CategoriesOvertraining Strength Training Methods Strength Training Tips

How Often Should You Change Your Strength Training Workout?

This is a question I am regularly asked, and like many things to do with health and fitness there is no definitive answer that works for everyone. Some people will do better changing workouts regularly, whereas others will see poor results from continual change and need to stick to the same program for a longer period of time. It all depends on the person’s goals, the objective of the workout, and the ability and skill of the person working out. Beginners will often benefit from sticking to the same program for a while and remaining consistent with the same exercises so they can learn from their mistakes. Whereas, more advanced trainers will see better results with more constant change to avoid falling into a plateau. Too much, or too little change can have a negative effect on the training results, so trying to find the perfect balance is important. In this article, I will try to explain how I know when to change the workout and some little tricks to add subtle changes to your workout without changing the whole program.

CategoriesOvertraining

How To Avoid Over-training & Maximize Your Training Efforts

As a person who has had a strong passion for sport and exercise all my life, I have made many mistakes that led to injury and pain that could easily have been avoided. For the past 20 years I have worked closely with many clients as a trainer and seen countless others make these same mistakes. The desire to get the most out of my own body and also my clients, motivated me to learn as much as I could about the best methods and strategies to deliver great training results without the risk of more pain. Many of you reading this article are like me, trying to find the missing ingredient or magic formula to maximize performance success. With such a determined focus on progression and performance it is easy to begin to push too hard, train too long or simply do way too much. It is in our nature to strive for perfection and often we are led to set goals that may be out of reach. While we can work to achieve our potential, we must always consider our abilities and our limitations and avoid the danger of over-training which can be a serious problem to your health. It can lead to decreased performance, decreased energy, depression, and potentially serious injury. Stress, nutrition, hydration, training, practice and, competition schedules, rest & recovery are all important factors to be carefully considered and organized in order to avoid over-training. In this article, we will give you some great ideas and knowledge to avoid the mistakes I and many others have made.

CategoriesHealth & Fitness Results

How Long Does It Take To Achieve Noticeable Health & Fitness Results?

One of life’s realities is that significant improvements take time, they do not happen overnight. Yet when it comes to health and fitness we have been convinced that great results can occur in only 8 weeks or 12 weeks! How often do you see marketing on social media, in magazines and on TV for fitness challenges to get you in your best shape in 12 weeks? Today’s modern world is moving so fast and technology has allowed us to get things at the click of button that we have come to expect instant gratification in just about everything we do. And when it doesn’t happen people become discouraged very quickly and try one of two options. They try to cut corners and try extreme methods to speed things up or they simply give up. And it is not just the people trying to lose weight or get fit, we also see this same mentality with people suffering injuries that require a great deal of rehabilitation and work on their behalf. Many see this work as being too hard and taking too long and search for something to provide instant relief or someone to “fix them” instead. This short term approach only serves to create a much bigger long term problem. In this article I explain why long lasting results with health and fitness take considerable time and as a society we must begin to change our mindset to the way we look at exercise, nutrition, and changing lifestyle habits.