to achieve and if unsure find someone to help you figure it out.

Sorry my bad for not making it clear I usually use weight lifting to refer to Olympic weightlifting and power lifting to just refer to the big 3.

Also in relation to bodyweight 40kg could be a large amount

Many women are discouraged from using weights which I really dont understand but it persists. The classic quote of it will make me big and bulky is often thrown around which is total BS but it seems to stick.

Interesting and I have heard similar before most high street gyms lack an environment that encourages a sense of community that help and has inclusiveness. Which is something I try to seek out personally. But a lot of the things you mentioned would also be negated by good coaching too.

That is an interesting point and a good example of how individuals respond to training. The byproduct of any strength training will be some form of muscular growth. The training your doing now would be swapping to a standard body building template which would be the go to for most to build muscle.

Like you said though know your goal and know how to adjust things to fit you personally.

What shape square, circle or triangle?

Have a goal, have a plan, follow plan. Get instruction initially. Make sure the plan is sustainable, if it isn't change it.

If you achieve the goal, start a new one.

My approach is work as hard as I feel capable, but to actually push myself as much as possible.

I cycle to and from work each day (at top speed and arrive pumping sweat), train in martial arts twice a week, 2 days where I lift weights and 1 day where I do a long callistenics session with skipping involved. Generally a proper sitting on my rear recovery day, mostly Sundays.

I'll generally plan out a very hard work out each session, and try my hardest to complete it.

But some days you are just too run down or tired from a long week to get through the whole thing and need to tap out early. Nothing wrong with that.

Consistency is extremely important - according to Ross Enamit (boxing trainer) and Jeff Cavaliere (of athlean x) both have stressed the importance of consistency and hard work quite a bit, so I'm trying very hard to be consistent.