| Gym Smarts |
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Illustration by Fred Rix Efficiency and diligence will improve your results in the gym.
You can train as hard as you like, but if you are not eating right, it will limit your results.
As members of the health and fitness industry, we complete thousands of training sessions and patient visits per year with many amateur and some professional athletes. It is interesting to see how some individuals achieve their fitness goals with apparent ease, while others seem to struggle throughout their journey. You may be one of those individuals who hit the genetic jackpot and can lose twenty pounds in a short period of time, while your colleague seems to train ten times harder without achieving the same goal. Is it necessary for your colleague to work harder, or is it possible to work smarter on fitness and health goals? Here are some fundamentals to make your workout more efficient and to motivate diligence in training.
1. Goal-setting Yields ProgressIt is difficult to embark on a fitness journey when you are unsure of your path or what you are doing. It is more challenging to be diligent with your newfound desire to train if you have no specific end goal. Goal-setting is an integral component to consistent training and also provides motivation to support diligence with training. It is important to set both short- and long-term fitness goals that are realistic and achievable. If your long-term goal requires a long period of training, then smaller short-term goals must be set along the way to maximize motivation. Additionally, a plan must be laid out if you desire to see results for overall improvements in strength, lean body mass, endurance, power, flexibility, or even sport. See Table 1 for an example of how goal-setting may be organized with a periodized plan of action. 2. Periodization Helps You Organize Goals and Maximize ResultsPeriodization is a great way to ensure that goal-setting is organized to avoid common mistakes in training such as overtraining, inefficient programs, and plateaus in results. There are many models of periodization; each model aims to achieve different results, depending on the goals of the athlete. It is important to clearly identify one's goals in order to set the appropriate repetitions, sets, intensity, frequency, and type of training.Table 1: Twelve-week strength and conditioning periodized program. (Example for an athlete training for a Fitness Competition)
Progression in resistance training is necessary to stimulate changes in muscular strength, power, and endurance. Some of the key points to look for in an optimally designed strength-specific program include the following: a. The program should include concentric, eccentric, and isometric muscle actions, and the performance of bilateral and unilateral single- and multiple-joint exercises, according to researchers who developed the 2009 progression models in resistance training for healthy adults for the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). b. The 2009 ACSM progression models, written by Dr. Ratames and colleagues, state that strength-training programs should sequence exercises to optimize the preservation of exercise intensity (large before small muscle group exercises, multiple-joint before single-joint exercises, and higher intensity before lower intensity exercises). c. Some of the ACSM guidelines published in the 2002 Medical Science Sports and Exercise study by Kraemer and colleagues remain unchanged in 2009. When training at a specific repetition maximum load, it is recommended that a two- to ten-per-cent increase in load be applied when the individual can perform the workload for one to two repetitions over the desired number. d. An Arizona State University study conducted by Rhea and colleagues compared single and multiple sets of weight training for strength gains in recreationally trained individuals. Multiple sets are superior to single sets for maximal strength development, according to the 2002 study, published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. e. The 2009 ACSM recommendation for training frequency is two to three days per week for novice training, three to four days per week for intermediate training, and four to five days per week for advanced training. f. A periodized program should include rest days. There should also be a change in volume or intensity throughout training cycles in order to allow for recovery and injury prevention. A program that involves persistent volume without a break may lead to non-functional training or overtraining, according to a study published in Sports Medicine in 2006 by Nederhof and colleagues (See Table 2). Table 2: Definition and effects of overtraining, functional, and non-functional overreaching.
3. Efficient Use of Time"Lack of time" is a common reason why people don't fit regular exercise into their lifestyle. If time is your limiting factor try the following time-saving strategies to help improve your efficiency:a. Target the weakest link: If your upper body is very strong and your legs are your weakness, try to focus your limited time training your legs. b. Focus on compound exercises: Isolation exercises restrict movements to one joint and one muscle group. A common example would be the leg extension (which isolates the quadriceps) performed on specialized machines to ensure that movement only occurs around the knee joint. Such exercises are often used to help improve the mass and definition of a single muscle group. Alternatively, compound exercises involve multiple joint movements that work several muscle groups at once. An example would be the squat, which engages numerous muscles (quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, calves, and core), while movement takes place around various joints of the lower body and core. Many athletes use a combination of isolation and compound exercises in their programs. However, compound exercises are recommended when time is limited. 4. Reducing Dependency on Muscle SorenessAn over-reliance on muscle soreness as an indicator of exercise effectiveness should be avoided. It is clear that, due to the "repeated-bout effect," symptoms of muscle soreness will eventually decline, and an athlete may not "feel" the same after each workout. Hence, it is important to pay attention to overall improvements in strength and performance rather than rely solely on muscle soreness as a gauge for the effectiveness of a training program. 5. Seek Professional HelpAs practitioners, we want to highlight the fact that sometimes other factors (such as overtraining, injuries, metabolic or hormonal disturbance, and disease) may play a role in dampening progress. When an athlete has maximal diligence with goal-setting and laying out a program but continues to see little improvement or progress, it may be necessary to consult with a professional. It is important to have your workout technique and intensity reviewed. Oftentimes gym-goers fall into the category of having "repetitive error syndrome," which is, simply put, a habit of poor technique. Having a personal trainer or fitness professional examine your technique can save you hours of inefficient time spent in the gym. About the Authors and IllustratorDoctors of Chiropractic Kevin Ashby and Wendy Carvalho-Ashby, owners and directors of Endurance on 8th Health Centre, a state-of-the-art, multi-disciplinary clinic in Calgary, both are world-class athletes who earned the title of Canada's Fittest Couple in 2008 as pairs bodybuilding champions. Ashby and Carvalho-Ashby enjoy an active lifestyle and have integrated personal training into their practice. They actively train many individuals from a variety of backgrounds including fitness competitors, and are regular contributors to IMPACT and City TV Calgary. Visit www.endurance8health.com.
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