Every now and then I’m reminded of the old saying, “You get out of it what you put into it.”
This is so true in every area of life.
Here’s a classic example I come across here and there with our workouts…
Have a look at this workout and tell me if it’s easy or hard:
Perform each exercise in the following circuit for 30 seconds followed by a 30-second rest and transition to the next exercise.
Upon completion of the circuit, rest for one minute.
Perform 3 total rounds.
- Pushup Progression
- Bent Over Arm Raises – Y
- Split Squat – Left
- Bent Over Arm Raises – T
- Split Squat – Right
- Bent Over Arm Raises – W
- Bridge Progression
- Bent Over Arm Raises – L
- Lateral Step – Left
- Lateral Step – Right
So, is this an easy workout or a hard workout?
If you said something along the lines of, “It depends on how you do it” you’d be right.
Think about it…
If you just go through the motions, the working time will do nothing for you and the rest time will feel like forever.
Of course, you’ll think it’s too easy (unless that’s just not something you care about).
On the flip side, if you choose a resistance or tempo that you have to give everything you’ve got to actually make it through the 30-second work period…the rest period won’t feel like enough!
You’ll be panting, sweating, and your arms and legs will feel like lead at the end of the circuit.
Getting through 2 rounds will be a real challenge and you may even dread doing the third.
Can you see this?
Now, it should go without saying, but I always have to say it anyway – if you’re a beginner, focus on learning proper exercise form and control first!
It’s OK if the workouts feel easy. 🙂
To be honest, this is something we struggle with every so often when someone does a trial membership with us…
If they’re new to exercise (or haven’t worked out in a long time), they’ll often think the workouts aren’t hard enough because we focus on teaching them good form first…and we just have to get to know them a little and see how their body responds.
If they’ve been working out somewhere else where the focus is going hard with no regards to form or function, they don’t like it when we dial them back to ‘fix’ things.
If they come from a very traditional cardio-focused, high heart rate environment, but haven’t learned how to truly exert themselves during resistance training, they think we’re not working them hard enough when in reality they just need more practice.
If I’m being really honest, it’s frustrating.
Yes, I get annoyed when someone just tries a couple of workouts and says it wasn’t hard enough and they’re “going to try something different that better suits their needs” (usually something with more traditional cardio, or high intensity, that they absolutely do NOT need!).
I’m not saying Bair Knuckle Strength is for everyone, but, GRRRR, don’t ever say the workouts aren’t hard enough!
Especially when you are the training equivalent of an infant in the gym.
You get out of them what you put into them, just like everything else in life…
With over 24 years of training under my belt, I’ve been around the gym and the industry long enough to ‘know a few things’ and one of those is not only does it NOT have to be hard ALL the time, it should be hard enough to recover from, but not so hard that you crash and burn after 6 weeks (like most place you’ll go these days).
Training, and your workouts, should be cyclical in intensity, exercise selection, tempo and recovery.
Some days you go hard.
Some days you go light.
Some days are in between.
And ALL days require you to recover, because you’re really only as good in the gym, as what what you can recover from.
If you’re not seeing the results you want, please respond and tell me what you’re currently doing program-wise, and perhaps we can figure out a way to get you on the path to results.
I promise that WILL be hard enough. 😉
Be Well – John
Changing the way Life is done.
Mindset. Fitness. Nutrition.
P.S. Here are 4 more ways you can become happier and healthier:
1. At-Home Workout Program
We created a 3 tiered entry-level program for those who want/need to stay at home to workout, and you can access it for FREE.
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So, we started a FREE group on Facebook called BADASS, which is our own private community where we go deeper into what we do at Bair Knuckle Strength.
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