sarahw
Posts: 172
Joined: 8/1/2007
Status: offline
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Are you suffering from a case of OverInformation?
I think many of us are. The Internet is jam-packed with fitness and bodybuilding info, nutrition programs, training programs; one stating cardio is a must, the next saying forget cardio it's not going to change anything, those proning cardio oscillating between steady state for an hour and Hight Intensity Training (HIT) or High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) with equal conviction; …
And who is right? Who has the answer? What should you do? Who to trust and follow? Actually, one of these trainers very accurately says “there is no such thing as The Perfect Program, there is no one solution”. Yikes, that makes you feel better, for sure! Or not really. That statement may leave you even more confused.
Another said that "Any program will work if you trust the trainer" and I think there is a clue here: trust. If you believe, you will see!
18 months ago, I found a program which was in fact perfect for me. It took the mystery out of goal setting, cleared up the confusion around my eating habits and beliefs from years of magazine-diets, gave me a good weight training program and cardio program, and I had fantastic results.
Somehow though, between my work as the owner of a gym, as a CPT and partner in a fitness website, I was tempted to test and try different other programs available and presented weekly (if not daily during some periods of the year), some new, some re-introduced.
The result was in fact catastrophic. Not that I regained all the fat that I had previously burned, that would have been too stupid, but jumping from one program to another, not completing several of them because they simply did not fit my way of training and/or eating or even thinking, has meant that I have gained back a few too many of those burned bodyfat percentages in the last 8-9 months.
The question is now, is this a failure for me? Not at all. It's a setback, certainly, as I will have to burn those percentages off again, but it's actually a valuable lesson learned. And one that I want to share with you all.
Do shop around for the “perfect” program, the one that works and continues to work for you and your way of life, your mentality and training desires, your nutrition plan. It could be you end up with the same one I swear by, or you could go to the competition, it doesn't matter. What matters is that once you have made your choice you consistently stick to that program, forever.
Yes I know, all trainers say you need variation, and they are right. You'd get bored if not, and your muscles would settle into a complacent routine of “hey, I know that move, I know what comes next” and progression would halt or at best slow drastically.
However, variation does not necessarily mean “switch to someone/something else” but rather that you change one or two exercises per workout; vary the cardio between walking, cycling, stepping, swimming, rowing, whatever you use; try some new recipes for those chicken breasts and cans of tuna; but basically stay with what works for you!
Some of the on-line trainers who provide their programs at a price (reasonable, honestly, considering the amount of work that goes into making a good program, and the sharing of their knowledge) have their own blogs or parallell sites where they post their own workouts. These are great sites to go to in order to get more info and inspiration from the very trainer you appreciate to start with. I have adapted several of the more specific workouts from my favourite trainer, using his exact routine but lowering the weights considerable (hey, I'm just a “little lady” after all, not a pro body builder!) but making sure I can only manage the number of reps he did by using weights heavy enough that the last rep or two is really hard to do.
What I'm trying to tell you, simply, is this: shop around for a good program that suits you and your mindframe, lifestyle, ideas, wish for a challenge, one that gives you constant and measurable results, and stick to it. You may get lucky and hit on the best one right off, first try. Or you may have to go through 2,3,10 different ones before you find YOUR program, but it's worth it. It's worth it because there will be a symbiose between you and your program, and you will be set up for success!
Do yourself the favor of looking for your perfect match in programs. It's really, really worth it.
~~
The snakes and ladders game - remember how you get to the last row of squares only to land on the one wrong square that sends you almost back to square one? I feel I've been a pawn in that game for the past months (my own fault) and I am now at that square you land on after that last fall-square. This climb around though, I shall not fall into the snakes' pits again, but take the slow route up to the finishing square and success!
_____________________________
Sarah, CPT
http://www.atozfitness.com/sarahsblog/
http://www.trainwithsarah.com
Nothing tastes as good as being lean feels (Jack LaLanne)
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