ARE you training or exercising but not seeing the result you want?I see clients all the time who power walk, cycle or follow gym programmes all with various different goals, from weight loss to muscle gain, but don’t see results they want.
If you feel this applies to you then ask yourself how long have you been training the same way?
I’m going to write a small bit about the importance of overloading your training. Overloading is what brings about the desired changes in your body and goes hand in hand with specifity when it comes to exercise.
Firstly you need to set yourself goals and figure out exactly what it is you want to get from your exercise programme.
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Once you have set some specific, realistic goals you then need to look at what type of training is required to reach these goals, you won’t get chiseled abs from walking 5k everyday, so do your research or seek help from a personal trainer.
The type of training you engage in is known as the component of fitness “specificity.”
So after doing this you know where you want to go and you now know how to get there, right job done. Well, not quite.
Why do so many people see great results for the first few weeks then plateau? The answer could be a number of reasons but one of the big ones is usually that the they continue the same type of training at the same intensity for too long.
Training programmes should be changed every 6 – 8 weeks ideally or 12 weeks maximum.
For those of you that walk, run or cycle is it time to change your route? Or is time to start introducing interval or tempo training into your programme? Perhaps a new route that incorporates hill? Whatever you change it has to be a challenge, your body has to feel the difference.
In the gym we can all have our “favourite” exercises but ask yourself is it time to push yourself out of your comfort zone and integrate some of those exercises you hate? Working the same muscle groups just in a slightly different way.
So for all you gym bunnys and pavement pounders have a think about how you can increase the intensity of your exercise this week.
Make a drastic change to your normal routine, forcing the body to be overloaded in order to progress forward closer to your goals. If you’re not changing, change the way your training.
Let me know how it goes!
• Siobhan Sentry is Course Director with Advanced Fitness Education at Tralee Sports And Leisure Centre. She has eight years diverse industry experience. She has worked worldwide as a personal trainer and group exercise instructor and a top level wellness specialist designing and implementing health and wellness initiatives for multinational corporate companies. For more visit their website by clicking here
