Minimise The Risk Of Failure And Increase Your Chances Of Success...
Minimise The Risk Of Failure And Increase Your Chances Of Success...
Step out your box a second and ask yourself if the program you just designed sustainable, tailored and or specific to a goal, target or aspiration.
Too often we design the programs based on the present. What we want to achieve in the future must be attained in the now, or better still yesterday!
Lets face it Jim (an example person) who has no experience of elevated heart rate, let alone a gym environment in a sense of training, sets themselves a goal of fat loss (or as they may perceive it weight loss). Lets say its a New Years resolution as this is time appropriate to now. They suspect the need to go ‘hard or go home,’ and from here design themselves a training plan based on something they have read on the internet that suggests go ‘bang for your buck!’ It consists of all the ‘fancy’ in fashion exercises that our twisted fitness industry has sworn by for the past 10 years.
Here is Jim’s ‘Go Hard' Program:
(A great one but one however but I suspect the majority will have problems with, in terms of technical and physical capacities, not to mention the psychological demands associated with a program such as this!)
A1 Back Squat 4sets of 10-12reps 3010
A2 Supinated Chin Ups 4 sets 10-12reps 3010
A3 Walking Lunges 4sets 10-12reps 3010
A4 Flat Dumbbell Press 4sets 10-12reps 3010
Rest 45-60 seconds
B1 Tabatta Sprints on Rower (Go Hard Or Go Home)
They suggest they will do this 3 x a week
Here is how I see it!
Jim will go to gym ‘go hard or go home’ for a specific duration of time, probably until they hit breaking point. They will do there training plan regardless of form but gain some sort of result. They will probably achieve a scale weight decrease and body fat decrease, they should be proud of that! (I’m not taking that away from them!) Top notch for effort and intention but what happens after breaking point. Weight gain, injury, a hatred for exercise or a physiological scar that leads them to believe results will only come if they do this but can’t see how they can keep doing it.
My Advice and the stand point we take with our clients at TSF
Train with the same intentions but find a way of doing the smallest amount possible and still achieve results, minimise the risk of failiure. This way you can add progression to your workouts. It also allows you to sustain a level of training over a duration of time that gives you a better understanding of how your body is working. Think out of the box and in someways plan your training backwards. Put the ‘go hard or go home’ to the end of your time scale for achieving the results you want and build a plan over the weeks that will progress you towards that ‘go hard or go home’ plan over the commencing weeks. This will give you a sense of progression once you digress through the weeks and will keep you motivated, injury free and constantly achieving instead of going all out and crashing, burning and stopping all together.
For Example here is a 16 week version of getting you to your ‘Go hard or go home’ program!
Weeks 1-4
A1 Front Foot Elevated Split Squat 3sets 10-12reps 3010
A2 60 Degree Semi Supinated Dumbbell Press 3sets 10-12 reps 3010
Rest 45-60secs
B1 Single Leg Leg Press 3sets 12-15reps 3010
B2 Neutral Wide Lean Away Pull Down 3sets 12-15reps 3011
Rest 45-60secs
C1Rowing 1x10mins 70% Intensity
Weeks 4-8
A1 Dumbell Heels Elevated Squat 4sets 8-10reps 3010
A2 45 Degree Semi Supinated Dumbbell Press 4sets 8-10reps 3010
Rest 45-60secs
B1 Alternate Dumbell Lunges 3sets 10-12reps 3010
B2 Prone Incline DB Row 3sets 10-12reps 3011
Rest 45-60secs
C1Rowing 2x4mins 85% Intensity
Weeks 8-12
A1 Back Squat 4sets 10-12reps 4010
A2 Supinated Pull Down 4sets 10-12reps 3011
A3 Incline Supinated Dumbell Curls 4sets 10-12reps 3010
Rest 45-60secs
B1 Walking Lunges 3sets 10-12reps 3010
B2 Cable Cross Over 3sets 10-12reps 2111
B3 Decline EZ French Press 3sets 10-12reps 3010
Rest 45-60secs
C1 Rowing 2x8mins 75% intensity
Week 12-16
A1 Back Squat 4sets of 10-12reps 3010
A2 Supinated Chin Ups 4 sets 10-12reps 3010
A3 Walking Lunges 4sets 10-12reps 3010
A4 Flat Dumbbell Press 4sets 10-12reps 3010
Rest 45seconds
B1 Tabatta Sprints on Rower (Go Hard Or Go Home)
This here is what we call basic periodisation. Moving your program slowly, progressively and sustainably. The likelihood of you falling off the program will be smaller and the chance of unbelievable results that can be kept is far greater. This is the true art of a coach and the true art of progression. Changing something must be progressive otherwise its not true nor developed correct. Think of how many years it has taken you to develop the poor physique you currently have. Reversing it without falling back in to the slump of where you currently are is not an overnight process and one that shouldn’t be rushed.
*Note a program is never set in stone. people often develop in different ways. It is nearly a guideline or pathway to keep you on track with a target. You may find you need to manipulate it slightly along the way. By setting your training in this way you give yourself a chance to progress in a sustainable and progressive way… YOU MINIMISE THE RISK OF FAILURE!
