July 11, 2016

Best of times and worst of times

Welcome to afitnewyou!  Today I would like to give you a tip on how to get through some of your hardest exercises and workouts.  We all have those days and / or workouts that we can’t stand to bear.  But ironically, it’s usually the ones that we need and should be doing the most that cause us the most displeasure.  So here is a tip on how to get through these troublesome routines…pair the ones you find to be the worst, with your best.  Pairing the loved and hated exercises will average out in your brain, and will allow you to do the ones you know you should be doing, but just don’t like.
Reina is one of my favorite clients for many reasons, but one thing that particularly makes me so fond of her is that even though she rarely misses a session with me, she also gets into the gym a few days a week on her own.  It makes my job much easier to have a client coming in on their own, and who uses the same exercises and principles that I teach when she is training with me.  But, she will be the first to tell you that there are certain exercises that she does only when she is training with me; and its not because of a lack of confidence, but she just doesn’t like them.  And for someone who has been classified as a gym rat and is also very open minded about fitness, its not that she doesn’t find anything wrong with the exercises, its just that they are a bit more challenging.  Sometimes I have her do a number of these types of exercises in the same session and she jokingly questions if I am punishing her.  So, what I have found to be the best balance of getting her to do what she needs, and still making the session as enjoyable as possible is to alternate one of these more challenging exercises with one she likes much better. 

I have also given this advice to gym clients who dread doing a “leg” day.  Most everyone who works out regularly know that most males hate doing legs, and if there is a day to skip, it would be their leg day.  Walk into any gym on a Monday and you will see most guys training their chest, because according to me it’s the unofficial National Chest Day.  Guys would rather train their chest and arms, because not only do they think these muscle groups are more noticed by the ladies, but also because training legs involves more demanding exercises.  However, training your legs is incredibly important as they are the largest muscles in your body, and it’s where we derive our power from.  So, what I have suggested, and honestly have been doing myself, is to combine the leg and chest day workouts.  Super setting leg and chest exercises works quite well as you can jump from one exercise to the other, being that one is a lower body exercise and the other is an upper body exercise, allowing the heart rate to stay elevated the entire workout while giving each muscle group time to recover.  Many people whom I have made this suggestion to have used it with great success both in terms of fitness development and overall enjoyment.

Combining your least and most favorite exercises is a great way to integrate all of the exercises that you should be doing during a workout, not just the ones you like the most or find the easiest.  It’s often the exercises that we dread that are the most beneficial for us.  I have always said the best exercises are the ones that you will do.  And while I still maintain that thought, as a trainer I know it’s harder to want to do certain exercises over others, and that some you simply need to do.  What will make it easier to do the most beneficial exercises is to combine them with ones that you enjoy to a greater degree doing.  This balance of exercises is a great way to reach a fit new you.

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