!Blog post!
***3 minutes of reading
Across the nation gyms, wellness centers, and recreational facilities are beginning to open back up again to the public. This is an exciting time, but also one to take with extreme caution (Not only for your health and safety, but for the following reasons we will discuss)
For most people who did not have access to a home gym or local facility, you were probably subjected to quiet a difference in your regular training. I will assume for the masses you were not given the ability to use barbells and racks for compound movements, heavier dumbbells and cable resistance machines for some accessory work, and your favorite piece of cardio equipment for the past 3 months.
Now think about that. 3 months of not training what your body has adapted to before our public health crisis. That is a long time in terms of either losing or gaining any type of physical fitness goals. 3 months is a long time for your body to physically atrophy (that is begin the physiological process of degrading lean muscle tissue) and I am sure that during this time the following big rocks have been influenced and altered quite a bit:
a. your sleep
b. your nutrition
c. your stress/anxiety level
Your training recently during this time consisted mostly of the utilization of lighter dumbbells, KB’s, medicine and slam balls, bands, going for your easy to moderate paced walks/occasional runs, and incorporating body-weight movements. This is great and you should be proud of yourself if you stuck to a specific routine for this time period, but lets look at the top 3 personal changes you should be aware of when you walk back into a big box gym:
1. Being brutally honest- look back on your past 3 months and assess your progress from then until now. Were you consistent? What modality of training did you do most? What is your stress level before you begin to walk into a gym? Being honest with yourself will give you the ability to not come back into a gym with the highest expectations and to understand that your body might be physically, mentally, and quite emotionally different than what it was back in February.
2. Manipulation of variables- ah the variables of resistance training that no one seems to play with. Let me tell you something, there is nothing more powerful for someone than the ability to alter these variables such as volume, frequency, and intensity. There are several more out there, but these give you the best bang for your buck. Take this time to address these big 3 because they will play an instrumental role in your ability to have an effective and efficient training session, not allow your body to come out of the gates and get what people love, “being sore”. If you truly come back into the game of health and fitness with a smart approach, you will expose yourself to body-weight (with what you have been doing) with a higher intensity and maybe more load if you can, acclimate your body and your CNS (central nervous system) to what a barbell feels like on your back and hands, and to remember to slow your tempo of repetitions and focus on full range of motion. You take this approach; you should not be as sore (you do not want to be sore is the goal) and your body will adapt appropriately as it should.
3. Reverse Planning- before you even go back into a gym, I want you to sit down and brainstorm your top 2 short term goals. (ex: I know I have been off the wagon with my diet, I want to refocus my nutrition and lose 10lbs, or I have been doing push-ups for 3 months, I want to strive to bench press 225lbs in 6 weeks) I am a big believer that when you enter your gym, you have a plan of action, a goal for that training session, and you are there to punch it in the face. Plans change and things fail but come in with purpose and intention.
Now take that goal you want and divide that into manageable pieces (ex: to lose that 10lbs address your BIG ROCKS of sleep, nutrition, stress level, daily movement, then work your way to accomplish them, and TRACK) Reverse planning gives you the ability to look at your ultimate goal, utilize division of labor and break it down to pieces that you can accomplish. Do not ever look at the big picture.
The re-opening of gyms in your local area is exciting and the anticipation of training again with all the equipment you can think of can be overwhelming for some. Take this time to prepare your body and mind for when that green light hits and you will come out of the gates with a new mindset, a prepped goal, and a clean plan.
If you have any questions, comments, concerns, contact Krause Performance
Happy Training!
KP OUT
