Know the foundation movements –
Lunge, Squat, Push, Pull, Gait, Twist, Bend
You do these things daily just by walking, lifting and getting in the car for example. So get stronger at them in the gym while you’re working out and watch your body transform and move better. Not only will you save time when exercising but as a result your body will perform better outside the gym.
To change your body you must change your routine
Generally speaking the body adapts very quickly to exercises. This is why the exercise stimulus needs to be changed regularly.
This can be done in several ways:
- By lifting a heavier weight and performing fewer repetitions with a greater time to rest between sets of each exercise.
- By holding the exercise under tension for a longer period of time eg. Changing the speed of the down movement in a squat to 4-5 seconds and explode up.
- By increasing the number of repetitions performed. Start from as little as 5-6 repetitions for each exercise and build up to around 15 depending upon what your goals are.
- Start with only 2 sets for each exercise when it is new and gradually build up to 5 sets.
- Vary the rest time between sets from 10 seconds to 4 minutes depending upon your goals. Generally follow the rule, the heavier the weight the longer the rest.
Training Tips to remember:
- Never train with less than perfect technique. When working your stabiliser/core muscles (stop when you could do one more rep especially if you are recovering from an injury).
- Alternate between resistance training (weight bearing activity eg. weights) and aerobic/cardio (cardiovascular eg. walking/running/aerobics) activities. Perform them on different days if you can. In fact the more weight training the better!
- Quality not quantity – your core stabilising muscles will work properly for approx 40 min. Any more than 1 hour in the gym is usually wasting time. Remember to train not drain your body.
- Remember to change the routine a minimum of every 4-6 weeks.
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