CEdgar2

Last updated 01:00, Thursday, 28 June 2007

EVERY once in a while I come across people that become disillusioned with any kind of training. Sometimes the difference between stopping and continuing can be quite fine. So what is it that stops people from continuing the great progress they have made. It’s quite simple. It’s called change.

Having trained seriously for 13, years I have placed my body under great strain and covered the majority of the training regimes there is.

Only over the past year have I noticed a difference in my body and mind towards training. For far too long I have spent hours trying to squeeze out another repetition on the heaviest weight possible, only now do I know that there is a lot more to training than just that. Luckily I’ve been educated in that fact but unfortunately so many people lose this ability to realise change.

Let’s take another example, I’ve seen many a young lad in a gym picking up the heaviest weight and without care and attention they come away thinking that they have increased muscle mass for that particular body part. However the only thing I tend to see is poor form and injury. The worrying aspect I notice is it isn’t just young lads that do this, people who have trained for years still train in the same way and have all the same poor habits. It’s a worrying trend that I feel could be eliminated with a little bit more training education.

I’ve noted a few of the problems surrounding bad form and unwillingness to change:

Ah yes I remember these, this is the exact setting technique that gave me a shoulder injury last year. Negative reps promote unsafe and ensure that bad habits are introduced quickly into a person’s training life. Negative reps basically mean you need to cheat in order for you to lift the weight. So for example a bicep curl would mean you arching your lower back and flexing your knees in an exaggerated manner to lift the dumbells up. These should be outlawed — don’t perform these in the gym. Always perform exercises correctly if the weight is too heavy, lift lighter. Remember its form that gets you results not what you lift.

For beginners it’s important to get a basis and this means performing back and biceps in one workout for example. However this is only true of people that compete for bodybuilding titles. I’m a great believer in performing a variety of exercises with different types of equipment. This is the true way to maximise muscle mass. You will find that by keeping the body guessing each workout you will maximise growth. So don’t bore yourself or you body by sitting on a bench and working your biceps until they drop off.

Many people say that to burn more fat you must perform cardio after weights. For some reason this is being promoted heavily at the moment and research is supporting this idea. However nothing has been confirmed by this research. My personal view is this, do whatever you feel comfortable with first. There aren’t many people that enjoy doing cardio after a weights session as the body feels fatigued. I always perform a weights routine after my cardio session. There is no secret ingredient to burning fat, it all depends on how hard you work in the time allotted and it’s got nothing to do with what you perform first.

These three misconceptions stem from particular magazines that again inform people of particular bad habits. We need to start moving away from believing everything we read — you can believe me though!

All these things affect change because people get used to performing the same thing and reading the same type of training. For the teenagers out there try something different. By all means keep the gym going but outside of that spend more of your time looking at different ways to benefit your training. Lifting heavy weights is fine but what about a powerbag or kettlebell, two pieces of equipment that will develop strength and muscle mass without question. Some times this can be the difference between winning and losing.

Take the following as guidance: Gym: Dumbell bicep curl; Alternative: Powerbag curl. Gym: Dumbell Shoulder press; Alternative: Kettlebell clean and press; Gym: Dumbell front raise; Alternative: Kettlebell swings; Gym: Bench Press; Alternative: Weighted vest press up; Gym: Barbell squat; Alternative: Powerbag jumping squat; Gym: Cable woodchop; Alternative: Around the world kettlebell.

The alternatives will improve strength and ensure you continue training for months to come. For the around the world kettlebell, tie a towel around the handle and swing the kettlebell around your body.