OPEN A FITNESS magazine or website and you’ll find an article detailing the new optimum training programme. These programmes go to great lengths to separate themselves from ‘outdated’ programmes of the past.
Super-sets, drop sets, negative reps and new improved exercise variations.
Occasionally you’ll even find the exact programmes that top level bodybuilders, actors or athletes use – so you can train like them, to look like them! This is all great for selling magazines, but is it really useful for you?
The short answer is probably not, and here’s why:
Prescribing a one size fits all programme to the entire readership of a magazine or website is clearly illogical. We are all different. We have different bio-mechanics, we have varying ranges of mobility and vastly different injury histories.
As well as this, we are all starting from different points in our training, both in our muscular development and neural adaptation.
Can this same programme really be applicable to both the casual gym goer and to someone with years of effective strength training history, and will the prescribed exercises, reps and sets all be appropriate for both these trainees?
Will the casual gym goer have developed the mobility to perform the prescribed exercises safely and effectively? The answer to all of these questions is likely, no.
Equally, the more experienced trainee may have developed muscular imbalances through their training or sport. Perhaps they have protracted shoulders from years of heavy bench pressing, or maybe over active quads that limit their glute engagement when squatting. If so, does this programme cater for that – or is it prescribing movements that may exacerbate these issues.
Now consider you’re following the programme of a specific actor or bodybuilder preparing for the next superhero movie or bodybuilding show – this becomes even more illogical!
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These programmes have been designed by trainers specifically for this person – not you!
Are you following the same nutrition plan and getting the same amount of rest and recovery? Were you born with the same genetics and biomechanics as this person? Are you taking the same performance enhancing drugs to support the potentially huge volume of training? Chances are, no!
Fitness magazines, celebrity workouts and specialist training programs can all be great places to gain inspiration, motivation and knowledge about training and nutrition.
I have found many great articles from which I incorporate techniques with clients and my own training.
However, the key is to understand why these methods are being prescribed, what they achieve, and how they can be implemented or adapted to work for you as a unique individual.
Yes there are fundamental principals that will benefit the majority of us depending on our level of experience. But specific exercise selection and training styles should be planned around an individual, not a generic template.
So whether you undertake the research yourself, or seek the experience of a personal trainer, understanding your own body should always be the first step when planning your training.
Dan Price is a personal trainer with SIX3NINE Personal Training.
