A larger percentage of my clients have come to me with the goal of improving their balance. These clients are at a point in their life where they are not so concerned with how they look on the beach, but are more focused with, literally, staying on their feet and preventing falls and consequential injuries. To help them achieve their goals, I incorporate equipment such as Airex pads and Bosu balls to create an unstable environment into their training routines. The idea is that training under my watchful eye in an unstable environment will develop their stability and make living easier and safer when most surfaces are stable. And as their bodies develop an increase in their stability, I make the exercise more and more unstable. What often happens is one of my newer clients will see me training someone that I have been training for a long time, and they will comment on how they will never be able to do what the other person is doing. One client who used to think standing on the flat side of a Bosu ball was "impossible" can now do deadlifts on that side of the ball while standing on only one leg! Another client who has improved her stability quite dramatically with me over the last month wants her husband to start training with me. During a recent training session while she was talking to me about her husband she told me that an exercise that she was in the middle of performing her husband wouldn't be able to do it. I had to remind her that I wouldn't start him with that particular move, as I hadn't with her. I would have to start with what he could do. And this is my point, when you plan out your goals, and the things that you need to do to get there, make sure that they are in fact doable. As is the case with both of these clients, you need to start with what you can do, in order to take that next step. Before you know it, you might be doing things that at one point you thought were impossible.
Another way that this notion of doing what is doable plays out is when you are trying to determine if you should exercise if you have some form of injury. With this I often refer to the age old joke "Someone walks into their doctor's office and says 'Doctor, it hurts when I do this.' to which the doctor replies "Well, don't do that.'" Again, this is a silly joke, but there is some truth to it. I have said it many times, having an injury does not mean that you cannot do anything at the gym. If you have an upper body injury, do some legs. If you have a lower body strain, do upper body. Even if you have a significant injury to a muscle, you can still do some cardio. Find something that you can do that does not hurt, and let that be the reason you keep going to the gym. Do not allow yourself a reason to stop getting to the gym. You are much better off saying to yourself that you can go to the gym to do an alternative exercise as opposed to saying that you cannot go to the gym for some reason. An object in motion will remain in motion, and object at rest will stay at rest as will a person who goes to the gym will keep going to the gym, and a person who is sitting at home resting will find it easier to remain at home resting. Don't stay away from the gym, think about what else you can train there and do it.
One last take on this is something that I tell all of my clients...there are a thousand and one ways to perform any particular exercise. As a personal trainer who has a very diverse client base, and an elementary school Phys. Ed. teacher, I am constantly tasked at finding ways to make movements doable for people with their own individual needs. Furthermore, I remind my clients that it is "personal" training and I will find a way to allow each of them to accomplish an exercise and then progress beyond it. Part of that is evaluating their starting point, and evaluating how far they can go. Once they are able to do a movement, then I need a way to make it more challenging so that they can get to the next level. And of course each individual's health history and current level of fitness will play into what is chosen. I tell my clients, especially the newer ones, that they should be working during their work outs, but not hurting. If they ever experience pain during a movement, we find another movement that does not cause pain. It is amazing how many failsafes our bodies are designed with, such as the innervation of multiple muscles to complete one particular move. 99.999% of the time, if a client feels an unhealthy strain during a movement, we can find another one that they can do.
Think about your fitness goals once again, and ask yourself if you are doing what it takes to accomplish them. If you aren't, what is the reason? Is it because your goals are way too lofty to start with? Is it because an injury is holding you back? There are plenty of excuses that people come up with to stall them on their paths to reaching their goals. Don't be one of those people, and do NOT allow not doing anything to keep you from attaining them. There are plenty of ways to keep at your goals and living a healthier lifestyle. The key most often is just doing something to get there. Start small, and end big. Doing what you can do now, and improving on it as you go is the doable way to achieve a fit new you!
No comments:
Post a Comment