Most people have training all wrong. All you have to do is look at the amount of people who continuously struggle to get healthy or see any long-term results.
One of the biggest reasons for this is that they simply think all you have to do is turn up at the gym and either:
a) train yourself into the ground
OR
b) Not put in that much of an effort
As with most things, the magic lies in the middle. You must train hard but you can’t train hard at every single session. If you did you would simply burn out, get demotivated and probably stop training.
When it comes to putting together a training program that delivers results and is sustainable as well as enjoyable, there are a lot of things that need to be built into the program in order for it to deliver what you want.
You can’t simply wing it. You need a plan.
A few of the most important things that include:
- rest and recovery sessions/days/weeks
- Variations in training- super important for the enjoyment factor
- Progressively challenging
- The program must be goal specific
- Re-testing to compare your progress with initial starting point- strength, body fat %, measurements, basic movement abilities, core strength, etc.
- Discovery session with coach- troubleshoot successes and challenges, set new goals, review previous program and results, etc
There’s a lot that goes into it isn’t there?
The goal of every good coach and training facility is to deliver all the above (and more) without it being a big deal for the client.
The best way to do this, in our expert opinion, is to have a systemised approach to training that allows us to achieve all these things as smoothly as possible.
At the moment, this is the training template that we have been working on and it works great. If you are a general fitness enthusiast this training template will serve you well.
Athletes are a bit different but still lots you can take and apply with a bit of thought.
We work off a 4 month timeframe which we divide into 4 x 1 month blocks
We do 3 months of training followed by 1 month of testing, recovering and ‘FUN CHALLENGES’
If we start from January, here’s what this would look like:
January- Phase 1- train towards clients goal- 4 week training program
February- Phase 2- train towards clients goal (new 4 week training program)
March- Phase 3- train towards clients goal (new 4 week training program)
April
- Testing week (week 1)- strength, power, body fat %, endurance, basic movement screens, etc.
- Rest and recovery week (week 2)- meet with coach to discuss results, sleep more, massage, JUST CHILL OUT
- Fun challenges- weeks 3 & 4
- as the name suggests, plenty of fun stuff to get back in the swing of things
- This is also when we get all our client programs done for the next 12 weeks of training
- Some clients get their discovery sessions done this week
May- Repeat starting with new programs
We build up the intensity of the training as each 4 week block progresses and then we drop it back a bit when we move onto a new 4 week block (in February for example).
This allows clients to learn new programs and gives them a bit of a break form the previous couple of weeks tough training
Fairly simple and no big drama for us or the clients.. They just turn up, follow their programs and get great results to go with it.
The best thing about this train template is that:
- it will always give you a goal to focus on and a clear path to get there
- stop you from getting bored and burnt out
- gives you plenty of time to recover
- Shows you the progress that you have made- great for motivation, confidence, etc.
- Allows you to have time off from training so it doesn’t take over your life
- Will give you a decent timeframe to see great results
- Give you time with your coach which is a very important factor for adherence
- Makes training much more enjoyable
- Makes training sustainable for life
- Keeps you interested- your program changes every 4 weeks
- Is easily adaptable for anybody or any situation- life isn’ always so accommodating to your training
There you go. A very simple template that will allow you to get the most out of your training.
Try it for the next 4 months and I guarantee you’ll see better results in that timeframe than most do in a year.
If you need help with it, click here for your complimentary consultation.
Train hard, train smart and stay healthy (and have a plan when it comes to your training).
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